I obtained this manuscript from Bill Mutch of Slaterville. Bill remembers that many years ago he walked into the Chanticleer Bar in Ithaca and sat down with an old friend, Harry Lawless. Harry said that he had something to give Bill, went out to his car, and returned with the manuscript of Silo Saga.
Al had telephoned me before I left New Rochelle, to tell me that he had been successful in purchasing two milking machines, that they were installed and the cows were being broken in to the change from hand-milking. This, of course, had been a necessity, inasmuch as during his lifetime he had never even thought about the possibility of being called upon to hand-milk a cow. In the course of some past conversation I had inadvertently mentioned that while on the farm in Canada, reputedly I had been considered a fast and good hand-milker—but little did I expect that on this, the first evening, I would be put to the acid test.
Within a week of our new vocation we had put our New Rochelle property on the market, had advised our offices to look for replacements and our families were told of our earth-shaking decision. Their reactions were far from encouraging. They were quite disenchanted with the whole idea. However, they did nothing to dissuade us, and over the years members of both of our families gave us a lift both physically and mentally when they visited us.
It has been said that the desire to be a farmer is inherent in every boy. The magnetism of the countryside, of nature unfolding her beauty and wonders with each changing season, of trees and plants growing and maturing, of the privilege of observing animals at work and at play—all of this is compelling. In most instances the boy outgrows this desire at the same time that girls decide to give up dolls. However, in my husband’s case the yearning did not diminish with maturity, it accelerated.
At the ripe age of thirty-eight, fresh from the soft life of a desk job and domiciled in Westchester County, New York, he made the transition and we landed on an unimproved dairy-farm in upstate New York. His lack of knowledge of agriculture was offset by the fact that he had a degree in civil engineering, a keen and alert mind, a Pennsylvania Dutch heritage of stability, a tenacity and determination to meet all challenges head-on, and to succeed.