What a time to be alive! This was given to Kevin by his mother. She found it while cleaning up the attic of the farmhouse (it’s the same house that his dad lived his entire life). This book was filled with goodies that can still be appreciated today.
The front cover of the textbook had the name “Emeline Otto” written on it, which is the name of Kevin's dad’s mother (maiden name). The inside of the cover had John Otto scratched off and then Emeline Otto wrote on it. John was the older brother, so the assumption is, she was given the textbook once he was finished with it.
This textbook was copyrighted in 1910, which would have meant, Kevin’s grandparents were in elementary school! At the time, the study of agriculture was part of the mandatory school curriculum. The idea being, to educate kids in the concepts of farming and how they are tied to math/arithmetic.
One of the chapters is the focus of “Barn Plan and Ventilation” (see below). They talked about the importance of space and provided some space-saving remedies for barns. Some options were placing bins and chute feeds elsewhere. Opting for doors on hinges instead of on rollers.
One of the things that they stressed is a common thing we also stress, especially here at New Standard. We always remind producers of the importance of Proper Ventilation. In this textbook, they state that “in our efforts to provide warm and comfortable quarters for our stock, we have overlooked, in many cases, the important matter of all-proper ventilation.”
Now, modern barn ventilation is more tech-savvy than it was back in 1910, but it’s interesting to see what their options were back in 1910. As you can see in the infographic below, their options are presented in this textbook.
In the textbook, they discuss the “neglected feature of barn construction is deemed worthy of special mention”. Isn’t that the truth? We have many articles about ventilation in your barns, and it’s still true even from 1910. Now, although the way ventilation is equipped in a barn is different from 1910, it's interesting to read their theories.