The Midland Agrarian: May 2012

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Kerry Heifer Birth Announcement

We were pleased to gain a new Kerry heifer this morning. When the total number of a breed numbers only in the hundreds in the US, each new heifer means a lot.

She is a little too closely related to her daddy, but that is one of the challenges with rare breeds.While I am already thinking about the best way to maximize heterosis while still keeping the stock pure; maybe we need to let her grow up first!

Why the Midland Agrarian?

Cultural geographers and students of dialect call the great area of the Ohio valley, upper South and lower Midwest the "midlands of the US". The midland dialect around here includes words such as "redding" for cleaning up our rooms, the "Crick" where we get fish or swim, "youns" for plural "you" and "warshing" for the laundry. Cultural artifacts from the midlands include forebay barns.

Western Pennsylvania was also once a part of the "middle ground" between the Great Lakes and the main portion of the Ohio Valley.

I chose the name "midland" agrarian to distinguish between the many fine southern agrarian writers (Like Wendell Berry), and the truly northern agrarian writers, like Russell Kirk and Eric Sloane. This was not an attempt to place myself in their company, but to recognize the unique aspects of my home country, which I love.