| • | • |
FROM THE BRYANT ROOM ARCHIVES
by Myrna Sloam ©July/Aug 2006
A View of the Mackay Estate, Part 10: The Orchard, Dairy Herd and Greenhouses by Stewart Donaldson
[Note: The following is part 10 of an ongoing series, taken from the reminiscences of Stewart Donaldson (1907-1994) who grew up on the Clarence H. Mackay estate in what is now East Hills. The complete text can be found in the Bryant Library Local History Collection.]
Now for special places such as the orchard. This was located to the south of the Hechler’s house and was mainly apple trees of many different varieties and mostly late apples for storage. There was a cold cellar, but most of the storage apples were taken to New York[City] to a cold storage house where they [were] packed in crates and kept to be taken whenever ordered by the house.
When the estate was first opened in 1902 there was a Jersey herd of cattle. But, this was sold in 1904 and the Guernsey herd was purchased. Mr. William Sanders was dairyman then. He bought many young cattle to build up a good registered herd, and since there were so many young cattle, they could not supply the wants of the house. Mrs. Mackay got angry with Sanders when he tried to explain to her that he was trying to build up a good herd by buying young cattle, thereby saving money.
She finally let Sanders go in 1907, as she said she was displeased with his excuses. After this Mr. Charles Hechler came to Harbor Hill and as he was a great Guernsey enthusiast he built up the herd. Peter Letson came as dairyman in 1914 and stayed until the estate closed down. There were tests run on these cattle and those under test would be milked four times a day. [They] were fed weighed rations, kept in box stalls and were on this test for probably a month at a stretch. These animals were shown all over and won many ribbons at the Mineola Fair and other fairs. There used to be a standing joke on the estate that Mackay charged .25¢ for a quart of milk that it cost $2.00 to produce.
Frank Demak was in charge of Mackay’s greenhouses and gardens. He was a brilliant horticulturist and developed many types of new flower strains, among which were
chrysanthemums. One he named after Ellin Mackay. There were new snapdragons, one named Sunrise Trail [and] also gladiolus, dahlias and roses. He originated, as far as we know, one of the first ever blooming climbing roses about 1914, [called] “Climbing Ophelia.” His bulbs were sold by John T. Scheepers & Co. and his seed by Andrew Kennedy, Seedsmen, New York. I liked the greenhouses as a boy and became very good friends with Demak. When Demak was fired by Anna Case Mackay in 1931, I got him a job on Cornelius Kelly’s estate in Manhasset.
The greenhouses had roses, carnations, chrysanthemums, sweet peas, snapdragons, asparagus fern and others. There was a violet house and the violets were almost as big as pansies. Also a cold house, so called, where freesias, calendulas and such were grown. Then there was the tropical or palm house. This was a six sided house with a domed top, with the palms and orchids in the center and other tropical plants around the outer sides of the walk. There were vines growing and almost everything you would find in the semi-tropics.
Each house had its own temperature range. The palm house was always the highest, ranging from 67-72 in the winter months. In the summer they used to white-wash the glass to help keep the heat down. The houses were heated with a hot water system and during the winter months a night man had to come in about 6 PM and he worked until 6 AM, seven days a week. The day man would start the fires up at about 4PM and wait for the night man to come on duty. These men were monthly employees and [received] no extra pay for this work. You wouldn’t find this today. It was the night man’s job to check the houses at set intervals, open or close valves, fire up the boiler and open drafts on the furnace. Or, close them down, as the case might be depending on the degree of cold. On a real cold windy night this boy had a tough job, believe me. I never remember hearing any of them complain about their jobs. TO BE CONTINUED….
Permission to reproduce, publish or display whole text articles must be obtained from the Bryant Library Archivist.
Email: localhistory@bryantlibrary.org