114 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



woman ought to have on these points not only correct instincts 

 but intelligence, and that it is the work of the society to demand 

 and to cultivate this accurate intelligence. It may, indeed, be 

 said that farming is not in any department an exact science. 

 That is true. But there is no department which so nearly 

 approaches it as that of the dairy. And though your Committee 

 — at least the chairman thereof — disclaims any profound insight 

 into the practical details of the work, yet " he guesses," and 

 indeed has it " impressed upon his mind," that nothing pays 

 better in butter-making than to have precise methods and to 

 stick to them ; and he hopes that the society will from year to 

 year grow more and more pressingly curious in its questions, 

 until it finds out what these methods are. 



As to practical lessons this year. Judging from the specimens 

 exhibited, and from the accompanying statements, your Com- 

 mittee would say with diffidence that it would seem, first, that 

 cream which was not allowed to stand at the most over thirty- 

 six hours, (in the summer twelve to eighteen hours in most 

 dairy-rooms,) made sweeter butter than that which stood longer ; 

 second, that it was better to churn twice or even three times in 

 a week than once ; third, that one ounce of salt to a pound of 

 butter meets more nearly the average taste than a larger or 

 smaller quantity ; fourth, that the quality of the butter is much 

 less dependent upon the character of the feed of the cow than 

 is sometimes supposed. In respect to this last point, the state- 

 ments vary to this extent : " Fed on grass entirely ; " " fed on 

 grass and cornstalks ; " " feed, besides usual pasture, with fod- 

 der-corn night and morning, with a pint of oil-meal and two 

 quarts of shorts per day ; " " fed, in addition to pasture, a small 

 quantity of green corn-fodder and one quart meal daily ; " 

 " has not had any grain since the 1st of June." Yet there is 

 scarcely an appreciable difference in the butter made under 

 these varying circumstances. From which we deduce the con- 

 clusion that the goodness of butter depends far more upon the 

 care with which it is made, and very possibly upon the original 

 butter-making quality of the cow, than upon the nature of the 

 food. Trusting that these imperfect hints may lead in the 

 future to the requirement and collection of more definite data 

 for judgment, and so to a more clear, accurate knowledge, your 

 Committee conclude their Report. 



G. Reynolds, Chairman. 



