404 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXXVI. 



ence ; thus the milk given by cows in the autumn and winter is evidently 

 richer than tliat produced by them in spring and summer, and yields the 

 greatest quantity of butter in those months, with the least cheese ; and, 

 therefore, no calculation of a general average can be made with such 

 accuracy as to merit confidence. The same remark, we may observe, 

 will apply with even greater force to the produce of butter and cheese ; 

 for, besides these circumstances, we have already seen that cows of even 

 the same breed yield a different amount from equal quantities of milk. 

 Generally speaking, however, a fi\ir annual product of either from each cow 

 in good condition mav be considered as about 100 to ISO lbs. of butter of 

 superior quality, and 350 to 400 lbs. of whole milk cheese, with a small quan- 

 tity of whey butter. 



Chapter XXXVII. 



ON THE DAIRY— MAKING OF BUTTER AND CHEESE. 



OiV proper attention to the construction of the dairy-house materially 

 depends the perfect manufacture of cheese and butter, and nothing should 

 be sjiared in rendering it as complete in accommodation for the different 

 operations as the nature and size of the farm will admit. We allude not to 

 the elegance of many gentlemen's dairies, nor to some few of those fitted 

 up at great expense for a large business, but to those upon a moderate 

 scale, and in every instance where the object is not confined to the mere 

 consumption of the family. It is, indeed, the more necessary to remark 

 xqion their deficiencies, and give some hints towards remedying them, as 

 many of them consist of nothing better than an out-shed attached to the 

 kitchen ; and very few are erected with a proper degree of judgment. As 

 it is in most cases very difficult to contrive the proper conveniences within 

 the dwelling-house, we shall describe a separate building upon a plan which 

 will answer every prudent purpose, and may be erected at very moderate 

 cost. 



The apartments which are peculiarly appropriate to the dairy-husbandry 

 are, one for milk ; another for butter in churning, or for scalding, pressing, 

 and salting- cheese ; and a third for the im])lements : over which, in cheese 

 dairies, a store-room may be placed under the roof. 



The building, though placed conveniently to the house, yet should be 

 apart from any immediate contact with the odour of the farm-yard, or other 

 impurity, as well as from any pond of stagnant water, as nothing more 

 readily acquires an unpleasant taste or smell than milk and cream. An uni- 

 form temperature being also of extreme importance, the site of the structure 

 should be such as to be as little as possible affected by the extremes of 

 either heat or cold. The most experienced dairv-women disagree respecting 

 the degree of temperature most suitable to the production of cream and the 

 making of butter ; but they all admit that the house cannot be rendered too 

 cool during the summer, and in winter it is easy to keep up a sufficient 

 warmth. Hence the main aspect should be open to the north and east, and 

 the building should, if possible, be shaded, either by other walls or by 

 high trees, from the south and west. The roof should be of a high conical 

 form, or what builders call a " span roof," rising from the centre, and pro- 

 jecting downwards broadly over the sides, to shade the body of the house, 

 which should consist of a narrow range of rooms upon tlie following plan. 



