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in cheese or milk. The art of butter-making must be learned just as any art is 

 mastered. The farmer who makes cheese sells $8 per cow from his farm every 

 year in fertilizers, and fully as much if he sells milk, but not ten cents worth is 

 lost if butter is sold. In making cheese much of the watery portion goes off in 

 the whey. See that nothing goes off the farm without its equivalent is returned. 

 There isn't a farmer who can't double his business in five years if he will stop 

 selling the fertility of his soil piecemeal and will make all the fertilizers that can 

 be made. Mr. James Bullard of Lee, inquired, " What if the farmer sells milk 

 enough to buy back the fertilizer ?" ' ' That is well enough, " replied Mr. 

 Hickox, " If he is sure to buy it back." The best cattle, continued Mr. Hickox, 

 are good thoroughbreds, but the trouble is we can't afford to buy them at present 

 high prices. He preferred Grade Jersey cows for butter. He aims to get 200 

 pounds of butter per cow each year, but don't get it yet ; averages 175 pounds 

 per cow and gets 35 cents a pound. A well worked cow will begin to* fail at 

 eight years. He finds best results from feeding ensilage, but don't know that it 

 is of better quality. When first fed it caused an increased flow of milk and bet- 

 ter yield of butter. Mr. H. W. Sheldon of New Marlboro, suggested that there 

 is a great difference in the cream of different cows, and Mr. Hickox agreed, and 

 insisted upon the thoroughbreds as giving the best. ' k What are the rules for making 

 the best butter?" inquired Mr. Bullard. "The atmosphere has so much to do 

 with this," replied Mr. Hickox, "that rules cannot be given. It requires judgment 

 and much experience. The butter-maker must know just when to stop in 

 gettiug out the butter milk." ' "What kind of butter is made from ensilage'?" 

 was asked. "A superior butter," Mr. Hickox replied. "The feed for his 

 cows was ten pounds of meal made up half of wheat middlings and half of corn, 

 linseed and cotton seed meal. This is given once a day and hay and ensilage 

 each once a day. Mr. J. D. Noxon of Great Barrington, asked how he got the 

 butter milk from his butter, aud learned that he washed the butter in the churn 

 first, before working. Mr. S. H. Nye of Great Barrington, said that one fall 

 his cattle fell off five pounds of butter a week on account of poor feed. He put 

 them on ensilage aud in the first week not only was the shrinkage stopped, but 

 there was a gain of two pounds of butter. Mr. Goodrich said that the farmers 

 must be greatly at fault in making butter, for 95 per cent, of the butter in the 

 market is "seconds." Mr. Wheeler said that the feed and the kind of cows 

 have much to do with this, the making of the butter is a good deal and the 

 care of the butter is something besides. Creamery butter is worth ten cents a 

 pound more than the best dairy butter, the reason being probably because it is 

 of a more uniform quality and has a standing in the market. Mr. Hinckley said 

 if all butter is of first-class quality, the price would go down so that it wouldn't 

 pay to make it. " The price ought to go down, " said Mr. Goodrich. "It is too 

 high ; Mr. Goodman wouldn't then be getting sixty cents and somebody else fif- 

 teen, but the price would still be remunerative." Mr. John C. Munson of Great 

 Barrington, affirmed that the most important point in butter- making is to skim 

 off the cream before the milk sours Mr. Wheeler was of different opinion and 

 said that the best authorities agreed to the contrary. Mr. Goodrich added that 

 the creameries get more for such butter than for any other. Mr. Hickox drew 

 the line at lactic acid. If the cream is allowed to stand until that forms the but- 

 ter is injured. 



