No. 10. 



Dialogue — Da irying. 



303 



our ceasing to milk her, and all thewliile her 

 milk was perfectly sweet. 



Father. — True ; and when I have endea- 

 voured to persuade Ticcy to exchan^-o his 

 large cows for those of a smaller breed, he has 

 said, " But only calculate their value for fat- 

 tening, after I have done with them in the 

 dairy." " Yes," said I, " three or four years 

 hence ; but after I have obtained eight, ten, 

 or twelve pounds of butter per week from a 

 cow for seven or eight years, I can credit her 

 a little on that score, while you do imthins; 

 •with yours for about that time." No man in 

 his right senses will keep a bad milker to 

 rob him of his profit; better sell for almost 

 nothing, and buy for almost am/ thing, and 

 keep an account of the profit and loss of the 

 transaction. 



Frank. — Well ; now for the milk and but- 

 ter account — I long to come to that. 



Father. — And so it seems. But you are 

 forestalling the business ; you have forgotten 

 that the cows have not yet been fed and pro- 

 perly attended — two little items in a dairy 

 account, that, insignificant as you might con- 

 sider them, are, I assure you, of great weight 

 in our future calculations. 



And now I consider that I should be at a 

 loss to know how to provide through the win- 

 ter for a dairy of cows on so small a farm as 

 thirty-two acres arable, were it not for the in- 

 troduction of the sugar beet into cultivation ; 

 that crop has, however, enabled us, as I have 

 said, to do what we wish, and all that we 

 wish ; for by proper management, a store of 

 roots might be raised for the full supply of 

 at least two-thirds of the year — from Sep- 

 tember to May — or longer, if it should be 

 found necessary. Much has been said and 

 sung about the best method of preserving 

 them for winter use ; nothing is easier, for 

 if they are buried so deep as to be out of the 

 influence of the atmosphere, they might be 

 kept perfectly sound and good for any length 

 of time, and without vegetating. For the 

 purpose of sugar-making, it is quite neces- 

 sary that fermentation, whether arising from 

 heat or vegetation, should be guarded against; 

 for the feeding of cattle, this is of but little 

 importance ; this, however, as well as injury 

 from frost, might be totally prevented by 

 burying deep. To this end, therefore, I would 

 propose to dig a cellar under the cow stables 

 to receive those roots that are to be fed during 

 the autumn and early part of winter; while 

 another cellar, immediately adjoining, and to 

 which access might be had by means of a 

 door from thence, deep and arched with brick, 

 and covered thick with earth, and of suffi- 

 cient capacity to contain the remainder of the 

 stock of roots, should be formed outside the 

 stables, with a round hole in the crown of 

 the arch, through which the roots might be 



let down carefully, as they are brought by 

 the carts. This hole should be closed and 

 well covered with earth, as soon as the cel- 

 lar is filled, and over it a low and sligiit shed 

 might be built, in which to fodder young 

 stock and sheep. 



After the roots in the first cellar — that un- 

 der the cow stables — are expended, a quan- 

 tity, suflScient for a week or so, miglit be 

 taken from the inner cellar, and deposited 

 there for present use; so that the door need 

 not be opened oflener than about once a week, 

 care being taken to block it well with earth, 

 after being properly closed. With such a 

 stock of roots and hay, and cut oats in the 

 straw, no one need dread a winter of any 

 length or severity. It will not be necessary 

 to cut the roots, even for the young cattle or 

 sheep, but an attachment might be made to 

 the threshing mill, if there be one, for cutting 

 the oats ; and the same gearing might be 

 used to churn the butter; or a small horse 

 wheel might be erected for these purposes, 

 which would be found a most valuable ap- 

 pendage to the establishment, saving much 

 expense and labour. 



And now for the milk and butter — or ra- 

 ther for the milk-house, which it is not indis- 

 pensable should be erected over a spring, for 

 with my method this is not necessary, as you 

 know. The milk-house must be on the shady 

 or north side of the dwelling, and should be 

 well shaded with trees, with the means of 

 having a thorough current of air when neces- 

 sary ; and during the heat of summer, a cur- 

 rent of cold air might be obtained, by means 

 of a bricked arch, or tunnel, running for some 

 distance under the ground, and communi- 

 cating with the external air in some shaded 

 situation, passing under the wall of the milk- 

 house, and rising by a grated aperture in the 

 centre of the floor. No arrangement might 

 be made for the introduction of water, for — 

 and here is the peculiarity of our method — 

 no water is ever permittted to come in con- 

 tact with the milk or cream or butter, at any 

 stage of the process. The utensils and every 

 pari of the milk-house, shelves, and even the 

 floor, are to be washed clean with hot water 

 and rubbed quite dry, not being left to evapo- 

 rate the moisture in the dairy, every part be- 

 ing kept as dry as possible at all seasons of 

 the year. 



The milk pans, three only in number, made 

 of zinc, after a peculiar pattern, and managed 

 in a peculiar way, according to the method 

 described in the Farmers' Cabinet, p. 91, 

 vol. 4, take but little room in the milk-house, 

 and arc found a vast improvement upon the 

 old plan, " for all the cream and none nf the 

 milk is obtained in the most convenient man- 

 ner imaginable, and with an incalculable 

 saving oftime and labour." The pump churn, 



