THE FARMER'S MONTHLY YiSlTOR. 



101 



Tim rli- l''.rinc>'s Miiilllily Visitor. 

 Education of Fanners. — ?fo. 3. 



USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



A laJ in a district scliool, in writing, a few days 

 since, on the uses and usefulness of difjV-rentbian- 

 ches of I'.!io\vIedge, remarked, tiiat WAc usf: of a 

 thing is in using it,^ This definition aided the ju- 

 venile autiior n-reutly, and nii^Iit possibly aid some 

 learned men and profound philosophers, in form- 

 ing clear and correct ideas of the term ' vsekul 

 KNOWLEDGE,' which is probably much oftener re- 

 jieated than understood. It may be seriously ques- 

 tioned, \A-hcther, with many, the attention devoted 

 and the value attached, to subjects of learninij, are 

 not nearly in proportion to tlieir uselessness. In a 

 college course, for example embracing the jirepara- 

 tory studies, and occup^'ing in the whole, iVorn six 

 to eight or ten years, njucli the greatest portion of 

 tlie time is devoted to the dead languages and tlie 

 abstractions of mathematics, and iurnisliing to 

 many of their pupils, a very meagre smatieriu'i 

 even of these. Jlov/ far a knowledge of the -Lat- 

 in and Greek Languages, or of the terms used by 

 tlio Greeks and Romans -to express their ideas 

 about their heathen gods, v/ars, bacchanalian feasts, 

 and many other subjects as little connected witli 

 I.I1C piu'suits or duties of American citizens, maj' 

 properly be considered useful knowledge, is the 

 question: and whether the three or five years, de- 

 \oted to these languages in a college course, might 

 not produce a greater amount of knowledge, more 

 really useful, if employed upon some other sub- 

 jects. The rights and dnties of republican citizens 

 secured and implied by our constitution and laws, 

 the reciprocal interests, and the relations existing 

 between different classes of citizens, between the 

 employer and employed, master and apprentice, 

 farmer, njechauic and merchant, men and women, 

 husband and wife, parent and child; also between 

 ihe different memlDers, or states of our republic, 

 embracing all the fundamental principles of polit- 

 ical economy ; the physical sciences, embracing 

 the fundamental laws of ch.emical and other branch- 

 es of natural philosophy, animal and vegetable physi- 

 olqgy,especially of the human system, also geology, 

 niineralogv,and botan3',with a particular apjilication 

 of the whole to agriculture and the mechanic arts; 

 and above all the relations e.xistiiig between tlie 

 creature and his Creator, and the duties arising 

 from tli,?se relations, so clearly, fully, and beauti- 

 fully developed in the volume of inspiration and 

 from natviral religion ; a familiar, practical acquiiin- 

 tance with these and other subjects arising from 

 them and directly connected v.'ith republican insti- 

 tutions, and tlic pursuits of republican citizens, it 

 v.-ould seem more deserving the titU- of useful 

 kno\^'ledge, than an acquaintance with nierely the 

 terms used by those who lived two thousand years 

 o.go, or with the abstract principles of mathemat- 

 ics, with scarcely an idea_of their application to 

 any pursuit of bu.iiness, to morals or religion. 



if these view.s of the subject are correct, and 

 tiiey pr-ibably will not be questioned by many, I 

 ask if farmers, especially the more enlightened 

 portions of them, do not possess, at present, a great- 

 er amount of useful knowledge, than the gradu- 

 ates of our colleges.-' Docs not every enlighten 

 ed farmer found in our legislatures have greater 

 influence than the mere literary man ? — Is not his 

 opinions more safe to Ije trusted .-* 



Coujd not every practical farmer give the mere 

 botanist, hou'ever learned he iTiight be, much use- 

 ful information about plants i' and still more a mere 

 graduate of a college ^ A fact will perhaps answer 

 that question. In the year 17iS5, the elder and the 

 younger ^lichau-ic, distinguished botanists, visited 

 "this country, under the direction of the French 

 government, for the purpose of studying American 

 vegetables, especially our forest trees. They were 

 continued on their erranil eleven years, when they 

 returned to Kranec and pobl.shed three large octa- 

 vo volumes on ' American Forest Trees,' which is 

 by the way the jnoa^ sensible work with- 

 in my knowledge respecting the vegetable king- 

 dom ; and respecting American trees, it is the on- 

 ly avork of my acquaintance of much value. But 

 that is valuable and interesting to every farmer, 

 and every mechanic, and even to a general reader. 



But where did they obtain the materials for their 

 work.' Was it from the graduates or professors or 

 presidents of colleges.' Not a particle : and very 

 little from any -American botanist. Much the great- 

 est and the most valuable part of the materials for 

 these very useful volumes, were obtained of this 

 shipbuilder, that carpenter, and another cabinet 

 maker, or some other mechanic, and a large por- 

 tion frrin farmers. 



I will suppose a case on the same subject; a case 

 too, of which many tliousands actually exi::t in 

 our own country. Suppose that a scholar, in his 

 five vcars thumbing his Latin and Greek dictiona- 



ries, learns that what we call oak, the Romans 

 called quercus, and that the Greeks called the same 

 thing drus. But if an oak and maple tree were 

 shov."n to him, he could not tell one from the oth- 

 er, or the name or properties of either. Show the 

 same things to an unpretending farmer, and he 

 could inform you that the one was white oal^ ; or 

 lilack, grey, red or Spanisii oak ; also of its growth, 

 strength, durability, &c., and of its various uses 

 founded upon its properties. The case is of course, 

 that the scholar has three terms, but not one idea ; 

 the farmer has one or two terms, with various ideas 

 connected with each. Here is a learned scholar 

 and an ignorant farmer, but which is the man of 

 knowledge? As the same illustration will ap- 

 ply to hundreds of other subjects, as well as bota- 

 ny, whose ideas are most extended ? 



The occasion does not permit of an extended 

 view or a variety of illustrations cf the subject. I 

 must therefore, leave it for the present, with the 

 question, Whirh liare the greatest anaount of use- 

 ful knowledge, farmers or professed scliolars .' if 

 any should think the latter, I have only to add, 

 that he differs from nje in opinion. 



JOSl.-\H HOLBROOK. 



iDutch Butter. 



Large quantities of butter are annually import- 

 ed into England t>om Holland, and some from the 

 same country has occasionally^ found its way into 

 this. It is justly, celebrated for its superior quali- 

 ty, and its power of resisting decomposition, or its 

 not being liable to become rancid. In the Holland 

 dairies, every thing is conducted with a system 

 and neatness, from the feeding of the cows to the 

 completion of the butter, worthy of all imitation 

 and praise. That there is any thing in the climate 

 or pastures of Holland that renders their dairy pro- 

 ducts superior to those of the rest of Europe, ci 

 to ours, is notJto be supposed ; the difference is 

 clearly in the manipulation, and were our butter 

 and cheese in general, made with as much skill 

 and care as in Holland, we might successfully com- 

 pete v.-ith the Dutch in the West Indieb and other 

 markets, to which our butter will noiv barely pay 

 the cost of tjansportation. According to the re- 

 port of Mr. Mitchel, made to the Highland Socie- 

 ty of Scotland, the process in the Dutch Dai- 

 ries is substantially as follows : the milk when ta- 

 ken from the cow, is poured into large earthen 

 pitchers and placed in a vot of cold water, which 

 quickly reduces the temperature. It is then placed 

 on shcivcs until the cream separates, when it is 

 taken off and placed in vessels for churning. In 

 tlieae it is first allowed to become a litile soured, 

 and then the cliurn is half filled with the cream. 

 In the best dairies, churning is performed daily , 

 the system being so arranged, that a supply is con- 

 stantly in readiness. In winter, a little boiled warm 

 water is addcal to the cream to give the proper 

 temperature previous to churning; and in very 

 warm weather, it is .sometimes submitted to the 

 cold bath to reduce the heat. The butter, when 

 taken from the churn, is put in a shallow vessel and 

 carefully washed with pure cold water, and then 

 worked with a slight sprinkling of fine salt, whe- 

 ther intended for rolls or for barreling. The butter 

 is considered best, when the cows have been at 

 grass about three weeks; it is then delicious — is 

 made into fanciful forms of animals, pyramids, &,c. 

 and stuck over with fragrant flowers, and sells as 

 high as sixty or seventy cents per pound. When 

 intended for packing, the butter is worked up 

 twice or thrice a day, with soft, line salt, for three 

 days, in a shallow tub; Ihero being about two 

 pounds of this salt used for fourteen pounds of 

 butter. After this thorough preparatory working, 

 tlie butter is then hard packed in thin layers into 

 casks made perfectly sweet and clean. The wood 

 preferred is oak, smoothed carefully inside. Three 

 or four days before they are used, the casks are 

 filled with sour whey, and this stands until they are 

 emptied and cleansed for the packing of the butter. 

 It is clear, from this description, that independent 

 of the perfect neatness observed in every part of 

 the process, the excellence of the Dii'.cli butter, 

 and the ease with wjiich it is kept in its original 

 sweetness when packed, is owing to the manner 

 in which it is freed from the least particle of but- 

 termilk, by the first washing, and the subsequent 

 repeated workings, as well as to the perfect incor- 

 poration of the salt by the same process. There 

 are many of our American dailies that produce su- 

 perior butter ; but as a whole that offered incur 

 markets is a miserable article, destitute of that 

 rich flavor belonging to good butter, and owing to 

 the great amount of buttermilk Icf^t in it, utterly 

 unfit it for keeping. We believe a reforin in these 

 respects, v/ould add materially to the profit of those 

 who should attempt it, as well as add greatly to the 



comfort of the great mass of purcliasers and con- 

 sumers. — Gen. Farmer. 



From the f'iiilailf:li !iia Farlllel'^ Cabinet, 

 Mowliig. 



They who Itave not been in their j'outh accus- 

 tomed to do this work, are seldom found to be able 

 to do it with ease or expedition. But when the art 

 is once learnt, it will not be lost. 



As this is one of the most laborious parts of the 

 husbandman's calling, and the more fatiguing, as 

 it must be performed in liic hottest season of the 

 year, every precaution ought to be used which 

 tends to lighten the labor. To this it will conduce 

 not a little, for the inov,'eB»to rise very early, and 

 be at his work before the rising of the sun. He 

 may easily perform half the usual day's work be- 

 fore nine in the morning. His work will not only 

 be made easier by the coolness of the morning air, 

 but also by the dew on the grass, which is cut tho 

 more easily for being wet. By this means he may 

 lie still and rest himself during all the hottest of 

 the day, while others who begun late are sweating 

 themselves extensively, ^nd hnrting their health, 

 probably, by taking down large draughts of cold 

 drink to slake their raging thirst. The other half 

 of his work rnay be })erformed offer three or four 

 o'clock, and at night he will find liimselfmore free 

 from fatigue. 



If the inower would husband his strength to ad- 

 vantage, he should take car--' to have his scythe, 

 and all the apparatus for mowing, in the best or- 

 der. His scytlie ought to be adapted to the surface 

 on which, he mows. If the surface be level and 

 free from obstacles, the scythe may bo long and al- 

 most straight, and he will perform his work with 

 less labor., and greater expedieion. But if the sur- 

 face be uneven, cradly, or chequered with stones, 

 or stumps of trees, his scythe must be short and 

 crooked. Otherwise he will bo obliged to leave 

 much of the grass uncut, or use more labor, in 

 cutting it. A lougand straight scjthe will onlyctit 

 olV the tops of the grass in hollows. 



A mower should not have a snead that is too 

 slender, for this will keep the scythe in a continual 

 irenior, and do much to hinder its cutting. He 

 must see that it keeps perfectly fast on the snead : 

 for the least degree of looseness will oblige him to 

 use the more violence at every stroke. Many wor- 

 ry themselves nsedlcisly by not attending to this 

 circumstance. 



Mowing with a company ought to be avoided by 

 those who are not very strong, or who are little 

 used to the business, or w'ho have not their tools in 

 the best order. Young lads, who are ambitious to 

 be thought good mowers, often find themselves 

 much hart by mowing in company. 



Mowert; should not follow too closely after each 

 olher, for this has been th" occasion of fatal 

 wounds. And when the dangerous tool is carried 

 froiu place to place, it should be bound up with a 

 rope of grast:, or otiiervvise carefully secured. 



Choice of Iiive Stock. 



Before the improvements introduced by Bake- 

 well, the Value of an animal was entirely judged 

 by its bulk; and if a great size could be obtained, 

 more regard was paid to the price the animal ulti- 

 mately fetcliedi than to the cost of its food ; of 

 late, since breeders began to calculate with more 

 precision, small or moderate sized animals have 

 been generally preferred, for the following rea- 

 sons :— 



Small sized animals are more easily kept, tliey 

 thrive on shorter herbage, they collect food Where 

 a large animal could hartily e.xiLl, and' thence are 

 more profitable. Their meat is fiiier grained, pro- 

 duces richer gravy, has often a superior flavor, and 

 commonly more nicely marbled, or veined with 

 fat, especially when they have been fed for two 

 years. Large animals are iiot so well calculated 

 for general consumption as the moderate sized, par- 

 ticularly in hot weather. Large animals poach pas- 

 tures more than small ones ; they are not so active, 

 require more rest, collect the;r food with more la- 

 bor, and will only consume the nicer or more deli- 

 cate plants. Small cows, of the true dairy breeds, 

 give proportionably more milk than large ones. 

 Small cattle may be fattened solely on grass of* even 

 moderate quality ; whereas the large require the 

 richest pastures, or to be stall-fed, the expenses of 

 which exhaust the profits of the farmer. It is 

 much easier to procure well-shaped and kindly 

 feeding stock of a small size, than of a large one. 

 Small "sized cattle may be kept by many p(>rson3 

 who cannot afford either to purchase or to maintain 

 large ones, and by whom the loss, if any accident 

 shojld happen to them, can be more easily borne. 

 Tne small sized sell better ; for a butcher, from a 

 conviction that in proportion to there respective 

 dimensions, there is a greater superficies of valua- 



