FARMERS' REGISTER— MILK— BUTTER. 



587 



their milk with greater freedom, and they are pre- 

 vented by the motion of their jaws, from the com- 

 mon, and very pernicious trick of withhoidmg 

 their milk; by which, if not prom[)tly prevented, 

 tliey Avill soon become dr3\ 



In this countr}^, it is the genera,! practice to milk 

 cows twice in the course of twenty-four hours, 

 throughout the year; but, in summer, the proper 

 periods are at least three every day, and at inter- 

 vals as nearly equidistant as possible, viz. very 

 early in the morning, at noon, and a little before 

 the approach of niglit. For it is said to be a fact, 

 confirmed by the experience of those who have 

 tried it, that cows, when milked thrice in the day, 

 will yield more milk in point of quantity, and of as 

 good, ii not better, qualify, than they u'ill under 

 the common mode of milking only on the morning 

 and evening. 



After the milk is drawn from the cow, it should 

 be careluUy strained through a gauze or linen 

 clorh, stretched on an open bottomed wooden 

 bowl, or a hair-sieve, or through a sieve made of 

 silver wires, on account of its superior wholesome- 

 ness, into the cream-dishes, which should never 

 exceed three inches in depth, though they maj' be 

 made so wide as to contain any quantity required, 

 and which ought to be perfectly clean, sweet, and 

 cool. If any ill flavor is apprehended fVom the 

 cows having eaten turnips, &c. the addition of 

 one-eighih part of boiling water to the milk, be- 

 fore it is poured into the dishes, will, in a great de- 

 gree, remove it; and, when filled, the dishes ought 

 to be set upon shelves, or dressers, there to con- 

 tinue till the cream is removed.* It should also 

 be observed ihat: — 



I. The milk first drawn from a cow is ahvays 

 thinner, and inftjrior in quality to that afterwards 

 obtained; and this richness increases progressively 

 to the very last drop that can be drawn from the 

 udder. 



II. The portion of cream rising first to the sur- 

 face, is richer in point of quality, and greater in 

 quantity, than that which rises in the second 

 equal space of time, and so of the rest; the cream 

 continually decreasing, and growing worse than 

 the preceding. 



III. Thick milk produces a smaller proportion of 

 cream than that which is thinner, thouiyh the 

 cream of the former is of a riclier qualit5^ If thick 

 milk, therefore, be diluted with water, it will afford 

 more cream than it would have yielded in its pure 

 state, though its quality will at the same time be 

 mferior. 



IV. ^lilk carried about in pails, or other vessels, 

 agitated and partly cooled belbre it be poured into 

 the milk-pans, never throws up such good and 

 plentiful cream as if it had been put into proper 



* Mr. Young has recommended the dairy-man to 

 boil two ounces of nitre in one quart of water, and to 

 bottle the mixture; of which, when cold, a large tea- 

 cup full is to be added to ten or twelve quarts of millc 

 as soon as it comes from the cow: the quantity of salt- 

 petre is to be increassdas the turnipsbecome stronger. 

 The feeding of cows with the roots alone will, as the 

 Earl of Egremont found, prevent the milk from hav- 

 ing a bad taste. Another method of remo\'ing any ill 

 flavor, arising from the cows having eaten turnips, 

 consists in warming the cream, and afterwards pouring 

 it into a vcssd of cold water; from which the cream is 

 to be skimmed as it rises to the surface, and thus the 

 unpleasant taste will be left behind in the water. 



vessels immediately after it came from the cow. 

 From these fundamental facts, some important 

 inferences, serving to direct the practice, may be 

 deduced, among which we can only notice the fol- 

 lowing: — 



1. It is evidently of much importance, that the 

 cows should be always milked as near the dairy as 

 possible, to prevent the necessity of carrying and 

 cooling the milk before it be put into th.? dishes; 

 and as cows are much hurt by fiir driving, it must 

 be a great advantage in a dairy-farm, wliere the 

 practice of hcuse-feedinff is not adopted, to have 

 the principal grass fields as near the dairy home- 

 steads as possible. 



2. The practice of putting the milk of all the 

 cows of a large dairy into one vessel, as it is milk- 

 ed, there to remain till the whole milking be finish- 

 ed, before any part is put into the milk-pans, 

 seems to be highly injudicious, not only on ac- 

 count of the loss sustained by the agitation and 

 cooliufr; but also because it prevents the owner of 

 the dairy from distinguishing the good from the 

 bad cow's milk, so as to enlighten his judgement 

 respecting the profit that he may derive from each. 

 A better practice, therefore, would be, to have the 

 milk drawn from each cow separately, put into 

 the creaming-pans as soon as milked, without be- 

 ing ever mixed with any other; and if these pans 

 were labelled with the cow's name, the careful dai* 

 would thus be enabled to remark, without any 

 trouble, the quantity of milk afforded by each cow 

 every day, as well as the peculiar qualities of the 

 milk. 



A small quantity of clear water, cold in sum- 

 mer, and warm in winter, put into the bottom of 

 the milk-pan, will be found to assist the rising of 

 the cream; but it is thought by som^e persons to be 

 prejudicial to the butlei". 



8. If it be intended to make butter of averyfine 

 quality, it will be advisable, not only to reject en- 

 tirelj- the milk of all those cows which yield cream 

 of a bad quality, but also, in every case, to keep 

 the milk that is first drawn from the cow, at each 

 milking, entirely separate ll-om that which is got 

 last; as it is obvious, that, if this be not done, the 

 quality of the butter must be greatly debased, 

 without much augmenting its quaiititj*. It is also 

 obvious, that the quality of the butter will be im- 

 proved in proportion to the sniallness of the quan- 

 tity of the last-drawn milk which is used, ns it in- 

 creases in richnr s- to the very last drop that can 

 be obtained from the udder at that time; so that 

 those who v/ish to be singularly nice, will do well 

 I to keep lor their best butter a proportion onlj- of the 

 last-draivn milk; in like manner of the Jir si-drawn 

 cream. 



It is a matter of some importance, to determine 

 in -Wiiat way the inferior milk, thus set apart when 

 fine butter is wanted, can be em])loyed whh the 

 irreatest profit. In the Il'g'iiands of Scotland, 

 the people have adopted a practice which answers 

 many good purposes. As the rearing of calves is 

 there a principal object with the ftirmer, every 

 cow is allowed to suckle her calf whh a portion of 

 her milk, the remainder only being empIo3"ed lor 

 the purposes of the dairy. To give the calf the 

 proportion allotted to it regularly, it is separated 

 fi'om the cow, and j)ut into a small enclosure made 



* A provincial word, denoting the person who ha« 

 the chief concern in a dairv- 



