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FARMERS' REGISTER— BOOK FARMING. 



mouth of which should be covered with paper, 

 which should remain till the bag is used a year or 

 so after. When the rennet is wanted, the bag is 

 taken out of the jar, a handful of each of the 

 leaves of the sweet-briar, the dog-rose, and the 

 braniljje, are boiled together for filteen minutes in 

 a gallon of water, into which three or four hand- 

 fuls of salt have been thrown, and when the liquid 

 has been strained and allowed to cool, the bag is 

 put into it, and the longer it remains in the liquid, 

 the stronger and better will the rennet be. A wine 

 half i;int"(two gills) of that liquor will, Mr. Mar- 

 shall thinks, coagulate filly gallons (a hundred 

 Scottish pints) of milk; and he says the coagulum 

 is tbrmed in an liour or two hours and a half, and 

 sometimes not till three hours after the rennet is 

 mixed with the milk. 



Rennet is prepared, however, in a very difl'erent 

 way in Scotland. So far from throwing away the 

 curdled milk that may happen to be in the stomach 

 of the calf, when killed, or washing away the 

 chyle, both are caretlilly preserved, and they are 

 found to strengthen and enrich the rennet. It is, 

 in fact, the chyle formed by the gastric juice mix- 

 ing with the milk in the stomach of the animal 

 that torms the coagulum; and instead of throwing 

 that away, as Mr. Marshall directs to be done, 

 the Scottish dairymaids are at pains to preserve 

 and increase the curdled milk, by giving the calves 

 as much milk as they can drink a few hours be- 

 fore they are killed. 



When the stomach is removed from the calf, it 

 is examined, and all impurities, such as straws 

 and other food than milk, are carefully removed. 

 A considerable quantity of salt (two handfuls at 

 least) is put into the bag and on the outside of it, 

 and being rolled up, it is hung near a fire to dry; 

 and it is understood to improve by hanging a year 

 or more before it is used. 



When rennet is wanted, the dried bag is cut 

 into small pieces, and put into a jar with a handful 

 or two of salt, and a quantity of water that has 

 been boiled, and cooled to about 65°; or new 

 whey taken Irom the curd, is poured on the bag in 

 the jar. If the bag is that of a very j-oung calf, 

 a quart of whey or water will be sufficient; but if 

 the calf has been fed for some time, twice that 

 quantity of licjuid may be applied. The infiasion 

 may be allowed to stand three days or so in the 

 jar, when the liquid is drawn off, and about an 

 English pint (four gills) of water or whey is pour- 

 ed on the bag in the jar, and allowed to remain two 

 days. Both these portions of liquid are mixed, 

 and strained to remove impurhies; the liquor is put 

 into clean bottles to be used as rennet, and the bag 

 is thrown away. The rennet, so prepared, may 

 be used immediately, or be kept for several months, 

 as may be convenient. Some put about a dram 

 glassful of whisky into the infusion. 



When the rennet is rightly made, a table-spoon- 

 ful of the liquid will coagulate sixty Scottish pints 

 (120 quarts) of milk in ten or fifteen minutes. I 

 have known milk sufficient to make thirty stones 

 of cheese coagulated by rennet made from the sto- 

 mach of one calf 



Mr. Marshall says, that, when the curdled milk 

 in the stomach of the calf is used in making ren- 

 net, it gives the cheese a harsh taste. But every 

 person who knows any thing about the quality of 

 cheese must know, that the Scottit-h cheese is sel- 

 dom so harsh or eharp tasted as the English. I 



am also disposed to believe that the leaves of the 

 plant which have been mentioned, and of which 

 infusions are mixed into the English rennet, must 

 have the eflect to make the cheese swell; while 

 the flavor they must impart to the cheese does not 

 appear very prepossessing. 



From the Cultivator. 

 BOOK FAK31IJVG. 



We have been told of the following facts, and 

 have only to regret that the like to them are not of 

 more frequent occurrence. A number of intelli- 

 gent farmers residing in a neighborhood, some- 

 where, we believe, in Dutchess county, concluded 

 to form a farmer's as.sociation — to make a common 

 stock of their knowledge and observation — be- 

 lieving that knowledge, like money, would be pro- 

 ductive in proportion to the capital. It was known 

 that A. raised the best horses, and got the best 

 price for them; that B. was far more successful in 

 his wheat and com crops than his neighbors; that 

 C. reared the finest neat cattle, and kept the best 

 cows and oxen; that D. excelled in sheep hus- 

 bandry; and, in short, that some individual excel- 

 led the rest in a particular branch of husbandry. 

 Each possessed not only some excellence, but 

 some glaring defect in his management. Thus 

 the farm stock of one were sickly, and many died, 

 because the owner did not know how to manage 

 them; another's farm had become dreadfully im- 

 poverished, from neglecting the manure, and from 

 close cropping; while the farm of a third was 

 neither fit for plough land, or for sweet grass, on 

 account of the water which every where saturated 

 the soil, and rendered it poachy, cold and sour. 

 Unlike too many now a days, each of these men 

 was conscious he could learn much from his neigh- 

 bor's practice, which would enable him to manage 

 his farm with more profit — and that he could teach 

 his neighbors something in return. These expec- 

 tations were amply realized; but as the members 

 lived somewhat remote, it struck them that it 

 would save much time, and be a more sure way of 

 rendering the improvements of all available to 

 each, if they were to write down their practice in 

 the particular branch in which they respectively 

 excelled, and the principles, or science, upon 

 which that practice was based. This was accord- 

 ingly done; and for their mutual convenience, as 

 well as for the benefit of others, the whole was 

 printed, and these men were afterwards denomi- 

 nated, by some of their envious neighbors, hook 

 farmers, because they took their instructions from 

 a printed book. This did not disturb them: for 

 they got from their book the secrets by which the 

 others had excelled in their particular department, 

 and each profited by the good management of his 

 neighbors. The consequence was, that all gained 

 by the interchange. The defects of all were 

 speedily remedied, and in a few years prosperity 

 crowned their labors; and they now exhibit, we 

 are told, the best models of profitable farming any 

 where to be found in the land; and they enjoy the 

 felicity of reflecting, that while they have greatly 

 benefited themselves andtheirfamilies, they have, 

 by their example and instruction, done much good 

 to others. They have afforded a fair illustration 

 of the advantages of book farming, when com- 

 ^bined with intelligent practice. 



Were this example extended to the farming 



