1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



373? 



agemo.nl is strictly attended to, their whole efforts 

 to produce cither good butler or cheese, are in 

 vain. Ikil after all their care and precaution, their 

 expectations are sonieiinies disrippointed — the pro- 

 duce of this labor does not, in (|uality, come up to 

 what they anticipate, and for what eartiily reason 

 they are not able to tell. It appears to them, that 

 no neirlect on their part can be the cause— they 

 Iiave been careful that all the preliminaries and 

 the whole operation should be perlbrmed with 

 skill, but still they are disappointed— there is 

 wrong management somewhere, but it is beyond 

 their ken to discover it. There are some (ew 

 iacts on this subject, which we have learned from 

 agricultural books and papers, and confirmed by 

 experience, which perhaps are not so generally 

 known as they should be. 



That there is a great difference in the milk of 

 different cows, every one of limited experience 

 must have noticed, and that there is an equal dif- 

 ference in cream, and consequently in the butter 

 made from it, is a fact equally apparent to an ob- 

 server. 



If a cow is driven a long distance or driven fast 

 shortly before milking, it injures the quality of the 

 milk, and it will not produce so much or so good 

 cream. 



If milk is disturbed after it cools and before the 

 cream rises, it injures its quality and diminishes 

 the quantity. Care should, therefore, be taken to 

 strain the milk as soon as possible after it is drawn 

 from the cow and before it cools. If milk be kept 

 warm for any great iength of tiri<e after it is strain- 

 ed, the cream will not rise to any degree of perfec- 

 tion. Therefore, the quicker the milk cools after 

 it is in the pans, the greater quantity and better 

 quality of cream will you obtain. Wholesome 

 pure air is also an essential to raising cream m any 

 degree of perfection. 



Cream is lighter than milk, and the better the 

 quality of the cream the lighter it is. Consequent- 

 ly, the cream that first rises to the surface, is the 

 best. None but the richest and lightest particles 

 of cream can rise through thick milk ; therefore, 

 such milk gives cream of a superior quality, but 

 less in quantity than thin milk. But the milk is 

 better as it retains a portion of the cream in it. 

 The milk in the cow's udder is, in some degree, 

 similar to what it is after standing some time in 

 the pail. Tlie richest rises to the top, hence, the 

 first drawn is not so good, and will not produce so 

 much or so good cream as the last, and should be 

 set in separate pans. 



In order to produce a superior quality of butter, 

 the best cream should be obtained, and in no case 

 suflered to stand until it is mouldy, or even until it 

 is quite sour before it is churned. It should never 

 be diluted with water, or made any warmer than 

 the milk was when taken from the cow. When 

 the process of churning is commenced, it should 

 be steadily continued until butter is produced, 

 which should be immediately taken from the churn 

 and all the milk washed out that can be conve- 

 niently. If it is sufliciently hard, it is better to 

 free it from milk entirely ; but this is not always 

 the case. It should, therefore, be set in a cool 

 place, and worked thoroughly with the butter la- 

 dle the next day. Having entirely fi-eed it from 

 milk, prepare a mixture of ground alum salt, salt- 

 petre, and refined loaf sugar, in proportions of 

 three parts of salt to one of sugar, and work in 



thoroughly one and a half ounces to every pound 

 of butter, and pack it into jars and firkins covered 

 tight; and at the end of twelve months you will 

 find it sweet. 



From llie Genesee Farmer. 

 THE TOAB. 



There are few animals so universally disagree- 

 able, or which are so generally considered an in- 

 carnation of every thing vile, as the toad, biifo vul- 

 garis of the naturalist. Milton understood the 

 amount of the prejudice against the toad, when; 

 he placed the arch fiend in the disguise of this 

 reptile close to the ear of sleeping Eve, in Paradise; 

 lor we may be sure Lucifer would not have been 

 iiuilty of the indiscretion of approaching her in 

 in that form when she was waking. But though 

 the toad seems to have been marked out for the 

 hate and aversion of mankind, there are few rep- 

 tiles whose habits are more worthy of notice, none 

 that are more harmless, and few that render more 

 actual service to man. It is true, neither the frog 

 or the toad, particularly the latter, would be an 

 agreeable inmate of the " kneeding trough," or a 

 pleasant companion in the " bedchamber," but in 

 the field or in the garden, they devour multitudes 

 of insects that prey on the labors of man, while 

 they meddle with none of the plants or fruits that 

 require his protection or cultivation. 



With the approach of cold the toad retires info 

 the earth, and in a torpid stale awaits the return of 

 the spring. If surprised in this state by any 

 change in the face of the earth, that could have 

 the effect of placing hini beyond the influence of the 

 seasons, the toad, it is supposed, can remain unin- 

 jured in this state for an indefinite length of time ; 

 and in this way the discovery of frogs and toads, in 

 deep excavations, and even in solid blocks of 

 stone, has been attempted to be accounted for. The 

 celebrated geologist Buckland, however, seems to 

 doubt whether the evidence in proof of such dis- 

 coveries, is such as to warrant implicit confidence 

 in the details. We should imagine that if correct- 

 ly represented, the discovery of the one at Lock- 

 port, while excavating the limestone of the moun- 

 tain ridge, was as little liable to deception or doubt, 

 as such matters usually can be ; and we know 

 of no philosophical reason, why, if a toad can lie 

 torpid for one year, as has been proved by bury- 

 ing them in pots, they might not as well exist one 

 hundred, or a thousand, if the proper temperature 

 for ensuring torpidity was preserved. 



Some Avriters have denied that the toad, under 

 any circumstances, was poisonous ; but this is a 

 mistake. When in danger, or when irritated, the 

 tubercular elevations on the backs and sides, have 

 the power of secreting a milky fluid, as every one 

 may readily ascertain, and ever}' school-boy who 

 is in the habit of pelting them wilh stones well 

 knows. This fluid, given for defence, as we sup- 

 pose, is decidedly poisonous, as its efit;cts on cats, 

 and other animals, fully prove. This is the only 

 power of injuring it possesses ; and this secretory 

 and offensive power appears to reside in the skin, 

 as the animal is li-equently skinned and sold with 

 the frog in the markets of European cities, for food, 

 and eaten with impnnitJ^ 

 Toads after the time of breeding is over, forsake 



