THE DAIRY. 397 



HAMPSHIRE. 



Report of the Committee. 



Butter. — The display of butter at the last Hampshire Agri- 

 cultural Fair was the finest ever seen in the Connecticut Valley. 

 There were thirty-eight entries, making an aggregate of four 

 hundred and ten pounds. The committee were fully con- 

 vinced, immediately after commencing their labor, of the diffi- 

 cult duty they had to perform, viz. : to select eight parcels, 

 deemed the best, for which the society had offered as many 

 different premiums, the highest being four dollars, and the low- 

 est fifty cents. The committee spent nearly half a day in 

 tasting and re-tasting, comparing and re-comparing, in order to 

 do justice, according to their best judgment, to all the competi- 

 tors who had complied with the rules of the society. Where 

 all was so nice, it was no easy matter to do justice to all, with 

 the limited number of premiums to be awarded. 



Instead of publishing the statements furnished by the com- 

 petitors and exhibitors, the chairman of the committee decided 

 that it would be more acceptable to butter-makers and mem- 

 bers of the society generally, to have some facts and sugges- 

 tions presented — such as experience and observation have 

 developed and recorded. 



First, then, as to cows. The different breeders and dealers 

 in stock are far from being agreed as to which variety of all 

 is the best. Some prefer the Durham cow, others the York- 

 shire, the Devon, the Ayrshire, the Staffordshire, the Kerry, of 

 Ireland, and the Alderney. The latter is universally admitted 

 to produce the richest milk in quality. The Alderneys, or im- 

 proved Gurnseys, have been known to give twenty-six quarts of 

 milk apiece, per day ; the cream of which has produced four- 

 teen pounds of butter per week. 



A full bred Durham has been known to produce twenty-eight 

 quarts a day, and eighteen pounds and six ounces of butter per 

 week. A test was made at Liverpool, a few years since, of the 

 qualities of milk, with the following results : — 



Yorkshire and common cows, eight per cent, of cream j 



