THE GENESEE FARMER.' 



19 



cows AND BUTTER MAKING 



Eds. Farmer: — 'I'he first cow we ever owned, (I 

 begin wi'.hout ytn'tuce, for I know you dislike them,) 

 is a two year old hi'il'er bon^lit this spring, for which 

 was given "a promise to pay," $20. She is native 

 breed, her mother a good milker, light red with some 

 white spot.s and we call her '-liuby."' ,^\Ve also 

 " took" a three year old farrow heifer, a strongly 

 marked cross of the Devon. Iler milk, we turned 

 toward keeping two calves, bought of another resi- 

 dent of the farm, until the 10th of July, after that 

 keeping them ourselves on skimmed milk. The De- 

 VOH answers to the name of " Dora." " Ruby" had a 

 small calf the 13th of June — this was allowed to suck 

 all her milk until July 10th, when it was sold for 

 $2 — less, I think, ihau its market value. 



Then commenced our butter making. Both cows 

 were young, one farrow, and the pastures shortened 

 by the drouth; so they gave only from seven to eight 

 quarts at a milking. "Ruby's" mother, five years 

 old, kept in the same pasture, gave double the quan- 

 tity. The milk was strained in two large sized tin 

 pans, and stood about two inches deep therein. It 

 was set in a milk room, built of stone and floored 

 with water lime, and well shaded with trees. In the 

 warmest weather, it was allowed to stand about 48 

 hours before skimming; in cooler, it sometimes stood 

 three days, or 72 hours. We churned in a common 

 dash churn, about cnce in four or five days — never 

 allowing the cream to accumulate over a week. But- 

 ter generally came in about 40 minutes, less or more, 

 according to the temperature of the cream. The 

 butter w'os salted without w'ashing — worked twice 

 acd packed in stone crocks, containing from three to 

 five gallons, or made in rolls, later in the season. The 

 salt used was the common Onondaga, worked in 

 thoroughly and largely at the first working, and out, 

 or a portion of it, with the remaining buttermilk, at 

 the second. Our customers ask for plenty of salt in 

 their butter. No other use was made of the milk 

 than for butter making; so we are able to give a full 

 account of the product. It would be more complete 

 and satisfactory, had we weighed or measured the 

 milk as drawn from thecovv^. 



For six months, (April 2-lth to Oct. 24th,) we 

 ca-l-culate receipts and expenses as follows : — 



Interest on Ruby's cost, $20,6 moa., $0 70 

 Use of Dora, $G a year, 3 00 



Keeping of both, ;J7i]- ets. per week, 10 75 

 Interest on cost, and use of dairy 



utensils, 30 



Increase in value of calves fed on Do- 

 ra's millv, to June 10, afterwards on 

 skimmed milk. $5 00 



Ruby's calf, sold at four weeks old, 2 00 

 2oS)s butter, at IC cents per pound, 4 00 

 521tt.s " 22 " •' 11 50- 



$14_75 



$22 50 



Left to pay for labor of making, &c., $ 7 75 



Several things on both sides are not taken into 

 consideration — among them, money to pay for " Ru- 

 by" — on the other hand, the increase in the value of 

 the GOVTS. 



'There is a'good chance to learn " the wrinkles" of 

 making good butter, if one will " take an interest" in 

 trj'ing to do so. We have made some progress, even 

 in a single six months, and hope to make still further 

 improvements. Our butter commands the highest 



market price — it looks, tastes, and keeps well, anil 

 that is good encouragement. With more and older 

 cows, and larger experience, we hope to rival the befat 

 dairymen. 



In the management of millc, we think it best to set 

 it in shallow pans, and keep it unstirred until sour 

 and thick, — then the cream rises most perfectly. Jn 

 warm weather, this takes place in from 24 to 36 

 hours, and a temperature is desirable when milk will 

 thicken in 48 hours. One diiliculty in making good 

 butter in winter, is, that the cream generally rises so 

 slowly, as to become crusted over with a kind of 

 sour, cheesy matter. 



The cream should be stirred daily, and in summer 

 it is better not to add the last skimming to the 

 churning, but keep it until the next. We never 

 churn sweet cream. The cream should be "just a 

 little warm to the fingc-r," when it is placed in the 

 churn, and the butter will come in from 20 to 30 

 minutes — and be hard and yellow. AVork it over 

 sufficiently to get the salt thoroughly mixed with the 

 butter, smooth it down, and set it in the cellar two 

 or three days. Then work it again enough to get 

 out all the buttermilk, and no more, and pack down 

 or form into rolls. The latter are preferred, at some 

 seasons of the year, by grocerymen. 



I did not think to trouble you with so long a 

 storv, and find I might say still more to the point, 

 but will defer it until the end of another three or six 

 months -A- B. B. 



EACK FOR FEEDING SHEEP. 



The rack of which I send you a rough sketch, is 

 built on runners, made of 3 inch plank, 14 feet long, 

 and 4 feet wide ; sleepers, 4 by 4, are framed into 

 the runners ; the floor of the rack nailed to them. 

 A post, 3 by 3 inches, at each corner. On the inside 



Sketch of a Sheep Back 



of the rack the boards are made fast to them. The 

 bottom boards 4 feet wide, the space 9 inches. The 

 top board 16 or 18 inches ; the edge of the boards 

 rounded and mads smooth. To cli.'ibe this space, 

 boards 10 or 12 inches wide should be used, with 

 the edges made smooth, nailed on the outside. The 

 space for each sheep's head will be 7 by 9 inches. 

 The roof is made of boards and small rafters, 2 by 

 2 inches. One half of one side of the roof must be 

 hung by strap hinges, (to prevent its warping,) that 

 can turn up, with a small latch to hold it up when 

 filling with hay. An eave-trough, made of two 

 boards, to carry the water off, can be hung at each 

 corner with old chains on hooks, and let down and, 

 answer a good purpose to feed grain in. 



This kind of a rack will ktep the hay dry and the 

 sheep from trampling it under foot, and can be drawn 

 to any part of the farm with a yoke of oxen or a 

 pair of horses. I have used one for years, and think 

 it preferable to any kind I know, A. 11. — Lenon, 

 Ohio 



