110 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



sayg; the most important of whiqji detail farm experi- 

 ments of manuring, tilling, culture and crops ; but 

 there are others not less interesting, and hardly less 

 important to domestic comfort on the farm. The 

 best of them is the one over the signature of "A 

 Mother," and a true mother she undoubtedly is. I 

 would bet a cookej that her daughters are not of the 

 number of those scary creatures, who are " afraid of 

 seeing their own shadows in the milking yard." She 

 evidently does not feel at all scandalized atGREELKy's 

 comments on "Country Cooking." My word for it, her 

 breakfast cakes, well made aromatic Java, and white 

 table cloth, cannot be eclipsed even in Gotham. Me- 

 thinks a boy who is so fortunate as to have such a 

 mother will always leave his stable boots outside the 

 kitchen door. It is important io detailing those farm 

 experiments in manuring and cultivating crops, that 

 the surface and subsoil should be described, and also 

 whether the field is either surface drained or undef- 

 drained, or both, which is still better. 



The Winter. — December and January were the 

 coldest months we have had here since my recollec- 

 tion, although the mercury sunk but one night as low 

 as 24° below zero, and on very few nights before or 

 after the 18th January, was it more than 2'^ or 3° be- 

 low; generally many degrees above. We have had 

 none too much snow, sleighing was good from the 

 middle of December to the 6th of February. Fqb- 

 r.iary was one continued thaw night and day, the 

 wheat looked well as the snow left it, and the grass 

 grew in sheltered slopes, putting on its richest green. 

 March came in like a lion, but a north-east snow storm 

 covered the wheat again like a garment, so that al- 

 though the mercuiy fell to 5° above zero on the mor- 

 ning of the 2d, and it was now again on the morning 

 of the 7th as low as 7° above; the ground is but lit- 

 tle frozen, and the promise of the wheat crop was 

 never better. Our Isabella grape vines are safe. 



GU.VNO AND COKOENTRATED MaNPRES. It IS truly 



coinfortable to those who have been pained so often 

 with the idea of the destruction and waste of organic 

 matter in our great cities, which if persisted in must 

 eventually bring sterility to our rural domains, to read 

 the numerous competing advertisements of highly con- 

 centrated manures for sale at New York, all, except 

 Guano, made from the night soil, dead animals, and 

 offal of the city. A new company at Brooklyn adver- 

 tises Tafeu, which may be supposed to be still richer 

 in ammonia salts, than that of her sister city, where 

 that great diluant and solvent Croton water, is in such 

 active force; but all depends on the skill and honor 

 of the manufacturer. Much praise is due to Meinheer 

 ScnwAGER for his unique enterprise in turning the lit- 

 tle sea girt barren Island into a laboratory of fixed 

 salts, made from the excrements of defunct animals, 

 and offal of the city. Bat methinks if he looks to his 

 permanent interest, he will not set the price above 

 that of Peruvian guano ; true the latter holds its am- 

 monia as a volatile carbonate,* but some of our 



best practical farmers prefer stable manure after 

 it has arrived at that same ripe and volatile con- 

 dition. 



The Reduction of the Tariff on Imposts by Con- 

 gress.-— While this important concession to free-trade. 

 is an honor to the improved intelligence of the coun- 

 try, it cannot but fail to redound to both our agri- 

 cultural and manufacturing interests. Our carpet 

 manufacturers, so long discouraged by taxation, now 

 get their coarse wool and dye-stuffs free; and the 

 farmers best customers, the manufacturers of the finer 

 fabrics of wool, have their dye-stuffs free;, hence they 

 will be better able to compete with the foreign man- 

 ufacturer, and to shut out of the country much of that 

 loool in the cloth, which will be a true protection to 

 our fine wool growers. S. W. 



Waterloo, JV. Y. 



* Onr esteemed correspondent will permit na to ssvy that this idea, 

 ihongh held by nearly all agricultural writera, is without founda- 

 tion. A good, sound sample of Peruvian guano eeldom containB as 

 muili M ace per •^ent of carbonate of ammonia. If it contains two 

 or three per jent of ammonia in tho form of a carbonate, it is safe 

 to asBume that the guano his been damaged by water. The am- 

 monia of PeruWan guano eiisLs in the form of urea, urate of am- 

 monia and other fixed salta, and ig converted into the carbonate of 

 ammonia by fermentation. Keep guano dry, and there will be but 

 little loss of ammonia, however^much it is exposed to the air. If 

 it in moistened and placed in a warm temperature, rapid fermenta- 

 tiou soon takes place, Mrboii»te of aouaoei* ia forme<l Mid great 



lOM it ■ttftMMd,— SdS. 



TEN RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN MAKING BUTTER. 



In making good butter there are several nice ope- 

 rations to be gone through with, which require an ' 

 eye to cleanliness, forethought, and some little expe- 

 rience. 



1. On milking clean, fast, yet gently, regularly 

 twice a day, depends the success of the dairym.an. 

 Bad milkers should not be tolerated in a herd; better 

 pay 'double the price for good ones. 



2. Straining is quite simple, but it should be borne 

 in mind that two pans about half full each will pr> 

 dnce a greater amount of cream than the same milk 

 if in but one pan; the reason of this is the greater .^ 

 surface. 



3. Scalding is quite an important feature in the 

 way of making butter in cool weather ; the cream 

 rises much quicker, milk keeps sweet longer, the but- 

 ter is of a better color, and churns in one-half the 

 time. 



4. Skimming shonld always be done before the milk 

 becomes loppered ; otherwise much of the cream turns 

 into whey and is lost. 



5. Churning, whether by hand or otherwise, should 

 occupy forty or fifty minutes. 



6. Washing in cold soft water is one of its pre- 

 serving qualities, and should be continued until it 

 shows no color of the milk by the use of the ladle ; 

 very hard water is highly charged with lime, and must 

 in a measure impart to it alkaline properties. 



7. Salting is necessarily done with the best kind of 

 ground salt ; the quantity varies according to the 

 state it is taken from the churn ; if soft, more — if 

 hai-d, less ; always taking the taste for the surest 

 guide. 



8. First working, after about twenty-four honrs, is 

 for the purpose of giving it a greater compactness. ^ 



0. Second working takes place at the time of pack- 

 ing, and when the butter has dissolved the salt, that 

 the brine may be worked out. 



10. Packing is done with the hands or with a but- 

 ter-mall; and when butter is put into wooden vessels, 

 they should be soaked two or three days in strong 

 brine before using. After each packing, cover the 

 butter with a wet cloth, and put a layer of salt upon 

 it ; in this way the salt can easily be removed at ' 

 any time, by simply taking hold of the edges of the 

 cloth. 



Butter made in this way will keep any length of 

 lime required. J. 0^ Adams. 



Seymour, Allegtmy Co , A*. T. 



