210 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



milking, she finds the hands she once supposed so 

 strong, are weak, very weak, indeed. 



Now I ask, has not a woman a busy season ? Me- 

 thinks there are few, at this enlightened age, who are 

 ignorant of it, especially as it has been pictured in 

 such glowing colors by the " lords " of creation. 

 V^ould it not be unreasonable, as well as ridiculous, 

 in "house-cleaning" time, to ask the men folks to get 

 supper, and do up the dishes, because we had a piece 

 of work to be done, (for instance, to finish papering 

 or painting,) which must be done by Saturday night, 

 and we are almost " dead " from fatigue ? We doubt 

 not you would say, " The world was not made in a 

 day." 



Now, you must not work so late ; then you will 

 have time to do your milking — for this is not women 

 folks' work, any more than it is man's work to get 

 the supper and do up the dishes during our " busy 

 season." Neither can do this without neglecting their 

 separate duties; the men are needed out of doors, 

 and the women are needed in the house. Yet, if a 

 women chooses to milk, then let her milk; but, from 

 what experience I have had, I know there is seldom 

 to be found a woman who thinks it her place to miik, 

 though she may do it from necessity. 



I am a farmer's daughter, and have had my expe- 

 rience in milking; and this I know, that the " busy 

 season" comes quite often during the summer — and 

 perhaps this is why I have so little charity. How- 

 ever, I shall never admit that it is women's place to 

 " milk the cows during the busy season." 



Onondaga Hill, JV. Y. T M. W. 



In answer to the question, "Is it right," &c., al- 

 low me to say that I am most decidedly of the 

 opinion it is not, and will briefly give my reasons 

 for so thinking : 1. If the " busy season " calls a 

 woman to the milk-yard, will she not do the milking 

 for the whole jear ? Of course she will; for indus- 

 trio IS farmers find very little cessation in the labors 

 of the farm. 2. Admitting, for argument's sake, that 

 there are "busy seasons" for out-door workers, is it 

 not correspondingly so in-doors ? Most certainly it 

 is. Then, of course, there is no more reason for wo- 

 men milking one season of the year than another. 

 3. A woman is completely out of her sphere in the 

 milk-yard, with it wild cows and other unruly cattle, 

 and its nasty and unpleasant covering. In short, 

 milking is man^s work, and ought to be performed by 

 him, at all seasons. G. 



Clearville, C. W. 



BTJXTEK MAKING. 



Messrs. Editors: — In writing upon a subject like 

 this, upon which there are so many conflicting opin- 

 ions, I shall do as I think duty requires, and that is, 

 merely give my own. In the first place, I would 

 remark that I think there are very few people who 

 have been engaged in regular butter dairies, who do 

 not understand the main principles of making good 

 butter — that is, so far as attending to the milk and 

 cream, and churning are concerned. But I consider 

 there is a gi-eat amount of knowledge yet required 

 by many, and by far too many, to teach them that 

 when they have made a quantity of good butter, to 

 stop the process in time to allow it to remain good 

 until it can be taken to market and used. I think I 

 hazard nothing in saying, that no person who ever 



ate a particle of rancid (called by some strong or 

 frowy) butter, ever called it good. Now. all thig 

 rancid butter that is so much u?ed by people who 

 buy from the markets, (for the very good reason that 

 they are generally troubled to get any other,) was 

 once sweet, and probably very nearly all of it would 

 have been pronounced by good judges to be good 

 butter. Now, I have discovered the means of keep- 

 ing it good, or rather allowing it to remain good, any 

 reasonable length of time — say five years. 



Now for the process. Be neat and tidy abou^- 

 your milking; milk twice in twenty- four hours, at in* 

 tervals of twelve hours ; set in middling sized tin 

 pans, not over two-thirds full, especially in warm 

 weather; have your milk room large and airy, and OQ 

 the side or corner of the house from whence comes 

 the prevailing wind, or draft of air, in the latter part 

 of the day; have it shaded with trees, if you caa. 

 When you set your milk, be careful to set your fresh 

 milk over the previous mess, if it be warm weather, 

 (on the contrary if cool,) as the warmth of the new 

 mess will often affect the old. Skim as soon as the 

 milk becomes loppered, or thick. If the cream is 

 not to be churned immediately, set it in pans in a 

 cool place; if it is to stand more than one day, stir 

 it gently each day a little. Churn it at a tempera- 

 ture of about 55*^ Fah., moderately, so that it will 

 come to butter in fi-om thirty to forty minutes. If it 

 comes tolerably hard, churn it thoroughly after it 

 comes, as it will take less time to work it; if it comes 

 too soft to work conveniently, pour on cold water, 

 and set it in a cool place until it is right to work I 

 have no objection to your washing it, if you can get 

 out the buttermilk sooner, easier or cleaner by so 

 doing— for if the water does the butter no good, it 

 will be sure to do it no harm, and in warm weather 

 it generally expedites the process. Now mix in 

 evenly, and as quickly as possible, as much fine salt 

 as will render it palatable for table butter, and no 

 more (probably a trifle less) than one ounce to the 

 pound. Then immediatdy pack it in a wooden tab 

 or firkin. 



I fancy I hear many, who have made butt«r for 

 years, cry out, "Why, you have not told us to '^tvork 

 it over.'" Yery true, and I now tell you not to 

 " work it over," for this " working ox'er " is the sole 

 cause of ninety-nine hundredths of all this rancid 

 butter in the markets. Take notice: I wish it dis- 

 tinctly understood, that in no case should butter be 

 worked a particle after the salt is dissolved, (as the 

 term "worked over" is generally understood,) and all 

 the working that is done must be done before the 

 salt is introduced, except barely sufficient to work 

 the salt in evenly. This, to many, is probably a new 

 idea, so I suppo.se I cannot reasonably get off with- 

 out giving the reasons for not working it. There 

 have been various ways tried to preserve butter with 

 little or no salt. This is truly an age of invention, 

 and I would not risk myself so far as to say that it 

 cannot be prevented from becoming rancid by any 

 process other than salting. This much I can say: it 

 has never been done with any advantage to mankindj 

 and further, I know of no reason why butter is not 

 better, under any circumstances, with a moderate 

 quantity of salt. Now, I am not accusing any per- 

 son of not salting their butter; but the trouble is, 

 they allow it to dissolve, and after it becomes brine, 

 or pickle, they work it out again, for pickle is full as 

 easy to work out of butter as buttermilk or water; 



