268 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



quite deserves the great share of honors which 

 have been awarded him." 



The Society offered some special prizes for "short- 

 wools other than South Downs," and there were 128 

 entries in this new class, principally Hampshire and 

 Shropshire Downs. Both breeds are hardier,^ and 

 somewhat larger than the true South Down, with a 

 greater aptitude to fatten, and are rapidly gaining 

 favor. W. Humphrey of Wantage, was the most 

 successful exhibitor of the Hampshire, and George 

 Adney of Harley, Salop, of the Shropshire Downs. 



In Pigs the show was very large. The Classification 

 is into Large and Small Breeds, respectively, but 

 the smaller sorts exhibited are increasing in size irom 

 year to year so that this description will have to be 

 abandoned. " The prevaihng kinds," says the Jlgri- 

 ricultural Gazette, " are the Cumberland White and 

 the Essex Black commonly known as the Fisher 

 Hobbs breed. The prizes are awarded chiefly to 

 the White breed, Mr. Watson, of Wigton, Cumber- 

 land, being especially successful." 



The show of horses was large but " decidedly in- 

 ferior to that of last year," and somewhat to our sur- 

 prise, the large, heavy horses seem to have been the 

 favorites. 



In the several classes of cattle, horses, sheep and 

 pigs there were twelve hundred animals exhibited 

 against nine hundred last year. The show of Imple- 

 ments was also very large but we see nothing men- 

 tioned in it that would be of much interest to Ame- 

 rican readers. Mr. Cokmick's machine, made by 

 BuKGKss & Key took the first premium as a Keaper, 

 and the "American Eagle" the first prize as a Mowing 

 Machine. The Society had offered a prize of £500 

 for a steam plow, but though there were several en- 

 tries, none of them seem to have made good work, 

 and it is thought the premium will not be awarded. 

 A good steam plow has yet to be invented. 



TEN ESSENIIALS TO GOOD FAEMIFG. " 



According to J. J. Thomas' prize essay on " Farm 

 Management," the principal essentials to good farm 

 management are : 



1. Capital enough to buy the farm and stock it 

 well. 



2. The judicious selection of a farm of a size com- 

 patible with these requisites. 



3. To lay it out. in the best manner. 



4. To provide it well with fences, gates and build- 



5. The selection of the best animals, and the best 

 implements that can be procui'ed at a reasonable 



6. To bring the soil into good condition by drain- 

 ing, manuring and good culture. 



7. A good rotation of crops covering every part 

 of it 



8. A systematic arrangement of all operations, so 

 that there chall be no clashing or confusion. 



9. Diligence. 



10. Good management of business afiairs, buying, 

 gelling, etc. 



Will aome of our numerous corregpondents give 

 us a short and sepai-ate treatise on each of these es- 

 seEtiala to successful agriculture ? 



BTJTIER MAKING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



We have been much interested in* reading the re- 

 ports of Committees on Dairy Products exhibited at 

 the various County Agricultural Societies in Massa- 

 chusetts, as well as the statements of the successful 

 exhibitors in regard to their process of manufacture. 

 We make a few extracts from the reports on butter. 



The Cream Should be Removed before the Mile 

 Sours. — The Committee of the Middlesex County 

 Society remark : " The best butter is made from 

 cream which is taken off the milk at the end of 

 twenty-four hours. Allow the same milk to stand 

 twenty-four hours longer, the milk skimmed and the 

 cream churned, and it will produce very poor butter — 

 tasteless, and about the color of cheese-curd. (The 

 above remarks apply to the warm season of the year.) 

 The proportion of butter made from the two skim- 

 mings of the milk, will be the first, two thirds; the 

 second, one-third; and by putting the two together, 

 you would increase the quantity but diminish th® 

 quality. Butter commanding twenty-five cents per 

 pound, by the union of the two, would readily bring 

 thhty-seven cents per pound by leaving off the latter. 

 Probably one of the greatest causes why there is so 

 much poor butter brought into market, is, the cream 

 is suffered to stand too long upon the milk before it 

 is skimmed; and it would not be too bold to assert, 

 that one-half of the butter that is made in the warm 

 season of the year, is made from the cream taken 

 from sour milk. When the good dairy-woman dis- 

 covers little bunches, or blotches, arising on her 

 cream, the sooner the cream is removed from the 

 milk the better." 



Mrs. Sarah L. Ridgeway, to whom the first pre- 

 mium was awarded at the Essex County Fair, gives 

 the following account of her process for butter 

 making, which she has adopted for the last twenty 

 years: "The milk is strained into nicely scalded tin 

 pans, and allowed to stand thirty sis hours in a well 

 ventilated cellar, when it is skimmed into tin pails, 

 and stirred morning and evening for two or three 

 days, as most convenient, when it is churned and well 

 washed with cold water, and salted to taste. After 

 standing a sufiQcient length of time for the salt to 

 dissolve, it is well worked, more salt added, if needed, 

 as some will naturally work out, and then made into 

 balls for the market, without coloring or ornament 

 If the weather is quite warm, I use the ladle to work 

 it with; if not, the hands." 



A. H. Fay, who received the first premium at the 

 Worcester West Exhibition, says : " My manner of 

 making butter is to set the milk in tin pans, about 

 half full, raised from the shelf on two narrow sticks, 

 and let it stand not over four meals. The cream 

 should be taken from the milk while sweet, and stand 

 not over three days, and stir it every day until 

 churned. After churning, work the butter-milk out 

 as much as possible before salting. No washing is 

 necessary to make the butter keep well, for it will 

 keep better without. About one ounce of salt to a 

 pound of butter is required to salt it. It should be 

 worked over the second day after churning, and put 

 down in stone jars and covered close from the air — 

 kept above in the winter, and in a cool, dry cellar k 

 the summer, and it will keep the year round. 



Mr. Willard Wood, who received the first pre- 

 mium at the Plymouth County Fair, says: "I set my 

 milk in tin pans, and let it stand from twenty four t« 



