MOIST CLIMATES. CLEANLINESS. 207 



the rising of the particles, tend to secure a cream free 

 from the cheesy matter, and such cream will make a 

 quality of butter both more delicate to the taste, and 

 less likely to become rancid, than any other. 



It has already been intimated, in another connection, 

 that neither the largest quantity nor the best quality 

 of milk is given by the cow till after she has had two 

 or three calves, or has arrived at the age of five or six 

 years. It may also be said, what cannot fail to have 

 attracted the attention of observing dairymen, that in 

 very dry seasons the quantity of milk yielded will gen- 

 erally be less, though the quality will be richer, than in 

 moist and mild seasons. 



Hence it may be inferred that moist climates are 

 much more favorable to the production of milk than dry 

 ones ; and this also has been frequently observed and 

 admitted to be a well-known fact. From these facts it 

 may be stated that dry and warm weather increases 

 the quantity of butter, but it is also true that cooler 

 weather produces a greater amount of cheese. A state 

 of pregnancy, it is obvious, must reduce the quality of 

 the milk, and cause it to yield less cream than before. 



In the treatment of milk the utmost cleanliness is es- 

 pecially requisite. The pails, the strainers, the pans, the 

 milk-room, and, in short, everything connected with the 

 dairy, must be kept neat and clean to an extent which 

 few but the very best dairy-women can appreciate. The 

 smallest portion of old milk left to sour in the strainers 

 or pans will be sure to taint them, and impart their bad 

 flavor to the new milk put into them. Every one is 

 familiar with the fact that an exceedingly small quantity 

 of yeast causes an active fermentation. The process is 

 a chemical one, and another familiar instance of it is 

 in the distillation of liquors and the brewing of beer, 

 where the malt creates a very active fermentation. In 



