222 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Jan. SO, 1829. 



guishing, and even dead, this is an accidental ef- 

 fect, and is no proof of the languor of the tree — 

 Finally, it is a sign of vigor wiicn branches are j 

 Been at the summit of the tree rising above the 

 others, and being much longer; but it is to be ob- 

 served, that all trees with round heads do not 

 throw out branches with equal force. 



Signs which indicate that the tree is viature. — 

 Generally the head of the tree is rounded ; the 

 ehoots diminish in length each year, and the far- 

 thest shoots add to the length of the branches 

 only by the length of the bud ; and the leares are 

 put forth only in the spring, and become yellow 

 in the autumn before those of vigorous trees, and 

 at this time the lower leaves are greener than the 

 upper. The branches incline towards the hori- 

 zon, and form angles sometimes of 60° or 70° 



These apparent signs, and the thinness of the lay- 

 er deposited by the sap, indicate that the tree 

 makes but small additions to itself, and now it 

 should be cut down. The nature of the soil 

 should be examined, as well as the kind of tree, 

 to enable a judgment whether the tree should be 

 left to increase still further, or whether it will be 

 more proper to fell it. An e.xact age cannot be 

 assigned for each species ; but it has been observ- 

 ed that an elm, situiited in an insulated plantation, 

 may be felled with advantage, when between .sev- 

 enty and eighty years of age. 



Signs of decay in a tree. When a tree hecoines 

 crowned (i. e. when the upper branches die,) it in- 

 fallibly indicates, especially for isolated trees, that 

 the central wood is undergoing alteration, and the 

 tree passing to decay. When the bark separates 

 from the wood, or when it is divided by separa- 

 tions which pass across it, the tree is in a consid- 

 erable state of degradation. When the bark is 

 loaded with moss, lichens, or fungi, or is marked 

 with black or red spots, these signs of alteration 

 in the bark justify the suspicions of alteration in 

 the wood witliin. When sajj.is seen to flow from 

 clefts in Ihe bark, it is a sign that the trees will 

 soon die. As to wounds or gutterings, these de- 

 fects may arise from local causes, and are not ne- 

 cessarily the results of old age. — Loudon's Mnp^. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 

 BOSTON, FRID.W, JAN. 30, 1829. 



MAKING BUTTER IN WINTER, &c. 



An English wrher assures us that "in some 

 places famous for making the best fresh winter 

 butter, they set the pot of cream in wann water so 

 long as till it has acquired that small degree of 

 sourness, which it veiy soon has in warm summer 

 weather." A method similar to this is pursued at 

 Orange, near Baltimore, on the farm of Robert 

 Smith, Esq. " During the coldest weather in win- 

 ter, in tlie course of less than twenty-four hours 

 after the milk has been taken from the cows, sweet 

 [not bitter] cream is produced, greater in quantity 

 and richer in quality than can be obtained in the 

 ordinary management in five days. So rich in- 

 deed is the cream that it is churned with as nuich 

 facility as is the cream of the Alderney cows, in 

 the summer season. The operation of churning 

 never exceeds twenty-five minutes. The butter 

 from such cream has iiever failed to be of a line 

 flavor and of a fine color. 



"The pans with tlie milk jvist taken from the 

 cows remain until a thin skin of cream is pro- 

 duced. They are then placed in hot water, and 



in about thirty minutes thereafter all the cream 



contained in the milk is formed on the surface 



The cream thus oljtained is managed as other rich 

 cream is in all well conducted dairies." 



The quality of the cream, and conseqLiently of 

 butter made from it, depends chiefly on the food 

 which is given to the cows. In Mr Smith's mode 

 of management the cows were fed with steamed 

 hay. But when they are fed with straw (especial- 

 ly barley straw) or with turnips, the butter is apt 

 to he bitter and white. To prevent the bitterness 

 the author of " Gleanings in Husbandry," &c. di- 

 rects as follows : " Instead of putting the cream 

 immediately as it is skimmed oft' the milk, into the 

 jar or other retaining vessel, let it be first poured 

 upon hot water, and stand till cool, then skim it o^" 

 the water." And in order to give color to winter 

 made butter it is directed to grate a well colored 

 carrot into a httle milk, which as soon as it is 

 stained is strained from the carrot through a sieve, 

 and then mixed with the cream." 



Deane's New England Farmer says " In warm 

 weather milk should remain in the pail till nearly 

 cool before it is strained ; hut in frosty weather it 

 should be strained immediately, and a small quan- 

 tity of boiling water may be mixed with it, which 

 will cause it to produce cream in gi-eat abundance, 

 and the more so if the pans or vats have a large 

 surface." 



Another mode of making butter is from scalded 

 cream as follows : 



As soon as the milk is taken from the cow, let 

 it be placed on a steady wood fire, free as possible 

 from smoke, and scalded for thirty minutes ; par- 

 ticular care must be taken not to allow it to boil. 

 It must then be placed in a cool situation, and on 

 the following day, a thick rich cream will appear 

 on the surface of the milk, (which is excellent for 

 dessert purposes) which may be taken off and 

 made into butter in the conimon way. This meth- 

 od is practised in England, and it is said that a 

 greater quantity of butter and of better quality can 

 be made by this than by the common mode. 



Butter may likewise be made in cold weather 

 by freezing the milk. This method has been re- 

 commended by E. H. Dekby, Esq. of Salem, and 

 published in the N. E. Farmer. We will give it 

 again for the benefit of recent subscribers, in the 

 words of Mr Derby. 



" The milk when taken from the cow is imme- 

 diately strained i.ito earthen pans, and set in the 

 coldest part of the house. As soon as the frost 

 begins to operate, a separation takes place ; the 

 cream rises in a thick paste to the top, and leaves 

 the milk without a particle of cream, frozen in the 

 pan. TUe creani is not so hard but that it can he 

 easily scrajied off with a spoon, down to the solid 

 ice ; it is then set aside until a suflicient quantity 

 is collected for a churning, when it is warmed just 

 so much as to thaw the cream sufficiently to put 

 it into the churn. I have never known it require 

 more than five minutes to convert cream into but- 

 ter after the churning had commenced. 



" I ought to state that I think this method inju- 

 rious to the cream for certain purposes ; such for 

 inslaiireas whip syllabubs, as my domestics found 

 after the cnam was mixed with other ingredients, 

 the least agitation brouglit it to butter." 



The author of Gleanings in Husbandry says " In 

 an experiment to know whether it was most prof- 

 itable to churn the whole milk, or only the creani, 

 which the milk produces, the milk of a particular 

 cow was selected, and it was foimd that one day's 



milk, churned by itself produced only three-fourths 

 of a pound of butter; and the cream of two day« 

 produced three pounds two ounces of butter; 

 from this it appears more profitable to collcH the cream 

 and churn it, than to churn the tchole milk together. 

 The cream butter is thought to be the richest of 

 the two, hut it will not keep so long sweet. Res- 

 pecting, however, the above experiment, in farther 

 explanation of the circumstances, it appears that 

 the one day's milk was collected from the noon of 

 one day to the morning of the next, then immedi- 

 ately churned, whereas the two days cream was 

 collected on a Thursday and Friday, and remain- 

 ed to ripen till the Monday following, which may, 

 perhaps, account in a great degree, for the differ- 

 ence of the produce." 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAKD FARMER. 



AGRICULTURAL AND GEOLOGICAL SUR- 

 VEYS. 



Among enhghtened minds there is but one 

 opinion of the importance of taking some measure 

 to explore our resources in the mineral kingdom. 

 Agriculture, intenial improvements, the useful arts 

 generally, and science, all unite their voice in 

 urging measures to give us a better knowledge of 

 what we possess, and of the best method of apply- 

 ing our possessions for tlic advancement of indi- 

 vidual and national prosperity. 



Two methods present themselves to efTect this 

 verj' important object. One method is, to employ 

 a pel-son, or persons, competent to the undertaking, 

 to make scientific and analytical examinations, 

 carefully and minutely noting, and faithfully re- 

 porting to the public the results. The other me- 

 thod is to commence the examinations in a less 

 fonnal way, through the agency of lyceums and 

 schools. After receiving a little aid bj' the means 

 of labelled specimens, and perhaps personal de- 

 scriptions and explanations, to have the citizens of 

 ei'ery town make the examinations and collections 

 for themselves. 



If the two methods are examined and compared, 

 the latter will probably be found, not only prefera- 

 ble, but infinitely preferable to the former. Among 

 the reasons which give it the preferenee are the 

 following, viz : 



1. It will cost less. In many places where 

 tlie subject has been introduced in this form, 

 young peojile and even children, have given their 

 cheeriul and efficient services to this important 

 object. They have explorefl minutely and thor- 

 oughly, the geology and mineralogy, not only of 

 the towns where they reside, liut of the surround- 

 ing countr)-. They have made large and extensive 

 collections, not only for themselves, but for their 

 friends in distant parts of the countrj'. And even 

 the lovers of science in Europe have received nu- 

 merous and repeated favors from their juvenile 

 coadjutors in this country. 



2. It will be most thorough and minute. On 

 this point, there is no comparison between tli3 

 advantages of the two methods. In the one case, 

 the whole depends upon the services of one, 

 or a few individuals. In the other, great num- 

 bers unite their services in every town where it is 

 undertaken. In the one case, it is done by a 

 stranger, wholly unacquainted with the interesting 

 deposits for exaniination. In the other, a great 

 part of the knowledge desired, is already in pos- 

 session, and needs only collecting and arranging. 

 In the one case, the services must be temporary, 

 and of short duration. In the other, they con- 



