vol,, XVI. NU. 50. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



397 



From the Cultivator. 



TO THE DAIRY WOMEN OF OUR COUN- 

 TRY. 



Tlie undersigned, dealers in butter and cheese, 

 would cnll the attention of the manufacturers of 

 these articles in the iniildle and western part of 

 this state, to the existence of jjeneral aiirl just com- 

 plaints in regard to the quality and condition of 

 both butter and cheese made in such sections, to- 

 gether with the packages In view of this fact, 

 and to encourage an improvement that will restore 

 and increase the reputation formerly enjoyed by 

 produceis of those articles, they would respect- 

 fully submit to their consideration, the following 

 views, relative first to the manufacture of cheese: 

 fn all cases, the milk and rennet should he per- 

 fectly sweet: as much of the animal heat should 

 be evaporated from the inilk as time will admit; 

 when the curd is properly prod\iced, break it up 

 very fine, cook it well, hut do not heat it so mncli 

 as to start the oil in the curd ; season it with clean 

 fine salt, pure from lime ; put the cheese in the 

 press cool ; press it hard, in order to extract all 

 the whey from the middle before the outside clo- 

 ses tight ; continue to press for two days ; from 

 the press put a dry cloth over it for a few hours 

 until a rhind is formed — then put on Aimatto, dis- 

 solved in strong lye; cover again with cloth until 

 next day ; after the cloth is removed, put on a 

 thick strong coat of melted bees-wax and lard, or 

 butter ; get a bright smooth surface, and keep 

 one, by constant rubbing and turning, until the 

 cheese is perfectly cured. When put in the casks 

 let it always be done in cool dry weather. All 

 cheese should be slightly colored with Annatto in 

 the milk, and such as do not exceed fifty pounds 

 in weight, should be made a bright orange color 

 — cheese of this description being generally in 

 good demand for the southern markets. Finally, 

 there should never be any late cheese. In no 

 case should cheese be sent to market made after 

 the 15th day of September, nor shoidd it be sent 

 even thus late, unless the utmost pains is taken 

 with it, and unless well cured by a fire. It is of 

 the greatest ini|)ortance to the dairying interest, 

 that these rules, in regard to late cheese, be strictly 

 conformed to ; for this kind of cheese not only 

 destroys itself and greatly injures the market for a 

 good article at the present time, but should the 

 practice of making and sending it be persisted in, 

 it will eventually destroy the business. To pre- 

 vent any loss to the farmer, the undersigned would 

 advise them to make butter after the 15th of Sep- 

 tember. Butter made after this time always com- 

 manding a fair price. 



2nd. Of cheese casks. — They should be smooth- 

 ly and well made of good seasoned wood, not less 

 than half an inch in thickness for small casks, 

 and five-eights of an inch for large casks ; the 

 heads of all large casks should be at least five- 

 liights of an inch in thickness, to prevent them 

 from springing ; the staves should be narrow, in 

 order to preserve their places and keep the cask 

 round ; there should be always a fair bilge, with 

 at least eight good substantial hoops, (maple hoops 

 should never be used ;) the quarter hoops should 

 never be put down so low on the casks as to allow 

 the staves to spring out when the head hoops are 

 taken off; the other hoops should all be securely 

 nailed. 



3il. Of butter. — In all cases where it is made 

 from cream, it should be churned before the deli- 



cious flavor is lost, or any bad flavor is induced ; 

 avoid too much heat in the proci.'ss,* as this cau- 

 ses Ihe butter to be soft, and of fine grain, bor- 

 dering on a waxy character; never fail to extract 

 every particle of milk before it is laid down ; sea- 

 son it with rectified fine salt, or ground solar salt, 

 and work in no more of it than will be entirely 

 dissolved — where any of it is left undissolved, it 

 destroys that delicate rosy flavor which renders 

 the article most desirable, and its value dimin- 

 ishes in proportion to the excess of salt — this be- 

 ing one of the greatest objections to western but- 

 ter. 



4th. Of Ihe packages. — The imdersigiied would 

 recommend two kinds, viz: firkins and Welch 

 tubs. The firkins should be made of seasoned 

 white oak and walnut hoops. Where white oak 

 is not to be had, they should be made of heart 

 stuflr" of white ash, and hoops of white or black 

 ash, or elm, of good shape, and perfectly smooth ; 

 have on at least ten good hoops, smoothly shaved ; 

 be perfectly tight, and contain 100 lbs. Welch 

 tubs should be made of seasoned white ash, hoop- 

 ed with seven substantial split ash hoops, smooth- 

 ly shaved, to contain 100 to 120 lbs. Roth firkins 

 and tubs should be soaked with a strong pickle 

 in order to saturate the wood before the butter is 

 laid down, (but never put any salt at the bottom or 

 on the top of the butter.) Great care should be 

 taken to put it <iown solid ; never fill the packages 

 so full as to have the head or cover touch the but- 

 ter, and always make a smooth surface on the top 

 with the ladle. The tubs and firkins should be 

 weighed, and the actual dry weight marked upon 

 them with a marking iron in such a manner as 

 not to be obliterated ; and let thera always be 

 found accurate. 



In conclusion the undersigned give it as their 

 decided opinion, that the manufacturers of cheese 

 and butler in the middle and western parts of this 

 state, who will observe tlJe above rules, and unite 

 with the observance a desire to make their articles 

 of the first quality, after a little experience, will 

 soon bo able to compete with any part of the 

 United States, both in quality and prices, at home 

 or abroad. Possessing, as these manufacturers 

 undoubtedly do, — one of the finest soils, and best 

 adapted to grazing of any in our country, they 

 may produce the article in the greatest perfection. 

 On this, as well as other accounts, the undersigned 

 wish to impress upon their minds the importance 

 of this subject, and that the course recommended 

 is the only one which will secure to them the ad- 

 vantages of a fair price and good re|iutation for 

 their labor and pains. 



Leggett & Laphara, 

 Nathaniel Gordon, 

 Wni. H. Davenport, 

 Burrell, Perry & Co. 

 John Johnson & Son, 

 Gregory & Brown, 

 Walter Sutherland, 

 Eleazer .Mills, 

 P. Pidgeon, Broker, 

 Abbey & Atwood, 

 A. B.Meech & Co. 

 Smith, Howe &. Palmer, 



Robert Nisbet, 

 Seth Miller, 

 Cook & Gage, 

 Varnum S. Kinyon, 

 John P. Snell, 

 Curtis Easton & Co. 

 Nisbet & Husted, 

 Henry W. French, 

 Charles Stanton, 

 Solomon Petree, 

 John J. Owens, 

 Ashley Devenport, 



•It lias been found, that the best and vwst butter is ob- 

 tained when the cream is about the temperature of o5* — 

 and if the temperature is over 60^, the quality is infe- 

 rior, and the quantity diminished. Hence, every dairy 

 should have a thermometer. — Cond. Cult. 



Stickney & Dean, A. H. Buel, 



Gove &. Brown, Henry Carter, 



Charles F. Joy, Cbas. Stokes. 



J\rew York, April 25, 1838. 



The Botanic Garden. — A meeting of the sub- 

 scribers to the Botanic Garden, to be established 

 by consent of the City on the vacant lands West 

 of Charles street, fronting the Common, was held 

 on Saturday afternoon, and the subscription lists 

 bearing a sufficient number of names and atnount 

 of money to warrant the immediate commence- 

 ment of operations, the subscribers adopted a Con- 

 stitution and proceeded to the election of Five 

 Trustees to represent them until the first .Monday 

 in October next, which was appointed as the day 

 of annual meeting. The following gentlemen 

 were chosen : 



Horace Gray, C. P. Curtis, 



Samuel A. Elliot, George Darracott. 



J. E. Teschemacher. 

 The amount already subscribed, is nearly 

 $20,000. From the spirit manifested at the meet- 

 ing, we feel confident that before the close of the 

 season a commencement will have been made, and 

 an exhibition of choice flovveis presented to our 

 citizens that shall delight and astonish them. The 

 subscription lists are still open, and the a<lvantage 

 to the subscriber of $100 to the corporate prop- 

 erty, is the free admission of himself and house- 

 bold to the Gardens at any time during the hours 

 that they are ojieii. A barren waste will soon be 

 converted into a delightful promenade — a paradise 

 in miniature. — Transcript June 4. 



The Sugar Beet will be cultivated this year 

 to a considerable extent in this county, not merely 

 for the purpose of making sugar, but as food for 

 aninials. The yield to an acre is enormous, av- 

 eraging from eighteen to thirty tons. The beauty 

 of it is, the soil is benefited by it, as in France, 

 where many sterile or poor pieces of land have 

 been resuscitated, an<l after beets having been 

 planted a fevv years, the soil yielding excellent 

 crops of Wheat. Nothing is lost from this plant, 

 as the tops of Potatoes or the stalks of Wheat and 

 Broom Corn. The leaves are lised in France as 

 green or dry fodder. The pumice after being 

 used for sugar, is excellent for all kinds of animals, 

 and the Beet itself furnishes an epicurean repast 

 for Cows and Swine. A Hadley farmer told us 

 the other day, that he kept his hogs upon Sugar 

 Beets two months, giving them nothing else, not 

 even a pail of water. With this sort of keeping, 

 they waxed strong and grew fat as an alderman. 

 One hundred pounds of Beet will yield seven 

 pounds of Sugar, giving, at twenty tons to the 

 acre, a product of about $1500 ! — J^orthampton 

 Courier. 



There is an advertisement in the Fort Madison 

 Patriot of a barrel of apple seeds for sale ! The 

 editor of the St. Louis Argus, says that there 

 are many varieties of the apple, the juice of which 

 contains as great a per centagc of saccharine mat- 

 ter as the juice of the cane, and far more than 

 that of the beet root or the sugar maple. He ex- 

 presses an opinion that the cultivation of the ap- 

 ple for the protection of sugar will be more profi- 

 table than one half of the crops that are at present 

 cultivated. 



