No. 9. 



Philadelphia Butter. 



2fll 



\v;\tor, and awaited tlie result with not a little 

 anxiety ; for 1 confess I had my fears that the 

 lotion might have heen too powerful, and by 

 absorption, prove injurious instead of being 

 boneticial to the tree. All apprehensions of 

 this sort, however, were speedily removed. 

 Tiie wound began to heal, and tiie canker, 

 though not entirely cured, was materially 

 checked. As the wound continued to heal, 

 the wash was freely applied several times 

 during the summer. 



In the spr.ng of 1842, I again used the 

 knife, cutting out whatever canker had ap- 

 peared since the first operation, and applied 

 the same wash as before. During that sea- 

 son, the new wounds gradually closed over 

 without any further appearance of the wart, 

 and the part was thus restored to a perfectly 

 healthy condition. From that time to tiie 

 present, the tree has shown not the slightest 

 symptom of the old disease. It has been re- 

 o'ularly washed with some solution of salt, 

 once or twice every year, in 1844 and since ; 

 salt-ley (the liquid remaining in the soap- 

 boiler's kettle alter the removal of the soap,) 

 being substituted for tlie pure brine. 



In the spring of 1844, the wart again 

 made its appearance on several of my young 

 Damson trees. The disease being confined 

 to small limbs, and having nearly girdled 

 them before I discovered it, I should at once 

 have cut them ofi; but for the desire to pur- 

 sue my experiment with salt in a different 

 way. I proposed to ascertain its efi'ect upon 

 the wart itself, while still connected with 

 the tree. For this purpose, I fastened a po- 

 rous substance around each wart, and kept 

 it filled with ley, which was completely satu- 

 rated with salt. Here the effect was even 

 more remarkable than in the first experi- 

 ment. In a few weeks, the warts were com- 

 pletely destroyed,, and cracked so as to be 

 easily picked oft; leaving the adjoining bark 

 and wood perfectly sound. Such are the 

 facts, let careful and assiduous cultivators 

 continue to record and publish their observa- 

 tions. Let amateurs, especially, be invited 

 to make all their experiments with a strict 

 reo-ard to science, not always having an eye 

 to'the immediate profit of a garden, but more 

 frequently to the discovery of truth and the 

 good of posterity. 



ill Ilio wiiiti'r to procure piTfortly swccl luiil lUlirioug 

 lull and kris butter, luiil this, wo bi'licvi', is (jrc'illy nt- 

 tributulilo to lack of skill niul care in its prrparalion 

 for market. It is a groat loss to llio fariiier, uiul 

 cause of vexation to the piircliascr.— Ed. 



Philadelphia Butter: 



Its high favour, avd the source whence this 

 is derived. 



The following letter of Dr. Emerson deserves atten- 

 tion; and while r-liiladelphia is celebrated for her 

 good butter, we have heretofore more than once felt 

 it ot.r duty to make the enquiry, Why we have bo 

 much indifferent butter in our market. It is not easy 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Llhranj .- — 



My Dear Sir, — During one of your late 

 visits to Philadelpiiia, we Iiad some conver- 

 sation relative to the rare qualities of I'liila- 

 delphia butter, which, thoi»gh good at all 

 times, is at one season distinguished by a 

 peculiarly high and delightful flavor not to 

 be found in the same degree, so far as I can 

 learn, in butter made in any other part of 

 the Union. I told you that I thought I iiad 

 discovered the source of this peculiarly 

 orateful flavor, and now undertake to redeem 

 a promise made to write you on the subject. 

 In the first place, I wisli you to bear in 

 mind, that the original settlers in the old 

 counties adjacent to Philadelphia, were chief- 

 ly from W'ales, and hence may claim a le- 

 gitimate right to excel in the processes of 

 the dairy. They took up their abodes among 

 the hills, and as indispensable appendages 

 of their farm houses, built what they call 

 " Spring Houses," over the natural fountains 

 flowing" out of the hill sides. These are 

 shadetf by wide spreading trees tending to 

 preserve the coolness imparted by the water 

 surrounding the vessels containing the milk, 

 cream and other dairy products. A tempera- 

 ture is thus secured for the cream established 

 by experiments as the most favorable to the 

 perfect operation of churning, namely, the 

 range from 50° to 65°— beginning with the 

 cream at or near the first named degree, and 

 terminating the process with the tempera- 

 ture at 05°. It is only after the butter has 

 " come," that warm water is to be added so 

 as to raise the warmth to 70° or 75°. This 

 is to facilitate the separation of the butter 

 from the milk. No one who has ever visited 

 Pennsylvania spring houses and observed the 

 coolness and cleanliness they usually display, 

 can doubt the great advantages afforded by 

 them for dairy purposes. 



But, though these circumstances may serve 

 to improvelhe general qualities of Philadel- 

 phia butter, still they are by no ineans con- 

 cerned in producing that delightful flavor, 

 the immediate cause of which is the main 

 point to whicii I now wish to call your atten- 

 tion. As before intimated, it is only at one 

 season that the flavor is in greatest perfec- 

 tion, and hence our housekeepers call it 

 "May butter," and sometimes "grass but- 

 ter." The limits of the season of highest 

 flavor may be set from about the middle 

 of April to the middle of Juno. Now it 

 is precisely during this time that the old, 



