392 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CHEESE DAIRIES IN BARHE, MASS. 



Statistics of cheese manufacture— Adaptation of Soil — 

 Attention given to Manures— Durham and other 

 Stock — Notice of excellent Farmers — Mr. Bates' Fruit 

 Farm — Tile draining — Feeding Cows— Fairs and Fair- 

 grounds of the Worcester West Agricultural Society. 



As Barre may be considered the banner 

 town in the Commonwealth as regards this 

 branch of the dairy, it may interest your 

 readers to know what its farmers and cheese 

 factories are doing. The high prices that 

 Barre cheese have commanded in the market 

 for many years past, the superiority of its 

 grazing lands, and its magnificent stock, justly 

 entitle it to this precedence, and show that 

 "blood" tells as well as grass, — more especially 

 when it is considered — "all flesh is grass." 

 The farmers of this region are all of a practi- 

 cal character, who regaid "fancy farming" as of 

 little moment, but yet who hold "book knowl- 

 edge" in the highest esteem. 



There are three cheese factories doing a 

 thriving business within the town limits, viz : 

 "The Barre Central Cheese Factory," situated 

 in the centre of the town ; "The Barre Cheese 

 Company" (south), located in the southern 

 part, known as Barre Plains; and the "Barre 

 Southwest Cheese Company," a private or- 

 ganization placed on the farm of Joel B. 

 Hinckley in the southwest of the town. From 

 a recent visit to each of these factories, your 

 correspondent has gleaned the following in- 

 formation from the superintendents : — 



"The Barre Central," which is in charge of 

 Mrs. Hinckley, has about 450cows, is in re- 

 ceipt of 13,500 pounds of milk daily, and on 

 the 19th inst., 1429 pounds of cheese were 

 made. Three hands are employed here, who 

 commence at 4, A. M. and close their labors 

 at about the same hour, P. M. 



The "South" Factory, under the superin- 

 tendence of Abner R. Molt, has 275 cows, 

 receives 8000 pounds of milk per diem, and 

 turns off a relative amount of cheese. 



The "Southwest," in charge of Nathan C. 

 Haynes, which is not an incorporated com- 

 pany as before intimated, has about 150 cows, 

 receives some 4300 pounds of milk daily, and 

 produces a relative amount of cheese. 



The whole may be summed up in round 

 numbers as follows : 875 cows ; 25,800 pounds 

 of milk received daily ; 2900 pounds of cheese 

 manufactured daily, which was sold in the 

 market this season, at first, for 25 cents, and 

 lastly for 23 cents per pound. 



It will be seen by the relative statements in 

 regard to the milk received, that the South 

 and Southwest factories average a mere frac- 

 tion under 30 pounds to the cow, while the 

 Barre Central averages a fraction above 28 

 pounds. This difference may be accounted 

 for in this wise: — the south district has large 

 dairies, mostly consisting of 25 cows to the 

 herd — several exceeding that number, while its 



grazing lands are of a rich soil, fronting to 

 the east, and upon which no pains has been 

 spared to bring it up to the highest condition. 



The art of makmg manures has been re- 

 duced to a science. In years past it has been 

 made one of the specialties of the Agricultural 

 Fair (Worcester West) and perhaps no one 

 has given the subject closer an i lysis and 

 more careful study than T. P. Root, a leading 

 farmer in the southern district, whose able re- 

 fiorts in times past were worthy of preserva- 

 tion in the manuals of agriculture. Near 

 Mr. Root, are the Cooks, father and sons, who 

 have 30 cows, but do not carry their milk to 

 any factory. They have two cows, which, if 

 we remember rightly, have given between 50 

 and 60 pounds of milk apiece for. several suc- 

 cessive days at a time. 



The stock to all these farms are carefully 

 selected, mostly of the Durham grade, with a 

 sprinkling of Jerseys, Ayrshires and Holland 

 Dutch — of the respective merits of which, the 

 limits of this article will not permit a further 

 description. 



There are many highly cultured farms in 

 this town that reflect the highest degree of 

 credit upon their owners, which we should be 

 glad to notice, did ^pace allow ; but we cannot 

 forbear mentioning a few which give the high- 

 est yield of milk. The dairies of A. H. Hol- 

 land, T. P. Root, Wm. R. Barrett, Isaac 

 Smith, Luke Adams, John T. Ellsworth, and 

 others, stand at the head. One of the moit 

 valuable fruit farms is the "Kendall Farm," 

 now owned and occupied by Simpson E. 

 Bates, there being over GOO trees — apple and 

 pear — nearly all in a bearing condition. 

 There is lacking but one thing, we conceive, 

 to make this the most valuable farm in the 

 town, which is tile-draining, a subject which is 

 seriously gaining the attention of the farmers 

 generally. The fruit trees on this place are 

 worthy of especial note to all who visit this re- 

 gion, both the amateur or "fancy farmer," 

 and the practical farmer. 



The natural impression of many readers, 

 undoubtedly, in reading this article, is tliat to 

 keep up tLese cows to the maximum condi- 

 tion, esculents, such as roots and meal would 

 be freely dealt out during the fodder months. 

 But this is not the prevailing practice. In 

 the spring, especially, all the hay is given 

 them and more than they can eat at a time, 

 and the remainder is converted into cut feed, 

 with suflicient meal toranke it palatable. The 

 high standard of these dairies is simply owing 

 to soil, manures, and carefully selected stock. 



The Worcester West Agricultural Society 

 have beautiful and commodious grounds, a 

 fine track and I. all, and draw at the annual 

 Fair large contributions from the neighboring 

 towns. Your correspondent would be pleased 

 to speak, in a subsequent communication, of 

 several of these same towns, who range high- 

 est in the scale of agricultural pursuits. 



A brief notice of Bullard's Hay Tedder, or- 



