424 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



Sept. 



been previously prepared by steeping the dry 

 skins or rennet in water.) sufficient to coagu- 

 late the milk say in forty to fifcy minutes 

 Now put your finger into the curd, raise it 

 slowly and if it readily splits apart, the mass 

 is ready to cut into blocks with the curd knife. 

 After cutting into checks two inches square, 

 let it remain at rest ten to fifteen minutes for 

 the whey to form. Then carefully break with 

 the hands by lilting up the curds very gently, 

 and when the mass has been gone over let it 

 rest for ten minutes for the curd to subside. 

 Now dip oif a portion of the whey into the 

 pans and heat on the stove in the same manner 

 that the milk was warmed. In the meantime 

 continue breaking the curd by gently lif ing 

 until the particles of curd are ab' ut the size 

 of small chtstnuts or large beans. Then 

 pour in the warm whey and continue heating 

 and adding the warm whey until the mass in- 

 dicates a temperature of 98°. 



Do not be in a hurry, but take things lei- 

 surely, continuing the breaking or stirring the 

 curds while heat is being applied. It may now 

 be left at rest for half an hour and then stirred 

 so the particles will not adhere, and this treat- 

 ment continued until the curd has a firm con- 

 sistency. Take up a handful and press it 

 together in the hand and if on opening the 

 hand it readdy falls to pieces it is about ready 

 for draining Throw a cloth strainer over 

 the tub and dip off the whey down to the 

 curd. Then put the strainer on a willow 

 clothes-basket and dip the curd into it to 

 drain. It may now ■■ e broken up with the 

 hands and when pretty dry returned to the 

 tub for ailing. Salt at ihe rate of four and 

 one-half ounc< s of salt to ten pounds curd; 

 mix it thoroughl)- and put to press. After re- 

 ma nifig from two to four hours in press, turn 

 and p Jt to press again leaving it under pres 

 sure until next marnitig when it may be re- 

 moved to the shelf. Small cheeses need not 

 be bandaged ; they should be rubbed over 

 wifh a liixle fresh butter melted and applied 

 warm, or wiih oil mide f oia the cream that 

 rises from the whey. — X. A. WiUard, in 

 Wedtni Rural. 



GEOb^F-aEr PIT. 



Sir Samuel VV. Baker in his Wanderings in 

 Cejlon, gives an account of cofifee culture in 

 that i.-land, in which hi*- says : 



"Mu<h attention is also required in the 

 management, of the cattle on an estate, for 

 without a proper system, the amount of ma- 

 nure produced will be proportionately small 

 They should be bediled every night, bock 

 deep, with fresh litter, and the manure thus 

 formed should be allowed to remain in the 

 shed until it is between two and three feet 

 deep It should then be heated on a (ieotfrey 

 Pit. This is the simplest and roost peitect 

 method of working up the weeds f om an es- 

 tate, and effectually destroying their seeds, at 



the same time they are converted into manure. 

 A water tight platform is lormed of stucco — 

 say forty feet square — surrounded by a wall 

 two feet high, so as to form a tank. Below 

 this is a sunken cistern, — say eight feet square 

 — into which the drainage wonld be conducted 

 from the upper platform. In this cistern a 

 force pump is fitted, and the cistern is half 

 filled with a solution of saltpetre and sal am- 

 moniac. A layer of weeds and rubbish is 

 now laid upon the platform for a depth of 

 thee feet, surmounted by a layer of good 

 dung from the cattle sheds of one foot thick. 

 These layers are continued alternately in the 

 proportion of three to one of weeds, until the 

 mass is piled to a height of twenty feet, the 

 last layer being good dung. Upon this mass 

 the conten! s of the cistern are pumped and 

 evenly distributed by means of a spreader. 



This mixture promotes the most rapid de- 

 composition of vegetable matter, and com- 

 bining wiih the juices of the weeds and the 

 salts of the dung, it drains evenly through the 

 whole mass forming the most perfect compost. 

 The surplus moisture, on reaching the bot- 

 tom of the heap, drains from the slightly in- 

 clined platform into the receiving cistern, and 

 is again pumped over the mass. This is the 

 cheapest and best way of making manure upoa 

 an estate, the cattle sheds and pits being ar- 

 ranged in the different localities most suitable 

 for reducing the labor of transport." 



In the Southern States where manure is the 

 great want for the cotton field, cannot some 

 method similar to the above be devised to 

 meet the necessities of the case. 



Hired Labor on the Farm. — I have 

 thought that many people are not aware of 

 what it costs to pay a man for a year's labor. 

 It is not merely the amount of money you 

 give him, but the cost of the team and the 

 necessary imjilements he must have to labor 

 with, and 'he rent of the land that he tills. 

 It is true the tcdm and implements would be 

 Itfc, provided no accident befell them, but so 

 would the money that they cost, and the inter- 

 est remain if it had not been expended. 



The following statement, will show the cost 



of a 1 iborer in this vicinity, for one month. 



Wa^f 8 of one hand, $25 (JO 



Bourl of saoie, - MUJ 



Boa d of hors-eB, Ui.OO 



Inieres. on price of harBra 2 50 



Int rcst oti pric of lnipiem''ntB, 2 o) 



Kent of land (1 12 of 40 acrts), 16.60 



Total expense p r monih, $66 60 



Expense for one yexr $79;) 9i 



Now, this statement does not include rep lirs 

 from accidents, such as letiing Ihe team run 

 away and breaking the wagon, or utensils of 

 any kind. Again, some would cultivate more 

 than forty acres, but it is designed to make 

 an average of hands. — Illinois Cor. Wtster7t 

 Rural. 



