PUBLISHED BY J. B. R USSELL, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultural Warkhouse.) — T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



vor^. X. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 15, 1832. 



NO. 31. 



ORIGINAL AGRICULTURAL ESSAYS. 



MAKING AND PRESERVING BUTTER. 



Butter is an important article in household 

 economy ; and as upon its quality depends very 

 much the profits of the farmer as well as the com- 

 fort of the consumer, I send you, Mr Editor, a few 

 hints on the process of making and preserving it. 



The art of making butter consists in separating, 

 with skill and neatness, the oil from the serum and 

 curd with which it is combined in the milk, and of 

 seasoning it to suit the palate. Tlie art of preserv- 

 ing good butter lies in so keeping it as to have it 

 retain its rich, sweet flavor. The best method I 

 know of effecting these objects, is embraced in the 

 following rules : 



1. In the first place see that your cows are sup- 

 plied with a plenty of nutritious food. This is 

 the raw material from wliich butter is made ; and 

 unless this is good and aliundant, the manufactur- 

 ed article will be scanty and poor. 



2. Let the milk be set in shallow broad pans, of 

 wooden, tin ors tone earthen ware, to facilitate the 

 separation of the cream, in a cool, clean apart- 

 ment.* Red glazed earthen is bad ; and 'cad is 

 often poisonous. 1 think the best temperatire is 

 about 50" of Fahrenheit. 



3. Let the cream or niilkf be churned befo'-e it 

 has become rancid or bitter ; as at tliis stage itiiar 

 lost its finest rpialities for butter. 



4. The operation of churning should be moder- 

 ately and regularly performed.J If too slow, and 

 at intervals only, the separation is tedious and un-' 

 certain. If violent, the cream is too much heated, 

 and yields a white insipid butter. 



5. Put no water with your cream nor with your 

 milk. The flavor, I may say aroma, which gives 



* A good practice prevails in Pennsylvania, of buildinj 

 stone milk houses over or near springs, v;liere a proper 

 temperature is maintained during the heats of summer. 

 This practice is worthy of 'imitation wliere springs are 

 convenient; and where they are not, a sulistitute wliici 

 I saw at Col. M'Allister's, at the Blue Ridge above Har- 

 risburgh, may in many cases be adopted. The Colonel 

 hsd built a neat underground room, in the side of tlie 

 hill, near his well, handsomely plastered upon brick or 

 stone walls, covered I think with earth, at all events 

 with a luxuriant Bignocia radicans, wliich when I saw it 

 wasiu full bloom. Around the sides were sinks or vats 

 for setting in iiis milk pans, so constructed that the water 

 passed offere it reached the rims of the pans, with plugs 

 in the bottom to let the whole off when desired. A spout 

 led from this pump into these sinks, through which the 

 water was conducted. By renewing this water occasion- 

 ally, according to the weather, an equilibrium was easily 

 maintained in the milk house at the desired temperature. 



t In a great part of New York, the milk is churned ; in 

 New England generally only the cream. The Dutch 

 method I Ihink produces the most butter. 



} The dog churn is in general use in many counties, 

 particularly upon the borders of the Hudson. In Orange 

 we hear this in operation in a summer morning at every 

 farmhouse. It is a great saving of labor to the family, 

 which has a barrel of milk tocliurn daily. In one place 

 I saw a sheep treading the diagonal platform, and another 

 tied at hand to relieve him. 



to butter its high value is extremely volatile, is-dis- 

 engaged by heat, and jiidte rial ly dissipated by wa- 

 ter. Work the butter thoroughly with the butter 

 ladle, in a wooden bowl, which may be set in wa- 

 ter to cool the mass ; and while this operation is 

 being completed, mix pure fine salt* enough with 

 the butter to season it for the table, and set it by in 

 the bowl in a cool cellar till next day — at which 

 time the salt will be completely dissolved, when it 

 is to be thoroughly incorporated by again working 

 the butter with the wooden ladle until every parti- 

 cle of liquid is expelled. 



The making process is now completed. Toprc- 

 sene the rich flavor which this process secures, 

 pack the butter nicely down in a perfectly tight 

 sweet vessel and none is better than a stone earth- 

 en jar, without aparlicle of additional salt ; smooth 

 the surface, and cover the top two inches with a 

 strong T^old brine, which has been made by boiling 

 and skimming the materials. If a pellicle or scum 

 is seen to rise upon the pickle, turn otf the liquid, 

 and replace it by fresh pickle. 



I am accustomed to eat butter, of May, June 

 and Oct. made and preserved in this way, when it 

 is from six to twelve months old, without perceiv- 

 ing any material diflference between it and that 

 which is fresh made. 



HORSE RADISH — Cochlearia annoracea. 



This is a perennial plant, which is worthy a 

 place in every garden. The young leaves are used 

 for greens in the spring, and the roots, scraped in- 

 to shreds or grated, are very fine with boiled as 

 well Ks roast meats, in winter and spring, and it is 

 believed are, in moderate quantities, conducive to 

 health. 



For the ordinary uses of a family, no directions 

 are necessary for the cultivation of this plant ; for 

 it will grow without care, in any garden soil ; and 

 all that is requisite is to plant the crowns or pieces 

 of the root, where you wish them to grow, and 

 keep down the weeds. But as it forms a profit- 

 able crop for the marjjet garden, it will not be 

 ami.ss to suggest a proper method of culture. 



TVie soil should be a deep, rich, moist loam, but 

 neither wet nor stiff. In my sand soil, it grows 

 well on the north side of the garden fence, and in 

 the shade of trees, where, however, the ground is 

 rich and loose. 



The preparation of the ground consists in dig- 

 ging, or otherwise loosening, and mixing it with 

 a good dressing of dung, to the depth of two feet. 



The planting consists in placing the sets, twelve 

 inches apart, in the prepared ground, ten or twelve 

 inches below the surface. If too low, the sets 

 often will not grow, or grow feebly but ; if near 

 the surftice, the roots become too fibrous. The 



* Liverpool blown salt will not keep butter sweet and 

 is besides deleterious to health, when used for culinary 

 purposes. See the analysis of this salt in an early No. of 

 the New York Medical Journal, by Drs Miller and 

 Mitchell. They ascribe to its use much of the sickness 

 which afflicts parts of our country. Pure alum salt should 

 alone be used, after it is ground or well pounded. The 

 salt made at Onondaga, by solar evaporation, and sold in 

 casks, for table use, is perhaps as pure muriate of soda as 

 comee into 'h» ;r.:irket. 



sets are the crov\ n of an old plant, two or three 

 inches long, slit longitudinally into slips of the 

 size of one's thumb. This maybe done either in 

 the autumn or the spring. My prai^ice is to plant 

 the sets when I take up the roots for use, and in 

 the same ground. 



The after culture consists in keeping the ground 

 free from weeds. 



Tlie crop is taken when the plant has grown two 

 seasons. The roots intended for the winter mar- 

 ket, should be taken up in November and packed 

 in earth, either in a cellar or iu a pit, that they 

 may be had at all times. Those intended for the 

 spring market may be taken up as they are want- 

 ed. Families who are fond of horse radish, gen- 

 erally lay in a stock for winter use. J. B. 



Albany JVursery. 



THE LIMA BEAN— Pftaseoto limensis, 



Is unquestionably the best bean, if not the best 

 of the legumes, that is grown in our gardens, 

 with the further recommendation that it may be 

 kept for the table, in tolerable perfection, during 

 the whole year. As it is rather tender for our 

 climate, considerable care is requisite to grow it 

 witfi success. 



The soil should be rich, mellow, warm, and 

 rather dry. TVie situatiori open and fully exposed 

 to the sun. Tlie time of planting, May, when the 

 ground and weather are sufficiently warm to in- 

 sure a quick germination of the .seed, as this is 

 very liable to rot in a cold or moist temperature. 

 The manner of planting may be either that of or- 

 dinary pole beans, in hills two and a half to three 

 feet deep, or as follows: Dig holes three feet in 

 circumference and eighteen inches deep, and put 

 into each the best part of a barrow load of dung 

 or compost ; cover this with six or eight inches of 

 mould, plant the beans near the rim, and insert 

 four or five poles, retaining the branches, round 

 the hill. In either way, it is best to set the poles 

 when the seed is planted. Cover the seed half an 

 inch with mould, and if the weather is dry when 

 you plant, an occasional watering will be service- 

 able. The seed may be soaked a few hours, with 

 advantage, iu tepid water or milk and water, pre- 

 vious to planting. 



The product is very abundant; though the en- 

 tire crop seldom comes to maturity in ordinary 

 situations. To make the most of it, however, it 

 has been my practice, on the first indications of 

 frost, to pick off all that have acquired a mature 

 size, and to have them shelled and dried. I gen- 

 erally reserve this bean for winter use, and sixty 

 hills have yielded four and five pecks of shelled 

 beans. Those that are ripe are separated for seed, 

 and to be used last. They lose very little of 

 their richness or flavor ; and both the ripe 

 and unripe may be cooked in the same way that 

 they are when taken fiom the vines, taking the 

 precaution to put them in cold water over night, 

 previous to cooking. They are particularly fine, 

 with dried green corn, in the Indian dish which 

 we denominate succotash. 



There are two varieties of this bean, ivhich 

 differ in size nearly one half, of like habits, and 

 both very abundant bearers. J. B. 



Albany JWirsery. 



