NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



23 



would be worth more than the whole, in the concli- 



tiou it is usually sent to the market."* 



The churning process is an essential part of the 

 making of butter. At our reqxiest, Mr. Fclton, who 

 has for several years obtained the first premium on 

 butter, has annexed to his statement an account of 

 his mode of chvirning. We looked in vain through 

 the several statements, for information on this point. 

 If it be true, as it is said to be, that some kinds of 

 churns will bring the butter in one half the time, 

 with loss than half the labor, that others require, this 

 is a fact of great importance in determining the best 

 mode of making butter. 



We have heard of many improved churns, but have 

 seen none, the structure and principles of which bet- 

 ter correspond Avith our ideas of iitility, than Crow- 

 cll's Patent Thermometer Churn. We cannot so well 

 express the idea we wish to convey, as in the letter 

 annexed, from a gentleman, himself expert in all the 

 arts of butter-making, t 



* I am informed by a lady, who was instructed bj' her 

 mother, who, for a period the memory of man ruimetli 

 not to the contrary, had the reputation of making the 

 very best of butter, that she never applied cold water, or 

 any other water, to the butter, after it was churned. She 

 considered such application injurious, especially if the 

 butter was intended to be put down, as she said ; that is, 

 to be preserved for future use. That it would not keep 

 so well when soaked in water ; was not so fine flavored ; 

 and was more likely to become rancid. Perhaps my re- 

 spect for this lady (who is my mother) influences my 

 opinions ; nevertheless, there are hundreds, in Salem 

 and vicinity, who for years used their butter, when they 

 had vigor to work it, who will bear testimony that no 

 more reliable authority could be cited. In a matter of 

 this kind, I should place more confidence in the practi- 

 cal experience of a sensible woman, than in all the chem- 

 ical analyses of all the Davys and Liebigs combined. 



t Dear Sir : I have used the " Thermometer Churn " 

 this season, and have been much pleased with it. It 

 possesses a decided advantage in the spring and autumn, 

 when the cream is generally so cold as to he a long time 

 in forming butter in other churns, ashy filling the space 

 between the zinc and the outer side of the churn with 

 hot water, the cream maybe easily brought to the proper 

 temperature for churning. In warm weather, however, 

 I do not think much is to be gained by filling this space 

 witli cold water, as the cream should be sufliciently cooled 

 before it is put into the churn ; and if it is not, it could 

 hardly be done by cold water, in the short time generally 

 occupied in churning. Still, in warm weather, I have 

 found that the Thermometer Churn will bring the butter 

 in much less time than any other I have ever used ; and 

 this, I think, maj'.be owing to the form of the slats of 

 the dasher. These have a wide and flat surface, obvi- 

 ously producing more agitation of the cream than the 

 round slats of Gait's churn and of Kendall's churn. On 

 one occasion, I have churned thirty quarts of cream into 

 butter in eleven minutes, in the Thermometer Cluun, 

 though it ordinarily takes a longer time, an average at 

 least of half an hour ; and a shorter time than this I do 

 not think desirable. 



It is claimed for some of the lately invented churns, 

 the Atmospheric Churn, for example, that they will pro- 

 duce butter in four or five minutes ; but I think it is very 

 questionable wlicther, in so short a time, all the butter 

 tan be extracted from a given quantity of cream, or the 

 buttor can be of the best quality. What, to me, seems 

 the greatest desideratum in churns is, some improvement 

 in the app\ication of the moving power, by which the 

 amount, or rather the severity, of labor may be lessened 

 in churning. A^ it is now, it is work, and often hard 

 work, too, for an atAe-bodied man. IJut if a churn could 

 be made to work so casdy that a boy coidd operate it 

 without falii;u<- for thrcf; or four successive churuings, it 

 is evident that a groat gain would be made in the expen- 

 diture of labor. " Wcssinys on the man who invented 

 sleep ! " exclaimed the rencnvncd Sancho Panza ; and 

 equal blessings have I often bet-n inclined to invoke for 

 the individual who would make churning easy. 

 Very respect fidly, vours, 



ALi,BN W. DODGE. 

 Hamilton, Oct. 23, 1849. 



Mr. Howard, of the Albany Cultivator, authority 

 second to none other in the country, says, " Accord- 

 ing to our experience, the best butter is not produced 

 by a very short nor a very long period in churning. 

 If it is churned too quick, the separation is not com- 

 plete, and the butter, besides being less rich, is defi- 

 cient in quantity ; if the process is continued too 

 long, the butter is likely to be oily. We think our 

 best butter-makers would decide that churning for 

 ordinary quaritities, saj- from ten to twenty pounds, 

 should occupy from thirty to Jifty minutes." This 

 corresponds entirely with the opinion expressed by 

 Mrs. Nathaniel Felton, who said " she did not want 

 the buttor to come in loss than thirty minutes ; it is 

 not so good when it comes in a shorter time." 



We are informed, by some of those who have been 

 most successful in the management of their dairies, 

 that they look more to the quality of the milk given 

 by the cow, than the quantity ; and in selecting their 

 cows to be kept for this purpose, they choose only 

 those which give milk adapted to the pvirpose. It is 

 unquestionably true, that one quart of milk from 

 some cows, will yield as much, or more, butter than 

 two qiiarts from others. In selecting cows, there- 

 fore, the quality of their miUc should be tested, 

 either by making butter from it, or by the use of 

 a lactometer, which shows the comparative thick- 

 ness of cream that will rise on similar cjuantities of 

 milk. Mr. Ilolbcrt, an experienced farmer of New 

 York state, saj-s, " I find, by churning the milk sep- 

 arate, that one of my best cows will make as much 

 butter as three of my poorest cows, giving the same 

 quantity of milk." We have heard the same thing, 

 substantially, from dairy women themselves. Let 

 those cows which abound in quantity only, bo turned 

 over to those who care onh' for tilling their meas- 

 ures ; and let those that afford substance as well as 

 s/u)w, be kept to supply the churn. 



[to re continued.] 



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The American Fowl-Breeder ; containing full In- 

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This cheap work contains a large amount of useful 

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Tue Ameuic.\n AoRicrLTi'RisT. This sterling work 

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