52 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



In June, from the milk of six cows, we made one 

 hundred and ninety-eight pounds of butter. In July, 

 the severe drought had nearly destroyed the feed, 

 and the quantity of butter was diminished. During 

 the autumn, the feed has been very good, and we 

 have had the milk of nine cows, and from the whole 

 we have made, since the 23d of May, one thousand 

 and nineteen pounds of butter. The number of per- 

 sons in my family has never been less than fourteen, 

 and for many weeks during the summer, it has been 

 eighteen ; and we have used milk and cream at all 

 times freely. 



Our milk is strained into tin pans, and allowed to 

 stand from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, in a cool, 

 darkened room on the first floor of the house ; 

 except in August, when it is kept in a cellar, under 

 a wing of the house. The cream is taken off into tin 

 pails ; is salted a little, and stirred every day. 



We chum twice each week during the summer. 

 Before churning, the cream stands upon ice for twelve 

 hours or more. After churning, the buttermilk is 

 thoroughly worked out by the hand, and the butter 

 is salted to suit the taste. The day following, the 

 butter is worked over again, and prepared for the 

 market. 



In laying down butter for the winter, we use stone 

 jars. After packing it down very closely, we sprinkle 

 salt and loaf sugar between each layer of butter. In 

 this way our butter has kept perfectly sweet through 

 the season. 



It should be mentioned, that during parts of July 

 and August, the cows that were milked had, in addi- 

 tion to Xhe pasture, green corn fodder, or, in the 

 place of that, Indian meal and shorts, equally mixed, 

 in proportion of two quarts to each cow daily. And 

 the same quantit}' of the same grain has been given 

 to them during the last half of September, and of 

 October. 



The management of the dairy has, in consequence 

 of the sickness of my wife, been wholly confided to 

 my daughter the present year. Previously, she had 

 had no particular training for this branch of house- 

 wifery. She engaged in it with alacrity, and her 

 own health has been benefited by the occupation. 



You will, I trust, pardon the suggestion to one 

 holding your official position, that it should be made 

 a special object of our agricultural societies to inter- 

 est and awaken the attention of the female part of 

 the communit}^ — perhaps, by associating ladies in 

 the examination of such articles as they are best 

 competent to judge of, and by making the exibition 

 of such articles a distinct department of the annual 

 fair ; or, perhaps, by off"ering a premium for the 

 rearing of fowls, the cultivation of flowers, vege- 

 tables, ■ or fruit trees, or the keeping of bees, and 

 such like. The dairy, needlework, knitting, &c., 

 belong of course to them. But I would bring them 

 into more active employment in the open air. One 

 of the best conducted dairy establishments in this 

 town, where five or six cows are kept, is wholly taken 

 care of by two females, a widow and her daughter. 

 Mothers have much to do with the training of their 

 sons to a love of, and an intelligent preparation for, 

 a farmer's life. It is from their interest in, and their 

 skilful management of, the labors which belong chiefly 

 to them, upon a farm, that their sons learn to love, 

 and to practise with success, the business of farming. 



I have cheerfully complied with your request, in 

 making these suggestions, and hope that you, by em- 

 bracing the facts in some communication of your own, 

 may lead others to do better than I have done. 



October 80, 1849. 



Remarks. — Having witnessed, in the month of 

 June, the skilful management of the dairy referred 

 to in the foregoing letter, and being impressed with 

 tlie importance of encouraging young ladies to do 



what their mothers alone have been accustomed to 

 do, that they themselves, when their turn comes, 

 may be qualified to go ahead, I solicited this commu- 

 nication. It adds much to the facts before stated- 

 Particularly it shows, to some extent, at least, what 

 may be expected of the Ayrshires and Devom. . I saw 

 the animals, and have no doubt of the correctness of 

 Mr. Phinney's opinion. I wish he could have lived 

 to have done them justice. I was struck with the 

 appearance of the young stock, on this farm, and 

 have no doubt that the good sense of my friend who 

 manages it, although he came into the field at the 

 eleventh hour, will demonstrate that he nobly earns his 

 reward. His suggestions, as to the expediency of 

 encouraging females to come forward and take parts 

 in our exhibitions, are worthy of regard. Universally 

 they are admitted to constitute the better half of 

 society ; why should they not then have an equal 

 chance to show themselves, and the work of their 

 hands ? Is there any one whose delicacy would be 

 off'ended by such a sight ? Let such remain at home. 

 It Avould be a pity to expose nerves so nicely tuned. 

 Ten chances to one, that tho fastidiousness, that would 

 object to a female taking part in an Agricultural Ex- 

 hibition, would often be found appurtenant to that 

 class of personages who are said " to strain at a gnat, 

 and swallow a camel." 



The buffalo, or hornless cotps, spoken of in Statement 

 No. 1, by Mr. Stone, are there considered as natives. 

 This is not strictly correct. I hope to be able to give 

 a more distinct account of this class of animals on a 

 subsequent page. J. W. P. 



BEEHIVES-VENTILATION-A MILLER 

 TRAP, 



Friend Bateham — I saw an inquiry in your paper 

 concerning the best mode of the treatment of bees. 

 As I have paid considerable attention to this subject, 

 in order to ascertain the laws and regulations by 

 which bees are governed, I feel somewhat qualified 

 to state several facts connected with the subject. 



"With my present knowledge upon the subject, I 

 would advise all to make small hives, either of boards 

 or hollow trees, holding about three pecks each, and 

 about sixteen inches high. I prefer a hollow log 

 burned out and trimmed to a feather edge at the bot- 

 tom, so as to fit close on the bench with two or three 

 notches for the passage of the bees as usual. 



Bore a two-inch hole through the top of the hive, 

 and also one in the bench on which the hive is to 

 stand. Take some wire finely woven, that a miller 

 or bee cannot pass through it ; bind it round so as 

 to form a tube the whole length of the hive two 

 inches in diameter. Fasten one end of this tube 

 under the bottom of the bench, and the other on the 

 top of the hive. Put a wire covering under the 

 lower end of this ventilation, and over the top of it 

 fasten a small box one inch high and four inches 

 square, with a fine wire bottom. The box should be 

 of wood, one eighth of an inch thick, and on two 

 opposite sides of it should be several holes just large 

 enough to admit bees. Above these holes, on the 

 inside of the box, should be tacked small strips of 

 silk gauze to hang over the holes like curtains. This 

 fixture I call a perfect miller trap — it will catch every 

 miller that attempts to get in the hive. 



The above described ventilation serves to give the 

 bees a iilcntiful supply of fresh air, which they so 

 m.uch need in warm weather. This is manifest bj' 

 the great exertions used by the bees to supply the 

 hive with air, when they sit on the bench, and buzz 

 about the mouth of the hive, fanning the young bees, 

 to prevent sufi'ocation. 



This tube through the middle of the hive, serves 

 to convey the breath of the bees off"; this, together 



