402 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



soon learn to take their places without any confu- 

 sion. As soon as all are fast, the milkers commence, 

 each being seated upon a stool or chair, with a sort 

 of back attached for the convenience of handling ; 

 and a great convenience it is. The milking is done 

 with both hands, as rapidly as possible, as the owner 

 has found that a dribbling milker will deteriorate the 

 best cow in a very short time. As soon as all are 

 done, the first section of the herd are turned out at 

 another door, which opens into the upper yard, and 

 then the second section is brought in, and when all 

 are done, they are driven again to pasture. In the 

 morning, the same course is repeated. 



The Advantages of Stabling to Milk arc, that all the 

 cows are sure to be milked ; all stand quiet while 

 milking ; and there is no hooking and running one 

 after another, and upsetting milk and milkmaid. If 

 it is rainy and muddy, all are sheltered and upon a 

 clean floor, and men and beast are better tempered, 

 and get and give more milk, and save a deal of scold- 

 ing, much time, and more money ; insomuch that a 

 herd of forty cows will pay for a shelter in one season. 

 Putting in one half at a time is an advantage ; for 

 twenty are easier managed, with less huddling in the 

 stable, than forty, and are only confined half as long, 

 make less droppings, and only require half as much 

 stable room, and each section has an opportunity to 

 drink in the yard while the other is in the stable. 



Disposal of the Milk. — The milk-pails are carried, 

 as fast as filled, to the milk-house, and emptied into a 

 vat of suitable size, say seven by four feet, and two 

 feet deep, made of wood, lined with tin, having a 

 space between, into which cold spring water is drawn 

 at night, to cool the milk and promote the raising of 

 the cream. This vat is elevated upon legs for greater 

 convenience, so that the top is some three and a half 

 feet high. When the morning milk is added, the 

 water is drawn off, and a conducting pii^e from a 

 small boiler fills the space with steam to scald the 

 curd, which is made in the same vat. The steam is 

 then turned into a barrel of water, and heats that 

 ready for cleansing utensils without the least trouble. 



Taking off the Whey. — Another vat, of a smaller 

 size, with rollers in the legs, is placed along the side, 

 and surface whey dipped off, and then it is rolled to 

 a spot where a conductor, opening through the floor, 

 receives the contents, and carries it down to the pig- 

 pen. The curd is next dipped into a strainer in the 

 small vat, and the whey drained off; and then it is 

 rolled alongside of the j)ress, and put into the hoop 

 \ipon a sliding board ; so the whole is done without 

 any hard lifting. The press is one of Mr. Eaines's 

 own make, and, with a small weight, will give seven 

 tons' pressure. In turning the cheese in press, a 

 small wheel table is rolled alongside, upon which it 

 is done with ease. Upon the same, it is conveyed 

 into the cheese-room, where the cheese are kept upon 

 long tables, and turned by rolling upon edge and 

 over, which is generally done by Mr. E. himself, but 

 without great exertion of strength. 



The next process, after placing upon the table, is, 

 to bandage with thin muslin, made on purpose, and 

 casting only three cents a yard. The strifis are cut 

 two or three inches wider than the cheese is thick, 

 and the edges turned over the corners and sewed, so 

 that it is impossible for a cheese to spread or flatten 

 down, as they did before bandaging came in fashion. 

 The Temperature of the Cheese- llootn is kept cool 

 and dry by using a stove to drive off dampness ; and 

 then it can be frequently washed with cold water. 



The Average Product of Dairy Coivs,\n this county, 

 is from $25 to $35 each, per annum, and the average 

 value per head, from $20 to $28. 



Winteri7ig Coics. — Two tons of good hay is the 

 amount estimated for each cow, besides straw and 

 other coarse feed. If giving mUk, grain or roots are 

 added, as every thing extra fed is paid for in extra 



milk. The cows are generally of the common breed* 

 but look remarkably fine, not only upon this well- 

 conducted farm, but upon hundreds of others of the 

 same sort in this rich farming county. 



Buying Curd. — I was told of one man in this 

 county, who buys the curd of five hundred cows, 

 every dav, and makes it into cheese. I understand 

 that he pays five cents a pound, and takes it fresh as 

 soon as well drained. Mr. E. says ho can afford to 

 pay that price. Cheese and butter are the staple 

 exports of this county, and no grain- growing region, 

 within my knowledge, can show so large a proportion 

 of wealthv farmers, good farm-houses, good-looking 

 and well-improved farms, and such a number of 

 well-to-do-in-the-world people as Jefferson county. 

 The women and children here take more interest in 

 agricultural improvement, and know more about it, 

 than a majority of the men in some places. When 

 you know the farmers' wives there, you will not be 

 suri^rised to find such pretty girls and noble boys. 

 Would you know the reason ? They read. Yes, sir, 

 they read, and read agricultural papers, too. One 

 handsome, intelligent boy, about fourteen years of 

 age, came up to me just as I was leaving, and said, 

 " Mr. Ilobiiison, I should like to have you send me 

 the Agriculturist for a year. Here is the money." 

 That boy will make an intelligent, good man. The 

 same boy had the sole management of a large family 

 garden, the past summer. I need not tell you it was 

 a good one. 



Jefferson County Agricultural Society. — I will tell 

 you what fosters and keeps alive this spirit of im- 

 provement in this county. They have one of the 

 oldest and one of the most active and efficient agri- 

 cultural societies in the state ; and the society have 

 a hall, or place of meeting, upwards of two hundred 

 feet long, and fifty feet wide, cajjable of accommo- 

 dating three thousand people. It was built by the 

 funds of the society, and is emphatically " the 

 people's meeting-house ; " for there, all large public 

 meetings are held, besides the agricultural annual 

 fairs. What other county will look to this one of 

 the north for an example, and go and do likewise? 



In addition to the improved progress of agricul- 

 ture, manufacturing of cotton, wool, paper, flour, axes, 

 and other things, flourish here in an equal degree. 



Plunk Roads. — There are six of these valuable 

 improvements leading out of Watertown, which is 

 rising from the ashes of the great fire, like a jihcenix 

 in revivified plumage. 



Thin Soil. — Much land in this county lies upon a 

 flat surface of rock, so near that the plough some- 

 times runs quite down to it. When this is lime rock, 

 the land is very productive, and does not suffer so 

 much as I should expect by drought. It produces 

 sweet grass, and is more valuable for dairy purposes 

 than any other. A railroad, now building through 

 this county, will soon open its treasures to the view 

 of the world. I intend to see more of it myself. 



Creating a Spring. — When fitting up his dairy, 

 Mr. Eames was much at a loss about a supply of 

 water, having no spring that would give him a con- 

 stant running stream. But he got one; and the way 

 he did it is worthy of notice and imitation. He ex- 

 amined the side hill, about one hundred rods above 

 the house, and selected a favorable spot, where the 

 land had a " spouty " appearance, and dug a reser- 

 voir, and wing ditches to form under-draius into it ; 

 and soon had the satisfaction to find the plan suc- 

 ceed, which gave him a living fountain, that runs 

 summer and winter in the cow-yard, without fail from 

 drought or frost. This is only one of the fruits of 

 an intelligent mind devoted to agricultural improve- 

 ment, and possessed by a self-made man. Uut he is 

 a reading man as well as a working one. 



SOLON UOBINSON 

 — American Agriculturist. 



