NO. 2. 



THE FARMERS' CABINET. 



ss 



again to replenish the crop in the ground, 

 when it most requires to be gradually sup- 

 plied with moisture; and the greater the depth 

 to which the soil is open, the greater will 

 be the advantages of this important opera- 

 tion. 



The action of the plough upon the soil is 

 the reverse of that of the spade, in these im- 

 portant particulars; — Instead oilooseniiig the 

 subsoil, it hardens it, the heavy smooth sur- 

 face of the plough, and the frequent tramp- 

 ling of the horses' feet, tend to form a sub- 

 stance on the subsoil, well calculated to pre- 

 vent the water from penetrating below it; 

 and in many soils, after a few years plough- 

 ing, it is there retained to drown the seed or 

 plant, in rainy seasons, and to be speedily 

 evaporated when it would be the most de- 

 sirable to retain it. The crop is injured, 

 and often destroyed, in dry weather, for the 

 want of that moisture which, under a differ- 

 ent system, might have been retained in the 

 subsoil. 



In the United States, where the compara- 

 tive low price of land, occasioned by its 

 abundance, renders cultivation somewhat dif- 

 ferent from what it is in countries where 

 land is limited and dear, it may be thought 

 that the spade system would not be profitable. 

 But when we consider the trouble attending 

 the management of a large farm, and calculate 

 the original cost, and the expense of support- 

 ing the number of cattle necessary for tillage. 

 and removing the fruits of the earth to the 

 barn ; together with the capital sunk in im- 

 plements of husbandry, we shall, probably, 

 see cause to think otherwise. At all events, 

 it seems deserving of a trial. 



The Dairy— No 1. 



The properties of a good milk house are, 

 that it be cool in summer, and moderately 

 warm in winter, so as to preserve a temper- 

 ature of about 4.5'^ throughout the whole 

 year; and that it be dry, so as to admit of it 

 being kept clean and sweet at all times. A 

 butter dairy should consist of three apart- 

 ments — a milk house, a churning house with 

 a proper boiler, and other conveniences for 

 scalding and washing the implements, which 

 should be dried out doors when the the wea- 

 ther will permit. The cheese dairy should 

 likewise consist of three apartments — a milk 

 house, a scalding and pressing house, and a 

 salting house. To these should be added a 

 cheese room, or loft. A dairy for a small 

 family may be formed in a thick walled, dry 

 cellar, having windows on the north and east 

 sides, which are preferable for ventilation. 

 In winter these windows should have double 

 sashes, and in summer, a fixed frame of 

 close wire netting, or hair cloth, to pxclude 

 flies and other insects. 



In most places cows are milked twice 

 in twenty-four hours, throughout the year. 

 Where quantity of milk or cheese is an ob- 

 ject, three times milking must be preferable 

 but as twelve hours are necessary for the 

 due preparation of the milk in the cow, it 

 must be inferior in quality if drawn more 

 than twice a day. Whatever be the times of 

 milking, the milk should bo drawn off clear; 

 otherwise, what is left will be reabsorbed 

 into the system, and no more be generated 

 than is requisite to supply the quantity ac- 

 tually drawn. The milker, whether a man 

 or a woman, ought to be mild in manners, 

 and good tempered. If the operation is per- 

 formed harshly, it becomes painful to the 

 cow, who, in this case often brings into ac- 

 tion her faculty of retaining her milk at plea- 

 sure ; but if gently performed, it seems rather 

 to give pleasure. When cows are ticklish, 

 they should be treated with the most sooth- 

 ing gentleness, and never with harshness or 

 severity; and when the udder is hard and 

 painful, it shonid be tenderly fomented with 

 lukewarm water, and stroked gently; by 

 which simple expedient the cow will be 

 brought into good temper, and will yield her 

 milk without hesitation. Whenever the teats 

 of cows become scratched, or wounded, so 

 as to produce foul orcorrupted milk, it ought, 

 on no account, to be mixed with the sweet 

 milk, nor carried into the milk house, lest it 

 should taint the atmosphere, and thus prove 

 injurious to the rest of the milk. 



Cows should be milked as near the dairy 

 as possible, in order to prevent the necessity 

 of carrying and cooling the milk before it is 

 put into the creaming dishes. Every cow's 

 milk should be kept separate till the peculiar 

 properties of each is so well known as to admit 

 of their being well classed, when those that 

 are most nearly allied, may be mixed toge- 

 ther. The very best quality of butter can 

 only be economically made in those dairies 

 where cheese is also made; because in them 

 the best part of each cow's milk (the last 

 drawn off) can be set apart for throwing up 

 cream, the best part of this cream (the first 

 separated) can be taken in order to make into 

 butter, and the remainder, or all the rest of 

 the milk and cream of the dairy, can be turn- 

 ed into cheese. The spontaneous separation 

 of cream, and the production of butter, are 

 never affected but in consequence of the pro- 

 duction of acid in the milk. Hence it is, 

 that where the whole milk is set apart for 

 the separation of cream, and the whole of 

 the cream is separated, the milk must neces- 

 sarily have turned sour before itis made into 

 cheese ; and no very excellent cheese can be 

 made from milk which has once attained that 

 state. 



