1868. 



■ NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



)23 



Sfty cents, and the last three weeks at sixty 

 sents, delivered to the customers. 



During the four months' trial I have had 

 eight cows. One was sold for beef June 22 ; 

 one heifer, three years old, dried off July 

 15; one cow came in, August 1, Have now 

 six in milk. Two are in their prime, one of 

 them, the one that come in August 1 ; the 

 other four are all young. Two calved in 

 August of last year ; the other two calved at 

 two yearo old or under, last spring. The two 

 old cows give at this time about twenty- two 

 quarts per day; the other four only about 

 eighteen ; or forty quarts per day in all. One 

 quart and a pint per day are sold ; also all 

 the night's milk one day in each week is 

 skimmed at twelve hours old. Have made, in 

 the time between May 15 and September 1-6, 

 inclusive, 512 pounds, besides what has been 

 used in the family. 



The feed is now mostlv corn fodder, cut up 

 green and fed in the stall. Some dry hay is 

 given, also three pints of corn meal per day. 

 The cows were turned to pasture about June 

 1, and had two feedings of hay each day. 

 The pasture has yielded very little feed since 

 August 10, when the corn was ready for them. 

 The cows have run out from six to eight hours 

 per day. The, remainder of the time they 

 have been in the stalls, where a large amount 

 of manure has been secured for future crops. 



The corn fodder has been about half South- 

 ern White, the other half a large Sweet. I 

 prefer the Sweet for the following reasons : it 

 is better liked by the cows ; it will bear thinner 

 planting, and is consequently more leafy and 

 does not lodge as much in rainy or windy 

 weather. Land is well manured and furrowed, 

 then the corn dropped by hand thin enough to 

 bear some ears. It is covered with the rear 

 teeth of F. F. Holbrook's Horse-hoe turned 

 outward. All the hoeing may be done with 

 this implement, except perhaps the first plant- 

 ing, as that grows slower, and the weeds might 

 get a start with the corn. 



Yours respectfully, Butter Maker. 



The following is a copy of the conditions 

 on which the premiums on butter were awarded 

 by the. Norfolk County Agricultural Society : 



"For the best produce of Initter r.n any farm 

 within the county for four months, from ilie 20tli 

 of May to tlie 20th of September, a sample of not 

 less than twenty pounds to lie exhil)ited, quantity 

 as well as quality to ije taken into view; with a 

 statement of the number of cows, and a full ac- 

 count of the manner oi feeding them, and the gen- 

 eral management of the millv'and butter, first pre- 

 mium lj?10; second, .f8; third $')\ fourth #4. 



Note. — It will be ^een that these premiums are 

 offered for the best produce on the farms, and not 

 simply for the bet speeimers exhibited. Com- 

 petitors will therefore be required to keep an ac- 

 count, and render a statement of the entire pro- 

 duce within the time mentioned. Each lot must 

 be numbered but not marked; any public or 

 known mark must be completely concealed, nor 

 must the competitors be present at the examina- 

 tion." 



You will see by the above that our Society 

 Intends to have the Dairy Committee act un- 

 biased, and without any prejudice. They 

 have the butter and the statement only to work 

 upon. I have entered butter and furnished a 

 statement the past six years. Have t£[ken the 

 first premium ever since the first year, when I 

 was awarded the second. There have gener- 

 ally been three or four entries each year re- 

 quiring statements ; but I have never seen the 

 statements of any of the other compeltors, 

 and only one of mine has been published by 

 the Soclete. 



The second premiun', has been taken the 

 last five years by Mrs. Nathan Longfellow, oif 

 Needham. I am promised a copy of her 

 statement, and hope it will be published for 

 the public benefit. Truly yours, 



A. W. ClIEEVER. 



Slieldonville, Mass., Sept. 19, 1868. 



Remarks. — We are greatly obliged to Mr. 

 Cheever for his prompt response to our invita- 

 tion, and can assure our readers that the ac- 

 count above given of his method of caring for 

 his stock, keeping his milk, and making his 

 butter is richly worth a year's subscription to 

 this or any other agricultural paper. We 

 quote occasionally the pi ices, and remark 

 upon the demand for "f tncy butter," in our 

 report of the produce market, and farmers 

 who wonder why their good wife's churning 

 does not rank with the best, may possibly find 

 the reason in carefully reading the above 

 article. 



The butter which Mr. C. refers to as taking 

 the first premium, we examined closely, at 

 Dedham, and consider it for richness of color 

 and neatness of putting up fully equal to any- 

 thing we have seen at any similar exhibition. 

 Had. we been among the privileged "tasters" 

 of the butter committee, our praise would not 

 have stopped at color and packing. But 

 knowing the temptation which it offered to 

 longing bystanders, the society wisely pro- 

 vided glass cases, securely locked, and the 

 eyesight alone was feasted. 



The simple statement that Mr. Cheever ob- 

 tains 60c per lb. for his butter, while ordinary 

 dairies sell for 42 to 45c, shows the profit in 

 making a choice article, and we only need add 

 here, what we have often assured our readers, 

 that, in this or any other market, afancxj ar- 

 ticle will command a fancy price. But It 

 must be cJwice — no discount from the gilt- 

 edged article. 



