68 



Irrigation. 



Vol. XI. 



which it stood from 36 to 38 hours. It was 

 then skimmed, and the cream was then put 

 into tin pails, standing on the bottom of the 

 cellar. A little salt was put into the pails 

 before the cream, and stirred when cream 

 was added. It was the practice to churn 

 twice a week. The buttermilk is worked 

 out by hand, without the addition of water. 

 The buttermilk being thoroughly*vvorked 

 out, the butter is immediately salted with 

 one ounce of ground rock salt to the pound, 

 and after twenty-four hours is reworked, 

 packed in layers of five pounds each, and 

 salt sprinkled between them. 



The second premium butter — the process 

 pursued was to strain the milk into tin pans, 

 and place it in a cool stone cellar, where it 

 stood from 36 to 48 hours, when it was 

 skimmed and the cream put into stone pots. 

 Churn twice a week. When churned, the 

 buttermilk is drawn off, and the butter 

 washed twice with cold water. A mixture 

 of rock salt and sugar is used in the propor- 

 tion of one-fourth pound of sugar and three- 

 fourths pound of salt, and one ounce of the 

 mixture used for every pound of butter. Af- 

 ter twenty-four hours the butter was re 

 worked, and weighed in pound balls. The 

 tin marketing boxes have ice coolers in the 

 centre. 



The third premium butter was made as 

 follows: The milk strained into tin pans 

 and placed in a cool cellar. Previous to 

 churning it is lowered into the well and 

 cooled. It is then churned, after the churn 

 is soaked over night in cold water. The 

 Randall cylinder churn is recommended. 

 Churning once a week. Buttermilk re- 

 moved wholly by the hands, and is never 

 rinsed with cold water. The next day it is 

 worked into pound lumps for market. It is 

 salted with about three-fourths ounce of salt 

 to the pound, to which is added some sugar 

 and saltpetre. 



The fourth premium butter was made as 

 follows: The milk was strained into pans in 

 which it stands from 24 to 36 hours in a cel- 

 lar; the cream is kept in tin pails; churning 

 performed once in four days in the early part 

 of the season, and once a week in the latter 

 part. The cream is strained through a cloth 

 into the churn. The time required for churn- 

 ing averages only seven minutes. The but- 

 ter is put into an earthen pan and water 

 added and repeated till the buttermilk is 

 thoroughly rinsed from the butter, or until 

 it returns colourless. The butter is then 

 worked over. Then it is put into an earth- 

 en pan and salted with one ounce of sedt to 

 a pound of butter. It is afterwards worked 

 over again, piece by piece, and made into 

 balls and put into the cellar till sent to mar- 



ket. One cow made from the 20th day of 

 May to the 20th day of September, 211 

 pounds and two ounces of butter. 



The fifth premium butter was made much 

 as above. Water was employed in forcing 

 the butter from the buttermilk. It was salt- 

 ed with one ounce of salt and one-fourth 

 ounce of loaf sugar to the pound. — Ameri- 

 can Quarterly Journal. 



Irrigation. 



By J. J. Thomas. 



The application of water to the surface i 

 of lands, for the promotion of vegetables 

 growth, has been practised, in warm coun- \ 

 tries, from the earliest ages. Its indispen- j 

 sably essential use in ancient Egypt, and the'- 

 great benefits derived from its introduction^; 

 at a later day into Italy, sufficiently estab-^' 

 lished its eminent utility. But being lessR 

 necessary in the cooler and more moist cli-- 

 mate of Britain, it was afterwards less ex- ; 

 tensively practised in the system of agricul- 

 ture which spread to the settlements ofP 

 America. The summers of the northernki 

 and middle States, are equal in warmth ton 

 those of northern and central Italy ; but int^ 

 copying the practice of agriculture froraij 

 England and Scotland, the wide differenceil 

 in the heat and dryness of summers has< 

 been too much forgotten. 



The great advantages resulting from ak 

 due proportion of moisture in the soil, musti 

 be evident to every one on a moment's re-* 

 flection. Who does not know that nearly^ 

 all farm crops, during vigorous growth, aret 

 benefited by frequent showers'! Who hasi 

 not noticed the great diminution in thei 

 amount of pasture and hay, in potatoes, rutai 

 bagas, and other farm products, resulting! 

 from long continued or unusual droughty 

 What farmer is ignorant of the fact thatJ 

 meadows and pastures in wet or moist situ-« 

 ations, or which are occasionally overflowed! 

 by streams, are covered with a growth ofi 

 herbage far heavier and more luxuriant thani 

 the diminished products of dry and unwa-i 

 tered uplands'? Who, then, can question,) 

 that during the heat and drought of our sum-« 

 mers, not unfrequently quite severe, ourl 

 root crops would be greatly assisted in theiri 

 growth, and our crops of grass double ini 

 weight, by artificial watering through chan-l 

 nels spread over the surface of the land"? 



There appears to be but very few exam-i 

 pies in this country, of well conducted andl 

 systematic irrigation. A few, however, havel 

 sufficiently shown its advantages. 



E. D. Andrews, of Pittsford, N. Y., says:i 

 "In the hilly country of Vermont, I owned! 

 a farm over which I carried the water ofi 



