1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



411 



April and July, he employs more than one hun- 

 dred laborers upon his ])lantation. Mr. H. sells 

 the oil of peppermint in London and other places, 

 and his annual trade amounts to from $75,000 to 

 $125,000. The Republican says that the Western 

 crop has been cut off by the severe winter, and the 

 value of Mr. H.'s extract, which is said always to 

 command an extra price, is expected to advance in 

 the market. Michigan yields the next great pro- 

 duct of peppermint, if, indeed, it is behind our 

 Wayne county manufacturer. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CHEESE-MAKING IN VERMONT. 



Mr. Brown : — An inquiry was made in a late 

 number of the Farmer about cheese-making. Al- 

 though I do not feel worthy of writing for the pub- 

 lic to read, I will give my method of cheese-making, 

 which I learned of an old dairy woman, who said she 

 learned of a girl whose parents sent her to the 

 Shakers, with whom she served time for that ex- 

 press purpose. 



The milk should be as warm as it conveniently 

 can be had fr )m the cows ; if the rennet is good, 

 the milk will curdle hard enough to cut in thirty 

 minutes; it should then be carefully cut with a 

 curd-knife made for the purpose. After the whey 

 is dipped oft', which is done by putting a strainer 

 over the tub, the curd should again be broken with 

 careful handling, as too much squeezing works away 

 the richest part of the curd, which will he readily 

 seen by the whey being white. The whey first 

 dipped off is put into a kettle or boiler for the pur- 

 pose of scalding; it should be scalding hot, but not 

 boil ; while the whey is heating, the curd is dipped 

 off into a strainer placed over a sink or basket made 

 for the purpose, then is tied up and a weight placed 

 upon it for a few moments, after which it is crossed 

 up two or three times, each time the weight being 

 applied ; the curd is then sliced about three-fourths 

 of an inch thick, and placed as loose as may be into 

 a tub. So it may scald evenly, care should be taken 

 to stir it with a paddle for the purpose as soon as 

 the whey is poured upon it. When the curd feels 

 a little tough, or will squeak between the teeth, it is 

 sufficiently scalded ; it is then dipped into the 

 strainer which is over the basket, after which it is 

 spread on tables or boards to be cooled as cool as 

 it can be ; then it is hung up in a strainer to drain 

 about one hour ; then is cut by a curd-cutter and 

 salted, three ounces to five pounds curd. 



As to presses, they diff'er so much in power it is 

 difficult to say anything of them. The cheese, 

 however, should be pressed hard, and the whole 

 power should not be put on at first; it should be 

 pressed two days, and be turned three or four 

 times, h^a a tunnel strainer first to a cotton one. 

 When phe cheese comes from the press it should be 

 bandCged by a bandage cut crosswise of the cloth, 

 with a string drawn into each edge of it wide 

 enough to bring the bandage about three-fourths 

 of an inch over the top of the cheese before the 

 side bandage is put on ; cut a piece the size of the 

 top and bottom of the cheese, wring it out in the 

 grease, and put it smoothly on, after which the 

 side bandage, with the ends sewed together, is 

 drawn over, and strings drawn, which makes the 

 cheese perfectly safe from the fly. The bandages 

 are made of the cheapest of cotton cloth. The 



best and cheapest grease is made of the cream 

 or scum of whey, by the whey being set twenty-four 

 or thirty-six hours, churned and simmered slowly to 

 an oil. If double curded cheese is required, the curd 

 should be prepared for the hoop, then hung in the 

 cellar, which is added to the next day's after that is 

 prepared. A. E. r. 



Readmg, VL, June 28, 1857. 



A FINE FLOCK OF SHEEP. 



Friend Brown : — Having noticed in a commu- 

 nication from F. L. Hart, of West Cornwall, Ut., 

 that he says he shall raise from twenty-six ewes, 

 thirty-two lambs, I was induced to count mine, and 

 find that I have ninety-eight lambs (all weaned but 

 five) and sixty ewes, I lost, after the lambing sea- 

 son commenced, two ewes and one lamb, and gave 

 away six lambs ; this makes one hundred and five 

 lambs dropped by sixty-two ewes. Farmers some- 

 times speak of good and bad luck in raising lambs ; 

 I almost always have good luck if I manage well. 

 Ewes that drop twins, should be taken out of the 

 fiock at first, and kept with the lambs in a dry 

 warm place, until the lambs are strong enough to 

 follow the sheep readily. In weight, the South 

 Downs are not expected to equal the long wooled 

 sheep, but after selling four of my bucks to go South 

 last autumn, I sold one to a farmer in this vicinity, 

 and delivered it in Newport, when I asked him to 

 guess at the weight of his lamb ; he took it up, 

 looked very wise, and I think he said eighty pounds 

 and a half; we then tied his legs, and he weighed 

 one hundred and nine pounds. I have sold four- 

 teen of my sheep to go into Connecticut in a week 

 or two, and if they are well cared for, friend Hart 

 must look well to his laurels. T. B. BuFFUM. 



JVear JVetcport, 7 mo. 2, 1857. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE HONEY BEE. 



Mr. Editor : — Will you or some of your cor- 

 respondents, please to inform me through the Far- 

 mer, if there is any way to prevent a w^eak swarm 

 of bees from being robbed by foreign bee?, after it 

 is known that they are attacked. Five years ago, 

 my last swarm died. I left the hive on the stand 

 half full of comb ; last June there came a large 

 swarm of bees and took possession of the hive and 

 filled it full of honey. This spring, on examining 

 the hive I found more than a quart of dead bees, 

 which reduced them to a feeble swarm ; they 

 worked as soon as the flowers appeared till some of 

 the last days of May, and were then attacked by 

 other bees, and in a few days the hive was entirely 

 deserted ; at night, and in the middle of the day, 

 there was a large collection of bees about the hive. 

 On examining the hive I found it about two-thirds 

 full of honey. John King. 



Barre, June, 1857. 



Thinning Plants. — Cobbet said, in speaking of 

 the culture of cucumbers, that two plants in a hill 

 would bear a smaller crop than one, three less than 

 two, four less than three, until fifty plants would 

 bear nothing at all ! The remark will apply to all 

 cucurbitous plants, as melons, squashes, and pump- 

 !kins — which are often allowed to grow too thickly. 



