170 



On the Preparation and Use of Manures. 



Vol. VIII. 



cultural Society of Scotland, that with the 

 exception of sweet butter made in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Edinburgh and Glasgow, there 

 has been rather a deterioration, than an im- 

 provement in the quality of Scotch butter, 

 during the last quarter of a century. Now 

 this to me is very extraordinary, inasmuch 

 as w^e leai"n from various sources, that in 

 Scottish husbandry there has been latterly a 

 great improvement; so much so, that it has 

 the credit of being superior even to that of 

 their neighbours on the sunny side of the 

 Cheviot hills. There has, however, been a 

 decided improvement in the quality of the 

 butter made of late years by the farmers 

 around Edinburgh and Glasgow, which, it is 

 said, is chiefly attributable to the method 

 very generally adopted by them, of making 

 the butter from the entire milk, by which, 

 says the writer named above, " the dairy 

 farmer is enabled to carry on his operations 

 in a regular and systematic manner — to 

 churn the milk at exactly the proper period 

 — to regulate the temperature, and in short, 

 to conduct the whole process upon certain 

 principles." 



Now the editor of the Cabinet need not 

 be told, that the writer knows but little or 

 nothing about those principles: I did not 

 take up my pen with a view to give rules 

 for making butter ; that would be preposter- 

 ous : my object has been to impress the dai 

 ryman with the value and importance of the 

 article he brings to market, and to remind 

 him that in his art, — although it be as old 

 as Abraham, and the king of Egypt — as in 

 most others, there have been, and are still 

 improvements — and to assure him — which, 

 no doubt, he is already aware of, that in the 

 prosecution of this art, there are " certain 

 principles," which if inquired into as they 

 should be, and followed, will at any rate 

 multiply his chances for the production of a 

 superior article, and consequently for the ob- 

 taining of the highest market price. Every 

 farmer will perceive that the difi^erence of 

 only two or three cents — and there is often 

 a difference of five — in the pound, in the 

 price of good and indifferent butter, in a 

 dairy which makes twenty, or thirty, or fifly, 

 or one hundred pounds per week, would at 

 the end of the year, amount to a sum that 

 would increase the profits, or diminish them 

 very considerably. 



The management of the milk and the 

 cream, and the churn, is no doubt of primary 

 consequence. Indeed it is said to have been 

 fully proved, that butter is yielded in the 

 largest quantity, and of the best quality, by 

 churning the entire milk, that is, the milk 

 from which the cream has not been sepa- 

 rated. " It is equally certain," says Ballan- 



tine, " that the milk must likewise be kept 

 till it has acquired a certain degree of acid- 

 ity, in which state also it affords the best 

 buttermilk — a point of great importance in 

 a district where it meets with a ready sale." 

 Butter thus made, we are told, is not only 

 the best when fresh, but is aleo best calcu- 

 lated for long keeping in a sound state, when 

 salted. In situations where there is not a 

 sale for buttermilk, " this mode of churning, 

 it must be admitted, will scarcely be as pro- 

 fitable as that from the cream, when, though 

 the butter may not command the highest 

 price, compensation will be made to the 

 farmer by the cheese which may be made 

 from the skimmed milk." 



I believe the butter of this city will com- 

 pare well with that of Boston, New York, 

 or Baltimore, but as I have already said, 

 much of it is susceptible of material im- 

 provement. If any thing shall be gathered 

 from what I have written, that shall incite 

 the farmer to make this improvement, I am 

 sure he will be benefited as much as I shall 

 be gratified. Anna B. L. 



Philadelphia. 



On the Preparation and Use of Manures. 



By WILLIS GAYLORD, OF OTISCO, N. Y. 



[Concluded from page 15L] 



Lime. — There is no substance, containing 

 no animal or vegetable matter, which exer- 

 cises a more powerful or beneficial effect 

 than lime, in some one or all of its forms of 

 carbonate, phosphate and sulphate. In the 

 common form in which it is found, jthat of a 

 carbonate, it acts in two ways, mechanically 

 and chemically. Being less porous than 

 sand, and more so than clay, its mixture im- 

 proves soils in which either of these pre- 

 vail; while as an alkaline earth, it acts 

 chemically on such animal or vegetable 

 matters as may exist in the soil. Lime de- 

 velops its chemical action most fully when 

 in its caustic state, or when by burning, the 

 carbonic acid has been expelled, and the 

 lime rendered what is termed quicklime. 

 In this state, it dissolves such organic mat- 

 ter as may exist in soils, and prepares it for 

 the food of plants. Humus frequently exists 

 in the soil in a solid and insoluble state ; 

 lime applied to this, renders it soluble in 

 water, in which form it may be taken up by 

 the roots of plants. A vast deal of needless 

 controversy has been carried on respecting 

 the value of lime as a manure, or the quan- 

 tity which should be used per acre. By 

 some, it has been extolled as the very high- 

 est on the list of effective manures ; while 

 others have decried it as of no use whatever; 

 and both have appealed to experiments as 



