306 



The. Dairy. 



Vol. III. 



merits and dements of these animals, that 

 we may determine which is most useful and 

 profitable. 



The horse, when put to service, must have 

 arrived at his full strength and value, conse- 

 quently there is no gain on the capital invest- 

 ed, besides what arises from service, and, as 

 he is good for nothing at the end of service, 

 there will be a discount at last equal to the 

 amount of his cost. 



The ox may submit to the yoke when young 

 and partly remunerate his owner for cost of 

 keeping while obtaining his growth, when he 

 may he sold to the butcher, and the money in- 

 vested in younger stock ; thus there will be a 

 constant gain in growth while the service 

 will be sufficient for the purposes of farming. 

 The horse, if kept on hay alone, must have 

 his masticating powers in almost perpetual 

 motion ; the ox reserves some of his time for 

 rumination, hence there may be a difference 

 in the cost of keeping. The cost of equipping^ 

 a horse for the regular farm service is great- 

 er than that of the ox, and more time is re- 

 quired to put on and off these equipments. — 

 In shoeing, the difference of cost is in favor 

 of the ox, as also it is in the quality of the 

 manure they make. The ox has an intrinsic 

 value arising from the good qualities of his 

 flesh and skin, the one being good for food, 

 the other for leather, whereas very little can 

 be made out of a dead horse. For some kinds 

 of farm service the horse is preferable to the 

 ox, such as light ploughing and harrowing, 

 but for carting, hauling stones, and other 

 heavy work he is not so good. He is better 

 adapted to the road service, and is useful for 

 milling, marketing, and mcelr.mn'j; ; he also 

 may be used journeying, and visitincf. — 

 It is convenient, and, perhaps, prolilable to 

 keep both these useful animals as well as 

 cows, sheep, and other stock, but when the 

 numberof horses greatly exceed those of oxen, 

 or even cows, it is time to begin to count the 

 cost, which may be done by opening an ac- 

 count current with each animal, keeping debt 

 and credit of what you give or receive from 

 each. — Maine Farmer. 



Salt should be regularly fed to cattle both 

 in winter and summer. They will never eat 

 too much if it is placed constantly before them 

 where they can obtain it all times. The best 

 way to feed thorn with it, except when snow 

 is on the ground, is to employ salt troughs for 

 the purpose, which arc made most convenient 

 by making a deep cavity in the convex side 

 of a short thick piece of slab, or a chip from 

 scoring timber, to be kept filled with salt, and 

 placed flat n|)on Iho ground. They are very 

 cheap and will not easily upset. In winter 

 when the ground is covered with snow, salt 

 should be applied by brining the fodder. 



THE DAIRY. 



No. III. 



On tUc Maiin^einent of the Dniry^ partic* 

 ttlnrly with respect to the makiug and 

 curing of Butter. 



BY DR. JAMES ANDERSON. 



The next object that demands attention is, 

 the utensils of the dairy. These in general 

 must, from the nature of the bu.sine.ss, be made 

 of wood. But of late many persons, who af- 

 fect a superior degree of elegance and neat- 

 ness, have employed vessels made of lead, or 

 of common earthen-ware, for various purposes 

 in the dairy. But, as the acid of milk very 

 readily dissolves lead, brass, or copper, and 

 with tliese forms a compound of a poisonous 

 nature ; such vessels must be accounted highy 

 pernicious in the dairy, and therefore ought 

 to be banished from it. The same may be 

 said of vessels of any of the common kinds of 

 earthen- ware, which being glazed with lead, 

 and the glazing soluble in acid, are equally 

 improper. Mr. Hayes has recommended cast- 

 iron as a proper substitute for these; but this 

 metal also is soluble in acids; and though the 

 solution be not poisonous like the others, yet, 

 as it may affect the taste of the products of 

 the dairy, and render their medical qualities 

 different from what they would naturally 

 have been, the use of these also should be 

 laid aside. In short, excepting vessels of true 

 porcelaine, or glass, which are greatly too 

 expensive, I know of none that could be with 

 propriety substituted for wooden vessels, in 

 the dairy. China, or glass vessels, however, 

 for obvious reasons, can never come into gene- 

 ral i;se in the dairy; nor will the sensible 

 husbandman ever tiiink of any other than 

 wooden dislies for his milk; as these, if pro- 

 perly managed, can be kept as sweet and 

 pure as the itnagination can conceive. Tliis 

 fact is so generally known as to render wood- 

 en dairy utensils common in most parts of the 

 country, so as that they can be readily pro- 

 cured everywhere, of a proper quality and 

 form of construction, and therefore nothing 

 more on this subject need be here said. 



The creaming dishes, (so I call the vessels 

 in which the milk is placed for throwing up 

 cream,) wlien properly cleansed, sweet, and 

 cool, are to be filled with the milk as soon 

 after it is drawn from the cow as possible, 

 having been first strained carefully tlirough 

 a close strainer, formed of a large wooden 

 bowl with a hole at the bottom coveri^d with 

 a very close sieve of fine wire, (silver wire 

 is best,) or hair web woven for that purpose; 

 jor thin cloth of any kind, (I should always 

 prefer the wire, as most durable and cleanly,) 

 so as to keep back hair.«, &c., that may acci- 

 dentally fiill from the cow. These di.^hes 

 i should never exceed three inches in depth, 



