NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



341 



FEEDING CATTLE WITH FLAX SEED. 

 "A correspondent in the Fanners'" Journal re- 

 mmcnds feeding cattle with flax seed, and 

 ys, " the mode which I have adopted was ti> 

 il the seed down to a jelly, adding (hereto a 

 all «|uantity of salt, and suflicient pollard ami 

 t chaff to make the food tolerably solid. 1 

 gan by giving the seed in the proportion of 

 b. to each beast daily, and gradually increas- 

 the quantity to 4 lbs. The cattle were ex- 

 edingly fond of it, and throve well." 

 lE.MARK. — The fore°^oln» corrobor.ites the assertions 

 some of our American cultivators, who have fouin] 

 ed jelly an excellent ingredient in feed for fattinj 

 tie. SeeN. E. Farmer, vol. i. ps. 13, 314. 



From the American Farmer. 



MAPLE TREE SUGAR. 

 Washington, Pa. Jlpril-20, 1824. 

 De.\r Sir, — The honour done my hotch potch 

 istle of th<'. 6th of March, by publishing it, 

 s quite unexpected.* It was really intended 

 y for your own eye ; and contained as many 

 ions as a yankee pedlar's cart. I am, howev- 

 gratitied to tind you view the sugar tree in 

 manner it truly merits. It is one of" heav- 

 5 choicests gifts," bestowed on our happy 

 ntry ; but like many other blessings, shame- 

 y abused. The farmers near this place sell 

 irly as much sugar tree, as hickory for fuel. 

 s eq-jally valuable for this purpose. 

 know many families that make from twelve 

 ixteen hundred pounds of sugar annually, 

 some go over two thousand pounds. The 

 ze required is one man, one boy with a horse 

 small sled, to collect the water; with oc- 

 .onally a little extra help. In many instances 

 females of the family do all the work, except 

 ting and hauling the wood for fuel. A settle- 

 at in the northern part of Ohio, called the 

 estern reserve," has justly obtained much 

 ebrity for making large quantities of sugar. 

 ! almost entirely settled by New Englanders, 

 eople that know how to make the best of 

 ry thing. A friend, at my request, has writ- 

 to his brother, who lives in that settlement, 

 correct information on this subject ; which il 

 ained shall be forwarded to you. I question 

 ch, however, whether any tree in the United 

 tes can exceed one that grows on the farm 

 ^Vmos Walton, of West Bethlam Township, 

 his county. The produce of this tree for 

 last three years was as follows : spring of 



2, thirty-five and ene half pounds ; spring of 



3, twenty four pounds ; and this spring 

 :nty-nine and a half pounds ; with a small 

 tion of molasses each year. I had the above 

 ement from a member of the family. I am 

 Il acquainted with them, and know them to 

 very respectable. The tree is not of the 

 jest kind, but has a very bushey top. It 

 ids near the head of a spring, without any 

 er trees near it. The quantity made in this 

 nty this season falls short about one fourth, 

 e quality very good. 



wish you to send me No. 46, of the 5th vol. 

 :he Farmer, containing Mr, Bates' admirable 

 Iress. So many of my neighbours borrowed 

 read this address, that they have literally read 

 o rags. 1 am, your's, &c. 



ALEXANDER REED. 



Republished in the New England Farmer, vol. ii. 

 e298. 



From the Columbiau Centiuel. 



Mr. RussFxr., — Presuming on your love of 

 country, and of good Butter 1 wish you would 

 ijivo place to the following remarks relating to 

 that article ; and if every Editor in New-Eng- 

 land would do the same, they would benelit 

 Ihemselves as well as their neighbors. Your 

 obedient servant, D. 



TO THE BUTTER MAKERS IN NEW-ENGLAND. 



The writer of this note could tell a long story 

 about Butter, having been 45 years in the trade, 

 but he wij^make it very short. 



Make your Butter of sweet cream — work out 

 all the buttermilk ; put no more salt to it than 

 will make it palatable, for salt has no good ef- 

 fect as to keeping Butter sweet ; it is working 

 out all the Buttermilk, and excluding the air 

 from it that will accomplish this very desirable 

 object. 



Pack your Butter in handsome, tight kegs, 

 which will contain 20 or 25 lbs. ; soak the kegs 

 well in a strong pickle, and then tare them; 

 pack the Butter solid — not in layers as is too 

 often the case. This method of packing Butter 

 gives you a double chance for sale ; for being 

 equally handy for home use, if it does not sell 

 in the market, it can be inspected, and will be 

 in order for exportation. But when your But- 

 ter comes to market in tubs, barrels, boxes, he. 

 it can be sold only for home use, for Butter 

 cannot be exported except in kegs. 



Many tons of Butter are now on hand made 

 last year, and the year before, the greater part 

 of which must be sold for soap grease, at 5 cents 

 per pound. 



This article, if made good, and well packed, 

 would constitute a very considerable commodi- 

 ty for exportation, but foreigners will not eat 

 our rancid Butter. The Spring and Summer 

 Butter must be sold low, for our merchants can- 

 not ship Butter at a high price; for the Dutch 

 and Irish Butter stand in our way, and is very 

 excellent. 



The custom of selling Butter in lumps to the 

 traders is a very bad one ; every family should 

 first fill a keg, no matter if it does not contain 

 more than twelve pounds, then sell it to the tra- 

 der ; but the other method is ruinous. 



I hope some gentleman of education and know- 

 ledge of the subject will take it up, for it is very 

 necessary to the welfare of 



NEW-ENGLAND. 



Grass Bonnets. — " The liberal price," says 

 the Baltimore American, " which was paid 

 about a year ago at the Exchange, by a mer- 

 chant of this city, for a beautiful grass bonnet, 

 manufactured entirely of domestic materials by 

 a lady of Tioga County, in the state of N. York, 

 we learn has had the happy effect of directing 

 the attention and ingenuity of others in: that 

 section of the country to the same branch of 

 domestic manufacture. We are informed that 

 numbers of females and children, are now em- 

 ployed in fabricating grass bonnets, and hats, 

 in imitation of the various qualities of Leghorn, 

 and that the manufacture has been attended 

 with much success. We learn that Judge 

 Drake, of Tioga, arrived in this city a few 

 days ago, by way of the Susquehanna river, 

 bringing with him a bonnet of the most admir- 

 able colour, texture and workmanship, made by 



the same fair hands which produced the bonnet 

 first alluded to. A gentleman who has examin- 

 ed and compared it with Jiigh priced Leghorn, 

 describes it as far surpassing that or any other 

 he has ever seen." 



Cotton Sails. — The editor of the Darien Ga- 

 zette slates that he has been favored with a 

 sample of cotton sail cloth, or canvas, which 

 for beauty and strength exceeds any thing of 

 the kind he has ever beheld ; and strongly re- 

 commends to ship owners to give it a fair trial, 

 observing that one suit of colton sails will out 

 last two of Russia or any other canvas that is 

 now in use. The editor of the Gazette fur- 

 ther states that he has sailed on board Portu- 

 guese, Spanish, Maltose, Sicilian and Greek 

 vessels — none of which had any other but cot- 

 ton sails, and generally, all their small rigging 

 was cotton. 



The schr. Atlantic, bound to Philadelphia, 

 sailed from Darien on the last of April, fitted 

 with a suit of cotton sails. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SATURDAY, MAY 22, 1824. 



FARMER^S CALEJVJOER. 



MAKING CHEESE. — Although we have hereto- 

 fore given pretty copious direction's on the sub- 

 ject of making butter, we have had little to say 

 relative to cheese-making. But the manufac- 

 ture of cheese is scarcely less importanJ, and 

 we believe is generally more profitable than 

 that of butter. We shall therefore give some 

 remarks respecting this branch of rural econo- 

 my, premising, however, that what we shall 

 state is derived from reading or conversation, 

 having had no practical acquaintance with this 

 sort of domestic manufacture. We shall not 

 pretend to dictate, nor even to advise, bat hope 

 to furnish some hints, of which those who have 

 the management of dairies may perhaps avail 

 themselves to advantage. 



The goodness of cheese, as well as of butter 

 depends much on the quality of the milk ; though 

 the season and particular process adopted in 

 making it, also have a very considerable influ- 

 ence upon it in this respect — more perhaps than 

 the material of which it is prepared. We 

 shall, therefore, briefly notice these circum- 

 stances ; and, as different modes of making 

 cheese are practised in different counties, or 

 places, we shall then concisely state those which 

 are more particularly deserving of notice. 



The best season for this purpose is from the 

 commencement of May till the close of Sep- 

 tember ; or under favorable circumstances to 

 the beginning of October ; or during the period 

 when cows are, or in general can be pastured. — 

 In many large dairies indeed cheese may be 

 made throughout the year, provided the cows 

 be well fed, particularly in the winter. 



With regard to the rennet, as no good cheese 

 can be made without it, great attention is ne- 

 cessary in preparing it for coagulating the milk. 

 Strictly speaking rennet is coagulated [curdled] 

 lacteous [milky] matter, or substance found in 

 the stomachs or maws of calves that have been 

 fed only with milk, and which was formerly 

 used in coagulating milk ; though it is, in a more 

 extensive sense, applied to bait, veil, maw, or 

 stomach, as it is variously termed, which pos- 



