394 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



JUNE 14,1843. 



from the Providence Chief. 



PREMIUMS OF THP: RHODR ISLAND AG- 

 RICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 No. II. 



The second premimn offered by the Society, is 

 " For a satisfactory, and the most satisfactory state- 

 ment, f-howing the value of apples, or any kind of 

 root, compared with Indian corn, per bushel, as 

 food for cattle, horses, sheep, or swine — twenty 

 dollars." The fourth premium, of fifteen dollars), 

 is " For the most satisfactory statement of the com- 

 parative cost of keeping stock on roots and hay, or 

 on dry fodder alone." 



These subjects cover a broad field for experi- 

 ment, and thoy are of vital interest to the New 

 England farmer. Indian corn is here an expen- 

 sive crop ; at the West, it is procured with so lit- 

 tle labor, and in such vast abundance, that the cul- 

 ture of root crops and apples, as food for domestic 

 animals, is never thought of. The production of 

 cider at the present day, is an object of trifling 

 consequence to the farmer ; and e.xcept for vine- 

 gar, it would be well if this unwholesome and un- 

 palatable beverage should go into disuse entirely. 

 To turn the products of cider orchards to profita- 

 ble account is now a desirable object in rural econ- 

 omy, and within a few years, great use has been 

 made of this hardy fruit as food for stock. Its 

 value for this purpose is variously estimated, al- 

 though the evidence greatly preponderates in its 

 favor. 



The value of all our root crops as winter food, 

 combined with the dry food which constitutes so 

 great a portion of their sustenance during that se- 

 vere season, is admitted by every intelligent far- 

 mer, but the sustaining and fattening qualities of 

 apples and roots can only bo determined by com- 

 parative trials; and Indian corn, the nutritious 

 properties of which are established beyond all ca- 

 vil, is selected as a standard of comparison. 



Here is another instance in which we need cer- 

 tain data; and it is to be hoped that there will be 

 many competitors for the premiums, from whom 

 such information may be derived, as will remove 

 at least, some of the doubt and uncertainty in 

 which the whole subject is now involved. 



In competing for these premiums, there is one 

 consideration which must never be lost sight of; 

 that is the comparative advantage to the health and 

 comfort of farm stock, when supported upon a mix- 

 ed food, or upon dry fodder alone. We have no 

 hesitation in saying, that no kind of farm stock 

 can be kept in a perfectly healthy and thriving 

 condition, upon dry feed, however excellent it may 

 be. The contrast from full pasturage to the stalls, 

 ^vhere nothing but hay is fed out, and from the 

 stalls to the succulent spring feed, is invariably at- 

 tended by symptoms which any intelligent observ- 

 er must see is indicative of severe trial to the 

 health and constitution of the animal. The ox 

 that IS kept upon an alternation of roots and hay, 

 is ready for spring work, in thriving condition, and 

 spirits in good tone. He is refreshed and not 

 drenched and debilitated by an occasional bite of 

 green herbage. 



It is stated upon the authority of an experienced 

 farmer, who used fifty horses and twentyeight head 

 of working oxen on his farm, " that his bullocks 

 never tasted any other fare during the winter, ex- 

 cept turnips and straw, with perhaps a handful of 

 hay while the plowmen were eating their dinner, 

 that they were never spared a day's usual work ; 



and that thus fed, he considered one ox as equal to 

 the work of two on hay alone." 



The cow, the most valuable of our domestic ani- 

 mals, when suffered to run dry, by many farmers, 

 is kept upon the most inlerior kind of provender, 

 such as bog hay, straw, or butts, even up to the pe- 

 riod of calving. "This, however, is highly im- 

 provident ; for, although it is not necessary to keep 

 them during that time in full flesh, yet, if allowed 

 to fall ofi^ until they become lean, tlieir milk will 

 be found thin, as well as deficient, and the injury 

 to the future stock, if the calves be reared, or the 

 consequent inferiority of the produce of the dairy, 

 will more than equal any saving that can be made 

 in fodder. Milch kine, should, in fact, be at all 

 times maintained not only in good condition, but in 

 what may be termed, a viilky hibit ; and for this 

 purpose succulent roots should always be given 

 liberally, along ivith whatever food is given them." 



We want no better evidence of miserable hus- 

 bandry, than feeding milch cowa and young stock 

 through our long winters, on low meadow hay 

 alone. In the first place, it is owing to the igno- 

 rance or the idleness of the farmer, that he does 

 not make his bog meadow, as he might, in a major- 

 ity of cases, produce the best fodder in the great- 

 est abundance, and in the second place, cows and 

 young stock thus fed, are little better in the spring 

 than living skeletons. We have seen within a 

 month, some of these fleshless carcasses exposed 

 for sale in our market — round-backed, shriveled, 

 stunted yearlings, and forlorn, melancholy looking 

 cows, that betokened the want of thrift and man- 

 agement, not less than the inhumanity of their 

 owners. M. 



Froin the Alfjany Cullivator. 



BUTTER MAKING. 

 We have been favored with three replies to the 

 inquiries of " The Neighbors," on the subject of 

 making butter, published in our last number. We 

 annex two of them — one from a lady of Vermont, 

 to the superior quality of whose butter we can tes- 

 tify, and the other from n. lady of Orange county, 

 whence comes the best butter found in the New 

 York markets Ed. Cult. 



Messrs. Editors — A request hag been made 

 through the medium of your paper, for some practi- 

 cal dairy-woman to give a minute description of 

 the process of making good butter ; the kind of 

 pan, churn, ladle, &c. ; but my own experience is 

 all I shall attempt to relate, and that will not com- 

 prise information with regard to improved materi- 

 als, or any great variety ; for I used the old fash- 

 ioned brown earthen pan, and a churn that might 

 have been manufactured from some of the first tim- 

 ber ever felled in Vermont, and the only ladle used 

 was my hands. 



The process of setting and skimming the milk, 

 removing the cream preparatory to churning, and 

 separating the liquid from the butler after having 

 been thoroughly churned, demand great attention. 

 Great care should be taken to have the pans per- 

 feelly cleansed. Never having practiced making 

 butter to any extent, in mid-summer, there are 

 some items in my experience that would not be ap- 

 plicable to those who are engaged in the business 

 for the whole year. My practice was to place the 

 pans, after cleansing, around the fire, keeping them 

 warm till wanted for the milk, which was strained 

 while warm into the pan, and placed immediately 



upon a shelf, where it should by no means be dis- 

 turbed until the time of removing the cream, which 

 varied from two to three days, depending upon the 

 heat, cold, or dampness of the weather. The milk 

 was not suffered to become acid, or at all thicken- 

 ed ; and the cream when taken from the milk, was 

 separated from it as entirely as possible, and 

 churned in three or four days, and always at eve- 

 ning in cool weather. Cream was removed from 

 the milk into a stone jar, and kept closely covered 

 until a sufficient quantity for making twelve or fif- 

 teep pounds was obtained. The churn was pre- 

 pared for the cream by the application of boiling 

 water, suflered to remain in it thirty or forty min- 

 utes, when it was removed and the cream put in to 

 stand a little lime before churning, and occasion- 

 ally stirred by raising the dash. It was then 

 churned moderately at first, the rapidity of motion 

 increasing as llie cream thickened ; nor was the 

 labor suspended until the butter was collected into 

 one mass ; it was then removed to a wooden tray 

 or bowl with the hands, pressing out all the butter- 

 milk possible, and a little salt added, when it was 

 removed to a cool place to remain until the fol- 

 lowing morning; then thoroughly worked, and a 

 little salt well mixed, and again placed in the dai- 

 ry for several hours, when it was again carefully 

 worked, and if necessary, salt added, and a loa- 

 spoonlul of saltpetre, with twice the quantity of 

 white sugar pulverized, to every six pounds of but- 

 ter. It was then made into small rolls, and care- 

 fully packed in a firkin. If to be kept through the 

 summer, brine should be made to cover it. 



If I have not been sufficiently definite in relating 

 my experience in butter making, to enlighten one 

 person, to say nothing of "The Neighbors," it may 

 have a tendency to elicit some other person's expe- 

 rience which shall be decidedly beneficial, not only 

 to "The Neighbors," but to community. 



Martha. 



Messrs. Gaylord Sf Tucker — In the May No. of 

 the Cultivator, " The Neighbors" propounded some 

 questions as to butter making. Living, as I do, in 

 Orange county, which ranks A, No. ], in the man- 

 ufacture of butter, I felt an anxiety to give the de- 

 sired information, and for this purpose have obtain- 

 ed the following directions from an aged female 

 friend, who for iiwards of 40 years, has had the 

 management of a large dairy, and has probably 

 made and packed down 1.500 firkins of the very 

 choicest Orange Co. butler, with her own lianda. 

 Here you have it, " verbatim el iileratim." 

 jYewburgh, May 15, 1843. T. M. Niven. 



'' One of the first requisites is perfect cleanli- 

 ness in every utensil and implement used about 

 the dairy. The butter should always be made and 

 worked in a cool cellar. The milk-pails (wood is 

 preferred,) should never be used for any other pur- 

 pose ; they should be thoroughly cleansed daily, 

 and be well aired and dried after washing. Imme- 

 diately after milking, the milk should be strained 

 into tin pans usually holding 12 or 14 quarts — the 

 pans of course being clean and sweet ; a little cold 

 spring water being put into each pan before the 

 milk is put into them. 



In warm summer weather, the milk should stand 

 In the pans about !i4 hours, or until it becomes 

 thick. The milk is then thrown into the churn, 

 filling it about half full, (always remembering the 

 first requisite of cleanliness and sweetness,) and is 

 permitted to stand about half an hour before the 



