]!¥EW ENGl^AJfP FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, AT NO. 62 jNORTH MARKET STRFFT i.-,. .. ~l — — L! 



""^"J«^^«^|^^T^TREE^^JA^^THE Agk^^ Warehoi,se.)-T. G. FESSENDE.N, EE^V^. 



NO. 9. 



VOL IX. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, SEPTEM B E R 17, 1 8 SO. 



From Iho Elgin Couiier, published io Scotland, 



BSERVATIONS ON THE MAKING, CURING, AND CASH- 

 ING OF BDTTER. 



A number ofcopies of tlie subjoined liavinorbeeii 

 tely printed in unotlier form at the Courier office 

 rone of our country gentlemen, we think we can- 

 )t do a more acceptable service to our agricultural 

 lends than to insert it in this place. It was drawn 

 by order of the .Agricultural Association, as the 

 suit of inquiries into the practice adopted In Irc- 

 ndin the making of butter, and of the experience 

 ' some extensive curers in the eoiuity of Aber- 

 len.— £i. 



1st. The milk house or dairy should have no 

 ternal communication with any other buildini». 

 must be kept free from smoke, well aired, and no 

 tetoes, fish, onions, cheese, or anything likely to 

 part a strong or had smell, should be kept therein. 

 short, nothing but the dairy utensils, which must 

 kept sweet and clean. 



2d. The milk when brought in from the covs 

 gould be strained through a fine hair sieve orstrii- 

 • r, and, when cool, put into sweet well seasontd 

 flien cogs, keller.s, or milk-pans — the latter to be 

 Jjfencd. A tin skimmer, with holes in it, is tie 

 tit for taking off the cream, which shoiid 

 B.vays be churned while the cream is fresh. 

 3d. The churns whether pump or barrel, should 



b made of the best well seasoned white oak 



a 1, as cleanliness is of the first importance, great 

 l3ntion should be paid to the washing, dryin" 

 ul airing ofthe churns immediately after use.other- 

 lue they are sure to contract a sour and unwhole- 

 Nie smell, which must injure the quality of the 

 Itter. 



kh. The Gutter immediately afler being charned, 

 lluld be thrown into fresh spring water where it 

 li uld remain for one hour at least, that it may 

 [\\y firm; and, at the end ofthe third or fourth 

 »ihing, some fine salt should be put into the. 

 »er, which will raise the color of the butter, and 

 iige away any milk that remains among it. Be- 

 0: salting it is very essential that no milk or wa- 

 ebe left, otherwise a strong smell and unpleasant 

 13 will be the certain consequence. 



ill. The Butter thus prepared should be imwe- ' 



itit/ sailed. The proportions of salt may be from 



t and one fourth to one and one half ounce of 



(tch Salt for the pound of Butter — or, for the 



e stoved Rock or Bay Salt one ounce for the 



nd. But when Butter is not intended to be 



t through the winter and spring, or for any long 



od, the quantities of Salt above recommended 



be somewhat reduced, the curer exercising 



3wn judgment in doing so. 



'. B. In Ireland, the use of salt and saltpetre is 



immended, in proportions of one ounce of 



ed Rock or Bay Salt, and one fifth of an ounce 



sltpetre to the Aberdeen pou.nd. 



ih. It is a very injurious practice to keep a 



ing of Butter uncured to the next churning, 



he purpose of mixing the two together. This 



e invariably injures the flavor of the whole, 



renders it of too soft a quality ever aftewards 



3t firm — This applies to curers who are the 



ucers of the Butter— but as the greatest quan- 



of butter in this country is collected and cured 



I serchants they are particularly cautioned against 



the practice of throwing the fresh Butter together, 

 and retaining it in that state for days until they have' 

 collected what they consider a sufficient quantity 

 to commence curing— the Butter treated in that 

 manner is invariably found inferior to what is salt- 

 ed afitr churning. Should, however, there not 

 be a sifficient quantity collected in one day to fill a 

 packaje when cured, the quality ofthe butter may 

 in greit measure be preserved by giving it a par- 

 tial salting and covering it over with a clean linen 

 cloth lipped in pickle, and placing it in a cool sit- 

 uation. Country Dealers who are in the habit of 

 sendiig carts through the Districts where they re- 

 side, 10 collect the Butter should endeavor to ar- 

 range it so between themselves and the makers 

 of the Butter, that it is churned upon the dav it is 

 called for. 



7tli. When the butter is cured, it should be 

 tramped firm into the firkin with a round, wooden 

 tramp-stick, of sufficient weight and thickness. 

 The firkin shoidd be filled up to the crose, and 



then covered over with a little of the purest salt 



suflicient room merely left for the head of the 

 cask, and must be well secured, to exclude 

 air, and to prevent the pickle from getting out. 



Sth. The Liverpool stoved Salt, or Portugal St 

 Ubcs, or Bay Salt, is from strength and quality, 

 always to be preferred. All Salt must be kept 

 quite dry, and at a distance from fire, to prevent 

 the first imbibing the smell of the smoke. If 

 Kept in a cask, a little unslacked lime placed un- 

 der it will prevent it from drawing moisture from 

 the grornd. 



9th. The mixing of the salt with the Butter 

 should be done in wooden dishes, after the water 

 and milk are completely expelled, and no time 

 should tteii be lost in tramping it into the firkin 

 which wll make it draw even and firm. 



10. Tie milk of new calved cows should never 

 be set fcr Butter until at least 4 days after calving, 

 as a smtll quantity of beast-milk Butter will injure 

 a whoh firkin. The practice of scalding cream 

 in cold weather should also be avoided, as cream 

 thus tmated will never make good Butter. 



11. Great care should be taken not to steep the 

 firkin in boggy or unwholesome water. Nothing 

 but th« purest spring or clear running water should 

 be used for that purpose— and the firkins should 

 be rendered perfectly dry inside after being steep- 

 ed, either by long drip|)ing, or being rubbed by a 

 siaooth towel. Old Butter should never be mixed 

 vith new — and the lining of the casks with'in- 

 fnior sorts, or Grease Butter, is a practice which i 

 csnnot be too much reprobated. 



12. The casks ought to be made of the best' 

 ak or ash, (the former to be preferred,) and the 

 hrgest size should not exceed 84 lbs. gross, that 

 teing the size used in Ireland, and most conveii- 

 ifnt and saleable in the London .market. The 

 casks should be tight and well hooped. Beech, 

 [Jane, ash, &c, should never be used, as that qual- 

 iiy of wood is more apt to absorb the pickle, and, 

 iaclependent of the injury thereby occasioned to 

 tie butter, it will often lead to dispute about the 

 tire. 



- To render these observations more complete, it 

 night be thought necessary to point out the in- 

 iirious, and even nefarious practices, which more] 



or less prevail in the making of Butter throughout 

 the country— but as a perseverance in such prar 

 tices must ultimately hav« the effect of entirely 

 destroying this profitable branch of agriculluraj, 

 mdustry, it is hoped the makers of Butter will see 

 It to be their own interest to produce nothing but 

 Butter of the best quality, and that these mal-iirac- 

 tices, which are perfectly known, will be discon- 

 tinued. The dealers in the country have it in 

 their power to put a check to them— and it is ex- 

 pected they will do so, by refusing to purchase 

 Horn those who adopt any artificial means to has- 

 ten the making of the butter, or to increase the 

 quantity, while the quality is thereby deteriorated 



SMALL FARMS-COLLECTING MANURES. 



The great principles of agriculture may be re- 

 duced to these two points: keep small farms and 

 manage them well. What constitutes a small farm, 

 or in what consists good management, are subl 

 jects deeply affecting the best interests of society 

 and have engaged volumes of the most philanthro- 

 pic writings. The pages of a work, limited in 

 size and devoted to various purposes, can aflford 

 but a short review of a subject so comprehen- 

 sively useful, yet, by entering directly into real 

 matiei and avoiding the prolixity of books, much 

 instruction and benefit may be obtained at an ex- 

 pense of money and time comparatively small 



An anxiety to grow rich has done more injury 

 and produced ,„oio (Us-ippointment to farmers 

 than to any other class of fortune hunters : the 

 merchant, who not only risks his entire capital, 

 but also his utmost credit on a single voyage, may 

 succeed even beyond his calculation, and may at 

 ■ once, increase his fortune and enlarge his credit- 

 the mechanic, who risks all on a sing'.e project 

 may succeed to riches and its comforts ; but the' 

 farmer, who enlarges his fields beyond his bo.tual 

 means of cultivating them never succeeds in W 

 design. •• 



Land badly tilled and badly fenced, produces a 

 small crop, which not unfrequently becomes ^ 

 prey to the inroads of cattle, or suffers for want 

 of hands to secure it in harvest ; yet such must 

 be the fate of large farms, that is, farms exceed- 

 ing the disposable means of the proprietor. No 

 general rule can be laid down to determine the 

 proper size of a farm, as it must be regulated by 

 a whole view of the farmer's means, family, &c. ; 

 but in choosing a farm, it would be a prudent 

 I maxim to prefer one even appaientiy too small, to 

 one that might prove too large ; and perhaps the 

 I generality of farmers, who look merely to the 

 support of a family, might do well to confin^ 

 their industry, in the first instance to fifty acres of 

 land, exclusive of the necessary proportion of 

 woodland. The result would prove so decisively 

 the superior advantages of small farms, as more 

 than probably to induce the farmer to continue 

 his industry on a scale, which would yield so much 

 in point of crops, save .so much labor, render^ 

 frequent view of the entire farm, and the collect- 

 ■ng of the produce to the barn so convenient. 

 But,' says the farmer, who has six or eight chil- 

 dren, ' fifty acres will not suflice to support my 

 family.' It may be replied, and with more truth, 

 'no, nor one hundred acres,' because pfthe un- 



