FARiMERS' REGISTER— MYRTLE WAX. 



419 



ket ; it is then safe from flies to keep any length 

 of time, if made so as not to leak. 



Tlie soft cheese ripens and matures much sooner 

 than the dry hard cheese ; tlie latter will dry 

 much sooner; but maturing and drying are, or 

 may be very different. Cheese will shrink two 

 to one in October that it will in August, yet it will 

 ripen and mature three to one in August that it 

 will in October and November. 



Many suppose that large cheeses require more 

 time to ripen than small ones, but we think not ; 

 the ripening process is of a chemical nature, ra- 

 ther accelerated by increased mass than retarded ; 

 as is also the mass of the baker, the brewer, and 

 the distiller, by increased mass. 



A very little cheese, made to please a child, 

 will soon become dry, but never have maturity or 

 taste. The coloring, if any, should be of annotlo, 

 dissolved in pure strong ley, a spoonful or two ol 

 which is sutlicient for the milk of a large cheese ; 

 let the outside be painted with the same soon after 

 the cheese comes from tiie press, then dry an hour, 

 and be anointed with lard or butter. We do not 

 darken the room, or attempt to keep out the flies, 

 but depend on the soundness of the cheese to save 

 it from their depredations. In hot weather we open 

 our doors and windows, and give air; but cool dry 

 winds, blowing directly on, will crack the cheese. 

 In spring and fall we keep up a generous warmth; 

 and indeed, in the cool damp days in midsummer, 

 have fire in the cheese room stove, and so greatly 

 accelerate the maturing process. 



My sons commenced cheese-making the present 

 year the 15th of April, and before August had 

 three tons of cheese in market, which would have 

 passed well with many for old cheese, being so 

 ripened. It is found, by actual experiment, that 

 every pound of butter taken fi-om a cheese will 

 shrink the weiglit of the same about three pounds 

 for one. The experiment of making cheese of 

 milk directly from the cow night and morning has 

 been tried often in this section, but I know of no 

 one who continues the practice. The yield will 

 be greater, but the cheese rank, carrying into it 

 something of that kind of taste peculiar to milk 

 directly from the cow. 



The reservoir for the whey, and every other 

 thing that may have tendency to charge the atmos- 

 phere with impurity, should be hept at a sufficient 

 distance; and the room where the milk stands over 

 ni^iit, well ventilated. 



The question is often asked, how much cheese 

 will each fair dairy cow make in a season.' and 

 how much in a day will each such cow. make at 

 full grass in May.' I answer, 300 lbs. is perhaps 

 about an average yield for a fair dairy well kept; 

 but a very choice selection of cows well kept will 

 sometimes exceed 400 lbs. in a season, and one 

 such cow may make four or five pounds in a day 

 at full grass. We have very few cows of the im- 

 proved breeds, and very little stock is raised. 

 Many hundreds of cows are brought in annually 

 from a distance, for sale and for use. 



Ephraim Perkiivs, 

 One of the Com. of the New Vork State 

 ^Agricultural Society for Oneida Co. 

 South Trenton, August, 1833. 



"Living within the above cheese district, I am 

 well convinced that the calculations here made by 

 Ephraira Perkins, Esq. as to the quantify of cheese 



manufactured in second district, is to be relied on 

 as correct; and his process of making worthy of 

 the attention of those engaged in the dairy business. 



W. WiLLOLGHBY, M. D. 



Late President of the jlgricultural Society 

 of Herkimer County. 



BAYBKRRY, OR MYRTLE WAX. 



From the New England Farmer. 



The Vegetable Wax, called Bayberry in the 

 Northern, and Myrtle Wax in the Southern parts 

 of the United States, is the produce of a shrub 

 called by botanists Myrica Cerifera, which some- 

 times grows to the size of a small tree, and is 

 found abundantly along the coast, from Maine in 

 the North, to Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico. The 

 wax is extracted from this shrub by collecting the 

 berries, boiling them with water, and bruising 

 them at the same time, by which the wax will rise 

 to the top as a thick oily scum, easily separated, 

 which, when cold, turns out a moderately hard 

 substance, of a green dingy color. After chemical 

 investigation, that substance has been found to 

 resemble bees' wax so closely in the most important 

 properties, that they may 'be classed under the 

 same genus of chemical bodies. 



Until now, the use of this wax has been very 

 limited, the farmers pick up in swamps and the 

 woods a sufficient quantity to supply themselves 

 with candles; and if there is any surplus, they send 

 it to market in New York, Boston, or other North- 

 ern places, where it is bought by caudle makers, 

 who mix it with their tallow, in order to correct 

 in summer, the extreme softness of their candles. 



Notwitstanding the abundance of its growth, 

 the picking up of the berries among swamps, thick 

 wood and mire, is so laborious, that peoj)le who 

 have attempted the collection of the wax as a 

 special business and matter of trade, have found 

 that one single bushel of berries is the utmost a 

 stout and active man can collect in one day's work ; 

 hence its price in market is very high, fluctuating 

 between 18 and 25 cents per pound. 



The object of this publication is to invite the 

 attention of farmers to the cultivation of the shrub 

 affording the myrtle wax, in order to bring its 

 price down to that of tallow. It is obvious that 

 should the shrubs be collected in one field, con- 

 sequently ready at hand — it is obvious, I say, that 

 the same man, who, under the difficulty of wan- 

 dering in swamps, wood and mire, can collect but 

 one bushel, shall be able, when lie finds the shrubs 

 gathered together in the same field, to pick up in 

 the same space of time, from three to four bushels, 

 can also deliver his wax at a price proportionably 

 reduced ; that is to say, from 25, to 8, 9, or 10 cents 

 per pound. 



The question now is, to investigate what will 

 be the nett produce of an acre planted in myrtle 

 wax, the wax selling at the reduced price of 10 

 cents per pound. 



Let us suppose each shrub planted at two and 

 a half feet from each other, there will be in one 

 acre 6724 of them : supposing, next, the average 

 product of each shrub to be only one pint of the 

 berries — then the whole crop will amount to 6724 

 pints, making up 105 bushels. Now, experience 

 has shown by those who follow the trade, that the 

 quantity of wax obtained from a bushel of berries, 

 averages from 5 to 8 pounds ; then our 105 bush- 



