Jfarmf r's Jloivtljlg Iftsiixrr. 



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CONDUCTED BY ISAAC HILL. 



"Those who LAB0B in the earth are the chosen people ok God, whose BaXABTa KB HAS KADJE Rfl PECULIAR DEPOSITS POB SUBSTANTIAL AND (JENUINE vmTUE."— Jefferson. 



VOL. 10. NO. 10. 



BOSTON, MASS., OCTOBER 31, 1848. 



WHOLE NO. 118. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR, 



PUBLISHED BY 



JOHN MARSH, 



ISSUED ON THE LAST DAY OF EVERY MONTH, 



77 Washington Street, Boston, Mass. 



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From the Albany Cultivator. 

 Butter-Makiusr in Holland. 



Editors Cultivator : — As 1 had some dairy- 

 Farming experience in Holland, and was for a 

 number of years manager of an extensive farm 

 where hntter was made, in the northern part of 

 that country, where the best article for market is 

 produced, I thought it not unlit to give your 

 readers a description of the way the " Holland- 

 ers"' make butter, which often keeps one year 

 or more. 



We milked from forty to sixty cows, of a breed 

 called " Lakeveldsche," after their originator. 

 This breed of cattle was obtained like the Bake- 

 well sheep, by scrupulously breeding the best 

 animals, till the highest point of perfection for 

 the dairy was obtained. They are invariably 

 white, with a black, cloth-like spot on the back, 

 and down the sides ; their size is equal to the 

 Durham cows I have seen in America. The 

 milk of these cows is generally very rich, al- 

 though one animal will differ sometimes largely 

 from another in this respect. They sell commonly 

 for eighty guilders (thirty-two dollars) each, i 

 have often paid as high as one hundred and fitly 

 guilders for an extra milker. 



Although these animals are always highly fed 

 rind well kept in all seasons, they are constantly 

 poor while they are milked ; this is one ol 

 their best qualities, as they turn every thing into 

 milk. 



We took from eighteen to eight quarts of milk 

 a day throughout the year, according to season ; 

 the highest point, and the best milk is obtained 

 in April and the beginning of May, when the 

 cattle get the new clover and grass. At that pe- 

 riod, the butter is of the finest possible flavor 

 and sells, made up in fancy figures and adorned 

 with the first flowers of spring, 



" Whose colors quaint. 



Have diaper'd the meadows o'er," 



for fifiy and forty cents^American currency,) the 

 pound. The average price North Holland buiier 

 commands, from wholesale dealers, throughout 

 the yar, is fifteen cents per pound, American 

 currency. 



(Jur cows were always fed in the stable, and 

 turned out in an open yard twice a day for 

 exercise, and to cleanse, their places by a libe- 

 ral application of water ami broom rubbing, of 

 which last tuo articles, the Dutch dairyman is 

 most lavish, no filth ■ litter being ever al- 

 lowed to remain in the stable at the time ol 

 milking. 



The whole secret of making such superior. 

 and long-keeping high-flavored butter, is, ac- 

 cording to my olisrrvalic.ii, only to be found in 

 the most minute cleanliness in the manipula- 

 tion generally, and iu the utmost nicety in the 



keeping of the milk, cream, vessels and apart- 

 ments, joined to plenty of white (I)utcb) clover, 

 and the nm: of suit, obtained by the evaporation 

 nf sea water. 



Every morning before sunrise, the cows were 

 fell anil turned out, the dung and all fillh remo- 

 ved, and the doors and windows opened. Alter 

 airing the stable, they were placeil back again, 

 and milked, the milk, taken to the dairy-maid, 

 was placed iu shallow earthern pans (glazed in- 

 side) which stood in a reservoir of cool water, 

 purposely let in before every milking. In the 

 course of the day she dipped off the cream, by 

 the aid of a flat hollow wooden dish, as often as 

 it rose to the surface of the milk, which iu no 

 case is suffered to get sour before the cream is 

 taken off. The cream was poured into large 

 tubs, in the form of a Dutch churn, and stirred 

 several times in the day. I should have staled 

 that the night's milk was put in the pans in the 

 same way, and skimmed off before the morn- 

 ing's milk was brought in; the cream of the 

 last being added, to that of the first, the whole 

 was suffered to get sour together. If the cream 

 did not turn sour by itself, it was caused to do 

 so by adding some acid cream to the contents of 

 the tubs.* 



Churning was performed by horse-power,sonie- 

 times once a day and sometimes every other day, 

 according to the fitness of the cream j the churn 

 apparatus was so arranged that a regular motion 

 of the dasher could be adapted to the season of 

 the year. After the butter was separated it was 

 taken out, by a strainer made of silver wire, and 

 put in a brass tray, in which it was left to harden 

 for a fp.w hours, in the reservoir alluded to above. 

 When hard enough to knead well, the butter- 

 milk was all pressed out, not a particle visible to 

 the eye being left, after which the dry butter 

 was salted anil the stilt worked in. The band, 

 often dipped iu ice-cold water, has hitherto per- 

 formed the expulsion of the butter-milk. Alter 

 the salt was added, only a wooden ladle, per- 

 fectly sweet, touched the butter, and the milk- 

 like brine which is expressed under the opera- 

 tion of salting, is dried off by pressing clean 

 linen towels on the butter. 



The next operation is putting the butter down 

 in the firkin ; this is made of white- oak (slightly 

 different from the American white oak, it being 

 closer grained,) and when destined for a sea voy- 

 age or long-keeping, only old firkins, which we 

 collected for the purpose, were used, alter the 

 same were made sweet by scalding brine. The 

 bottom of I lie vessel was sprinkled and the sides 

 rubbed with pulverized sab, and the butler pack- 

 ed iu such a manner that no cavities nor brine 

 ever remained in or between the successive lay- 

 ers ; the firkin being filled, a layer of salt was 

 rubbed on the surface, and a clean sheet of 

 white paper placed over the salt, while the nail- 

 ing otl of a hollow wooden dish, completed the 

 article for market and for transportation to any 

 part of the world. 



It is incredible to any body who has not made 

 close observations on the subject, how easily 

 milk is changed by the temperature, and above 

 all, how easily it i> affected by the vessels where- 

 in it is kepi, as also, how much, almost magical 

 influence, the personal cleanliness of the dairy- 

 miiiil has, on the article of butter produced. 

 Dairymen who have the same stock ol cattle, 

 the same stables, the Same herbage, will not 

 produce the same quality of butter, nor get the 

 same price in market, because the production of 

 ibe one is distinguished by a pleasant, yellow, 

 inviting color and admirable flavor, while that ol 

 the other is depreciated by a whitish, cheesy- 

 like appearance, indifferent taste, u'ld some- 



* We presume it is only the first stages nf acidity that 

 our correspondent alludes tt>. An nerid st itu of the 

 cream would be injurious. — Ens. 



times flabby texture. Some people, owing to 

 a peculiarity about their person, never can make 

 butter that will keep for a long time. 



It is a rule with the dairy-women of my coun- 

 try, never to put milk, cream or butter, twice in 

 the same vessel, without scalding, airing, and if 

 possible, sunning. 



I have eaten butter of our own make, that 

 had been sent among ship stores, passed the 

 equator to the island of Java, and was brought 

 back again perfectly sweet and fresh. 



The cows, by the construction of the stable, 

 were divided on both sides of a floor, twenty-six 

 feet wide, with large doors for a wagon loaded 

 with green herbage or hay to drive through ; he- 

 fore and under the head of the cattle, were 

 troughs built of brick, for their drink and food, 

 with a pump so placed that the water, let in the 

 troughs, could be drained off at the opposite 

 end. Gutters were provided behind the cows 

 to receive the solid and liquid excrements, which 

 by their own gravity, and finally by sweeping 

 and cleaning, were conveyed to a cistern, where 

 a compost was formed by admixture of mud out 

 of the bottom of ditches, which in Holland di- 

 vide the meadows and take the place of fences. 

 This compost was carried out and scattered 

 over the meadows in the spring, as soon as the 

 water, of which I shall have occasion to speak 

 directly, is drawn off. 



Meadows and pastures in Holland, are situated 

 on what is called "Polders ;" a polder is a'sur- 

 face of level land, measuring from twenty to 

 four miles square, and not unfrequenlly twenty 

 or thirty feet below the adjoining river, which 

 glides in rapid motion along the embankments 

 that protect the. land forcibly against the intru- 

 sion of its boisterous waters. These embank- 

 ments called " d;/kes" are kept in good repair by 

 the joint contributions of the different owners 

 of the polder. Rain-water is worked out by 

 stationary wind-mills, also the joint property of 

 the owners, (called " lnglelanders ;") in fall and 

 winter the rain-water is suffered to accumulate 

 and inundate the lands, which then frequently 

 present the appearance of a large lake. This is 

 done in order to kill noxious weeds, and give the 

 soil the benefit of irrigation. In March or fi b- 

 ruary the water is pumped off, and ihe manure 

 put on as before described. In this manner land 

 is made to produce an abundance of fresh herb- 

 age, consisting principally of white clover, 

 from April till September, or the same is cut 

 twice, and made into excellent hay for winter 

 forage, without even breaking the sod or using 

 a plough. 



The Dutch dairyman never produces g,. 

 not even for his own consumption ; his whole 

 attention is undividedly applied to making, in the 

 best possible style, the article for which he is so 

 justly celebrated. 



If my countrymen could he made to believe 

 that America had such an extensive command of 

 cheap land, adapted for the dairy business, join- 

 ed to an unlimited home market for the article 

 they certainly would escape from the feudal vex- 

 ations under which they now suffer, and, like 

 me, seek refuge in the land where Liberty holds 

 the sceptre, and where every one can enjoy the 

 reward of his honest labor, without being com- 

 pelled, as they are, to give up one half of their 

 hard earnings to a reckless, profligate anil squan- 

 dering government. 



1 would add, that the land on which I am lo- 

 cated is nell adapted to dairy-fanning, the clover 

 and grass springing up spontaneously, after 

 clearing; the climate is, by the elevation, (one 

 thousand feet .above the Tennessee river,) tem- 

 perate ; my thermometer last summer never rose 

 ubove ninety degrees in the sun, while that in- 

 strument generally ranged between sixty degrees 

 and seventy degrees in the shade. The fa- 

 cilities by which butter can be sent fresh to 



