THE GENESEE FAEMER. 



153 



[From the Cobourg Star.] 



PRIZE ESSAY ON BUTTER-MAKING. 



BY MRS. TRAIL. 



If bread be tlie staff of life, as it has most emphati- 

 cally been termed, butter is certainly one of its 

 greatest luxuries ; it is the best substitute for meat 

 that we 2)ossess — it enriches and improves many arti- 

 cles of food in the form of cake, pudding, pastry, 

 savory dishes and sauces, to say nothing of its com- 

 monest, simplest and most wholesome accompani- 

 ments to om- table in the form of bread and butter. 



The most prudent mother is not afraid to indulge 

 even the young child as soon as it can hold any thim'- 

 in its little hand, with a morsel of bread and butter" 

 she knows well that this mild, nourishing and whole- 

 some food can do it no harm, and is infinitely better 

 for a young child as an article of diet than meat, rich 

 cake, or preserves. 



The use of milk and butter is of great antiquity ; 

 we read in the book of Genesis that when Abraham 

 entertamed the three angels, "he took milk and but- 

 ter and the calf that he had di-essed and set it before 

 Uiem." Gen. xxviii. 8. 



We are told in the Song of Deborah that Jael, 

 tlie wife of Heber the Kenite, when Siseka, the 

 Captam of the Host, sought refuge in her tent, Mheu 

 he asked for water she brought him milk ; she also 

 brought forth butter in a lordly dish. 



The land of Canaan was described as a land fiowiuo- 

 with milk and honey. ° 



In Proverbs there is an allusion to churuino- milk 

 bringing forth butter. 



The manufacture of cheese was also in use among 

 tlie ancient Jews ; for when David's father sent him 

 to mquu-e after the welfare of his brothers in the 

 camp, he bade him take parched corn (most proba- 

 bly maize) and ten loaves of bread for them, but to 

 the Captain of the Host he sent ten cheese as a 

 present worthy of his acceptance. fVide 2d Kino-s 

 xvii. 16, 17.) ^ =■ 



I might multiply quotations to prove the antiquity 

 of the manufacture of this primitive luxury ; but it 

 is unnecessary to go back to ancient times to prove 

 the excellence of that which we all acknowledge to 

 ^ be so useful and palatable. A history of the economy 

 ' of a Hebrew dairy would no doubt be very edifyin£r 

 to the antiquary, but would be of no service in pro""- 

 moting the improvement in the art of butter-makino- 

 m Canada, either East or West I might possibl^ 

 by dint of careful research, tell you all the different 

 modes of churning butter, by shaking, dashing, rollino- 

 and dwell upon and describe the different sorts of 

 vessels used for that purpose, from the skins of wild 

 ammals such as are still in use among the rude in- 

 habitants of Southern Africa, to the most complicated 

 machine worked with steam in extensive dairies in 

 the mother country; but leavmg these matters to wiser 

 heads than mine, I will rather consider how a little 

 practical knowledge, gathered from the expenence 

 of skillful housewives and able dairy-women, mav be 

 brought to bear on the subject, for the better ins{ruc- 

 faon of the unskillful in the management of tlie dairy 

 Before entering upon the decidedly practical part of 

 ^e busmess, I wiU venture to make a few preparatory 



observations. It is a common saving in Cheshire, " It 

 IS not Cheshire cows, nor Cheshire" dairy-maids, but 

 Cheshire meadows." Many experienced dairy-women 

 have told me that food and warmth had more to do 

 with good cheese and butter than their labor, always 

 supposing that cleanliness and a certain knowledge 

 of the commonest nature were attended to. The dif- 

 ference, both in quantity and quality of milk, must 

 depend a great deal upon the uniform treatment of 

 the cows, and the nature of their food. Those ani- 

 mals that are made easy and comfortable in respect 

 to food, drink, and warm sheltered yards and sheds, 

 will give a better return than such as are compelled 

 to wander far in search of milk-giving nutriment; and 

 this stands to reason— the beast has to feed to supply 

 its natural wants, as well as for milk. The first na- 

 ture will supply as requisite for the life of the crea- 

 ture; and if the supply be not sufficient, less of the 

 nourishment will go to make milk. Now, ihe feeding 

 and general management of the cows of course lie 

 more with the farmer than with his wife. A woman 

 can not choose the pasture, attend to the putting op 

 winter sheds or fencing in yards ; those that do are 

 stepping aside out of their own natural department. 



I do not hesitate to say that in this country the 

 efforts of the women are not always seconded as they 

 might be, and as they ought to be. Were the Cana- 

 dian farmer to bestow a little more attention to the 

 comforts of the milk cows, the process of milking 

 would be carried on with a smaller amount of physical 

 suffering to the females of the family. The cow-yard 

 in Canada is seldom the warm, easv' place that it is in 

 England and Scotland, though the great severity of 

 this climate render such care more ueedfid both for 

 the cattle and the milker. 



While the horse, the working oxen and the sheep 

 are fed with oats, hay and roots, the poor cows receive 

 only dry straw and the refuse of the yard ; the milk- 

 ing cows sometimes get a portion of" hay, but those 

 who have been starved into dryness or are in calf are 

 often left to shift for themselves through the long 

 months of an inclement winter and capricious, chiUy 

 spring. 



These remarks may be thought out of place in a 

 treatise of this kind ; but the writer thinks it a fair 

 opportunity to plead the cause of her own sex, many 

 of whom are thoughtlessly exposed to personal in- 

 convenience and much suffering that they might be 

 spared, while at the same time the profits of the farmer 

 would be increased if more -attention were bestowed 

 on the comforts of the women. 



This want of proper generous treatment is the fruit- 

 ful cause of disease and death, both before and after 

 calving. Another very material thing is the neg- 

 lecting to supply the cattle with water' from tank or 

 pump, or by driving them on a path where they can 

 obtain access to a neighboring spring. 



Farmers whose means of supporting their cattle 

 are very limited, would do well to keep only a pro- 

 portionable number of animals through the winter; 

 it is better to keep a few well and in plenty than a 

 large number to starve each other. In spite of every 

 years experience of the error of being over-stocked, 

 we still see yards crowded with stock lean and gaunt 

 as the kine in Pharaoh's dream, and like those evii 

 beasts destroy the rest by consuming what would 



