274 



THE GENESEE FAEMER. 



3. Wool. — Sheep should crowd the hills unoc- 

 cupied by trees — and they iniglit even profitably 

 graze in mature ovchiirds — and they, too, miglit 

 come in for a share of refuse apples; while their 

 wool, mutton, and i)elts, would add to the profits 

 of toil, with very little toil or trouble in their behalf. 



With judicious management, industry turned into 

 either of these three channels will pay. 



Attica, N.Y. XX'^-^-XX' 



DAIRIES AND DAIKYING. 



The importance of dairy-farming, though gener- 

 ally considered as occupying a secondary degree, is 

 so universally admitted, that it requires no apology 

 for giving the subject a prominent notice. 



The dairy is a branch of rural industry, deserv- 

 ing of attention in the highest degree. There are 

 no other means known to us by which so great a 

 quantity of animal food can be derived for Imman 

 support from the same space of ground. In many 

 of the counties of this State, and in most of the 

 Middle and Northern States, the production of this 

 kind of aliment is immense, and its entire value 

 forms no inconsiderable proportion of the yearly 

 produce of the l.md. 



There is no class of persons by wdiich milk, in 

 one or more of its forms, is not used. Cheese may 

 seem to be a mere superfluity to those who feed 

 largely on other animal food ; yet, even among this 

 clat-s, the consum[)tion, from its regularity, is con- 

 siderable ; but among the far more numerous class- 

 es, to whom cheese is a part of their customary 

 diet, the consumi)tion of this substance is very 

 great. Butter is used in almost every family above 

 the poorest, to an enormous extent. Simple milk, 

 too, enters in the diet of every class, with tliis pecu- 

 liarity : that it is consumed in a larger quantity in 

 the rural districts than in towns and cities. 



No other branch of rural industry produces so 

 large a quantity of animal food from the same space 

 of ground as the dairy. Surely, since the demand 

 for dairy produce exceeds so considerably the sup- 

 ply, it consequently must be a matter of the high- 

 est importance to increase that supply by every 

 means that can be adopted, which would not injure 

 or materially interfere with other interests of great 

 importance. This country, or rather particular 

 sections of it, has long been noted for the produce 

 of the dairy — both cheese and butter — in which 

 few sections have been able to rival ns. The jiro- 

 cess of making these articles, it is true, in other 

 States or sections, ditfers somewhat from that gen- 

 erally adopted among our own dairy farmers; but 

 this is not always sutficient to account for the dif- 

 ference of quality which exists, since it is not an 

 unusual thing to find dairies in ditferent parts of 

 the country conducted upon precisely the same 

 plan, which furnish products of very ditferent qual- 

 ities. When such is the case, this ditference must 

 be in consequence of one or other of the two fol- 

 lowing reasons ; either there must be a ditlVreuce 

 in the breed of cows employed in the dairies, or 

 else the quality of the Ibod upon which the cows 

 subsist nust be materially difierent. Ift behoves, 

 therefore, persons interested in dairying, who |)er- 

 fectly understand the modes adopted in those ilis- 

 tricts where the products of the dairy-farms are held 

 in the best repute, to apply themselves diligently in 



the discovery of the cause why their dairy produc- 

 tions are considered inferior to the products of others 

 ])robalily at no very great distance from them. We 

 do not presume to say that the defect could be 

 easily or in all cases remedied at all ; because, 

 where it was ascertained to proceed from a differ- 

 ence in the herbage upon which the milch cows 

 pastured during the summer, it might be found im- 

 practicable to assimilate the herbage of the one to 

 that of the other; or at least this could not be 

 eftected permanently, nor at all, unless at a very 

 great expense. But where the inferiority was as- 

 certained to proceed from a difl:erence in the kind 

 of stock, where the dairy is the first consideration 

 with the farmer, this detect should speedily be 

 remedied. 



Something depends, no doubt, upon the climate, 

 since extremes of cold or heat are known to be 

 prejudicial to dairying; and although in the warm- 

 er latitudes cheese, and sometimes even butter, is 

 made, neither of them wonid be considered fit for 

 human food in the more refined and more famed 

 countries for dairy purposes. Something also de- 

 pends upon the manner in which the dairy-house 

 and cheese-room are constructed ; and probably 

 less attention is bestowed upon this point among 

 our own dairy farmers than it deserves, or which 

 it obtains in most other countries where the man- 

 agement of milk is carefully attended to. 



The great point in making good •)utter, and that 

 which will keep, is the treeing it trom all butter- 

 milk ; and if everything else is well done, if this 

 point is overlooked, good butter is impossible for 

 any length of time. Tiie mixture of milk in any 

 degree with the butter is sure to produce frousiness 

 or any unpleasant taste to the butter ; and the en- 

 tire freedom from this constitutes the grand secret 

 of making good butter. Tiiere are many who think 

 washing butter with water incompatible with re- 

 taining the rich flavor; but if the water is cold 

 and pure, it is scarcely possible anything should be 

 washed away — the buttermilk, which destroys the 

 flavor of all butter, excepted. Besides, the best 

 butter in the world, and that which in all markets 

 commands the highest ])rice — viz., Dutcli butter — 

 is invariably made in tiiis way ; and v/here the ex 

 ample has been followed by others, it has rarely 

 failed of success. If any, however, doubt the pro- 

 priety of washing butter, they may use any method 

 they choose, provided the milk is separated per- 

 fectly. Entirely free from the substance that causes 

 it to assume the putrid, frowsy taste of bad butter, 

 it may be kept with almost as much ease as lard. 

 Solidity in packing, clean, sweet vessels, and a low 

 temperature, will ensure its keeping for any reason- 

 able time. Let no one expect good butter, how- 

 ever, so long as coarse, impure salt is used, or a 

 particle of the buttermilk is allowed to remain in / 



it. 0. N. BEMENT. 



Springbide, August, 1S61. 



How TO Become a Good Houseman. — Keep your 

 head up, chin down, chest forward, shoulders back, 

 elbows in, hands down, back in, belly out, feet for- 

 ward, thighs fixed, knees in, loins loose, seat fii'n:, 

 hands tiuht, horse and rider well balanced, trot 

 two hours every day without stirrups, and then 

 time and perseverance may make you a good horse- 

 man, 



