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, 

 XVI. THE DAIRY. 



DAIRY is the term universally applied to the place where the 

 milk of cows is kept and converted into butter or cheese, or both. 

 The operation is called dairying and land, the major part of 

 which is devoted to the maintenance of cows for this purpose, is 

 called a dairy-farm. The dairy-house, if properly constructed, 

 will consist of three apartments, (which will be noticed, briefly, 

 however, hereafter,) viz: one for milk; another for butter in 

 churning; or for scalding, pressing, and salting cheese; and a 

 third for implements over which, in cheese dairies, a store- 

 room may be placed, if deemed necessary. 



In the practice of the dairy in this country, milk may be 

 consumed in three ways. The first is in the form of milk for 

 food and this is the most profitable, where, from the nearness 

 of the market, and the demand for the produce, it can be 

 adopted. In the vicinity of cities and large towns, dairies are 

 formed merely for the production of milk; these usually form 

 the largest class of dairy establishments. But the sale of milk 

 in its fresh state, is necessarily limited to a certain circle around 

 the different markets of consumption. 



The next, and most profitable production of the dairy, is 

 butter in a fresh state. This circle is more extended than that 

 of milk alone, because butter can be preserved longer, and con- 

 veyed to a much greater distance. At a greater distance still 

 the produce consists of cheese, and sometimes cheese and but- 

 ter when the latter is produced it is put down in tubs and 

 firkins, and salted for preservation. We believe that in this 

 country, the combined production of cheese and butter, is at- 

 tended to in nearly if not all our dairies. 



Milk is a fluid secreted by the female of all those animals 

 denominated Mammalia and intended evidently for the nour- 

 ishment of their offspring. The milk of every animal has 

 certain peculiarities which distinguishes it from every other 

 milk. The milk of the cow is most used by man as an article 

 of food, and consequently more particularly claiming their 

 attention. Chemists, therefore, have made choice of it for 

 their experiments. Milk is an opaque fluid, of a whitish colour, 

 a slight peculiar smell, and a pleasant, sweetish taste. When 

 newly drawn from the cow, it has a taste very different from 

 that which it acquires after it has been kept for some hours. 



Cream is a thick, unctuous, yellowish coloured substance, 

 which collects on the surface of milk, when it (the milk) is 



