160 BOARD OF ACxRICULTURE. [Jan. 



The butter of Mr. Stoughton, of Gill, was of the very nicest qual- 

 ity, aside from the taste imparted to it by the new box in which it 

 was exhibited. It was delicately salted, it was thoroughly worked, 

 and no other lot gave off so delightful aroma. 



Mr. Stoughton states, as his process of manufacture, that, " When 

 the butter is well formed the buttermilk is drawn, and a pail of water 

 of proper temperature is poured on to the butter, and the churn set 

 in motion for four or five minutes ; the water is then drawn off and 

 another pailful applied. The butter is then worked on an inclined 

 table with a square cover, and salted with three-fourths of an ounce 

 of salt per pound of butter. Butter stands twenty-four hours, when 

 it is worked again, and made ready for market or the table." 



The testimony of the chairman, in favor of the use of water and 

 the butter-table, upon which, without the contact of hands, to work 

 out the buttermilk and work in the salt, cannot be withheld, more 

 especially as one lot was condemned on account of the presence of a 

 peculiar flavor suggested by one of the committee as having been 

 derived from the hand of the dairy maid, and which, upon a subse- 

 quent reading of the statement of its owner, appeared to have been 

 worked by hand. 



The statements of other competitors disclose no point of manu- 

 facture of peculiar value. 



It must have been matter of regret to all spectators as it was to 

 the committee, that so few farmers saw fit to join in the competition 

 for the liberal premiums off"ered for the products of the dairy. One- 

 half of all the butter offered at the exhibition, and of the cheese 

 every lot but one came from the county of Worcester. 



As a whole, the quantity of either was less than is frequently seen 

 at many of our county shows. The committee can only regret a want 

 of interest so unaccountable, and have to commisserate that peculiar- 

 ity which prompts our females to contribute their crotchet and crewel 

 work to the vanity fairs of the day, at the expense of withholding 

 from exhibitions like this the more meritorious and substantial con- 

 tributions of their skill in housewifery. 



For the committee, 



Will. S. Lincoln, Chairman. 



As this subject is attracting considerable attention, both on 

 account of its intrinsic importance and the increased extent to 

 which it is carried as a branch of practical farming, it may not 

 be out of place to say that a method, in some respects new, 

 has been invented by a German agriculturist, Baron H. von 



