1040 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE, 



III. 



whey will, of course, be found of lower specific gravity than the skimmed milk, and the number of 

 degrees of difference affords a measure of the relative quantities of the curd. According to this hypo- 

 thesis, the aereometric beads may be employed to ascertain the qualities of milk, relatively both to the 

 manufacture of butter and cheese. {Trans, of the High. Soc. sect. v. part i.) 



7009. In milk coolers and cimrns there is considerable variation of form. Milk coolers are generally 

 made of earthenware or wood ; but of late years tliey have been formed of lead, marble, slate, and cast- 

 iron. Their general form is round, and diameter from one to two feet; but in extensive dairies they are 

 often made several feet or yards in length, and from two to three feet wide, with holes at one or more 

 corners to admit the escape' of the milk after the cream is removed. The safest dish is wood, though 

 it requires most labour to keep it sweet ; next is earthenware or China, tliough on the leaden glaze 

 of the former the acid of the milk is apt to operate. Leaden dishes or troughs, though very general 

 in Cheshire, are the most dangerous; and the objection to slate coolers is the joinings of the plates, 

 which are always unsightly, imperfect, and liable to be operated on by the lactic acid. The an- 

 nealed and tinned cast-iron dishes of Baird's invention (in 1806), and which are now becoming universal 

 in Scotland {Alton's Dairy H., p. 81.), are perhaps the best for such as do not choose to go to the expense 



879 



of China dishes. They are durable from the nature of the 

 material, not liable to be broken by falls by being annealed, 

 easily kept clean from being turned smooth, and also very 

 economical, and said to throw up more cream from a given 

 quantity of milk than any other. 



701v. Besides the common plunge and barrel churns, 

 there are various improved sorts. One of the best for 

 using on a small scale is the patent box churn {fig. 879.) ; 

 and on a large scale, the plunge churn, worked by levers 

 put in motion either by a man or horse. The Derbyshire 

 churn {fig. 880.), which works on the principle of the 

 barrel churn, is an excellent implement on a large scale. 

 The bottom is a segment of a circle, and the advantage of 

 the plan is, that when the butter is made, the lid (a) being 



880 



removed, the beaters (A) may be taken out at pleasure by withdrawing the spindle (c) to admit the removal 



of the butter, or the cleaning and scalding of the churn. 

 7011. The Lancashire plunge churn {fig. 8S1.) is a simple and effective implement, worked by the. 



operator standing on the levers {a, b), throwing his whole 

 weight alternately on each, so as by means of the line (c, d) 

 connected with the churn staff to raise it and turn it round, 

 and lower it and turn it round alternately. 



7012. The most exquisite cleanliness in the dairy is an 

 essential requisite, as to the walls, floor, shelves, benches, 

 and in the different utensils. 



7013. The milk coolers and all the dishes in which milk is 

 put, as well as the churn, must be scalded, scrubbed, rinsed, 

 and dried every time they are used. Scalding is less fre- 

 quently requisite in the cheese utensils, but they also must 

 be almost daily washed in hot water, dried, and aired. 

 When any vessel becomes tainted with the acidity of 

 milk, it operates like leaven on what is put into it : if this 

 taint cannot be removed by ordinary scalding, it may by 

 boiling or immersing in water impregnated with alkali ; but 

 afterwards it must be well boiled, or a day or two immersed 

 in pure water. 



Sect. III. Milking and the general Management of Milk. 



7014. The times of milking vary greatly in different districts. In most places cows 

 are milked twice in twenty-four hours throughout the year ; but in the best managed 

 dairies where they are abundantly fed, they are milked at morning, noon, and the approach 

 of night : the additional quantity thus obtained is very considerable, but according to the 

 experiments of Parmentier it must be inferior in quality ; for he found twelve hours re- 

 quisite for the due preparation of the milk in the cow. Where quantity of milk or cheese 

 is an object, three times milking must be decidedly preferable ; but it is certain that in 

 the best butter districts of England the cows are only drawn twice a day, between five 

 and six o'clock morning and evening. Whatever may be the times of milking, it is essen- 

 tial that the milk be drawn off clear ; for if the milk which tlie cow can be made to yield 

 at the time be not completely taken away, the quantity left will be reabsorbed into the 

 system, and no more will be generated than is necessary to supply the quantity actually 

 drawn off. 



7015. The operation, qf milking is performed by men in many districts, but taking Britain generally it is 

 more commonly the work of women. The milker, whether a man or woman, ought to be mild in manners 

 and good tempered. If the operation be performed harshly, it becomes painful to the cow, who in this 



