20 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[February, 



ing; to know if its aiiplicatioii actunlly increases 

 tilt! yield. Have experimeuts to this effect 

 been made ? 



The fact that single eyes and eyelets will, 

 with good care, produce large crops, has been 

 snfticiently proved. All the large yields are 

 grown from very small sets. In some cases, 

 single eyes were divided into ten pieces, and 

 in one instance two himdred and forty (240) 

 sets were made from one pound, nearly all of 

 which grew well. The sets, with few excep- 

 tions, were planted singly, yet we find a pro- 

 duct of nine hundred and seventy (970) pounds 

 raised from fifty-two (.52) hills, two sets to each, 

 nearly nineteen (19) pounds per hill, and six 

 hundred and seventy-seven (677) bushels per 

 acre. Whether this large yield is due only to 

 the very favorable soil they grew in— a rich 

 black loam, formerly used as a hog yard— and 

 the immense cjuantity of ashes applied in the 

 the hills and as top-dressing— one peck to the 

 hill— or to the two-set system, does not ap- 

 pear. The planting, in nearly all cases, was 

 done between the 10th and 26th of May, and 

 one-fourth of all competitors drojiped the seed 

 on the 10th of May, nearly a week earlier than 

 in former years. 



The data furnished the committee show that 

 although the greatest yields from one pound 

 grew from hills four feet ai)art, the largest 

 crops \)i.'r acre were raised at distances ol three 

 feet each way, and that as the distances be- 

 tween the hiils are increased or decreased, the 

 yield diminishes in regular iirojiortion. In the 

 first case, there remains wasted ground which 

 is not reaclied by the roots of the plants, and 

 in the latter, the roots are so crowded that 

 they cannot obtain all the nourishment they 

 are tapable of consuming. The mode of i)lant- 

 ing and cultivating with a largenuniber of the 

 best cultivators, consists in crossing their fields 

 with furrows six and more iiichf s deep. The 

 sets are drojiped at the crossings and immedi- 

 ately covered with about two inches of soil or 

 compost. The vines as they grow are hilled uj) 

 gradually and frequently to a final height of 

 twelve to eighteen inches. Then large, broad 

 hills are made, using all the soil between the 

 rows. 



The general testimony of the competitors 

 for the prizes is to the superior quality of the 

 Snowflake as a cooking potato. 



THE DAIRY INTERESTS. 



Practical Hints about Making and Selecting 

 Good Cheese. 



The great majority of people do not feel as 

 much interest in cheese as they do in butter, 

 for the reason that they consume at least 

 seven or eight times as many jiouuds of the 

 latter as they do of the former. We have 

 produced, this season just closed, not less than 

 600,000,000 jjounds of b>itter for market, to say 

 nothing of what is consumed by the producers 

 that is never taken into account. This is 

 fifteen pounds per capita, sujiposing the popu- 

 lation to be only 40,000,000. Our exports of 

 butter are hardly worth consideiing. We may 

 safely say that we have produced as muclimore 

 than the 600,000,000 pounds as we have and 

 shall export of the butter crop. Of cheese we 

 have produced not less than 200,000, 000 pounds, 

 or five pounds per capita ; but of this we shall 

 export not far from 120,000,000 pounds, leav- 

 ing 80,000,000 pounds for home consiuuption, 

 which is two pounds per capita. But if our 

 people were better judges of cheese and were 

 furnished a better article for home consump- 

 tion, we doubt not they would be nnu.'h greater 

 cheese eaters. As it is, the great majority are 

 supplied with a poor article — because they do 

 not know how to select a good one, or because 

 they prefer to buy the cheapest article regard- 

 less of (piality — and come to the conclusion 

 that they do not like cheese. We jiropose to 

 give them a little clue to cheese-making, and 

 a few hints how to select good cheese — which 

 may be of some service to dealers, especially 

 retailers — for though the quality of our cheese 

 is superior, on the whole, to tliat of our but- 

 ter, there is still a vast amount of poor cheese 

 seen in market. 



Milk cveiy way healthy and free from taints 

 and bad odors is essential to the manufacture 

 of good cheese ; but bad milk from sick cows, 

 or friini cows that have just calved, or from 

 cows eating bad Ibod, drinking bad water, or 

 breathing foul air, is often made into cheese. 

 Much of the soft and pasty cheese, or that 

 which is porous afcd full of small holes, comes 

 from this kind of milk. Milk shut up hot in 

 a close can and carried to the factory in hot 

 weather, makes this kind of cheese. If its 

 character is concealed by skillful manipula- 

 tion, so far as apjiearance is concerned, it 

 never keeps well and soon takes on an otl'en- 

 sive odor and bad flavor. Tainted rennets 

 liroduce similar results ; so will ferments in- 

 troduced by micleanliness in utensils and im- 

 plements, and in the surioundings of the fac- 

 tory or jirivate dairy room. 



Though the private dairyman has the ad- 

 vantage of better control of his milk in all its 

 stages, factory cheese, as a rule, is superior to 

 private dairy cheese ; and to the factory sys- 

 tem, with its better methods of manufacture 

 and the superior intelligence and skill of its 

 operators, do we owe a complete revolution in 

 the imvirovement of our cheese since 1869, and 

 jiiainly since 180.'j. Many jirivate dairymen 

 have adojited factory methods, and produce as 

 fine cheese as is found in market ; but such 

 private dairy cheese is the exception rather 

 than the rule. Still, we do not mean to say 

 that all factory cheese is good. Some of the 

 worst in the market comes from badly con- 

 ducted factories. 



If cuids arc dipped too sweet and put to 

 press, though the milk may be ever so good, 

 the clieese will be soft and soon go to decay, 

 unless kept at a temi>erature below 60 degrees 

 after it is cured. It is soon ready for market, 

 and if immediately consumed, answers very 

 well.- But it has not the body and fine flavor 

 of cheeses made from ciu-ds that are kept lon- 

 ger in the vat and are more concentrated by 

 the action of heat and acid. But dipping 

 curds Soft and sweet not only ]>roduces a raji- 

 idly-curing cheese that can soon lie, and in- 

 deed must be, rushed upon the market, but 

 gives a larger yield because of the retention 

 of more moistin-e. This and the fact that the 

 cheese needs to be cared for during less time, 

 induces the manufacture of nmch soft cheese, 

 especially on a falling market or in anticipa- 

 tion of a fall, and thus in the end augments 

 our supply of poor cheese. Such cheese veri- 

 fies the old adage, "soon rii)e, soon rotten," 

 and n)uch of it ultimately appears on the coun- 

 ters of our cheap groceries and as low-priced 

 cheese on oiu- market stands. 



Too nuich souring of the curd produces a 

 dry, iioor, crimibly cheese. Sour milk cheese 

 generally has about the same character. The 

 butter in such cheese decomposes and dri])S 

 out with the whey. Skimmed cheese is hard, 

 tough and poor tasting, and partly skimmed 

 approaches this character. The jiractice of 

 putting in more rennet and dipping the curds 

 softer and sweeter does not disguise its charac- 

 ter. Though it prevents dryness, it does not 

 entirely get rid of the tough, leathery texture 

 and the imiioverished taste, nor dots it remedy 

 the indigestibility occasioned by the lack of 

 Imtter. Adding other fats, as in the ease of 

 oleomargarine, does not restore the fine rich 

 quality, nor give it the flavor of fine whole 

 milk cheese. The artificial grease does not 

 thoroughly incorporate with the caseine, and 

 the cheese has a coarse-grained, crumbly, 

 greasy and suspicious look. Rich cheese is 

 not greasy, but homogeneous throughout, firm 

 in texture, yet readily breaking down soft and 

 mellow between the fingers at a sununer tem- 

 perature, and melting almost like butter in the 

 mouth and leaving a pleasant, natty flavor 

 that is exceedingly relishalile. It has no otten- 

 sivo or disagreeable odor, has no round holes 

 in it, large or small, though there may be ir- 

 regular oj)enings because the curd was not 

 quite pi-essed together. There is no sour taste 

 or smell, no trace of whey, no moisture of an 

 extraneous character ; neither is it dry, or 

 hard, or cnunbly. Kew cheese not fully cured 

 may have an agreeable acid taste, but such 



cheese is not fit to cut and should not be eaten. 

 It is what buyers call "curdy " or under-ripe. 

 Sour cheese may be made in the curing room 

 where the temperature is changeable and re- 

 mains too low for several days before the 

 cheese is cured, or after it is just made and 

 placed in the curing room. So i)orous cheese 

 may be made by too high a temperature and 

 too rapid curing, but the holes in such a cheese 

 are large and not seriously objectionable, un- 

 less too ninnerous. The flavor is liable to have 

 been injured, but it may remain all right. 

 Such cheeses generally settle down and have 

 square edges and the smooth faces of good 

 cheeses, but the buyer should criticise such 

 pretty closely. By all means let the retailer 

 shun the cheese that is full of fine holes, not 

 much larger and sometimes smaller than pin- 

 heads. They are an unmistakable evidence 

 of bad milk, either from diseased cows or 

 tainted after milking and before it was made 

 into cheese. Avoid all dry, tough and crumbly 

 cheese. Avoid all cheese with rounded faces. 

 Avoid all rank-tasting cheese as either a bad 

 article originally, or as being good cheese far 

 gone in decay. Avoid all sour-tasting cheese 

 as made of sour milk, as soured on the ranges, 

 or as bad milk disguised with acid. Avoid all 

 cheese that is hard and unyielding to the 

 touch on the one extreme, and all that is elas- 

 tic and India-rulilier like on the other — the 

 first is soured and dried to death, and the 

 other is skinmied to death. It is safe to avoid 

 all low-priced cheese. 



Fine cheese is always close-grained, cuts 

 smooth, but has a slight, regular roughness 

 of surface, yields to the pressure of the fin- 

 ger, breaks easily, but does not crumble, has 

 a smooth, elastic rind, breaks down mellow 

 and rich, but with no harsh feeling between 

 the thumb and finger, dissolves readily in the 

 mouth, but has no strong or rank flavor, and 

 leaves a relishable taste. Most people like 

 such cheese, but, seldom getting it, they fancy 

 that cheese has for them no special relish. If 

 only such cheese were thrown on the market, 

 the home consumption would double within a 

 year, and in a few years it would be tenfold 

 what it is now. It is a great mistake to keep 

 home consumers feeding on the inferior grades 

 of cheese, and it is a greater mistake to man- 

 ufacture oleomargarine, or in any way increase 

 the amount of the inferior makes. The poor 

 do not want them any more than the rich, and 

 will buy other food before they will eat them 

 at any price that will aftbrd remuneration to 

 the manufaettuer. We are glad it is .so. The 

 best is none too good for any one ; and it is 

 aliout time that producers and manufacturers 

 of all kinds got rid of the idea of palming off 

 all their refuse stuff on the poor.— 2'. I). Cur- 

 tis, in the ■A7iicricun Grocer. 



ARRIVAL OF BIRDS IN 1875. 



Tvrdnx migratorivs, Feb. 3; large floeke seen Feb. 

 17 — Kobin. 



Cyanurns ci-istatus, Feb. 11 — Blue Jay. 



Sialia sialis, Feb. 17 — Blue Bird. 



Stnriitlta iiiiir/iin, JIaroli K) — Meadow Lark. 



,4(/»/i"'".V^"''''''"''S>Iar.I7—Pa-d-wiiii;vd Blackbird. 



QniaaUis rtcsico/i.c, Mar. IS— Crow Blackbird. 



Colaptcs anratns, Mar. IS — Flicker. 



Sayor7i.isfvscn!!, Mar. 1.5 — Pewee. 



TvrdnK rinnfldnivs, Mar. 17— Thrush. 



^'EyiaWisvoc-iferonx, Mar. 19— Kill-Deer. 



AiUrustoians vociferous, May 2 — Whip-po-Wil. 



Chaetm-a pelasgia, May 9 — Chimney Swallow. 



Hirnndo horreorum, May 11— Barn Swallow. 



Troglodytes redon, May 1 — House Wren. 



ChordHlea popciue, May 4 — Night Hawk. 



EctopixteR migraloria, seen in large flocks Mar 31. 

 and April 1 — Pigeon. 



Qiiisadix vcrixcvlor, flocking August 1.5. 



irtj-TO, of Potato-Beetle, first found June 1.— T7. 

 //. Spcra, Epitrata, Lancaster county, Pa. 



Mr. S. is an accurate and interesting obser- 

 ver, and although the above was primarily in- 

 tended for the archives of the Linnwan Soci- 

 ety, yet, as that society takes The Farmer, 

 we consider it more easily referred to by a place 

 in its columns. We have also received an in- 

 teresting paper from the same source, upon 

 the periods of frondescence, florescence, fruit- 

 escence, and leaf fall of the leafing and bloom- 

 ing vegetation of the county, which we will 

 find a place for hereafter. 



