136 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[September, 



the dairies in Germany, which is celebrated 

 for these indispensable attributes of a great 

 class of .j;ricultural establishments, are con- 

 struclfcJ partly underground and are quite dry 

 and always kept as neatly as possible at a 

 temperature of about sixty degrees. The 

 floors are paved with hard brick, ':cemented, 

 and small channels of pure water are con- 

 ducted through the apartments. Tlie air also 

 circulates freely through them, and the vapor 

 of the milk passes off unobstructedly. The 

 walls are smooth and whitewashed, and no- 

 where can there be seen a trace of dust or 

 even a semblance of dirt. 



The pans are placed low down on the floors, 

 never on shelves, while the atmosphere within 

 is perfectly free from every disagreeable odor 

 that might have the effect of impairing the 

 sweetness and purity of the exposed milk and 

 cream. Here, in our State, and especially in 

 the eastern portion of it, our best dairies are 

 conducted on similar methods, except that 

 they are not frequently sunk beneath the sur- 

 face of the ground, though they sometimes 

 are where the spring is so located as to make 

 it necessary. Running water is of the utmost 

 importance in the manjfacture of a first-class 

 article of butter ; and where springs are not 

 attainable on the surface, the admirable wind 

 powers that have been introduced upon our 

 farms fairly supply this deficiency. 



CANADA THISTLE. 

 The vilest pest that infects our fields is 

 Canada thistle. Our farmers are just waking 

 up from insensibility as to the enormous injury 

 which this noxious weed is about to inflict 

 upon them. Ten years ago they saw it here 

 and there in the woods, and occasionally a 

 small spot in some obscure field, and they 

 were very little alarmed about its spreading 

 over their land, but now they are waking up 

 from their lethargy, and find they have just 

 cause to dread its existence among them. Its 

 spread is frightful, and if it continues ten 

 years longer unchecked, spreading both by 

 extension of root and seed, it will overrun 

 their farms and deprive them of more than 

 half their value. Who can rest in quiet com- 

 posure and calmly view the ravages it is mak- 

 ing V It has cost you a lifetime of labor, 

 skill and economy to purchase and pay for your 

 farms. Will you lose all by allowing them to 

 be irredeemably ruined by the ravages of the 

 Canada thistle ? Or will you rouse up while 

 you may and exterminate the pernicious pest? 

 Wait many years longer, and your hopes and 

 labors will both be vain. Everyman and boy 

 in the country ought to be one of a vigilance 

 committee and search out and destroy this 

 nuisance. The Legislature of Pennsylvania 

 has anticipated the result of the growing evil, 

 and wisely made provision against it, so far as 

 a positive law can provide for the extermina- 

 tion of a natural evil. The following act was 

 passed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, 

 March 2'2, 1S6:2, for the extermination of the 

 Canada thistle : 



"It shall be the duty of every person or 

 persons, and of every corporation holding 

 lands in this commonwealth, either by lease 

 or otherwise, on which any Canada thistle or 

 weed, commonly known as the Canada thistle, 

 may be growmg, to cut the same, so as to 

 prtvent such weed or thistle from going to 



seed, and the seed of the same from ripening ; 

 and any person or persons, or corporation as 

 aforesaid, who shall or may have land as 

 aforesaid, in such counties and who shall ne- 

 glect, or refuse to comply with the provisions 

 ol this act, shall forfeit and pay a fine of fif- 

 teen dollars, one-half to the county treasurer, 

 and the other half to the use of the person 

 sueing for the same (who shall be a competent 

 witness to proVe the facts) to be recovered as 

 other debts of a like amount, before any jus- 

 tice of the peace or in any court of record in 

 said county. 



" If any person or persons, or corporations 

 so holding land as aforesaid, on which Canada 

 thistle, or the weeds commonly known as 

 such, shall be growing and likely to ripen seed 

 thereon, shall neglect or refuse to cut and de- 

 stroy the same, so as to prevent the seed 

 thereof from ripening, it shall and may 

 be lawful for any person or persons, who may 

 consider themselves aggrieved, or about to be 

 injured by such neglect or refusal, to give five 

 days' notice in writing to such person or per- 

 sons, or corporations, to cut and destroy such 

 weeds or thistles, and on their neglect or re- 

 fusal to cut and destroy the same, at the end 

 of five days, it shall and may be lawful, for any 

 person so aggrieved, or believing themselves 

 to be injured thereby, to enter upon, or hire 

 other persons to enter upon such premises, 

 and cut down and destroy such Canada thistle, 

 and the person or persons so employed, shall 

 be entitled to recover from such person or per- 

 sons, or corporation, owing or holding such 

 land, compensation at the rate of two dollars 

 per day, to be sued for and recovered, as debts 

 of a like amount before any justice or court 

 in said counties." 



CHEESE FOR HOME USE. 



Every pound of cheese requires ten pounds 

 of milk, and a ten-pound cheese is about as 

 small a one as can be conveniently made. A 

 clean tub which will hold the milk, and a 

 boiler large enough to hold ten gallons, will 

 be needed. A small press, which any smart 

 boy can make, with a lever to hang a stone 

 upon, will also be required, and then the 

 ■' know how" is all the rest. Making cheese 

 is a chemical operation, and depends greatly, 

 like all other such work, upon temperature. 

 One cannot be safe without a thermometer, 

 as a rule of thumb w;ll not be precise enough. 



The first thing to do is to bring the milk to 

 a temperature of 90 degrees. This makes a 

 soft cheese; a higher temperature will make a 

 hard one. The milk may be of two milkings; 

 the evening milk set in a deep pail in the cel- 

 lar, and stirred late at night and early in the 

 morning to keep the cream from separating, 

 and the morning milk mixed with it as it is 

 strained after milking. If any cream has 

 risen on the evening's milk, it may be 

 skimmed off. The eyening's milk may be 

 warmed to 100 degrees and then added to the 

 fresh morning's milk, which will be about 80 

 degrees ; the whole will then be about the 

 right temperature, which is 90. degrees. The 

 rennet is then added. This is the liquid 

 made by steeping a piece of the dried stomach 

 of a sucking calf in warm water. 



For one hundred pounds of milk, or forty- 

 five quarts, a piece of the rennet about as 

 large as one's thumb, or two inches long by 



one inch wide, is put in a quart of warm 

 water in the evening, with half a tablespoon- 

 ful of salt. In the morning this liquid is 

 strained into the warmed milk in the tub and 

 well stirred through it. The tub is then cov- 

 ered to keep the milk warm until the curd is 

 formed, which will be in about half an hour. 

 As soon as the cuid is formed enough to cut 

 a long-bladed knife is drawn through it both 

 ways, so as to cut the mass into inch cubes. 

 This causes the whey to separate, and when 

 this separation has been effected, the whey is 

 dipped out or drawn off, and the curd gather- 

 ed into a mass at one side of the tub, the tub 

 being raised at one side to cause the whey to 

 drain off. 



The tub is kept covered to retain the heat, 

 or if the curd has cooled considerably, the 

 whey that has been drawn off is heated up to 

 100 degrees and turned on to the curd until it 

 is warmed through again, and the whey is then 

 drawn off. The curd remains thus for about 

 an hour, until it attains a very slight degree 

 of acidity, when it is broken up fine with the 

 hands, salted with about half an ounce of salt 

 to the pound of curd, and put into the hoop. 

 The hoop for a ten-pound cheese should be 

 about eight inches in diameter and ten inches 

 deep. It has neither top nor bottom. It is 

 placed upon a smooth board, and the curd is 

 pressed down into it with the hands. 



When the curd is all loose, a cover is placed 

 on it, and the hoop is put under the lever, 

 which presses down upon a block resting in 

 the cover. Very little pressure is required, 

 and this only until the curd has become solid 

 enough to keep its shape ; twenty-four hours 

 in the press is quite enough, the cheese being 

 turned twice in that time. The cheese is 

 then taken out and the outside is rubbed with 

 butter and wrapped in a cotton bandage, the 

 edges of which are turned down on the two 

 faces for an inch or so. The cheese is then 

 placed in a cool room or cellar, and is turned 

 every day for a month, after which it should 

 be turned once a week for another month, 

 when it is fit for use. — 3Iiss Maggie Webster, 

 in Ontario Farmer ^s Advocate. 



A NOVEL SWINDLING SCHEME. 



For some time past there has appeared in 

 a large number of papers throughout this 

 country, a letter from one L. L. Johnson, 

 Fort Scott, Kansas, giving a glowing account 

 of his success with a certain egg-incubator, 

 called the " Common Sense." The following 

 is part of his letter : 



" I began to look around for a more perfejt 

 hatcher, and my attention was directed to 

 the ' Common Sense.' In June I got direc- 

 tions from J. M. Bain, New Concord, Ohio, 

 Secretary of the N. A. Poultry Association, 

 who will send directions for making this 

 hatcher to anyone sending three two-cent 

 stamps to prepay postage. I made one that 

 held about 250 eggs ; cost, about S7.00. My 

 success with this hatcher was all I could wish 

 for, and I immediately had four more made. 

 From these five hatchers I have just taken 

 1,030 fine chicks out of a little less than 1,200 

 eggs. I believe I am placing it modestly 

 when I say that I hope to clear by July $2,500, 

 and still pursue my usual business." 



Well, now let us send three two-cent stamps 

 to Mr. J. M. Bain, New Concord, Ohio, and 



