138 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



[September, 



and butter cliilled with ice load up witli ini- 

 pniiti j and infection from organic germs in 

 trie air the same as the meat on ice, and their 

 durability and their quality are affected by 

 the infection more than by the chilling. 



In creameries the chief injury is done to 

 the cream, which is very commonly covered 

 with a coat of dew that is always very foul 

 and fatal to the good keeping of the butter it 

 gets mingled with. A good many observing 

 creamery men are becoming aware that ice in 

 open and cold setting is the cause of a great 

 deal of mischief to the butter, and only use 

 it because of its great convenience. If in sub- 

 merging milk, injury from atmospheric con- 

 densations are pretty much avoided, the use 

 of ice cuts off all maturity of cream, at least 

 all in the riglit direction, and finally leaves it 

 in a somewhat deteriorated condition. Were 

 it not for the speed in creaming, and the sav- 

 ing of labor it occasions, it would soon go out 

 of use, so many are becoming satisfied that 

 butter from ice-cooled milk and cream can 

 not compete with that made without such 

 chilling. From tliese considerations tlie proba- 

 bility is that the use of ice injthe dairy wili;con- 

 tinuc to become less and less in favor and less 

 used, till tlie centrifuge is better perfected 

 and comes into general use, and creams milk 

 while warm and obviates the necessity for low 

 cooling. Then ice in the dairy " must go."— 

 Frof. L. B. Arnold, in New York Tribune. 



AMERICAN WONDERS. 



The greatest cataract in the world is the 

 Falls of Niagara, where the water from the 

 great upper lakes forms a river of tln-ee- 

 quarters of a mile in width, and then, being 

 suddenly contracted, plunges over the rocks in 

 great columns, to the depth of one hundred 

 and seventy feet each. 



The greatest cave in the world is the Mam- 

 moth Cave in Kentucky, where one can make 

 a voyage on the waters of a subterranean 

 river, and catch fish without eyes. 



The greatest river in the world is the Mis- 

 sissippi, four thousand one hundred miles 

 long. 



The largest valley in the world is the valley 

 of the Mississippi. It contains five hundred 

 thousand square miles, and is one of the most 

 fertile regions of the globe. 



The largest lake in the world is Lake 

 Superior, whicli is truly an island sea, being 

 four hundred and thirty miles long, and very 

 deep. 



The longest railroad is the Pacific Railroad, 

 overtliree thousand miles in length. 



The greatest natural bridge in the world is 

 the Natural Bridge of Cedar Creek, in Vir- 

 ginia. It extends across a chasm eighty feet 

 in width and two hundred and fifty feet in 

 depth, at tlie bottom of which the creek flows. 



The greatest mass of solid iron in the world 

 is the great Iron Mountain in Missouri. It is 

 three hundred and fifty feet high, and two 

 miles in circuit. 



The largest deposits of anthracite coal in 

 the world are in Pennsylvania, the mines of 

 which supply the market with millions of tons 

 annually. 



CURING CHEESE. 

 A cheese maker in Ohio states his experi- 

 ence in curing cheese as follows: "I have 



been somewhat interested in your articles on 

 curing cheese in the boxes. We have a room 

 in the basement of the factory, lathed and 

 plastered, with stone wall on two sides and a 

 floor. We find cheese loses less in weight 

 and has a much better flavor when cured in 

 it than when cured in a room up-stairs." 



The experience above stated in regard to 

 curing cheese in upper rooms and basements 

 has been corroborated scores of times in our 

 visits to cheese factories. It is the rule, in 

 fact the cheese in upper rooms dries out much 

 more and cures less perfectly than in the 

 closer apartments and damper air of rooms 

 partly underground. The temperature in 

 basements, built as above described, fluctuates 

 much less than in upper rooms, a circum- 

 stance which greatly enhances the value of 

 lower rooms for curing cheese. Much varia- 

 tion in temperature always detracts from 

 flavor. Every rise and fall in the warmth of 

 the room in which cheese is curing warps and 

 impairs the development of flavor, and causes 

 an extra shrinkage in weight. Moisture is 

 essential to rapid curing and to the formation 

 of flavor. Dry air and much light are objec- 

 tionable. We have found the best curing in 

 dark, close rooms, and as damp {ft they could 

 be on account of mould. It was this that led 

 to our little experiment in curing cheese in 

 boxes, which, by the way, has proved a per- 

 fect success. We have just cut one of the 

 cheeses so cured, now about six months old, 

 and find the curing perfect— all that could be 

 desired— and it was so considered by an ex- 

 pert who happened to be present when it was 

 cut. Though skimmed at the rate of a pound 

 of butter from fifty pounds of milk, the flavor 

 is perfectly clean and quite full and nutty 

 like that of a well-made, whole-milk cheese, 

 and would easily be mistaken for such by the 

 average consumer. It is greatly superior to 

 those cured on the open shelf. The result 

 has proved so favorable, we propose to ex. 

 periment further another year, and hope 

 others will do so too.—JSfational Live Stoch 

 Journal. 



Our Local organizations, 



LANCASTER COUNTY AGRICULTU- 

 RAL AND HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



On Monday afternoou, September 1,1884, the Lan 

 caster County Ai^ricultural Society held its regular 

 monthly meeting to their room, above the old post- 

 office building. 



The following members were present: H. M. 

 Engle, Marietta; Calvin Cooper, Bird-in Hand ; Dr. 

 J. P. Wickersham, F. R. Diffeuderffer, city ; Johnson 

 Miller, Warwick; James Wood, Fulton; W. H. 

 Brosius, Drumore ; M. D. Kendig, Manor ; John C. 

 Linville, Salisbury; li. B. Patterson, Colerain ; 

 William Wright, Fulton ; Levi S. Reist, Manheim. 



lu the absence of the President, Vice President 

 Engle took the chair. . 



On motion the reading of the minutes of the pre- 

 vious meeting was dispensed with. 



Mr. Cooper, from the committee on the late Farm- 

 ers' Institute, asked further time to make their 

 report. 



Crop Reports. 



Joseph F. Witmer reported a good yield of grain. 

 The corn crop will be good. Apples are falling. 

 Potatoes are a full crop. Oats are better than for a 

 number of years. He reported a yield of 501 bushels 

 of wheat from ten acres. 



Johnson Miller said the corn crop would be an ex- 

 cellent one. The tobacco crop is the flnest in years. 

 Potatoes will be a moderate crop. Wheat was also a i 

 heavy crop. A great deal of second crop is being ; 

 made. 



James Wood said the wheat is good. He will have 

 600 bushels of wheat off a field that gave him 60 

 bushels in 1857. Wheat seems to be of an especial 

 good quality this year. 



J. C. Linville noticed that from the Gap eastward 

 the corn is poor. He cannot account for it. Grass 

 is usually good this fall ; clover is well set. Plowing 

 is not half done so far, the farmers had so much to- 

 bacco to cut that they could not get at their plowing. 



-M. D. Kendig said corn in Manor was a good 

 crop ; so was wheat. Tobacco is mostly harvested, 

 the Havana seed is of good size and quality. Farm- 

 ers are looking for stock cattle, as many will be fed 

 as during any previous year, perhaps more. The 

 grass is good and abundant. 



Henry M. Engle reported the rainfall for June at 

 5 1.5-16 inches ; for July 4 9-16 inches, and for Au- 

 gust 1 6-16 inches. 



W. H. Brosius said in Drumore the crops were 

 good generally. The large yield of wheat will make 

 up for the low price. 



Johnson Miller said it has been customary for this 

 society to send delegates to neighboring county fairs, 

 and that an invitation had been sent by the State 

 Fair at Philadelphia. He, therefore, moved a com- 

 mittee of three be appointed to go there. Carried. 

 The chairman appointed Messrs. Johnson Miller, 

 Joseph F. Witmer and M. D. Kendig. 



On motion the society adjourned to meet on the 

 first Monday in October. 



FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 



The August meeting of the Fulton Farmers' Club 

 was held at the residence of Day Wood, in Fulton 

 township. The following members were in attend- 

 ance : Joseph R. Blackburn, Day Wood, E. H. 

 Haines, Lindley King, Marshall Nesbit, C. C. Cauff- 

 man, Solomon L. Gregg and Wm. King, besides a 

 number of visitoi-s. 



Exhibitions of agricultural and horticultural 

 specimens being in order, Day Wood exhibited 

 Duchess of Oldenburg (or Orinburg) apple, which 

 he says is a good bearer and stays well on the trees ; 

 also, sweet blough apple. " 



Melissa Gregg exhibited Duchess of Orinburg, 

 Garettson's Early, and Summer Rambo apples, the 

 latter being green ; will ripen in about six weeks ; 

 also, Bloodgood pear. Lizzie Wood, a radish of ex- 

 traordinary size. Neal Hamilton, silk cocoons. 

 Wm. King, a twig of an apple tree covered with 

 scales. 



E. H. Haines asked what was the right thing to 

 do when you are breaking oxen, and they get sullen 

 and lie down and won't get up for anything. 



M. Nesbit said the right way was not to let them 

 get down. Just yoke them and go away and don't 

 try to move them until they get used to being yoked. 

 It is a bad idea to try to drive them. 



M. Nesbit : Is it best to let the grass and weeds 

 grow, or cut and let lie, when the ground is to be 

 plowed next spring ? 



E. H. Haines thought that there was no advan- 

 tage is cutting other than keeping the weeds from 

 going to seed. It would be best to turn the cattle 

 on it. 



Day Wood would keep the weeds from going to 

 seed if noxious. 



S. L. Gregg asked if there was any advantage in a 

 wheel to a plow. 



E. H. Haines : It depends on the plow. If it runs 

 too deep with a new point a wheel is the best thing 

 to regulate it. 



M. Nesbit: With no wheel the horses carry the 

 weight of the plow . 



Others thought a wheel of great use, especially 

 when plowing in hard ground, when the chains 

 should be let out and the wheel depended on to keep 

 the plow from running too keep. 



S. L. Gregg was hard to convince. He had a 

 Roland chilled plow that would run as well without 



