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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Domestic Department. 



Making and pheservixg Buti-er. — The follow- 

 ing article was communicatod to the Farmer's 

 Monthly Visitor, by a lady of the United Society at 

 Canterbury, N. II. The excellent economy of this 

 society in every department of industry, gives an 

 importance to their recommendations. 



The pans or other vessels in which the milk is to 

 be set should be made perfectly sweet by scalding 

 previous to putting the milk into them. A room in 

 the basement story, where the air will circulate freely, 

 is preferable to a cellar (when the weather will ad- 

 mit of it) for setting milk. Forty-eight hours is a 

 sufficient length of time to raise cream for making 

 butter to keep througli the winter season. 



After this cream is taken off, the milk may stand 

 the same length of time, but the cream that rises 

 after the first forty-eight hours will not make butter 

 60 palatable as the hrst which rises, and should be 

 churned separate. 



As soon as the cream is taken from the milk, it 

 Bhould be put into a tin j^ail and set into a kettle of 

 ecalding water, taking care to stir the cream often, 

 otherwise it will turn oily at the top ; it should re- 

 main in the kettle till the cream is scalding hot, 

 being particular to place it in a tub of cold water 

 immediately. Stii- it often, till it is nearly or quite 

 cold: if it remains long after hot, it will be injured 

 much. It will be necessary to change the water 

 once or twice before the cream can be perfectly cold. 

 It may then be kept three or four days before churn- 

 ing withovit injury. 



After churning, the buttermilk should be partially 

 ■worked out : then add one and one half ounces of 

 salt to one pound of butter. It may then be covered 

 tight and stand till the following daj^ ; then work it 

 over iigain, taking great care to work out every par- 

 ticle of buttermilk, which will prevent the butter 

 from growing rancid by age. It may then be formed 

 into cakes, or packed solid in a cask, which should be 

 perfectly sweet and well dried. 



The inside should bo sprinkled and a little fine salt 

 rubbed thereon. After the cask is filled, dip a cloth 

 in melted butter, and spread it snugly over the top 

 — cover it Avith fine salt, and fasten up the cask 

 sufhciently tight to keep out the air : it should then 

 be set in a cool place, to remain through the winter. 



N. B. A cask made of red oak staves is prefera- 

 ble to any other for preserving the original sweetness 

 of butter. 



It will add to the flavor of butter to work in a lit- 

 tle sugar at the last working over ; say, a table spoon- 

 ful to four or live pounds of butter. 



Layering. — Very many lovers of flowers have 

 been discouraged from endeavoring to keep some of 

 the most beautiful and easily managed plants by 

 (vant of a little knowledge of the art of propagation. 

 They find their ])lants to flourish and blossom well 

 for a season or two ; they are delighted with their 

 fragrance or their beautj', but the time for disappoint- 

 ment and regret comes on apace. Perhaps the seeds 

 do not ripen — most double flowers will not produce 

 seeds at all — probably, even when ripe seeds are 

 obtained and sown, after bestowing much attention 

 and care upon the younglings, and watching anx- 

 iously, for months, until they come to maturity and 

 expaid into bloom, it is found that very inferior va- 

 rieties have been produced, having little resemblance 

 to the prized parent plant, and ill-rewarding the la- 

 bor expended. The poor, inexperienced, and mortified 

 florist next undertakes to raise ixesh. plants by pip- 



ings, cuttings, or slips. Raise new plants he must, 

 if he Avishes to keep up his stock ; for " all that live 

 must die," and the most robust constitution is no 

 security against an early death. The new attempt 

 will in some instances succeed, and if it does, the 

 original variety is perpetuated, with all its character- 

 istics. But one Avho does not possess the whole 

 paraphernalia of floriculture, — the stove, the green- 

 house, the close frame, the bottom heat, the boll 

 glasses, the mattings and shades, — or one who, pos- 

 sessing some of them, knows not how to use them 

 propcrh', will fail much oftcner than he will succeed. 



There is, however, one method of propagation, in 

 which, as resijccts a great number of species, the 

 most ignorant may with a little care be entirely 

 successful. 



It is equally effective for Sweet "Williams, Chinese 

 pinks, and indeed for the whole genus dianthus 

 and innumerable others. 



The branch of which the layer is to be made, 

 should be prepared by cutting off the leaves from that 

 part which is to be covered with earth. If the plant 

 is of woody texture, a ring of the bark about one 

 eighth of an inch broad, should be cut off also. If 

 the branch belongs to a jointed plant, like the carna- 

 tion, &c., a sharp penknife should be passed through 

 its centre, so as to split it at the joint, and for about 

 a half inch above and below it. This ringing or 

 incision is useful, as it partially interrupts the flow 

 of the sap, arresting a portion of it at the point from 

 which the young roots are to sj^ring. A small por- 

 tion of the earth should then be removed, and the 

 prepared branch should be secured in the cavity by a 

 hooked peg. It should then be covered with light, 

 rich mould, not that removed, from one to two inches 

 deep. The depth should vary according to the chai-- 

 acter of the plant, the more succulent requiring the 

 shallower covering, and the more woody and dry the 

 deeper. When the layers have struck root, they 

 should be severed from the parent plant, and potted, 

 or planted in the garden by themselves. Most of 

 our frequent flowering garden roses, grape-vines, 

 gooseberry bushes, snowballs, honeysuckles, and 

 shrubbery in general, may, by this means, be readily 

 and easily propagated to almost any extent ; and if 

 the layering be done soon after the full blooming of 

 the plant is nearly over, the eftect upon the stock is 

 benericial rather than injurious. — Sariain's Magazine, 



IJogs' Department. 



No Weeds. — Boys who have a little spot of land 

 to cultivate as their own, should be careful and allow 

 no weeds xo grow on it. In most cases, boys have 

 small farms, and they should be careful to keep them 

 well cultivated and in the neatest condition. " He 

 that is faithful over a few things shall be made lord 

 over many." 



The Boy that smokes. — What shall we say of 

 the boy that smokes? Shall we pronounce any 

 judgment upon him ? Shall we say that he is ac- 

 quiring an evil habit ? that he is becoming a slave to 

 a master, who, by and by, will be very cruel to him; 

 that he is on the high road to rowdyism ; that he is 

 beginning to bo profligate with his money, &c. ? O 

 that this were the worst ! What say the druggists, 

 who know the stimulating effects of tobacco ? One 

 and all, that it often proves the flrst step to drunken- 

 ness. No young man, who uses tobacco, in any 

 shape whatever, is or can be safe. He is apt to be 

 thirsty, and water never satisfies. Tobacco-smoking 



