26 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JULY 36, 184: 



ly to tliG secretion of cream, and its proper and en- 

 lire separation from llie milk. Hence, therefore, 

 it is a bad practice to set tlie pans on the bricli 

 floor of the cellar ; they ouifht always to be placed 

 around on shelves, about three feet in height, and 

 these, al'ipr being well washed with hot water, 

 should be wiped quite dry, that no mouldy evapo- 

 ration nii;;lit tike place to spoil the butter. The 

 air near the floor of a dairy is always iiiipLire, be- 

 ing loaded with acid vapors and putrid exhalations, 

 the density of which confines it to the lowest part 

 of the room ; hence it is that the doors of some 

 dairies are made with lattice-work, that the air 

 near the floor, as well as that near the ceiling, 

 might be ventilated at the same time ; these latti- 

 ces being furnished with sliding panneis, to be 

 kept close in bad weather. The milk cellar ought 

 always to have a northern aspect, and bo well shad- 

 ed by trees, not growing so near to the windows 

 as to impede a dry current of air, or to create a 

 moist atmosphere ; this consideration being of more 

 importance than would readily be imagined. 



Cellars thus constructed and carefully attended, 

 will, no doubt, supercede the use of spring-houses 

 generally, before many years have passed away ; 

 by which the business of the dairy will be render- 

 ed more agreeable, less laborious, and far less ini- 

 mical to the health of those, particularly of fe- 

 males, whose occupation it is to attend to its nev- 

 er-ceasing duties. T. MILLER. 



Ddaware, June 13, 1843. 



From the Farmer's Caliinel. 



THE -MILK C E L L .A R . 

 It is a cnrious fact, but by no moans unaccoun- 

 table, that in many parts of the country the milk 

 cellar is superceding the spring house — an appen- 

 dage that has always been considered indispensa- 

 ble for the production of good butler, bo the other 

 (jualifications of a farm and its appurtenances what 

 they might. 



While on a visit to Wilmington, Del., I had oc- 

 casion to remark the excellence of the butter at 

 my friend's table, when he replied, he always se- 

 lected the host cellar butter at market, for the use 

 of his family, giving it as his tirni conviction, that 

 butter made in a cellar >vas far preferable to that 

 made in a spring-house, its great recommendation 

 being, in keeping sweet and good mnch longer, and 

 retaining its fine flavor and color to the last, which 

 spring-house butter would not do. And he observ- 

 ed, it is customary to account for the greater price 

 which some dairymen obtain for their butter in the 

 market, by saying it is cellar butler — instani;ing 

 the fact, in the high character of that made by Mr 

 Bryan Jackson, near Newcastle, who never fails to 



obtain the top price of the market for his butter 



he having a cellar that might be taken as a pat- 

 tern. 



Of course, it is readily admitted that much de- 

 pends on the mode that is adopted in the manage- 

 ment of the dairy, commencing with the breed and 

 feei of the cows, and ending with the manipula- 

 tions of the butter ; but the idea is gainino- ground 

 that the best butter is to be made in a cellar, all 

 other circumstances being equal— a remarkable 

 revolution in public opinion, truly. 



On reconnoitering amongst my friends, I found 

 that several of thera had substituted the cellar for 

 ihe spring-house, and I do not know one who is 

 not satisfied with the arrangement, except it be 

 where the cellar is dug in a damp soil, or has been 

 most injudiciously opened to the well, the evapo- 

 ration from which fills the room with constant 

 moisture, which may be found adhering to ihe nails, 

 the ceiling and the wood-work, the "shelves, and 

 particularly the inside of the door, causing a damp 

 and clammy feel, and a nauseous, mouldy smell, 

 which the butter imbibes, to its lasting injury : in- 

 deed no good butter can be made in such places. 

 But another revolution is taking place, even 

 amongst the advocates for the cellar: it is no lon- 

 ger thought necessary to dig the cellar very deep, 

 or to arch it over with stone or brick, with an air 

 passage through it for ventilation— a vault, as it is 

 more properly then termed;— it is found sufficient, 

 if the cellar be sunk a few feftt below the surface 

 of the earth, and provided with a widn and shal- 

 low window on each side, the bottom of it level 

 with the ground outside, well protected with ii 

 fine wire guard to keep out vermin, largo flies, 

 &.C., and provided with a close glazed sash, which 

 can be opened and closed at pleasure, by lifting it 

 up to the ceiliiia;, which ought to be no higher than 

 the top of the windows ; so that the air of the cel- 

 lar can he ventilated by opening the windows of 

 the two oppoi^ite sides, according to t.ho way the 

 wind sets at the time, shutting them quickly when 

 necessary; f..r in cold, windy, or damp weather, 

 the sooner the windows are again closed, the bet- 

 ter. Indeed, to the management of the cellar in 



tl'hi'^H'T'r'."""'?/ ',' V"''' °^ ''^'^^'"^"'^ Will be fit for use. and it will continue for ten 

 to be attributed ; cold and damp uir being unfriend- 1 years as good as butter newly salted. 



SALTING AND PRESERVING BUTTER. 

 We annex a receipt upon this subject, and will 

 take the occasion to say, that we have no doubt it 

 is a good one, though we should prefer one we 

 have used and know to be good. The paragraph 

 below states that butter packed away as llierein 

 directed, will keep ten years. Upon this part of 

 the subject we cannot speak from any knowledge 

 of our own; but with regard to the time it will 

 keep, put away agreeably to the receipt we shall 

 give, wo ar3 enabled to cpeak advisedly, as our 

 butter was potted in the month of June, and was 

 as fresh and sweet when opened for use in the 

 month of December following, as when first made, 

 having preserved all its richness of flavor. 



We took six ounces of fine Liverpool blown 

 salt, four ounces of saltpetre, and six ounces of 

 loaf sugar; and after pulverizing the whole, so as 

 to make a fine powder, we incorporated it with the 

 butter, after the buttermilk had been thoroughly 

 worked out, at the rate of one ounce to the pound ; 

 then packed it away in stone jars, the tops of which 

 we covered, first with clean cloths, and then with 

 bladders, so as to completely exclude the air. 

 Thus treated when fresh and well made, we have 

 no hesitation in saying that butter would keep any 

 desirable length of time, though we should be un- 

 willing to risk the opinion that it would keep, as 



maintained in the receipt below, ten years. Jlmer. 



Farmer, 



To Salt Butter — Beat well up together in a 

 marble mortar, half a pound of common salt, with 

 four ounces of powdered loaf-sugar: to every 

 pound of newly made butter, (the nTilk being well 

 drawn off by beating,) put an ounce of the mixed 

 powder ; incorporate it well ; put the butter in pots 

 for keeping. In about a month—not before— it 

 will be fit for use 



A writer in the Prairie Farmer, published a 

 Chicago, III., enumerates some things which he 

 has seen, as follows. His description, though de 

 signed particularly for the latitude of Illinoir, will 

 in many respects, like the almanac-mnker's calen 

 dar, answer equally well for other meridians : 

 WHO AND WHAT I HAVE SEEN. 

 I have seen farmers that went to the store oft- 

 ener than they went to the mill. 



I have seen a farmer's wife take the last twentj 

 bushels of wheat from the granary to purchases 

 new dress, when her husband, at the same time 

 had an execution standing against him. 



I have seen farmers that could go twenty milet 

 to a political meeting, but would not go five miles 

 to an agricultural one. 



I have seen farmers that had but little excepl 

 " dog fence," but I could not see that they had bet- 

 ter crops than those that had good rail or board 

 fence. 



I have seen farmers that burned their straw 

 when threshing their grain in the fall, and go 

 begging the same article before spring to keep 

 their stock alive. 



I have seen a farmer that travelled one hundred 

 and four miles in the course of a year to use his 

 neighbor's grindstone, when two days' labor would 

 purchase one that would last ten years. 



I have seen a farmer's wife that would prefer 

 sour cream and a "visit," to sweet cream andl 

 home. 



I have seen young men that could pay ten dol- 

 lars for a " spree," that ifOjiW not pay one dollar 

 for the Prairie Farmer. 



I have seen a mother that called her child in 

 the cradle a " brat," and in two years the child 

 called her a harder name. 



I have seen a farmer in Illinois that cut down 

 thrifty saplings in his door-yard, and then set out 

 others in their place that would require ten years' 

 growth ere they would present the same beautiful 

 appearance. 



I have seen many farmers that would drink 

 slough water, and have the ague six months, when 

 four days' labor would dig a good well. 



1 have seen farmers' daughters that were "very 

 accomplished" in every thing except carding, spin- 

 ning, weaving, knitting, churning, making cheese, 

 cooking, etc. 



I have seen a farmer " put in" 80 acres of crops, 

 and was under the necessity of purchasing grain 

 for his family most of the year. 



I have seen those that will stick up their noses 

 at what 1 have said. j_ 



Isle on the Prairie, June fi, 1843. 



Cranberries— In some parts of Michigan, in 

 northern Indiana, and in Wisconsin, about the 

 Wisconsin river, great numbers of this fruit are 

 found growing wild. Those brought from the 

 Wisconsin are the finest we ever saw. VVc doubt 

 whether so large a product with so little trouble 

 and expense, could be realized from any other 

 source, as from this fruit. Considerable attention 

 has been given to cranberry cultivation in some 

 parts of Massachusetts, and with great success. 

 Patches of land good for nothing but frog pasture 

 have been rendered more valuable than'the best 

 adjoining lands, by this means. This is a fruit 

 with which there is very little danger of glutting 

 the market. The appetite for them "grows with 

 what it feeds upon." — Prairie Far. 



