302 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



AMEKICAN ATTD SCOTCH DAIRIES 

 COMPARED. 



In a recent number of the Albany Country Oen- 

 tleman, some statistics of one or two Scotch dai- 

 ries were published. These statements induced 

 Mr. Z. Pratt, a systematic dairyman of Pratts- 

 ville, N. Y., to turn to his books to ascertain how 

 far his dairy was behind in respect to the amount 

 of milk and butter produced. Mr. Pratt gives a 

 comparative table, which it is not necessary to 

 copy in detail. The result is, that Mr. Pratt's 

 cows, from 1857 to 1861, yield an average of 2383 

 quarts for each cow per year, while the cows of 

 Mr. Harrison, of Scotland, during the same time, 

 produced 2103 quarts, or 280 quarts per cow per 

 year less than the New York dairy. Mr. Pratt 

 also alludes to a communication from Mr. C. T. 

 Alvord, of Wilmington, Vt., on the value of the 

 "Ayrshire Cows for the Dairy," in which it is said 

 that in six different Scotch dairies of the Ayrshire 

 cow, it had been found that a little more than two 

 and a half gallons of milk produced a pound of 

 butter. The number of cows in these Scotch dai- 

 ries is not stated, and Mi-. Pratt suggests that 

 they may hdve been stocked with selected animals, 

 as he regards it as a very gratifying result, but 

 no more so than that obtained from his own daii-y 

 of 71 cows, -which he says are "natives to the hills 

 of Green and Delaware, bought from my neigh- 

 bors, the farmers of those counties, and now feed- 

 ing on hills which but a few years ago were cov- 

 ered with a dense hemlock forest. In 1861 my 

 dairy yielded an average of 10 42-lOOth quarts of 

 milk to one pound of butter ; and in 1862, 10 10- 

 lOOth quarts of milk to one pound of butter." 



In connection with the communication of Mr. 

 Pratt, the Editors of the Country Oentleman give 

 the following comparative table, which includes 

 the statement of the steward in respect to the 

 yield of cows kept at the Utica Lunatic Asylum, 

 where not only the cows but the care and atten- 

 tion bestowed upon them is much superior to that 

 usually given to dairies. 



Average yield of Milk per Cow per year. 



Mr. Harrison's dairy, Scotland, 5 years, 1857 to 1861, 2,103 qts 



At Col. Pratt's Dairy Farm, do. do 2,383do. 



At the Utica Lunatic Asylum, 4 do. 1858 to 1861 2,532 do. 



At the Utica Lunatic Asylum for the year 1862, j 

 increased by Steam Food, \ 2,940 do. 



We once enjoyed the personal acquaintance of 

 Mr. Pratt, for two or three years, had much 

 conversation with him, and from a knowledge of 

 his habits, and mode of doing business, feel con- 

 fident that his statements are entirely reliable. 

 Mr. Pratt is no ordinary man. He is a decided 

 utilitarian, self-made, self-reliant, upright, ener- 

 getic, and one of those plain, straight-forward men 

 who would not 



"Flatter Neptune for his trident." 



Few men have earned brighter laurels, — but as 



they have been earned in quiet life, never causing 

 a tear to flow, or a heart to break, his fame may 

 not have gone forth on trumpet tongue, as the 

 fame of some have done who have been a plaf^ue 

 to the world. Mr. Pratt has been a blessing to 

 his race, — and his good example, his untiring in- 

 dustry, systematic and exact turn of mind, togeth- 

 er with that urbanity of manner natural to a 

 thorough gentleman, will long be remembered by 

 all who know him. 



KEEPING FRUITS. 



Mr. Benjamin Nice, of Decatur, Ind., has made 

 some experiments in keeping fruits, which he de- 

 tailed at some length before the Ohio Pomological 

 Society, a year ago, the substance of which ap- 

 pears in the Proceedings of the Society, just pub- 

 lished, and which also has been described at 

 length by R. T. Brown, of Indianapolis, in the 

 Oliio Fanner. In the main the system is little dif- 

 ferent from that introduced about Boston a few 

 years ago, and which has been tried by Hon. M. 

 P. Wilder, who had rooms fitted up on purpose to 

 give it a fair test. That our cultivators may un- 

 derstand the system as explained by Mr. Brown, 

 we copy his article entire : — Magazine of EoHicid- 

 ture. 



Some years ago, Liebig discovered the anal- 

 ogy between the slow decay of vegetable sub- 

 stances and fermentation, and settled many things 

 in reference to temperature, moisture, and other 

 circumstances under which these actions take 

 place. Subsequent experiments confirmed the 

 deductions of Liebig, and fixed the range of fer- 

 mentation between 40° and 180*^ Fah. Appert, 

 a French chemist, introduced the practice of heat- 

 ing vegetable substances to 180° or above, and at 

 that temperature, excluding them from the air, 

 and thus effectually preventing fermentation. 

 This method has now become so common that it 

 has nearly revolutionized this department of do- 

 mestic economy. 



Mr. Nice, of Greensburg, Ind., a few years 

 since, conceived the idea of availing himself of 

 the margin between the fermenting point (40°) 

 and the freezing point below (32°.) His first 

 trouble was the presence of moisture in the atmos- 

 phere ; this, however, he eff'ectually remedied by 

 the use of Chloride of Calcium, which, by absorb- 

 ing the moisture renders the air perfectly dry. 

 Having obtained favorable results, he secured by 

 patent his discovery. In the summer of 1860, 

 Messrs. Fletcher, Williams & Vancamp erected in 

 this city a large house for the purpose of testing 

 the economical value of Mr. Nice'.s discoveries. 

 As early as ice could be procured last winter, they 

 put their house into operation. About one thou- 

 sand bushels of apples, consisting of Bellfiowers, 

 Rhode Island Greenings, Rambos, Russets, &c., 

 constituted the first experiment. These were put 

 into the market last June, as perfect in every res- 

 pect as when they were taken from the tree, and 

 with a very trifling loss in quantity. Last sum- 

 mer, various experiments were made on small 

 fruits, with very encouraging results. Raspber- 

 ries and strawbei-ries were kept eight weeks, after 

 which they lost their flavor, though they showed 

 no evident marks of decay. 



