1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



37 



so that they may be cleansed, which is done by 

 swabbing out with lime water. 



He also claims that lime water is better than 

 hot soap-suds to clean anel purify all milk uten- 

 sils ; an experiment 1 have not yet tried, but 

 intend to. He says he has found out many new 

 things about the nature of milk and butter. 

 He claims that milk several i'eet deep will 

 throw up all its cream in twenty-four hours at 

 a temperature of 34°, only 2° above the freez- 

 ing point. 



Having occasion to make some alterations in 

 my fall and winter milk-rooms, while waiting 

 for paint to diy before using them, I found it 

 convenient to try the experiment of keeping milk 

 in a cold room while the cream was rising. I 

 have used my dwelling-house cellar for milk 

 during the warm months, keeping the windows 

 constantly opened to admit fresh, pure air. 

 This season 1 kept my milk in the cellar till 

 into November, letting the windows remain 

 ■ open as usual, with the temperature some 

 mornings down to 40° and less. And I am 

 satisfied I shall not try that experiment again 

 at present, unless 1 am obliged to. I find I 

 have lost as much as 15 per cent, of the cream, 

 by letting it rise in a cold room. Then it takes 

 twice as long to churn sweet cream as it does 

 that which is sour and thick as cream will be, if 

 kept in a warm place. 



I am not entirely satisfied yet that an under- 

 ground cellar is the best place in which to keep 

 milk at any time of the year. Mr. Jason 

 Tower, a very successful butter maker, of 

 Franklin, Mass., has kept his milk on the first 

 floor above the cellar all through the hot months 

 lor several years past, having a slat floor to al- 

 low some circulation of air between this and 

 the cellar room below. 



He thinks his ujjper room is a little too warm 

 during the hottest weather in July and August, 

 but he certainly has been able to make a con- 

 siderably larger amount of Isutter per cow dur- 

 ing the season, than I have, although other 

 circumstances do not seem to be much in his 

 favor. A. W. Ciieever. 



Sheldonville, Mass., Nov. 15, 1866. 



For the New England Farmer. 



MY draust tile. 



Mr. Editor : — I have just had a little expe- 

 rience in draining under difficulties, which I 

 will state to you. 



One corner of my flirm has been very wet. 

 The top soil is a tenacious mud. Next comes 

 a thin, clayey stratum. Under this is a very 

 lively quicksand. An open ditch has been 

 kept through the centre, the slope of the land 

 being sufficient to give the water a rapid run. 

 Last fall this ditch was cleaned out a little too 

 deep, reaching into the quicksand a good part 

 of the way. Heavy rains followed, making a 

 strong brook in the ditch. This carried off the 

 quicksand to such an extent that in some places 



the banks were imdermined on each side for four 

 or five feet, and fell down. I think that not 

 less than one hundi'cd cartloads of this under 

 soil, were, during the fall and winter, carried 

 to the lower level, thus making a very wide 

 chasm in the field, and filling up the ditch on 

 the more level ground for some forty or fifty 

 rods ; and any attempt to clean out this lower 

 portion would set the sands in motion to fill it 

 up again. To prevent this lor the future, I 

 have laid tiles in the ditch. This was not an 

 easy job, owing to the liveliness of the quick- 

 sand. To keep this from flowing into the pipe, 

 I placed bog moss at the joints, and filled up 

 with the surface sods pressed around the pipe. 

 Great caution had to be used to make the pack- 

 ing so compact that no current could run 

 outside the pipe. In the softer places it was 

 necessary also to lay a board on the bottom to 

 keep the pipe steady. There are side drains 

 leading into the main one, in all of which this 

 quicksand was more or less troublesome. 



At present, so far as finished, the drain works 

 to niy great satisfaction. The water flows 

 freely, and the land is already perceptibly drier 

 than 1 have known it in the driest times for 

 more than twenty years. But I have one cause 

 for fear, that I have seen no account of else- 

 where. There is constantly growing in the 

 pipe a slimy fungus, that collects and comes 

 away in masses. I have several times pulled 

 it out of the pipe with a stick. A few days ago 

 I found a good half bushel of this matter col- 

 lected near the mouth of the pipe. Some 

 pieces were more than a foot long, and as they 

 lay closely in the water, were at least an inch 

 in diameter. My fear is, that at some time 

 this will collect in the pipe in sufficient quantity 

 to obstruct the water. I think it has already, 

 at least once, temporarily choked the pipe near 

 the upper end, as the gravel carted to fill up 

 the ditch was for a short distance so saturated 

 with water that a man would sink over shoes in 

 it. But that soon became drier. There is, 

 however, fall enough to bring a strong pressure 

 of water against any obstruction, and I hope 

 this will keep it clean. 



Have you, Mr. Editor, ever seen anything 

 like this in your experience ? Can anything 

 be done to prevent the growth of this fungus ? 



Concord, Oct. 22, 1866. m. p. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 "WnSTTER EECREATIONS. 

 As a general thing, farmers labor too un- 

 ceasingly ; spend too little time in recreation 

 with their families. Many so arrange their 

 work that a rainy day finds them with as much 

 on band as at any other time. Simimer and 

 winter is the same with them ; the system al- 

 ways strained to its utmost capacity, either in 

 physical labor or in planning for the future. 

 Now, while it is well to be diligent in business, 

 and to have an eye to the future, a constant 

 tension wears out elasticity, the system becomes 



