1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEIMER. 



269 



quality, fully ripe, is much more pleasant to 

 the taste and more profitable for sale than one 

 of the highest quality, when not perfected 

 Thus, the lona grape is very much superior 

 to the Concord ; but if the Concord can be 

 ripened in our climate and the lona cannot, 

 the Concord is the best for our section. In an 

 experience of years it will be found that Con- 

 cord and Hartford Prolific are the only varie- 

 ties that are uniformly reliable, or that will 

 pay the poor man to grow. 



If pears are planted on sandy or gravelly 

 soil, they will cost more for manure than they 

 are worth, and many kinds will fail to grow — 

 that is, if the land is dry. On such land I 

 have had some success with Flemish Beauty, 

 Bartlett, Louise Bonne de Jersey and Beurre 

 Giffard, but I cannot say my success would 

 satisfy a market gardener. 



We have currants of many varieties. I 

 have many hundreds in my garden and nursery, 

 but when hardiness and beauty of the bush, 

 and quantity and quality of the fruit are con- 

 sidered, no red variety will be equal to the 

 Victoria, and no white one to the Dutch 

 White. These are sjmmetrical in form, will 

 bear manuring, and the fruit is of good size 

 and very sweet. Those varieties called Red 

 Cherry and White Grape sell well, but their 

 fruit is not so sweet, nor are the bushes com- 

 parable with the first mentioned, — the Cherry 

 being not so vigorous and the Grape not uni- 

 form in growth. 



Of gooseberries, I have never had any or 

 seen any that an Englishman considers worth 

 growing, in our State. The sun is too warm 

 in summer, and some days too dry to allow a 

 good gooseberry to escape blight and grow its 

 fruit to perfection. The best I have is called 

 Williams' Red. 



Of strawberries I have succeeded with but 

 two varieties, Jenny Lind and Triomphe de 

 Gand. The first is early and sweet and of 

 good color aad size, and prolific ; on good 

 loamy soil, with good culture, pays well. The 

 last is later, larger and of good flavor, and is 

 prolific ; it will require a good, rather damp 

 soil and high culture. I consider all straw- 

 berries as uncertain as to crop in our climate, 

 be the variety or culture ever so good, and 

 whoever grows them largely must reckon on 

 several years for profit, as if a crop is secured 

 two years in five, to grow tbein pays better 

 than common crops. 



Raspberries are refreshing and healthful, 

 and by some are considered profitable. I 

 have taken in one season from 48 plants, 52 

 quarts of fruit. The variety was Red Ant- 

 werp. This variety needs protection in win- 

 ter, but of all varieties it is> for home use, 

 the most profitable, if crop, quality and beauty 

 are considered. Of all the black varieties, I 

 have found no one any better than our own 

 thimbleberry. They are nothing else than the 

 thimbleberry of other States. It is on such 

 plants, highly cultivated and recommended by 



those who stand high in esteem as horticultu- 

 rists, that nurserymen make, and purchasers 

 loose money. 



What I have said is intended for those who 

 have had no experience in the fruit garden, 

 and my object is to induce such to seek pleas- 

 ure and profit in growing fruit, if only for 

 their own use and health. If the editors think 

 the above worth publishing, I hope it may do 

 some good. J. Flemikg. 



Sherborn, Mass., 1870. 



BUTTER MAKING. 



The following extracts are from an article 

 in the St. Johnsbury, Vt., Times, written by 

 David Goodall. After speaking of the im- 

 portance of good cows, good feed, and care- 

 ful workmanlike milking, he says : — 



The next requisite is a cool, sweet, clean 

 cellar for summer, and a clean, sweet milk- 

 room for the rest of the season. Here the 

 milk should be kept at about sixty degrees, 

 and when colder than fifty, the milk should be 

 scalded, as it will keep the butter yellow and 

 save labor in churning. Both cellar and milk 

 room must be light and well ventilated, and 

 all the utensils kept sweet and clean. Strain 

 and set the milk immediately after drawn from 

 the cows. At sixty, it will be usually ready 

 to skim in twenty-four hours. Milk not 

 scalded and set in a cold, dark place may be 

 a week in rising the cream, but it had better 

 be given to the pigs without skimming, as 

 butter made from it is hardly fit for human 

 beings. 



No invariable rule can be given as to the 

 time of skimming, yet it is very important that 

 the cream be taken off in all cases before the 

 milk becomes thick, because the microscope 

 shows us that at the very time the milk begins 

 to coagulate, decomposition and decay com- 

 mences in the cream, and that an apparejitly 

 great and thick growth of mould and fungus 

 rapidly springs up and covers the cream and 

 spoils it. Q'he butter made from it may be 

 barely eatable when new, but it soon acquires 

 a dirty, smoky, bitter taste, and is unfit for 

 table use. 



After the cream is put into the pot or can, 

 it should be thoroughly stirred every twelve 

 hours and be sprinkled over the top with fine 

 salt. Bring the cream to about sixty degrees 

 when ready to churn. 



When the butter has come and is gathered, 

 draw off the buttermilk, then put into the 

 churn ice-water or cold water and wash and 

 work the butter thoroughly, changing the wa- 

 ter until entirely free from the buttermilk ; 

 then draw off the water and work it out of the 

 butter, and take it out of the churn. If too 

 much water remains in the butter, so that it is 

 crumbly and spongy, work it over by hand 

 and spat it out. The butter being weighed, 

 add three-fourths to one ounce, as you please, 



