438 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Sept. 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLIES. 



FANCY BUTTER. 



Will yon plea«e give rs a chapter on "Fancy but- 

 ter?" Till us all about the making, packing, mar- 

 keting, &c , and explain why it sells in the market 

 so r'lu'h higher than the hest New Hampshire 

 and Vermont butter. W. J. Henderson. 



Ryegate, Vt., July 12, 1870. 



Remarks. — "We publish on another page an ab- 

 stract of what Mr. Willard told the students of the 

 Maine Agricultural College about butter making. 

 This gentleman, in addition to what practical 

 knowledge he may have gained in his own dairy, 

 has spent much time among the best butter mak- 

 ers in this country and Europe ; has even, we be- 

 lieve, visited the dairy of Queen Victoria, with 

 its porcelain and its marble equipments, and we 

 suppose he has ;old all that he can tell — not all 

 that he knows — about butter making. There are 

 secrets in this as in all other arts that can never 

 be told, — they can only be learned. One man may 

 know how to chop wood ; another man may know 

 how to set type. But what good will the telling of 

 either do to one who never swung an axe or 

 picked up type ? We apprehend, however, that 

 most of those who desire information upon the 

 subject of fancy butter are making the same mis- 

 take that one Capt. Naaman, of the Syrian host, 

 committed when he got into a rage because the 

 prophet simply told him to "wash and be clean," 

 when he expected to be bid to do some "great 

 thing." Mr. Willard suggests few great things. 

 "Little Things" are words which head his clos- 

 ing paragraphs, and we do not think he would 

 be offended were these words to be used as a cap- 

 tion to the whole of his two lectures. "Small 

 sands the mountain make, moments make the 

 year, and trifles life," and little things, we suppose, 

 have much to do with the quality of butter ; little 

 things out doors and little things inside; little 

 things which imply a fancy farmer and a fancy 

 dairy woman, — one can do little without the other. 



But fancy prices depend on the freshness of the 

 article as well as its intrinsic quality. The gilt- 

 edged butter must be made near the consumer. It 

 must be delivered often. The maker must have a 

 reputation. "Mr. So and So makes our butter!" 

 Just now it must be made from milk of Jersey 

 cows, and if they cost from #400 to #1000 apiece 

 the butter, you know, will be all the more fancy, 

 all the more gilt-edged. 



The best dairies of New Hampshire and Ver- 

 mont do obtain prices which are decidedly "fancy" 

 compared with those which an ordinary article 

 commands. This is done io the first place, by 

 producing a reliably good article ; and, in the sec- 

 ond place, by taking some pains to reach those 

 who are willing to pay a good price for a good 

 article. We know of dairies whose products are 

 engaged at some ten cents a pound more than the 

 ordinary price of what is called in market good 

 butter. 



This, we fear, is not such a chapter as our cor- 

 respondent asks for, but perhaps it will serve as 

 an introduction to the confession which we are 

 obliged to make, that we are unable to answer his 

 questions squarely and fairly. We shall be very 

 happy, however, to serve as a medium for any 

 one who can satisfactorily reply. 



RUSSIAN WHEAT — VETCH OR TARE. 



I have jast cut a small patch of wheat from seed 

 imported from Odessa, Russia. I found several 

 plants like the one enclosed. Will it be a pest if 

 domesticated, or is it already so ? I never saw 

 anything like it. The wheat was sown the last of 

 August; it made a very good growth, but became 

 badly beat down soon alter heading, and never 

 recovered. After I thresh and clean the grain I 

 may announce the result. H. Colman. 



Woodville, Mass., July 15, 1870. 



Remarks. — The plant was received in good 

 order, and is doubtless one of the many varieties 

 of vetches or tares common in Europe. The seeds 

 are nutritive and are used in the same way as 

 peas, — in fact it is one of the leguminosa, or pea 

 family. It does not seem suited to the climate of 

 the United States, or rather our ordinary field 

 peas and beans do better. Though called a "tare" 

 we do not think there is much danger of its be- 

 coming a troublesome weed. We shall be glad to 

 receive further particulars of your experience with 

 the Russian wheat. 



AFTERBIRTH. 



Will you please to inform me through the Far- 

 mer what is the effect on a cow, of eating the 

 "afterbirth," or "cleanings ?" As is well known, 

 there is a propensity in most, or all cows, to do 

 this. A fine young cow (five y^ars old) of mine, 

 did this filthy deed on calving, about ten weeks 

 ago. She has not suffered any harm from it as I 

 can see. She has always before been troubled 

 with swelled bag, but not this year. John. 



Franklin, Mass., 1870. 



Remarks. — When the ovum or germ cell of the 

 female is impregnated by contact with the sperm 

 cell of the male, it becomes developed into a sac 

 containing the foetus and a liquid called the am- 

 niotic liquor, in which the foetus floats, attached 

 by the funis or umbilical cord to the placenta, a 

 soft spongy mass, consisting of fleshy cells and 

 blood vessels. The placenta is attached to a por- 

 tion of the inner face of the uterus by a mem- 

 brane filled with blood vessels, through which 

 nutriment is conveyed to the growing foetus. The 

 placenta and sac enlarge and thicken with the 

 growth of the foetus, and when the latter is fully 

 developed and ready to be born, the former has 

 become a large mass consisting of fleshy cells, 

 blood vessels and tough membranes. During the 

 process of delivery the placenta becomes separated 

 from its attachment to the uterus, and in a healthy 

 labor passes away soon after the fcetus. The con- 

 tractions of the muscular coat of the uterus, called 

 labor pains, generally cause a rupture of the sac 

 containing the young, which consequently escapes 

 and first passes away. Sometimes the placenta or 



