1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



567 



than her neighbors. We will visit her milk- 

 room and learn her secret. How deliciously 

 sweet it is ! What does give it such an odor 

 of the hay-fields ? We notice bundles of dried 

 herbs hanging from the walls fastened upon 

 nails, and learn that they are made of the 

 branches and blossoms of the tall, feathery 

 ''sweet clover." Mrs. A. tells us that it will 

 retain its fragrance the year round ; and she 

 thinks that it possesses an antidote against 

 mould. We cannot say as to that ; but we do 

 kno V that it perfumes a dairy deliciously, and 

 that cream which imbibes that flavor must 

 needs make sweet butter. 



^'■Cleanliness is akin to godliness.''^ This is 

 Mrs. A.'s favorite maxim, and she practices 

 what she preaches. The slatted shelves, table 

 and floor are models of neatness ! A large 

 cream jug stands by the netted window ; it is 

 covered with a wire fly- cover — not kept closed 

 from the air. When the first cream is put 

 into it, one heaping table spoonful of saltpetre 

 is stirred in. Every morning and night, when 

 additions are made to it, the whole contents 

 are thoroughly mixed together. The stone 

 jar holds three gallons of cream ; when two- 

 thirds full another table spoonful of saltpetre 

 is added. This keeps the cream perfectly 

 free from a bitter taste, and does not harm the 

 butter-milk in the least degree. It has been 

 used for years, and the buttermilk is drank 

 and used in the family without any deleteri- 

 ous effect. Mrs. A. skims her milk before it 

 clabbers ; as soon as the milk has grown 

 slightly acid the cream is removed. She keeps 

 four cows — Alderneys — and during the sum- 

 mer churned every fifth day, averaging 36 

 pounds at a churning. Milk and cream were 

 freely used in the family. Her dairy is on 

 the north side of the house, its window shaded 

 by trees. Not a fly dares enter its walls 

 Not an article is kept in it but milk, butter, 

 pans, flour and sugar barrel. Several firkins 

 of butter stand ready for market. Those filled 

 in June and July were packed in larger sized 

 firkins, and surrounded with rock salt — several 

 inches of it were placed over the covers — and 

 the good woman assures us that they will come 

 out "gdc-edged." We do not doubt her as- 

 sertion. The room is its guarantee ! She 

 shows us her "Patent^"' churn. Her hus- 

 band purchased it for her this season, and she 

 declares it has been hands, arms and muscles 

 for her ! 



"I'm a feeble woman, as women go, and 

 after working my butter I was allers good for 

 nothin', now I aint one bit tired. My boy, 

 Joe, does the churnin' and the workin' ; I do 

 the saltin', weighin' and packin'. 



She wraps up in snowy cloths several lovely 

 butter cakes, stamped with roses and lilies, 

 for us to carry home. We bid her adieu, 

 having learned her secret. 



A few days after we called on Mrs. D. As 

 we entered the room we heard high words, — 

 cross tones, — evidently Paterfamilias was "on i 



a rampage." Mrs. D. was too excited to 

 smooth down her ruffled feathers at once, and 

 receive us as a guest. She was not city bred ; 

 had never learned the lesson cf concealment; 

 could not smile when full of woe. So we 

 learned that Mr. D. was indignant at the price 

 he had obtained for the butter she had toiled 

 so hard to make. "Only thirty- five cents, and 

 Mr. A. had received fifty-five ! Was there 

 ever such a difference made before ?" 



We endeavored to calm our friend's troubled 

 spirit by drawing her attention to olher sub- 

 jects. But in vain ; "butter" was the theme 

 upon which her tongue would dwell. At 

 length we thought it best to ask to see her 

 "milk-room." 



Oh, what a sight was there ! A large room 

 enough, — ten feet by twelve, — but crowded 

 with everything! In place of the "sweet 

 clover," codfish was hung on the walls, baskets 

 of apples stood under the table, half mouldy 

 squashes mingled with the debris. Oh, it was 

 pitiful ! What wonder that soap grease in- 

 stead of "gilt-edged" butter issued from that 

 dairy ! We pitied those who would eat of 

 that butter at thirty-five cents per pound. 

 The flies were everywhere ; they were drown- 

 ed in the cream and blackened every place. 

 We would not have taken all the product of 

 that "milk- room" for a gift ! Half under and 

 half out from the table stood an open churn 

 with a crank, to be sure, but yet a very poor 

 concern. 



We asked if she had never tried the new 

 churn. 



"No; Mr. D. had no money to spend on 

 'novelties.' " 



' 'Does not he buy or hire a mowing machine 

 and a horse-rake ?" 



"Yes, he hires 'em; he says they save a 

 heap of work ; but some men, farmers at least, 

 think wimmen's work needn't be saved. 

 There's enough o' them. If one dies, — why 

 wives are allers to be had ! Costs a little to 

 bury 'em, perhaps, but they like novelties in 

 the shape of wives !" * 



Alas ! I could not dispute that statement. 

 Wives are always to be had ; servant girls of 

 a good quality are the scarce articles ! Mrs. 

 D. looked so fragile and worn as she talked 

 and sighed, that I thought it might not be 

 long before Mr. D. tried a "noveW^/" in flesh 

 and blood. She had five little children — the 

 oldest ten years. She made butter from five 

 cows ; kept no servants ; did all the hous'e- 

 hold work ! Could one expect that she could 

 make ^^ gilt-edged'''' butter? 



We staid an hour or so with her ; and when 

 her grievance had subsided, we told her of 

 Mrs. A's dairy ; of the delicious fragrance of 

 the room ; of th^ perfectly kept milk shelves, 

 table and floor ; of the ease with which her 

 butter was worked; and of the peifect neat- 

 ness which pervaded all parts of her kitchen, 

 pantry and dairy. She listened silently. She 

 felt the force of the contrast between the two 



