1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



105 



versed on the sulijcct, \Ye have met not one who 

 does not pronounce the use of saltpetre ui butter 

 making injurious in its tendencies. 



The ^infinitesimal doses" S. O. J. speaks of in 

 her rejoinder of Jan. 7, cannot be the doses I al- 

 luded to ; for in her former paper, that to which I 

 took exceptions, it was recommended to put two 

 heaping tablespoonfuls (not less than three ounces) 

 into each three gallon jug of cream. That implies 

 a little l^acking down on her part ; but that is un- 

 called for, since we always back right down when 

 a woman assails ; and we beg pardon for having 

 innocently and iguorantly raised our humble voice 

 against drugging an article of such general con- 

 sumption as butter. We have known a case where 

 the whole product of a large dairy was sold much 

 bolow the ruling price of butter of the same general 

 quality, simply because it had been drugged with 

 f saltpetre ; but that may only prove that the com- 

 mission merchants and the purchasers were either 

 fools or knaves, or perhaps both. 



WASHING BUTTER. 



. We have never assumed that as good butter may 

 not be made by working out the butter milk with- 

 out water, but we do say that the washing process 

 is much easier, and there is less liability to injftre 

 the butter than by working it without the Avater, 

 and that the quality is in no sense impaired by the 

 process. 



In regard to the desire of S. 0. J., to put some 

 of her "unwashed Aldemcy butter, made in Sep- 

 tember, beside his (rhy) washed butter, in the 

 spring, and sec if he (we) could not discera the dif- 

 ference in the sweetness," we have to propose that 

 she send her specimens to Hon. S. L. Goodale, 

 Secretary of the Maine State Board of Agiiculture, 

 at Saco, Mc, for comparison with the butter which 

 he is now using upon his own talile, and which was 

 washed before being gathered in the churn. 



Much especial merit is claimed for Aldemey 

 butter, but we consent to waive all that and submit 

 the article named, which is but the ordinary pro- 

 duct of a "native" dairy owned l)y one of my 

 neighbors, churned in a box-chum, and washed 

 when the particles were not larger than peas and 

 worked immcdiatclj', and but once, and packed 

 twenty-four hours after. It was made in the fall 

 for immediate consumption, is not drugged, and is 

 salted to suit the taste, and not for the purpose of 

 keeping it; but we are willing to bide the issue 

 nevertheless. O. S. Bliss. 



Georgia, Vt., Jan., 1871. 



THREE HUNDRED POUNDS OF BUTTER FROM TWO 

 TEATS. 



I have a cow that calved the 20th of last March, 

 from which I have made over 300 pounds of butter. 

 She gives milk from only two teats. She comes in 

 the middle of next April. Have used Avhat milk 

 we needed for a family. She is a mixed breed. 

 Pretty well for two teats ! J. Ryan. 



Putney, Vt., Jan. 6, 1811. 



AGRICUIiTUEAIi ITEMS. 



— The President and Faculty of the Iowa Agi'i- 

 cultural College intend to hold Farmers' Institutes 

 during the winter, at different points of the State. 



— A new work entitled the Egyptian Agricultu- 

 rist, was started at Cairo, in Egypt, on the 1st of 

 June. This looks lilic returning toward its ancient 

 glory, when there was "corn m Egypt,"' though 

 other lands failed. 



— Mildew, the Boston Journal of Chemistry says, 

 is a fungoid plant, which has life or vitality like 



other parasitic growths. Examine it under a mi- 

 croscope of 300 diameters, and its wonderful and 

 beautiful structure will become apparent. 



— Mr. Quinn's pear orchard of Duchesse d'An- 

 gouleme trees has yielded this year a net return of 

 $6000. The ground occupied in producing trees is 

 less than ten acres, but it has taken over ten years 

 to grow them, and they were undoubtedly sold at 

 gilt-edged prices. 



— The Vermont Farmer speaks of one farm, a 

 short distance below Montpelier, of 150 acres, that 

 is valued at §12,000 ; another adjoinmg this, was 

 sold last year by the Bailey Bros., for $18,000 ; one 

 of 175 acres, a short distance above the village, was 

 bought three years ago for $D000. 



— The Ontario Farmer says that Canada millers 

 are importing wheat from Chicago and Milwaukee 

 largely. One miller in Godcrich had bought 70,000 

 bushels, costing $1.05 to $1.10 at his mill, in gold. 

 Other millers in the Province arc also buying States 

 wheat extensively. 



— Mr. A. S. Hay, of Morgan county. 111., raised 

 two crops of potatoes on the same land the past 

 season. The first crop was planted March 25; 

 commenced using them June 1 ; finished digging 

 August 11, on which day he planted the second 

 crop, which was harvested November 5, with a 

 larger yield than the first crop. 



— The flashy o^vner of a crow-l3ait span was com- 

 plainmg to some bystanders that he did not know 

 what was the matter with his horses ; he had tried 

 everything he could hear of, Condition Powder and 

 all other specifics, but to no purpose ; they would 

 not improve in flesh. A stable boy, whose sympa- 

 thies were aroused by the story, comprehended the 

 situation, and modestly asked, "Did yees iver try 

 corn ?" 



— Henry Ward Beecher says that every country 

 place should have that very coquette among trees, 

 the Aspen. It seems never to sleep. Its twinlding 

 fingers are playing in the air at some arch fantasy 

 almost without pause. If you set at a window with 

 a book, it will wink and blink, and beckon and 

 coax, until you cannot help speaking to it. That 

 must be a still day that docs not see the Aspen 

 quiver. A single leaf will sometimes begin to wag, 

 and not another on the whole tree will move! 

 Sometimes a hidden breath will catch at a lower 

 branch, then shifting will leave them still, while it 

 shakes a topmost twig. It is the daintiest fairy of 

 all the trees. One should have an Aspen on every 

 side of his house, that no window should be with- 

 out a chance to look upon its nods and becks, and 

 to rejoice in its innocent witchcraft. 



Difference in Climate. — The Rural Caroli- 

 nian, in its "Farm and Garden Calendar for Jan- 

 uary," says : — "Irish Potatoes may be put in any 

 time during the month, but in this latitude they are 

 liable to come up too soon, and get cut ofl' by frost, 

 if planted the first part of the month." 



