1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARilER. 



179 



butter makers, who have troiitile with their Tnxtter, 

 whether from bad flavor, wliite s])ecks or in churn- 

 ing;, set each cow's milk separately, skim and chum 

 the cream separately, and you" will then know 

 which cows arc good and profitable, and which are 

 tit only for the butcher. d. av. e. 



Hampden Couidy, Mass., Feb. 7, 1811. 



NEAV AVAY OF RAISING CORN FODDER. 



In reading your valuable paper I have seenmanj' 

 articles in regard to raising sweet corn for green 

 fodder. My method of raising it is this : I plant 

 my corn in hills three and a half feet apart one 

 way and two feet in the row, putting a sliovclful of 

 rotten manure in the hilL I plant it as soon as 

 possible on account of frost, and lioe twice vrell. I 

 plant onlj' sweet corn. As soon as the com is large 

 enough to sell I break off the ears and send to mar- 

 ket; then cut up at the ground, let it wilt and feed 

 to the cattle. I have sold sixty dollars' worth from 

 half an acre of ground, and had the fodder left. I 

 have tried planting in drill, in rows and also sow- 

 ing l)road-cast; but planting in hills gives me the 

 best result. 



I am careful not to allow more than three kernels 

 ill a liill to grow. My cattle will eat corn grown in 

 this way fiir better than that grown thickly in drill 

 or tiroadcast, besides the ears sell for enough to pay 

 all labor. A great many people put off planting 

 rheir fodder corn until it is so late that their com 

 is not tit to use until the shortest time for feed is 

 over. If they plant their corn for fodder as soon 

 as the weather wid admit, it will be fit for boiling 

 b\- tire first of August, which is the time to com- 

 mence feeding cow's. 



Although many people slur the idea of making 

 milk on corn fodtler, I think any one who will plant 

 corn for fodder according to my plan, will be con- 

 vinced of its great value for that purpose. It does 

 not follow that we are obliged to break out all the 

 ears that grow, for cattle will not object to the ears 

 with the stalks. I think one can raise more worth 

 of fodder in this way on the same ground, than by 

 the usual mode, and have the ears left for use or 

 market. J. Allen. 



tihrewshurtj, Mass., Feb. 13, 1871. 



COLORING BUTTER. 



A gi'cat deal is said now-a-days about "coloring 

 butter," and quite as much putt al)out "annoto" at 

 #2 a pound. I liave been making butter for sev- 

 eral years, and can always command five cents a 

 pound more than am* other on the market at Dun- 

 leitli for my butter, and I beg to give your Rhode 

 Island correspondent niy mode of colorhig butter. 

 During the winter months when cows have to be 

 fed on dry food, I grate a large ganJen carrot raw, 

 after well cleaning it, and put it to sunnier on the 

 stove for about half an hour or so, then pour it 

 through the sieve with a bit of fine muslin in it, 

 and put the water into the cream just before I be- 

 gin to churn, and my butter is a bright June-like 

 color. But another secret in butter making is the 

 feed the cows have. 



"what ails the cream." 

 I nave read Mrs. Carrie's communication in the 

 Farmer of January 21, and was much pleased to 

 see her mode of management of the cream, and her 

 description of her closet. But the "good lady" 

 omitted to answer "S.'s" inquiry, "What ails the 

 cream ?" I think tlie cream ■\\'as frozen, though 

 perhaps not sulticiently to coat it over with ice. 

 I liave had tlie same trouble with my cream, and 

 on one occasion churned all daj' and part of the 

 next to get the butter, which was not good after all. 

 The cause was the cream had been frozen in the 

 jar. I beg to give my mode and a few little notions 

 I have conceived in butter making. I put rings or 



flattened horse shoes on the stove and set my milk 

 pans — earthen ones — thereon, after the milk has 

 stood on the shelf from twelve to sixteen hours, 

 and let the cream well rise, but not let the milk 

 boil, and put back on the shelf till next*day before 

 skimming. I put into the cream jar one teaspoon- 

 ful of saltpetre, dissolved in a little warm water, 

 and two teaspoonfuls of salt not dissolved, to two 

 gallons of cream, put -both into the jar at first 

 skimming. I stir the cream every day when fresh 

 cream is added. I put the cream jar near the stove 

 for ten or twelve hours, turning it frequently to get 

 the cream warmed gi-adually before churning, but 

 never scald the cream. Mrs. Mauy Whatmore. 

 Hi-idg north Farm, DutiUith, III., 1671. 



ASHES FOR AFPLE TREES. 



Having lived on a number of different farms in 

 this section of country, and finduig on each of 

 them old and apparently useless apple trees, it be- 

 came a matter of no small importance to devise 

 some method liy which they could be brought into 

 bearing condition, and thus pay for the use of the 

 land they occupied. After trying various experi- 

 ments, 1 took a bushel of leached ashes and spread 

 it under two trees, '^'o my great surprise the next 

 year those trees wPi-e loaded with fruit fair to look 

 upon and delicious to the taste. Repeated applica- 

 tions of v/ood ashes around apple trees that had 

 previously borne but little fruit, and that of an in- 

 ferior quality, have led me to conclude that no in- 

 vestment of so small an outlay would so richly re- 

 ward the farmer for his labor as the one here 

 brought to the notice of the readers of the New 

 England Farmer. e. G. 



uVortk Leverett, Mass., 1871. 



warming or scalding cream. 



"We once churned fironi six to eight hours on the 

 cream from one cow, on two different weeks, and 

 could not bring butter. In attempting to make 

 cake of the churned cream, avc added a little salera- 

 tus, while warm, and the butter separated, showing 

 to us that the fault was not in the cow, feed nor 

 cream. The next Aveek we set our pot of cream 

 into a kettle of cold water on the stove stirring oc- 

 casionally until it was hike warm, not having a 

 thermometer. We scalded our churn, put in the 

 cream; and after ten miiuites churning the butter 

 came as nice as in the summer season, except in 

 color. This we have tried repeatedly with the 

 same result. If it is of any value to those who 

 only make then- own butter, it may be ^vorth print- 

 ing. I. Arey. 



Minneapolis, Minn., 1871. 



ASHES AND POTASH. 



Owing to the scarcity of wood ashes, I wish to 

 apply potash, and would like to inquire through 

 your valuable paper how much to apply, to amount 

 to the value of fifty bushels of wood ashes ? 



Wm. Eustis. 



Neiuhuryport, Mass., Feb., 1871. 



Remarks. — A bushel of hard wood ashes con- 

 tains about (not quite) >"«« pounds of real potash, 

 which would give 2oO pounds of potash to fifty 

 bushels of ashes. 



now SHALL I rSE WATER FOR COOLING MILK ? 



• I have a good stream of spring water, which 

 during the hot weather maintains a temperature of 

 oS° to 60°, and \Ahi«h can be conveyed into my 

 milk room at a mere nominal expense. Now just 

 how shall I use it ? Shall I construct a vat of suf- 

 ficient size for the pans of a single milking, and 

 then remove them to the shelves at the time of the 



