182 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



nianent and better help would be obtained ; 

 female and eliildren's lu'l]) would be brought 

 into the town, and all tliat is now said about 

 the scarcity of laborers would be hushed. Far- 

 mers having plenty of help could cultivate 

 their land better!^ increase their incomes, 

 enhance tlit^ value of their property and at the 

 .same time bcnetit their town and State. 



It is useless in these days of fraternization 

 of races to be over-sensitive; about the nation- 

 ality of one's lielp, neighbors or townspeople. 

 Were the West at all fastidious upon these 

 points, these new States could never have 

 made the gigantic progress in population and 

 agricultural development that they exhibit. 

 We have the Englishman, German, Scotch, 

 Irish, Swede and French Canadian, from 

 ■whom we can choose. We have only to open 

 the way to our inland towns and to the land 

 without cultivation, receive them cordially and 

 give them the same encouragement they re- 

 ceive at the AN'est and tiiey will soon make 

 permanent homes with us, and the population 

 of those districts which is now decreasing will 

 be put upon the ascending scale and their 

 products doubled and trebled. Scattered 

 here and there in our midst, they will be un- 

 der the full iniluence of our institutions, and it 

 will be our duty and privilege to Americanize, 

 and, if we choose, to New Englandize them. 



N. s. 't. 



Lawrence, Mass., Feb., 1871. 



For the New England Fai'v^er. 

 "WHY DON'T THE BUTTER COME? 



I have been much amused with an article in 

 the New England Fakmku under this head- 

 ing, written by A. W . Cheever, Sheldonville, 

 Mass. I (;an symjiathize so fully with his ex- 

 perience that 1 desire to tell him my story. 



1 had always preached that "any cream 

 could be churned, if a person only had brains 

 enough — there was the rub !" But alas, for 

 my proud pretensions ! In an evil hour they 

 were brought low. The cream had been 

 forced to stand longer than usual, owing to 

 circumstances beyond my control.' The mer- 

 cury was far below zero, and though I kept 

 the cream where it did not freeze, still it would 

 not sour. 



I commenced operations as usual ; placed 

 the cream jar in scalding water, stirred it every 

 few moments, then a]>plied tlie thermometer, 

 and tiie mercury rose to the right point. The 

 churn was then scalded, and the cream — six 

 quarts, — was turned in, and as the girl began 

 to turn the crank, I exultingly amiounced that 

 in fifteen niimites at the farthest, the work 

 would he finished. Three times fifteen min- 

 utes that crank was turned iudefatigably, but 

 with a great sense of fatigue to the operator. 

 Then a pint ol" boiling milk was added. Evi- 

 dently the proper degree of heat had not been 

 reached. Again the craidc was worked with a 

 will ; another three-quarters of an hour passed ; 



the cream foamed as if prepared for "whips." 

 Paterfamilias came in to lunch, examined the 

 cream, listeneil to my account of the work, 

 and with a true sense of man's su})ei'ior knowl- 

 edge in all matters, in doors or out, saiil — 



"Cream is not sour, of course the globules 

 containing the butter cannot break." 



So a tablespoonful of alum was added, and 

 he took his turn .at the crank, coniident that 

 his abihty would soon bi-iug the butter. Noth- 

 ing loth were we to relinquish the hard work 

 to stronger arms and superior muscles, if not 

 brains. But I must stand by and watch thvs 

 work, as it was no fun for him to churn unless 

 I stood beside him "to supeiintend matters." 

 So 1 meekly acquiesced to his demand, though 

 a charming book tempted me to the parlor. 



Round, round and round ni ceaseless whirl 

 went that dasher, until an hour had passed. 

 "I give up," cried paterfamilias ; "no use to 

 churn this stnlF! Give it to the lujgs. What 

 did O. S. Bliss tell "S." to do when the butter 

 would not come ?" 



Then the Nkw England Faioikk was con- 

 sulted and O. S. Bhss' directions read. 



"Scald the cream, and then cool It to G0°." 

 "Ah ! yes, that's it. Whv didn't vou scald 

 it?" 



So the ci-eam was turned out of the churn 

 and duly scalded until the surface "crinkled." 

 "Now it will surely come," announced Pa- 

 terfamilias. "Cool it all right and churn 

 away." The process commenced again, but 

 the patience of the "superior se.x" was soon 

 exhausted. Woman's powers of endurance 

 lasted awhile longer, but the cream had been 

 kept too lung, and with feelings of sad humili- 

 ation, I turned it into pans to be used for 

 "shortening." 



My voice will never again be heard boasting 

 of my ability to churn butter ; my ])en will 

 never again be used to declare that all cream 

 can he turned into butter. Like A. W. Cheev- 

 er, I am thoroughly cured of preaching on 

 the ^subject of churning. I also came to the 

 conclusion that there was butter enough on 

 hand for the family su})ply, and that hence 

 forward the cream should be eaten rather than 

 churned. Paterfamilias is dehghted at this 

 announcement, as he has a fondness for baked 

 apples and cream. 



1 read "Carrie's" account of her ex])erience 

 at butter-making with pleasure, and wisji that 

 many others would give us the benefit of their 

 knowledge on the subject. I wish she would 

 try the Devonshire method of raising cream, 

 aiid instead of scalding the milk when strained, 

 wait twenty-four hours and then place the pans 

 on heated bricks over the stove until the cream 

 crinkles, but does not boil. Devonshire dai- 

 ries are celebratcul for their butter, and this is 

 the process they aelopt in preference to heat- 

 ing the new milk. 



A. M. 11. desires to know if a small quan- 

 titv of saltpetre mixed with cream would pre- 

 vent white curdy specks in the butter. I have 



