248 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



loam, and the droppinsis of the horse, cow and pig 

 all mixed toirctlicr, with a small handful of ashes 

 put to each hill at the time of plantinsj. The pro- 

 duce on this Held was ninety-three bushels of ears 

 of plump sound corn to the acre, — that l^eing the 

 area of the field, — and the com was uniformly 

 good on all jiarts of the tield. 



The other tield was manured with phosphate of 

 lime, — a single handful to each hill,— one-half put 

 in at the time of i)lanting, the other half was put 

 round the corn at the tirst hoeing, and no other 

 manure of any kind was used on the field. The 

 corn came up well, grew splendidly the fore part 

 of the season till about the time it was well set for 

 ears. Then it began to turn a sickly color and 

 showed unmistakable signs that the strength of the 

 phosphate was exhausted, and though there was a 

 fair amouTit of stover, the crop, so far as grain was 

 concerned, prove a signal failure, except on a small 

 part of the field that was a little dishing where the 

 soil was stronger and in good deal better tilth than 

 the field would average. Royal Smith. 



Millington, Mass., March 26, 187 1. 



BUTTER MAKIXG. 



I was a farmer's daughter and am a fiirmer's 

 wife, and have made butter for thirt}^ years. I see 

 in reading the columns of your paper the questions 

 are asked, "What ails the cream ? Why don't the 

 butter come ? Now, I ])retend to say that butter 

 will come just as quick in the winter as in the 

 summer, if j'ou have a warm place to set the milk 

 and keep the cream in. I don't think the milk or 

 the cream ought to be chilled or frozen at all. If 

 I have a right ]iiace to set my milk in I never scald 

 it, nor the cream. If it is very cold weather, the 

 day before I chum I set the cream in a warm 

 room, and it comes so quick that the men folks 

 don't get out of patience in churning. Now if the 

 men want the butter to come quick they must tind a 

 suitable place for the milk, and not tind fault with 

 the wife because the butter don't come. 



I think it a good plan to stir the cream every 

 time we put anj' in to the cream can. If your 

 chum is too large, buy or borrow a small one. 

 Never let the cream get bitter, but if it should 

 happen to be so, take a little new milk and put in 

 a few spoonfuls of white sugar and stir it up well 

 and then pour it into your cream just before churn- 

 ing. It will add much to the taste of the butter. 

 I use no saltpetre nor salt in my cream. I agree 

 with you Lady writer of March 10, about washing 

 butter. I always wash mine in cold and hot 

 weather. If very cold, I put just a little warm 

 water w'ith the cold water to wash it with, — just 

 enough to Uike the chill off. I alwa3's use carrots 

 for coloring flutter. mrs. j. b. p. 



Putney, Vt., April, 1811. 



A GOOD cow — GOOD FEED — GOOD BUTTER, 



Having read with interest several letters in the 

 Farmer on cows, and butter making, I feel it is 

 but justio* to our good cow that a word or two 

 should be said in her praise, and as my husband 

 is too much occupied with his business to do it, I 

 shall make the attempt myself. She is fourteen 

 y ears old, and last May she calved and had twins; 

 consequently she did not do as well as in some pre- 

 vious years. But I will give the milk and butter 

 statements of last year : — 



Made 203 pounds of butter tlOl 50 



8old ni4 quarts new milk 74 48 



Hold skimiucd milk 64 67 



$240 65. 



This is independent of cream and milk used in 

 our family and given away. Cream and milk wc 



use lavishly, and our good farmer John has daily 

 new and skim milk. Our cow is now giving about 

 twelve quarts of milk a day, and we nuike about 

 three and a half pounds of butter a week. We 

 should make more, but four quarts of new milk 

 are taken out daily. Farmer John thoroughly un- 

 derstands taking care of cows, and is very judicious 

 in feeding her. She now has daily four quarts of 

 meal, six quarts of shorts and as much good hay 

 as she will eat. Once a day he steams the hay, and 

 gives her cut feed. She is part Ayrshire. 



With regard to butter making I must saj' a few 

 words, although my experience is limited. We 

 have never had any difficulty in making good but- 

 ter from any cows which we have owned, and we 

 never chum to exceed three-quarters of an hour 

 at any season of the year before the butter comes ; 

 and now not over fifteen or twenty minutes. We 

 have a very good milk room in our basement. 

 The milk stands twenty-four hours at this season 

 of the year, and twelve in summer. I churn once 

 a week now. Keep the cream in a stone pot. The 

 day before churning, have it set in the kitchen, as 

 the milk room is cold. I scald the churn and put 

 the cream into it while it is moderately warm. Our 

 butter always comes finu, and now it is sweet and 

 almost as yellow as June butter. It seems t© me 

 the great secret of butter making is keeping every 

 article in which milk or cream is put scrupulously 

 clean and sweet, and not keeping the cream too 

 long before churning. m. n. s. 



Providence, R. I., March, 1871. 



ox AND HORSE WAGONS. 



Friend Rollins has explained matters much to 

 my satisfaction, and I will try to do the same for 

 him. It appears that his wagon was an ox wagon ; 

 altogether different, then, from what I had imag- 

 ined. Such a wagon on the farm is quite a con- 

 trast to a horse wagon used mostly on the road. 

 Mine is a horse wagon and has been in use about 

 ever}' day that wheels can run and the weather is 

 suitable for man and beast to work in Massachu- 

 setts. As to housing, I could not spare it long 

 enough for that, hardly long enough to have it 

 painted as it should be. When one has been thus 

 used for fifteen years it needs a good deal of re- 

 pairing; in fiict I consider it worn out. Friend 

 Rollins thinks that we must have poor timber in 

 Plymouth count3% or poor workmen. I calculate 

 to use the best of lumber, and as I do the wood 

 work myself, I spare no pains. I use no timber 

 that has knots, shakes or sap in my work. Lest 

 we tire the patience of the editors and readers of 

 the Farmer, perhaps friend Rollins and I had bet- 

 ter confine our chat about wagons and wheels to 

 private letters or personal conversation. 



S. Denham. 



South Hanson, Mass., April 3, 1871. 



■white specks in butter. 



In reply to the inquiry about white specks in 

 butter, I will say that when cream is removed 

 there is usually more or less milk taken with it. 

 This in warm weather settles, sours and becomes 

 like cheese ; and in cold weather a similar result is 

 produced by heating or warming the cream for 

 churning. 1 never have white specks in my butter 

 when I stir the cream in the jar with my butter 

 paddle every time I add more cream to the jar, 

 first stirring also, in the dish, that which is added. 

 By this means the milk does not settle, but is kept 

 thoroughly mixed with the cream. If the weather 

 is warm I stir the cream in the jar every day, 

 whether I add any to it or not. I have practiced 

 tills method eight years and have had no trouble 

 with white specks in my butter. mrs. c. d. 



Dartinouth, Mass., 1871. 



