1864 



THE ILLINOIS FAllMEE. 



On Churning 



A talented Frenchman once wrote a pamphlet 

 upon the proper manner of blowinpj out a candle ; 

 and I suppose the reader will consider his book 

 and the heading of this article to be parallel cases, 

 and exclaim, "why, everybody knows how to 

 churn." But I thin* a careful examination will 

 show that everybody does not know hoa- to churn, 

 or rather how to produce butter from cream, or 

 we should have less growling from the 'gude wife,' 

 because the butter would not 'come.' Al! who 

 have had any experience ia the matter know the 

 apparently perverse natute of butter.^ At times it 

 will come, that is, aepafate from the buttermilk, 

 iu a few minutes, and so*meMmes it will not come 

 at all. This and many other curious facts may be 

 made clear by a little careful investigatvon in the 

 matter, which, with thy permission, friend editor, 

 I propose to make. 



The butter exists in the cream in the form of 

 minute globules surrounded by a thin film of case- 

 in, and to obtain the butter we must first brenk 

 the film. This may be done in two ways, either 

 by agitating it or beating it. There are several 

 conditions which influence the time required for 

 separating the butter by churning ; and if these 

 are thoroughly understood and complied with, 

 there will be little or no trouble in getting buttf^r 

 to come. The main and most important conditir^n 

 is the temperature of the cream when it enters the 

 churn : there seems to be a certain medium estab- 

 lished, and it seems to make but little difference 

 whether the temperature of the cream is above or 

 below it, there will still be the same trouble in 

 breaking the casein which envelopes the globules 

 of butter. The cream when poured into the churn 

 should not have a higher temperature than 50 deg. 

 When put in at this temperature, it will rise from 

 5 deg. to 10 deg. during the operation of churning. 



Another important condition which does much i 

 to influencs the time required for separating the | 

 butter, is the state of the cream when it is put m- I 

 to the churn ; if sweet it will require much longer ' 

 than if sour — and it is an established fact that be- i 

 fore butter can be made the cream must be sour, I 

 and if it does not reach this state before it goes ■ 

 into the churn, it must and will afterward, or no ! 

 butter will be obtained. Some of those who al- \ 

 ways take the premium at the county fairs, alwavs j 

 churn sweet crea n to obtain it, and I have often i 

 had this thrown into ray teeth when advocating I 

 the above doctrine, but that does not controvert ' 

 my argument, for before the buttf^r separates it \ 

 does get sour. I 



A thermometer hanging in the room where the ; 

 cream is kept will indicate the temperature of the 

 creana at the time, and this may be either raised : 

 or lowered to about 54 deg. after it goes into the ■ 

 churn, by adding cold or hot water, as the case 

 may require, wihile ^ chum is in motion. 



The time occupied in churning has a great eflTcf^t 

 upon butter, and also upon the temperature of the 

 cream in the chum ; if the cream is at 55 deg. 

 when put into the chum, very fast churning will 

 raise it too high, and soft light colored butter will 

 be the result, especially in warm weather ; in cold 

 weather the motion should be faster, in order to 

 keep up the proper temperature. I have known 

 entire chumings to be thrown into the hog tub 

 because one or two of these oecessary conditions 



1 were not complied with. Even when the churn 

 ! fails to separate the butter, we have one unfailing 

 I agent left iu the form of heat, which never fails to 

 ; burst the casein, but will not produce an article 

 I fit to be called butter — but it can be put to uses 

 I known to every good housekeeper. 

 ! Some are in the practice of churning the whole 

 i milk ; in this case it should have a temperature of 

 ! at least 65 deg. before going in the churn. — Dai- 

 \ ryman^in Oermantown, Telegraph. ,. .^ .' , 



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From the Country Gent. 



Ducks— Rural Scenes. 



The duck possesses many excellent qualities. 

 They were great favorites with the ancients from 

 the mildness and simplicity of their character, 

 from their great fecundity, laying a great number 

 of eggs, for the cheapness and ease with which 

 they are provided for. The feathers of the white 

 sort are nearly as good as those of the goose. 



Shey are the mo.'t industrious of all fowls and 

 we have often gazed on them with admiration to 

 Fee them sputter in shallow and dive down in deep 

 water. 



The inoffensive and harmless character, the so- 

 cial and conversational qualities of ducks render 

 them not only pleasant but profitable animals to 

 keep, and the contrast between them and chickens, 

 in their nature and iabits, is much in their favor. 

 Of the kind and social nature of the duck, the fol- 

 lowing is related by Mowbray ; 

 j We had drawn off f>>r the t;ible the whole of a 

 lot of ducks, ono excepted. The duck immediate- 

 ! ly joined a cock and hens, and became so attached 

 I to them that it never quitted their company, not- 

 I withstanding some harsh usage, particularly from 

 I the coct It would neither feed nor rest without 

 them, and showed its uneasiness at their occasion- 

 I al absonce by continued clamor. 

 I We once had an individual of the crested varie- 

 ! ty, which, after losing its mat-', would keep with a 

 I few particular fowls during the day, and at night 

 1 when the fowls went to roost, she would follow up 

 I the stairs on to the second floor, and sit as near the 

 fowls as she could get. But after we had placed a 

 fewoftho larje African geese in the yard, she left 

 the hens and contracted an intimacy with the 

 gee^e, keeping constantly with them. 



The manners and actions of the duck, whether 

 upon land or water, are both cu ious and pleasant 

 to contemplate. Their regular afternoon parade 

 and march in line, the older drakes and ducks in 

 front, from the pond homeward;!, is a beautiful 

 country spectacle, to be enjoyed by those who 

 have a relish for the charms of simple nature. A 

 parcel of ducks which have been accustomed to 

 their libertv, were for some particular reason shut 

 up for several hours. On the door of their house 

 being opened, they rushed out, threw themselves 

 into rank and file and mirched with a quickstep 

 thrae or four times round a certain space, con- 

 stantly bowing their head-i to the ground, then ele- 

 vating themselves and fluttering their wings , the 

 ceremony finished they quickly adjourned to the 

 water. We have laughed a thousand times at the 

 conceit with which our boyish imagination was 

 impressed, namely, that the act we had witnessed 

 w«a nothing less than a dackish thanksgiving for 

 their deliTereoee. C. N. Bkxsmt. 



•"i.^i£^=L:.rf_y 



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