PREMIUM BUTTER. 
303 
PREMIUM BUTTER. 
Statement of Nelson Van Ness, Mayville, Cha- 
lauque, verified by certificates of Ann Van Ness, 
Marcus Van Ness, and Lydia Van Ness, that the 
rules of the society had been complied with, 
and 221 lbs. of butter made in 30 successive 
days. Mr. Van Ness certifies that their state- 
ment is correct, and that the five cows, above 
mentioned, were owned by him one year previ- 
ous to the time of trial, and that they were the 
common native breed of cows, and were fed 
with nothing put pasture during the whole of 
the trial (no grain, slops, nor roots, nor corn 
stalks were fed). 
Weighed the milk on the 11th of 
June, 185 lbs. 
Weighed on the 19th of June, 205 
Again, on the 25th, 190 
Weighed last, the 2d July, 167 
Weight for four days, 747 lbs. 
The milk was set in tin pans, and set from 36 
to 48 hours, till it soured, then skimmed and 
churned every day, the butter put into the 
worker, till the buttermilk was freed from the 
butter, then salted with one ounce of salt to the 
pound of butter, then put into a bowl covered 
so as to exclude the air from it, and set in a cool 
place till the next day, then put into the butter 
worker, and worked till sufficiently dry, then 
packed into the tubs, all of the time taking care 
to keep it from the air as much as possible. 
The above cows were milked three times a-day; 
milk weighed about eight pounds to the gallon; 
the latter part of the trial, the weather became 
hot and dry, and reduced the amount of milk 
and butter; salt used from the Pacific Rock- 
Salt Company. 
John ShattucVs Statement, Norwich, Chenango 
County, for the best 25 lbs., made in June, $10 
awarded. Keeps twenty cows. The milk is 
strained in tin pans as soon as drawn, and kept 
on racks in the milk room, until the cream is 
removed, which is always done in hot weather 
before any whey appears, and in cool weather, 
before the milk begins to turn bitter. 
The cream is kept as cool as possible after it 
is taken from the milk, and the sooner it is 
churned, the better. Churns every morning in 
warm weather, tempering the cream with ice, 
so as to have it gather well and hard, when it 
is readily freed from the buttermilk. We use, 
in warm weather, ice water, to rinse the butter, 
when it is removed from the churn, the butter- 
milk worked out clean, and salted with ground 
rock salt, (about one pound to twenty pounds 
of butter,) and thoroughly worked, and set in 
a cool place about 24 hours; and again worked, 
so as entirely to free it from buttermilk, and 
packed in firkins, and covered tight, so as to 
exclude the air, until the firkin is filled. No 
other substance used in making butter. Cows 
kept on common pasture. The mode of keep- 
ing butter through the season is, as soon as a 
firkin is filled, to spread a cloth over the butter, 
and cover it with a strong brine made of ground 
rock salt. — Transactions of N. Y. Stale Agricul- 
tural Society. 
MISSISSIPPI PLANTING. 
As soon as the human race have once ac- 
quired a habit of making enough meat and 
bread at home, you always see land improving 
in fertility by better culture and manure. I 
contend this will follow, because I see it where 
there is improvement so as to secure a fair cot- 
ton crop. 
But why should cotton growers not improve 
their seed, as well as wheat or corn growers ? 
Do we see fewer houses rearing, fewer carriages, 
and less comfort, when cotton is low, say at 8 
cents, than years ago when we thought 12 cents 
was cheap — aye too low ? 
I contend that I can now raise eight bales of 
cotton as cheap as I did six, in 1830, with less la- 
bor, and give my laborers more play time. If 
this be so, I can then make as much at 12 cents, 
as I did at 16, or as 6 to 8. I do not say that Car- 
olina can do so. But I will guarantee it, if they 
will get your best plows, your steel hoes, save 
their seed for manure, make all the manure they 
can, plow deep, and improve their seed by oc- 
casional purchases from the cotton region, and 
by selections from the field. I have done all 
this. If I can do it, why should not all? 
There are pieces of cotton that did, in 1849, pro- 
duce 40 bales from 38 acres. David Gibson did 
so ; whereas some did not grow, on some kind of 
land, 20 bales from similar quantity. 
Colonel Vick, the man to whom is due more 
credit for his tenacity in improving seed, than 
any live man, grew nine bales per hand, in 1849, 
while many would brag on six bales. Even I, 
myself, can bring evidence from a very high 
source, that a part of my cotton had every ap- 
pearance of growing on a part, 2,000 lbs. per 
acre, (once under bad culture,) and probably 
not two acres in the whole country, under gar- 
den culture, exceeded it. My friend Griffith, in 
this county, did grow, in '48 and '49, (all im- 
proved seed,) at the rate of 40 bales from about 
35 acres — excellent culture. He grew more 
than he planted for. 
Now I appeal to cotton growers. Think me 
interested or not. Are these statements not 
worth your candid examination ? 
M. W. Philips. 
Edward's Depot, Miss., Feb., 1850. 
.©^ 
STORING SWEET POTATOES. 
Im the latter part of this month, or early in 
November, prepare for preserving sweet pota- 
toes for winter and spring. Select a dry spot, 
level the ground, and lay down a bed of straw, 
so as to form a circle about six feet in diameter. 
On this straw, pile up the potatoes until they 
form a cone four or five feet high, over which 
spread a little dry grass or straw. Cover the 
entire cone with corn stalks, set up endwise, 
with the butts resting on the ground, and the 
tops reaching over the apex of the heap, suffi- 
ciently thick to conceal the potatoes. Then 
cover the whole pile with earth, at least a foot 
