THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
117 
Cliristian service and true eliivalry; 
but no more congenial witb ifiis utilitarian, mo- 
ney saving age of ours, than vvoulil be the va- 
garies of the Knight ot i^a Mancha himself/ 
The last census gives for Prince George’s 
county, Md., horses and mules. This we 
believe to be much short ol' tlie real number. — 
The aggregate of both lor the Slate is returned 
at 02,220. 
It is not e.'ctravagant In assume that 00,000 
horses in Maryland might be well superseded 
by mules; and taking only ten dollars as the 
clear saving of each, here would be a reduction 
of annual expenditure— in other words, an in- 
creas." of income amounting to Sd00,000, equal 
to the interest on the State debt. 
In all steady continue! draught, as in thresh- 
ing, grinding, and other machinery, now so 
much in vogue, the excellence of the mule is 
mo.st retnarkable, and especially in his le.ss lia- 
bility to gall — an evil to waicli the horse is pe- 
culiarly subject, wlicre his locomotion in har- 
ness is circiLlar. On their value in .service that 
consists of constant, .steady hauling, an extract 
may here be made from .«orne editorial remarks 
in an oid volume ol the American Farmer, then 
conducted by Mr. .Skinner, now ol Washington. 
Speaking of thedeci led preference given by the 
late Gen. Kidgely, of Hatnpton, to mules in the 
heavy hauling connected with his iron wjrk.s, 
it is observed; “For some time the General in- 
dulged an old servant in keeping a single team 
of horses, but it was found that the mule teams 
performed their day’s journey, hauling equal 
weight, .sooner than the horses, by one hour; 
and the great value of the mules has been so 
well established, in the course of his ample ex- 
perience, that they have superseded horses, with 
entire conviction of the great saving accom- 
plished by the change. This information first 
derived from his manager, Mr. Green, was fully 
confirmed by the General liimself.’’ 
Why, then, let it be repeated, in reference to 
the.se two animals, make lish of one and Ile.sh of 
the other! Ollering i»7G in premiums for tne 
horse, and 815 only for “jack, jenny and rnule.s;’’ 
and that, too, under the authority and sanction 
of gentlemen who cannot be too much admired 
for their public spirit and honorable intentions; 
nor too clo.sely imitated in their individual prac- 
tice and general rnanageinent. 
As to the more general use of the mule in 
light harness for the road, the common impres- 
sion is, that he can’t be made to ImveL fast 
emmgk. Nobody likes rapid motion rnoie than 
the writer ol these crude, but well meant and 
respi'ctful strictures; and he would take leave 
to inquire, who has given to this neglected hy- 
brid a patient and lair trial, to see how much 
his speed may be improved? Let it be consid- 
ered how long it take.s to bring a crack trotter, 
such as Pvipton or Confidence, to hLs be.st! Hi- 
ram Woodruff or Bill Wheeler, the American 
Chifneys among trotting jockeys, never think of 
taking a hor.se in hand, to train him for this 
pace, until after he reaches his sixth or seventh 
year; and they can hardly be said to get to their 
best v/ork until they fall into their teens. Old 
Top Gallant performe I his chef d’lBuvres after 
he was twenty! When the mule has been in 
like manner taken up, and systematically train- 
ed foi the trot, and it i.s found that he cannot be 
driven at the rate of eight miles an hour, it will 
be time enough to pronounce him impractica- 
ble in that pace; but the writer knows him to 
be ma.'ter of iliat rate, for he has ricideri with 
tv/o O'hers beside Gen. James Shelby, who 
drives nothing else in his private carriage, from 
Lexington out to his magnificent blue grass 
farm, eight miles, behind two mules of about 15 
han' s, within the hour, and without a touch of 
the whip; and learned from the General that he 
had driven a pair to the Blue-lick, a distance of 
fn” y mile.s, in six hours, .stopping one hour on 
the way. 
In lieu, then, of some of the premium.s lie- 
slowed on breeding stock to give animals of 
.slow draught, and on .sucking colts, would it not 
be more politic to leu > the countenance of the 
society to the rearing and more general adop- 
tion, lor the roads as well as for the field, of a 
more economical and enduiing power? Might 
not a premium be well offered, in the shape of 
a .set of knitting needles in a silvmr case, or a 
butter cooler of giound glass, with a cow repos- 
ing on its silver lid, to the wife of the planter 
who shall accompany him to the cattle show, in 
a jdain light carriage drawn by a pair of best 
broke mules? To the wife, because it is doubt- 
lul whether, without her con.sent, liiis great de- 
sideratum in rural economy ever can, or, per- 
haps we should add, ever ought to be achieved! 
Were it to be imagined that the fact would have 
any weight with our republican hou.sewives, it 
might be added, that the medals struck in honor 
ol Agrippina, a heroine who.se life was adorned 
with the mo.st noble virlue.s, bear on them the 
image of a mule; and a gentleman at rny elbow 
reminds me that he has seen Charles the X set- 
ting out for his royal palace at Fontainbleau, 
K1 leagues from Paris, driving six .splendid 
black .Spanish mules of Andalusian blood! — 
But it would be a libel, ot whieii 1 sliould never 
be guilty, to suppose that an American matron 
could be influenced by any motive .so strong as 
her ambition to promote the independence of 
her husband, and to .set to her friends and neigh- 
bors an example of economy and good .sense. 
/■'irmcra' CiOinct. 
UUTTKR MAKl.NO. 
Messrs. GAvr.oan & TacKea — I ob.serve in 
your last paper, that .some lady i.s desirous of 
obtaining particularinlormation in regard to the 
process of making and management of butter. 
For fear that those activdy engaged in the em- 
ployment may not take lime to satisfy her in- 
quiries, f ha ve concluded to give Jier and her 
“neighbors” rny own ideas on the subject, deri- 
ved from past experience. 
Some thirteen or fou:teen years ago, with but 
little more knowledge of tbe matter than your 
correspondent profe.sses to have, I undertook the 
charge of a small dairy. I found there was an 
English dairy woman in the neighborhood, 
who.se bmter was the criterion by whir-h all oth- 
er butter was judged, when submitted to the epi- 
cures in that article. With the aid ol her 
friendly instructions, and such books on the .sub- 
ject as I could re.sort to, a satisfactory result was 
obtained. 
The first requisite to the production of good 
butter is good anos. By good cows, J mean 
lho.se that will give plenty of such milk as will 
yield a large quantity of good butter. It i.s a 
well known fact that cow.s running in the same 
pa-sture, or fed precisely alike, will afford butter 
varying much in quality. A poor cow is more 
injury to the dairy than she is worth, and should 
therefore he rejected. I have always observ'ed 
that cows which gave the riche.st milk, general- 
ly have soft, velvet-like yell/jv; .skins. 1 will not 
say of what tint the Aa/i/- should be, as f should 
not like to commit my.self on the long ve.xed 
and important que.stion of ailor. 
Cov/s, to yield good butter, as every farmer 
and dairy woman know.s, should have good keep- 
ing. Plenty of good succulent food, both in 
summer and winter. 
The Dairy House should be cool and airy, 
commanding plenty of pure cold water, cither by 
a running .stream, or by pipes laid from a well; 
ice, too, is an excellent auxiliary. Wood or 
Slone troughs, which can be kept full of water, 
are v'ery good to .set the pan.s of milk in. 
Great care should be taken that every thing 
connected with the dairy should be managed 
with the most scrupulous neatness. 
If milking is done but twice a day, the time 
should be divided a,s nearly equal as convenient. 
The milk should be carried to the place where 
the dairy work is done, immediately strained, 
and left a short lime for the warm steam to pa.ss 
offbefore it is carried into the dairv. 
Of all the pans I have us"d, I ‘much prefer 
the tin. They are lighter, le.ss exfrensive in the 
end, and easier kept" clean. Zinc is not fit to 
keep rnilkm at all, as a .slight degree ol acidity 
decomposes a certain portion of the zinc. From 
2i to 48 hours Is sufficient time for tbe milk to 
stand before .skimming. I should much prefer 
that milk should never so'ur before the cream is 
taken off. Some pei.sons think it highly im|iOr- 
tant that cream should acquiie a certain degree 
of acidity before churning, hut 1 confidenily af- 
firm that llie best butter 1 ever made, was uorn 
cream that was perfectly sweet wlienlhe churn- 
ing was commenced. The remarks of a writer 
in a late number of the “Maine Fanner,” so ex- 
actly coincide with my own views, that I will 
give them in his own language; 
“Butter is an aiticle which is very ready to 
receive a flavor from any gas, or from contact 
with other substances, unless ii is entirely freed 
from every panicle ol its mucilage.” He .<-^ays 
further, that “the mottled or sti caked appear- 
ance in hulter, is owing to the coagulated lyrriji, 
coagulated fiom souring; it Is indi.s.soluhle in 
water, and can never be woiked out of the but- 
ter. S.'i It should not he added at the coifL'uv.na:- 
'meut of the first workinv, as it is known to ev- 
ery hou.sewife that salt will curdle sour butter- 
milk, and should also he known that curd once 
formed in with butter, can never he worked out. 
They can work out the whey and leave the but- 
ler apparently dry, but the cause of the rni.schief 
i.s still lell. Incipient decay has already com- 
menced in thecoagulurn or curd, and will pro- 
ceed, urile.s.s .something can he applied that will 
put an entire stop to it.” 
The frequency of churning may he regulated 
according to the quantity of cream atid stale of 
the weather.-* 'I'he be.si churn lor a moderate 
sized dairy, that 1 have any knowledge of, is 
“Gault’s Patent.” ft operates ea.sily and effect- 
ually. It may be had of iiuggle.s, Noursc & 
Mason, Jioston, and probably at other imple- 
ment stores. In the largest size, from one to 
twenty five pounds ol butter can he made at a 
time. 
Experience has led me to deprecate the prac- 
tice ot wiaxAm/;' hulter when il can po.ssihly be 
managed without, liutter that comes so soft a.s 
to require cold water to harden it, cannot by 
washing be made to keep sweet ariy length of 
time. When the butter is taken from the 
churn, and the butlermilk worked out, put in 
H oz. best salt to one pound of Ire.sh butler; or 
if the buttermilk i.s not well w'orked out, more 
salt will he needed. Set it away in mass for 
2i hours in acool place, when every paiticle of 
moisture .should he extracted, and tlie hulter made 
into rolls or prints for use For this purpose a 
fiat smooth hoard or marble slab is nece.ssary; a 
flat surface preferable to a dish, as you can so 
much more easily gel rid of the moisture from 
the butter. Some use a wooden .slice or spatula 
to handle the butter with; this requires more 
.strength, e.specially if the butter Is hard, than i.s 
required by the use ol the hand alone. To pre- 
pare the hands for working butter, rub them 
well with wet corn meal, then wash in water as 
hot as can he home, nlunge them in cold water 
for a moment, and you are ready to handle but- 
ter in the warmest weather without melting it, 
if it is done early in the morning, before the 
hands get fieated by exerci.se. 
ButUr fo'r keeping atioold. he made when the 
weather is cool. 'J’o every pound of fre.sh but- 
ter, add H oz, best salt and 4 oz. saltpetre, tak- 
ing particular care to extract every particle of 
moisture, as on this mainly depends the future 
excellence of the article. Pack close in .stone 
jars. Doubtless every one has observed when 
butter is not well worked, the eatery particles 
difTu.sed through it, de.stroying ihat waxv ap- 
pearance so much prized by lovers of goocf but- 
ter. 
Salt .should never be u.sed for butler without 
sifiir-e; it is extremely disagreeable to encoun- 
ter lumps of salt, either in spreading or eating, 
what should be such a luxury. 
Winter fnUlcr can be made as good in color 
and consistence. a.s at any other season of the 
year. This a,ssertion will perhaps appear strange 
’In cold v/eather tlic cream should he brought to the 
fire some time before churning. I think about 05'* 
Parenheit i» about the right temperature. 
