THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
131 
THE MILK CELLARS. 
A correspondent of the Farmer’s Cabinet 
gives some important ideas on the advantages 
of good cellars for making butter. He consi- 
ders cellars properly constructed, altogether 
pr ferable to spring houses. His remarks are 
foun lei on good sense and sound philosophy. 
Mr. Miller, the writer, lives in the vicinity of 
Philadelphia market, which shows as much 
perfect butler perhaps as any other market in 
the Union. His ideas are the result of the 
practice which has prevailed in that vicinity 
until it has become a distinct species, called 
Cellar Butter, and always commands the high- 
est price. All dairymen and farmers would do 
well to construct cellars in conformity to the 
plan given by Mr. Miller, who says, 
THE MILK CELLAR. 
I IS a curious fact, but by no means unac- 
countable, that in many parts ot the country the 
milk ceUfir is superceding the spring house — an 
appendage that has always been considered in- 
dispensaole for the production of good butter, 
be the other qualifications of a farm and its ap- 
purtenances what they might. While on a visit 
to Wilmington, Delaware, I had occa.sion to 
remark the excellence of the butter at my 
friend’s table, when he replied he always select- 
ed the best cellar butter at market, for the use of 
his family, giving it as his firm conviction, that 
butter made in a cellar was lar preferable to that 
made in a spring house, its great recommenda- 
tion being, in keeping sweet and good much 
longer, and retaining its fine flavor and color to 
the last, which spring hou.se butter would not do. 
And he observed, it is customary to account for 
the greater price which some dairymen obtain 
for their butler in the market, by saying it is 
cellar hutter; instancing the fact, in the high 
character of that made by Mr. Bryan Jackson, 
near Newcastle, who never fails to obtain the 
top price of the market lor butter ol the finest 
quality; he having a cellar that might be taken 
as a pattern for all that part ol the country. Of 
course, it is readily admitted that much depends 
on the mode that is adopted in the management 
of the dairy, commencing with the breed and 
feed of the cows, and ending with the manipula- 
tions ot the butter; but the idea is gaining 
ground, that the best butter is to be made in a 
cellar, all other circumstances being equal; a 
remarkable revolution in public opinion truly. 
On reconnoitering amongst ray friends, I 
found that several of them had substituted the 
cellar lor the spring house; and I do not know 
one who is not satisfied with the arrangement, 
except it be where the cellar is dug in a damp 
soil, or has been most injudiciously opened to 
the well, the evaporation from which fills the 
room with constant moisture, which may be 
found adhering to the walls, the ceiling and the 
wood-work, the shelves, and particularly the in- 
side of the door, causing a damp and clammy 
feel, and a nauseous, mouldy smell, which the 
butter imbibes, to its lasting injury; indeed no 
good butter can be made in such places. But 
another revolution is taking place, even among 
the advocates for the cellar: it is no longer 
thought necessary to dig the cellar very deep, 
or to arch it over with stone or brick, with an 
air passage through it for ventilation — a vaull 
as it is more properly then termed; it is found 
sufficient, if the cellar be sunk a few feet below 
the surface of the earth, with a wide and shal- 
low window on each side, the bottom of it level 
wuth the ground outside; well protected with a 
wire guard to keep out vermin, large flies, &c., 
and provided with a close glazed sash, which 
can be opened and closed at pleasure, by lifting 
it up to the ceiling, which ought to be no higher 
than the top of the windows, so that the air of 
the cellar can be ventilated by opening the 
windows of the opposite sides, according to the 
way the wind sets at the time, shutting them 
quickly when necessery; for in cold, wiady or 
damp v.'eather, the sooner the windows are again 
closed the better. Indeed, to the management ol 
the cellar in this particular, much of the success 
of dairying is to be attributed; cold and damp 
air being unfriendly to the secretion of cream, 
and its proper and entire separation from the 
milk. Hence, therefore, it is a bad practice to 
set the pans on the brick floor of the cellar; they 
ought always to be placed around on shelves, 
about three feet in height, and these, after being 
well washed with hot water, should be wiped 
quite dry, that no mouldy evaporation might 
take place to spoil the butter. The air near the 
floor of a dairy is always impure, being loaded 
with acid vapors and putrid exhalations, the 
density of which confines it to the lowest part of 
the room; hence it is, that the doors of some 
dairies ai’c made with lattice work, that the air 
near the floor, as well as that near the ceiling, 
might be ventilated at the same time; these lat- 
tices being furnished with sliding pannels to be 
kept closed in bad weather. The milk cellar 
ought always to have a northern aspect, and be 
well shaded by trees, not growing too near the 
windows, so as to impede a dry current ol air, 
or to create a moist atmosphere; this considera- 
tion being of more importance than would rea- 
dily be imagined. 
Cellars thus constructed and carefully attend- 
ed, will, no doubt, supersede the use of spring 
houses generally, before many years hav’e pass- 
ed away, by which the business of the dairy 
will be rendered more agreeable, less laboriou.s, 
and far less inimical to the health ol those, 
particularly the females, whose occupation it is 
to attend to its never ceasing duties. 
T. Miller. 
Delaware, Jane 13<A, 1843. 
Acid in Wood — Its Effects on Salt and 
Butter. — It has been frequently remarked by 
those who are in the habit of packing butter, 
that it kept best put down in stone; the next best 
is oak or white ash firkins, the wood of which 
had been boiled for several hours previous to 
working; and that butter packed in firkins of 
unprepared wood frequently acquire a strong 
and disagreeable flavor, which seriously injures 
it. The reason of this has not been generally 
understood. Mr. Moir of Scotland, has been 
instituting a series of experiments on the sub- 
ject, which appear to have thrown some light on 
the matter. He found that most kinds of wood 
contained considerable quantities of pyrolignic 
acid, which decomposes the salt with which it 
comes in contact. The Linden or Basswood 
was the only wood he found entirely free, but 
the other kinds he experimented upon, were ea- 
sily freed from the acid by boiling three or four 
hours, well pressed under water. It is evident 
that firkins made of staves prepared in this way, 
would be decidedly improved, and as the preser- 
vation of butter in a sweet and pure state is an 
important matter to the dairy man, we think 
much would be gained by a proper attention to 
vessels in which it is packed.-<-)S'ai, Courier, 
CONVENTION OF BREEDERS, 
(circular.) 
Albany, June, 1843, 
The State Agricultural Society of New York, 
desirous that some fixed principles should be 
established as the basis of excellence in the va- 
rious descriptions of farm stock, (without refer- 
ence to their relative merits as breeds,) have ap- 
pointed the undersigned a committee with in- 
structions to call the particular attention of 
breeders throughout the States, to the impor- 
tance of the subject, and to make the necessary 
arrangements for a Convention to be held at the 
Library Room of the American Institu'e, in the 
city of New York, during its i6th annual Fair, 
in the month of October next, the day to be 
hereafter noticed; at which breeders ot stock 
and those interested in Agriculture, are re- 
spectfully urged to give their attendance, with a 
view to a full discussion of those forms, quali- 
ties and properties which most conduce to in- 
trinsic value; and also that the distinctive char- 
acteristics of each separate breed may be as 
closely defined as possible. 
The Society believe that the decision of such 
a meeting will offei' to the agriciiliuiist thf’ best 
information that can, at preseni he elicite. . arid 
which tney trust may be o satisfactory to the 
mind of every intelligent breeder, as to lead to 
greater uniformity of action and opinion, and 
possiLlrj become a standaid with them by which 
to judge and be judged, in all cases of c-. mjieti- 
tion. 
With these views of the subject, the conimit- 
tee hope jmu may deem it of sufficient impor- 
tance to be present at the propose 1 Convention, 
and lend to its discussions the aid of your ex- 
perience and talents. 
The committee will be obliged by any sug- 
gestions, in the interim, you may cen ider of 
sufficient importance to he communicated to 
them in relation to this subject. 
Francis Rotch, C. N. Bement, 
E. P. Prentice, George Vail, 
Lewis F. Allen. 
13= Editors of the several agricultural papers 
in the United States ate requested to publish or 
notice the above. 
COLIC IN THE HORSE. 
To the Editors of teh Albany Cultivator: 
In your number for May, I notice an article 
on “Colic in tlie Horse,” and it gives me much 
pleasure to be able to concur with you most 
fully in regard to the severity and danger of the 
disease; and for the most part also in the treat- 
ment, which, .so far as it goes, is in every re- 
spect unexceptionable; and I think it not im- 
probable that when resorted to in proper season, 
will, as Mr. Stewart believes, succeed in eight 
cases out of nine. 
The ninth horse, however, ought to be saved 
if possible, and I as freely believe that this last 
object may be attained in every true case of colic, 
as that the first eight will be saved by the reme- 
dies proposed. I cannot agree with you that the 
first object in the treatment is to arrest the fer- 
mentation, or that this is a primary cause of co- 
lic, believing it to be only one ot the conse- 
quences. However this may be, I would rather 
say that the first object is to allay the pain— to 
relieve that excruciating agony which is, I ap- 
prehend, the very first morbid change which 
takes place in colic, and which being suspend- 
ed, all other morbid phenomena subside of 
course, unless disorganization of the intestines 
has already taken place. This object can al- 
ways be attained by the proper use of opium- 
exhibited either alone or in combination with 
the stimulants advised by Mr. Stewart, The 
last, how^ever, I should think might be essen- 
tial when there are evident symptoms of ex- 
haustion and prostration of strength. 
In cases of much severity, two ounces of a 
saturated tincture of opium, (laudanum,) may 
be given every half hour, till the pain is reliev- 
ed, and if the symptoms are peculiarly distress- 
ing, three ounces may be given once in twenty 
minutes. 
If the belly is distended and very hard, a mo- 
deratebleeding may be conjoined with this treat- 
ment with advantage. 
I have known 8 ounces of laudanum admin- 
istered in two hours, with perfect relief in a 
case of great severity, when all other remedies 
had failed of even mitigating the symptoms. 
Very respectfully, H. Watson. 
East Windsor, 1843. 
The following toast, given at Nashville on 
the Fourth of July, is an exception to the gener- 
al character of the toasts reported this year : 
By John Fitzsimmons. Washington — Prov- 
idence left him childles.s, that the Nation might 
call him Father. 
I^^Burke once mentioned to Fox that he had 
written a tragedy. “Did you let Garrick see 
it?” inquired his friend. “No,” replied Burke, 
“I indeed had the folly to write it, but the wit to 
keep it to myself,” 
