1880.] 
15 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
adapted to its uses that it is sure to become pop¬ 
ular. The term “ knock-down ” does, not signify 
. that this is a perfect stun¬ 
ner, but that it comes to 
pieces in such a way as to 
be packed in a small com¬ 
pass, and be readily recon¬ 
structed. It is intended 
solely for pound and half- 
pound rectangular prints, 
and as the butter in the case 
occupies but little more 
space than without, it ad¬ 
mits of very close packing. 
Easy inspection, convenient 
delivery to customers, and 
perfect protection from the 
dangers of careless handling, 
are the objects supposed to 
be accomplished. Figure 6 
represents a box holding one 
pound, with a paper gum¬ 
med label about it, stating 
the name and address of the 
maker of the butter, and 
the dates at which it was 
made and shipped. The 
label being cut, the lid 
lifts off, and the box opens 
at any angle, as shown 
in figure 7, leaving the 
its wrapping of muslin or 
Fig. 5. BUTTER PAILS, 
butter by itself in 
Wax Tissue. 
This article, by the way, is a very neat and beauti¬ 
ful thing for many purposes. It is simply fine tissue 
paper, saturated with paraffine, thereby rendered 
water and grease-proof, as well as air-tight. If the 
butter wrapped in it be kept cold and be dry when 
wrapped, the paper is easily removed, but if warm 
or wet when wrapped, 
then the paper sticks 
to the butter of course 
—for the nature of the 
butter is not changed, 
and being long in con¬ 
tact with moisture 
softens the paper. 
When used with dis¬ 
cretion, it is far preferable to muslin for wrapping 
print-butter, and much cheaper, and may be left in 
contact with the same indefinitely without harm to it. 
The Dollar a Pound Butter, 
much of it comes to market in paper, that is, paste¬ 
board, boxes, without covers, and wrapped in mus¬ 
lin. This is the plan followed at Echo Farm, and 
Mr. Starr’s imitators. These boxes have the fol¬ 
lowing, or an equivalent, printed upon them; 
“ This butter must not be left in this box or nap- 
Fig. 6.— THE PACKAGE. 
Fig. 7.—THE PACKAGE KNOCKED DOWN. 
kin, but put in a cold place, but not in contact with 
ice, nor near any meat or vegetables.” Long con¬ 
tact. with the wet “ napkin ” is supposed to hurt 
the color of the butter, and to impair its flavoralso. 
Close wrapping in the Wax Tissue has no such in¬ 
fluence, but preserves the butter practically air¬ 
tight, and even though placed in the family “ food 
safe,” or ice-box, the flavor is not affected. The 
butter in these paper-boxes is placed in cases upon 
shelves, or in layers, separated by thin boards ; in 
hot weather, space being left for a can of ice, and 
so shipped under lock and key. 
Tin Shipping Cases. 
I have two other butter packages to describe at 
present. One of these is quite new—a stout hand- 
pad, holding perhaps 14 quarts, but adapted to the 
size of the round prints which it is to carry, is pro¬ 
vided with large muffin rings, which will just take 
in a “ pat ” of butter, and are high enough to protect 
the device upon the 
print. Three or four of 
these are placed in a 
layer, and one layer is 
placed upon another, 
separated by a disc of 
tin, while the bottom 
layer rests upon a stout 
disc, strengthened by a 
ring, and having a stout 
wire coming up from it 
as high as the edge of 
the pail, where it is 
— 0 turned into a ring to 
& lift out the whole con¬ 
tents at once. The top layer is covered by a disc 
of tin, which is held in place by the rim of the 
cover. Figure 8 shows this pail, which is well 
adapted to sending small quantities of 
butter short distances in summer, or 
any distance in cold weather. A heavy 
iron ring protects the bottom, and a 
lock and chain, such as are used upon 
milk cans, makes all secure. In warm 
weather it would be well to jacket the 
case, when the butter, if started cold, 
would not soften for nearly 12 hours. The 
“ Norton Butter Shipping Case.” 
Circumstances lately recalled to my 
mind a shiping case for butter, which I 
saw in use many years ago, by the late 
Mr. John T. Norton, of Farmington, 
Conn., and which I learn is still used by 
the Farmington Creamery Co., under 
Mr. Edward Norton’s management, and 
more or less by other parties. I give you a sketch 
from recollection (fig. 9). The case holds 50 lbs. 
in summer, and 60 lbs. in winter, but might be 
made smaller. The butter is held in pans, with 
perpendicular sides, having a narrow rim, turned in 
at the upper edge. Each pan holds ten pounds, in 
balls or prints, and 
one pan rests upon 
another. They are 
placed in a heavy tin 
cylinder, like the 
body of a rail-road 
milk can. At the top 
a pan for holding ice 
is placed, with its rim 
resting on the rim of 
the outer case, and 
this is covered by a 
double pail cover, 
with a handle, 
through which the 
chain is passed, by 
which the cover is 
locked down. The 
case has handles like 
a milk can, a heavy 
iron hoop at the bot¬ 
tom, and at the top, 
and is shipped jacketed in felt, covered with stout, 
colored muslin. The handles come through the 
jacket. The effect of the ice is distinctly-perceived 
in the lowest pan, and the case is a very strong 
one, and not liable to damage, as handled by the 
“gentle ” express and railroad hands. 
company is liable for damages. The fact that the 
owner of the stock has not taken any pains to keep 
his cattle out of danger,does not relieve the railroad 
corporation of its obligations to provide barriers. 
Grain Mills to Order. 
One need not be very old to be able to remember 
when the erection of a mill, even the simplest, for 
merely grinding corn, was an important event. 
There was much calculation beforehand, as the 
work of many different persons was required, a 
great number of parts was to be provided from va¬ 
rious sources, and all, finally, with much trouble, 
brought together, and adapted to one auother. Af¬ 
ter much disappointment and many delays, the mill 
was started; yet the mill was worth all the trouble 
it cost. From the moment it was completed, the 
locality rose in importance, and became a center to 
the neighborhood for many miles around. It made 
every farm within a wide circle more valuable, for 
Fig. 9. — THE NORTON CASE. 
Railroads vs. Farm Stock.— The thousands 
of miles of railroads now in operation in the United 
States, and the many' more to be built, makes the 
subject of the killing of farm stock, by passing 
trains, a practical and important one. Under the 
existing laws, railroad companies are required to 
either fence both sides of their roads, or to provide 
an equivalent barrier, and to maintain cattle-guards 
at all crossings; the ^corporations are only re¬ 
leased from damages done to stock when all such 
fences and necessary measures are taken to keep 
stock from their tracks. If the track is thrown 
open at any point, not from public necessity, the 
NORDYKE & MARMON GRINDING MILL. 
however successful the farmer in raising good crops 
of Indian corn and wheat, they must first go to the 
mill before they could be utilized. At first we had 
wind-mills and water-mills, and then mills inde¬ 
pendent of either wind or water, being worked by 
steam, but whatever the motive power, the mak¬ 
ing and bringing together of all the varied parts of 
the mill itself and its accessories remained a work 
requiring both forethought and time. It is not 
surprising in the general improvement in all agri¬ 
cultural machines that the mill, that most import¬ 
ant accessory to the farm, should have kept pace. 
It used to be said, when parts of Maine were noted 
for their activity in ship-building, that ships were 
built by the mile, and cut off in lengths to suit 
purchasers. In a similar manner, one can now or¬ 
der a mill of a given capacity, and receive it, mo¬ 
tive power, mill, and all complete, to the last nut 
and the wrench to turn it with, in a very short 
time. Rarely have we examined a catalogue with 
so much interest as we did that of the Nordyke & 
Marmon Co., of Indianapolis, Ind. ; it is, in fact, a 
treatise rather than a catalogue, having 175 large 
pages, and so full of illustrations that a friend with 
strong mechanical tastes much desired to possess 
it for the beauty and variety of its engravings of 
machinery and parts of machines. As motive pow¬ 
ers, various steam engines are described and fig¬ 
ured, and the manner of utilizing water power, 
with directions for estimating the power of a 
stream, are given. Mills, from the largest to the 
smallest, are illustrated in full, with every accessory 
to their proper workings, including machines for 
cleaning the grain before grinding, to those for 
packing the finished flour, and in the minutest de¬ 
tail, showing every part, wheel, nut, screw, etc. 
But we can not enumerate the contents of this in¬ 
teresting work, suffice it to say that it shows every 
step, after the wheat leaves the threshing machine, 
and after the corn comes from the hands of the 
husker, needed to convert the one into flour and 
the other into meal. We were pleased to note 
that, while large establishments are provided for, 
the needs of small mills are not overlooked. One 
can procure a complete mill, with two run of 
stones, one for wheat and the other for com, with 
every accessory, including motive power, ready to 
be set up in any one or two story building, as seen 
in the engraving, at a very moderate outlay. In 
