AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
>1890.] 
A new Cheese Press. 
We present above an illustration of a press in¬ 
vented by E. Davis, of Vermont, we believe, pre¬ 
senting a novel application of power, which, upon 
examination, appears effective, though we have 
not seen it tested by actual operation in the dairy, 
where only its merits for that purpose can be ful¬ 
ly decided. The principle feature to be noticed is 
the use of the toggle joints shown at t, t, l, l, by 
which the weight of the cheese or other article, 
and of the press itself, supplies the power. The 
platform, p, to receive the cheese, is fastened 
upon an iron cross bar, d, which slides up and 
down the rods, r, r, passing through eyes at its 
ends. Two projections on the under side of d, 
rest in grooves on the end of the short pieces, t, t, 
which move freely on these joints, and on simi¬ 
lar joints on the levers, l, l, below. The levers, 
l, l, rest on similar loose joints at the points, e, e, 
and on projections upon the upper edge of the iron 
cross beam, b. The cross bar, b, is sustained by 
screws and nuts on the lower ends of the upright 
rods, r, r, which pass up through the wooden 
cross bar, c. By examining the illustration at¬ 
tentively, it will be seen that the whole weight of 
the working part of the apparatus and the cheese 
rests upon the points, e, e. If the narrow ends of 
the levers, l, l, where they rest upon the points, 
e, e, were lifted up, the levers would act upon the 
short pieces, t, f, and tend to push them out to a 
perpendicular position. This would raise the 
platform and the cheese upon it, and cause it to 
press against the bottom of the long screw, a. 
And the more nearly the levers, l, l, are brought 
to a horizontal position, the more nearly t, t; will 
be brought to a perpendicular, and the greater 
will be the pressure. Instead of raising the points, 
e, t, the weight of the cheese, platform, etc-., 
causes the thick ends, or short arms of the levers, 
/, l, to descend, thus tending to bring the levers to 
« 
a horizontal position, and 
making them act upon 
t, t, and exert a pressure, 
the same as if the other 
ends of /, l, were raised, 
as before described. 
The horizontal rod fitted 
with a crank and ratchet 
wheel, has two straps, 
s, s, which wind upon it. 
The lower ends of the 
straps are fastened to the 
ends of the cross beam, 
b. By turning the crank, 
the working parts are 
elevated to a proper po¬ 
sition to receive the 
cheese, where they may 
he held by the ratchet 
and catch. The crank is 
readily detached from 
the horizontal rod, and 
used to raise or lower the 
long screw, a, which 
communicates pressure 
to the “ follower," and 
the cheese under it. 
In pressing cheese, 
particularly, it is desira¬ 
ble that the pressure 
should be light at first, 
and increase gradually to 
the end of the process. 
To accomplish this, the 
straps are wound up as 
described above, and the 
catch thrown into the ratchet wheel; this sup¬ 
ports the weight of the platform and other parts, 
and prevents the action of the levers, l, l. Then, 
the screw, a, is turned down upon the follower as 
tightly as may be desired. When greater pres¬ 
sure is wanted, the catch is lifted from the ratch¬ 
et wheel, leaving the weight o cheese, etc., to act 
on the levers, l, l, as be:ore described, the power 
continuing to increase as the cheese yields to the 
pressure and descends. If more power is need¬ 
ed, it can easily be had by adding weights to the 
platform, though for all ordinary purposes, the 
weight of the cheese and apparatus would ap¬ 
pear sufficient. If an actual trial of the appa¬ 
ratus prove it as effective as an examination in¬ 
dicates, it will be found valuable. The principle 
is applicable to other uses where pressure is 
wanted only in a limited space, the range being 
confined to a few inches. The parts are not ob¬ 
jectionably complicated, and the price, $10, not 
beyond the means of dairymen generally. 
■---*“«■" -- 
The Wild Turkey. 
The turkey is the most recent of our reclaimed 
birds. That we can not fix the precise time nor 
learn any of the circumstances which relate to 
the introduction of the turkey into Europe, may 
cause some astonishment, when we reflect that 
it must have occurred at some period after the 
conquest of America. 
Oviedo, who resided as Governor of the port 
and harbor of St. Domingo, in the Island of Hay- 
ti, in 1514, published a work entitled “ Tradado 
de la Hisloria Natural de las Indias ,” which was 
published at Toledo, in 1526. In this work he 
describes the turkey as a kind of peacock abound¬ 
ing in New Spain, (America) whence numbers 
had been transported to the islands and the Span¬ 
ish Main, and were domesticated in the houses 
of the Christian inhabitants. They were ftlsq 
169 
called the “ India Cock and Hen,” as they were 
first taken from the West Indies to Europe. 
They were first introduced from. Spain into 
England as early as 1525, and were in a short 
time spread over the whole kingdom, and increas¬ 
ed to that degree that in 1855 they could already 
furnish a dish in country feasts. They have sine® 
been domesticated throughout the civilized world. 
The turkey is strictly a native of North Amer¬ 
ica, having its range from the Isthmus of Darien 
on the south to the 15th parallel of north latitude, 
and east and west, from the Atlantic Ocean to the 
Rocky Mountains. No individual of the species 
has been seen south of Panama, am! it is unknown 
beyond Lake Superior. 
Formerly they were abundant in the unsettled 
parts of the States of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, 
Illinois and Indiana, and an immense extent of 
country to the north-west of these districts upon 
the Mississippi and Missouri, and the vast regions 
drained by these rivers, from theii confluence to 
Louisiana, including the wooded parts of Texas, 
Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama, but none have 
been observed either on the Rocky Mountains or 
to the westward of them. They are, howeVef, 
becoming less numerous in every portion of the 
United States, even in those parts where they 
were very abundant forty or fifty years ago. Like 
the Indian and the Buffalo, they are fast fading 
away before the march of civilization. 
“ The great size and beauty,” says Audubon, 
“ofthe Wild turkey, its value as a delicate and 
highly prised article of food, and the circum¬ 
stance of its being the origin of the domestic race 
now generally dispersed on both continents, ren¬ 
der it one of the most interesting of the birds in¬ 
digenous to the United States of America. 
The plumage of the wild turkey, is compact, 
glossy, with metallic reflections ; feathers double, 
as in gallinaceous birds, generally oblong or trun¬ 
cated ; tips of the feathers almost conceal the 
bronze color. The large quill coverts are of the 
same color as the back, but more bronzed, with 
purple reflections. The lower part of the back 
and tail feathers are of the same color, undula- 
tingly barred and minutely sprinkled with black, 
and having a broad blackish bar toward the tip, 
which is pale brown, minutely mottled ; the un¬ 
der parts duller ; breast of the same color as the 
back, the terminating black band not so broad, 
sides dark colored ; abdomen and thighs burnish 
grey ; under tail coverts blackish, glossed with 
brown, and at the tips bright reddish brown. The, 
plumage of the female is less brilliant than that 
of the male.” 
It has been said by some authors, “ that in a 
state of domestication the wild turkeys, though 
kept separate from tame individuals, lose the 
brilliancy of their plumage in the third genera¬ 
tion hut such is not the case with mine, which 
are the fourth generation from the wild bird. 
The wild turkey does not attain its adqlt, 
