1873 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
419 
There is room for many interesting observa¬ 
tions, especially to determine' -what species 
afford their young this protection. About the 
Garter-snake ( Eutania sirtalis) and the Ribbon- 
snake ( Eutania saurita), the Water-adder 
{Tropidonotus sipedon), the Banded Rattlesnake 
(Gaudisona horrida), the Copperhead ( Ancistro - 
don contortrix), the Moccasin ( Ancistrodon pisci- 
vorus), and the Massasauga ( Grotalus tergemi- 
nus) there can be little doubt, and the habit 
probably extends throughout the genera -which 
these species represent. The case of the Hog- 
nosed-snake ( Heterodon platyrhinos), sometimes 
called the Blowing or Puffing Adder, needs 
farther investigation, and so also that of the 
Black-snakes. It seems more than likely that 
the Racer or Mountain Black-snake ( Coluber 
Alleghaniensis), which is distinguished by a little 
ridge or carination in the middle of each scale, 
does thus protect its young, but it has not been 
shown that thi3 is the case with the common 
smooth-scaled Black-snake ( Bascanion constric¬ 
tor). It is very desirable to learn whether, as 
has been supposed, the habit is peculiar to those 
snakes which are ovoviviparous—that is, those 
in which the young are hatched from the egg 
while still in the body of the parent. As was 
remarked, there is no proof that the Black- 
snake swallows its young, and this is the case 
with all the egg-laying genera, as the Milk- 
snakes ( Ophibolus ), Grass-snakes ( Liopeltis and 
Cgclophis), Brown-snakes ( Storeria ), Ring- 
neclted-snakcs (Diadophis), and Bull-snakes 
( Pityophis ), although they are common and 
easy to observe. 
If any reader of the Agriculturist should ob¬ 
serve a snake with young running down her 
throat, or should have reason to believe that 
she had them in her stomach, it would be a 
capital plan to tie a cord tightly about her neck 
to prevent their escape, and then carry her to 
some naturalist or some physician and have a 
careful dissection made. This would forever 
settle the question, and might be done without 
the least difficulty, for all our snakes except 
the Rattlesnakes, Moccasins, Copperheads, and 
Massasaugas are perfectly harmless. 
Accurate statements are much needed of 
Cases of snakes charming men, quadrupeds, and 
birds. It would be interesting to know whe¬ 
ther the cast-off skin of a snake is always left 
as the snake wore it, or whether it is some¬ 
times turned inside out. 
Museum , Wesleyan University ,) 
Middletown, Gt., Sept. 15. ) 
i 
! 
Neufchatel Cheese. 
The New York market is now pretty well 
supplied with home-made Neufchatel cheese 
from German dairies in New Jersey. There 
i 3 a good demand for them at paying prices, 
and there is no doubt that an increased supply 
would only lead to increased consumption. 
These cheeses are about 34 inches long and 
about 1£ inch in diameter. They are sent to 
market wrapped in thin paper, which is also 
sometimes covered with tin-foil. 
There is a great difference in the quality of 
different makes. Those sold at the fruit stands 
on Broadway are little more than “pot-cheese” 
pressed into a solid mass and wrapped for 
market. The best French cheeses of this class 
are made and ripened with great care. They 
are usually made from whole milk, which im¬ 
mediately after being drawn is strained into 
crocks and treated with rennet. The crocks 
are then stood into boxes which are covered 
with woolen cloth. After having stood 48 
hours the crocks arc emptied into a basket 
lined with a clean white cloth, and standing 
over a trough to drain. After 12 hours the cor¬ 
ners of the cloth are folded closely over the 
curds, which thus enveloped are placed within 
a press and left for 12 hours. They are then 
put into a strong linen cloth, in which they are 
thoroughly kneaded and rubbed in every part 
until the caseous and buttery parts are perfectly 
mixed and made into a homogeneous paste. If 
this paste is too soft the cloth is changed until 
the surplus moisture is withdrawn. If it is too 
hard and dry more curds are added from that 
of the next milking (which is now draining). 
The mold, which is open at both ends, is then 
rather more than filled with the paste. It is 
held upright over a table with the left hand, 
while the top is patted down with the palm of 
the right hand so as to completely fill the whole 
mold. The surplus is then cut away, and the 
little cheese is pushed out from the mold. 
The cheese after molding is dusted on the 
two ends with very fine and dry salt, that ac¬ 
cidentally remaining on the hands being suffi¬ 
cient for salting the sides. It is then stood on 
a board, not touching its neighbors, and left to 
drain for 24 hours. The cheeses of this making 
are then carried to the store-room, where they 
are laid on their beds of clean straw (on 
shelves), being placed in uniform rows cross¬ 
wise of the straw, and lying about the distance 
of their diameter from each other. Two days 
later they arc turned, each one being rolled half 
way over; this brings them on to dry places in 
the straw. Three days later they are turned up 
on end and stood on the space between the 
original rows. After five days they are reversed 
and placed on their other ends, and here they 
stand five days longer. They are now sixteen 
days old, and have become somewhat dry, a 
skin being formed over them. If they are not 
now coated with a slight blue mold they are 
again reversed and allowed to stand longer. 
When this mold has appeared they are taken 
to a dry, cool room, where they are turned (end 
for end) every five days, and they are watched 
(with much care as to atmospheric conditions) 
until they are well coated with a reddish globu¬ 
lar mold. If the processes have all been well 
managed this mold will appear uniformly on 
all sides, and the ripening will be equal through¬ 
out. After this they are turned less frequently, 
first once in ten days and then once a fortnight. 
At the end of three months they should be sold, 
as soon after this time they will begin to run. 
Well-made Neufchatel cheese should -be a 
homogeneous paste, free from granulation, and 
spreading smoothly like butter. 
The care and close attention which the manu¬ 
facture demands justifies the high price that the 
well-made article fetches in the European mar¬ 
kets—-a price which the more simply made 
American imitation can not command. 
Oatmeal in Drink. —It is suggested by the 
Medical Journal of Edinburgh that oatmeal 
stirred up in cold water, at the rate of two tea¬ 
spoonfuls of meal to half a pint of water, would 
be a very healthful and grateful drink in the 
harvest field. In England, at a recent plowing 
match, the only drink furnished was water with 
oatmeal stirred into it, and it was found 
“mighty refreshing.” We give corn-meal in 
water to our horses for a drink with great ad¬ 
vantage. Why should we not treat ourselves 
to the same healthful luxury? 
The Goose and its Varieties. 
The goose being in request to provide a fill¬ 
ing for the couch and pillow, and to furnish the 
holiday table, the farm housewife is three times 
each year in a condition of excitement regard¬ 
ing her geese. The peculiar disposition of 
these birds gives the housewives a vast, deal of 
trouble. The goose will choose her nest in the 
worst possible place, and when she has chosen 
it no persuasion will convince her that any im¬ 
provement can be made upon her selected loca¬ 
tion. We have known a goose to choose a pile 
of cobblestones in the corner of a fence as tho 
home of her future progeny, and rather than 
give up the place she gave up both home and 
progeny. This made it clear to us that it was 
very important to provide a convenient house 
for these really valuable and docile birds (docile 
when rightly treated, for a goose may be taught 
to do almost anything in reason), and educate 
them up to the standard of having a settled 
home and staying there. The kitchen door¬ 
step is no proper place for their nightly resort, 
and although they would rather choose to lie 
upon the cold ground or a snow-bank or a 
miniature glacier than upon a clean straw bed 
in a decent pen, yet they may be trained to 
walk in solemn file each evening into their ap¬ 
propriate yard, which may be furnished with a 
nest-house and nests very early in the spring 
when they are about to lay. If this yard is 
placed at some convenient spot within hearing 
of the house, no person or thing can approach, 
however quietly they may try to do so, without 
creating an alarm. After a nest is chosen it* 
should not be disturbed except to remove the 
egg daily laid until the goose takes permanent 
possession and wants to “set.” She may then 
be furnished with nine eggs (the usual number), 
and may be depended on to perform her duties 
without any supervision and with remarkable 
instinct and sagacity. The goslings need less 
care than any other young poultry. Bread¬ 
crumbs, corn meal, cracked wheat, and mashed 
potatoes may all be fed; but the precaution must 
be taken to give the food in small quantities 
and frequently, and to have a supply of fresh 
water in shallow pans always at hand. If the 
goslings have the run of a pasture they will 
need nothing else than the grass, with a feed of 
meal or bread twice a day. Chopped chives 
are excellent for them mixed with other food. 
The time for plucking of the geese must be 
determined by the age and strength of the gos¬ 
lings as much as by the season or the condition 
of the weather. If the goslings have been 
brought out moderately early the geese may be 
picked in May or June. If the picking is done 
before this time the goslings may suffer from 
want of covering. At the best the picking of 
a goose is a painful operation, but as “live 
goose” feathers are in demand the poor geese 
must submit. It should be made, however, as 
little painful to them as possible. The wings 
should not be crossed on the back as is often 
done, but which is a very painful and cruel 
thing to do, but the tips of the wing feathers 
should be tied together. For the sake of clean¬ 
liness the goose should be enveloped in an 
apron or a towel during the operation. A sec¬ 
ond picking may be done during the summer, 
but a third plucking late in the season should 
not be permitted. The wing supports should 
in no case be plucked. 
The fattening of geese is a very easy matter. 
Turnips chopped fine and fed in a trough of 
water will fatten a lean goose just off from the 
grass in a very short time. A lean goos o 
