1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
3o5 
Southern  Dairymen  and  the  Ice 
Cream  Trade. 
T.  R.  H..  Hardeeville,  S.  C. — I  am  a  private  dairyman 
here  on  the  coast  of  Carolina.  During  the  fall,  winter 
and  early  spring,  I  sell  my  butter  and  cream  to  private 
families  who  take  my  whole  output.  I  use  a  De  Laval 
cream  separator  run  by  an  oil  engine.  In  the  summer 
my  best  customers  go  North  and  I  have  to  seek  others. 
Last  year  I  tried  to  sell  my  separator  cream  to  ice 
cream  dealers.  The  lot  I  shipped  was  pronounced  by 
the  dealer  who  was  getting  all  his  cream  from  the 
North,  as  the  finest  lot  of  cream  he  had  ever  seen.  He 
made  it  up  into  ice  cream,  and  then  declined  to  take 
more,  saying  it  would  not  froth  up.  For  instance,  he 
put  22  quarts  of  Northern  cream  in  his  churn ;  it 
turned  out  40  quarts  of  ice  cream  ;  he  put  22  quarts  of 
mine,  and  it  made  only  30  quarts.  When  asked  why 
this  was  so  he  said  he  did  not  know  unless  the  Northern 
cream  had  been  fixed  up  in  some  way.  Now  how  do 
parties  who  ship  cream  South  to  ice  cream  men  pre¬ 
pare  it  ?  Is  it  the  straight,  pure  cream  that  comes 
from  the  separator,  or  not  ?  If  not,  what  do  they  do 
to  it  ?  If  they  prepare  it  in  some  way,  is  that  prepar¬ 
ation  recognized  by  the  trade  and  the  customers,  as  a 
straight,  honest  business  ?  2.  The  fight  with  all  dairy¬ 
men  South  is  the  temperature.  I  dairy  the  year  round. 
In  winter  it  is  all  right ;  in  summer  the  trouble  is  to 
get  water  cold  enough  to  chill  the  cream.  At  present 
I  am  experimenting  to  find  out  the  temperature  of  the 
earth  from  10  to  20  feet  under  the  surface.  If  I  can 
find  a  point  that  has  a  constant  temperature  of,  say,  60 
or  62  degrees  my  idea  is  to  bury  in  the  ground  at  that 
depth  say  500  feet  of  ordinary  gas  pipe,  through  which 
I  would  pass  a  stream  of  water.  Now  if  I  find  that 
point  the  question  is  this :  Should  the  500  feet  of  pipe 
be  coiled  and  put  down  at  one  spot,  or  should  it  extend 
out,  say  250  feet  from  the  dairy  and  then  return  by 
another  route  ?  If  I  bury  the  pipe  in  one  spot,  say  10 
feet  square,  and  pass  water  at  70  degrees  through  it, 
and  the  earth  is  60  degrees,  the  cool  earth  would  have 
to  absorb  that  10  degrees  of  heat  ;  would  the  earth 
become  so  charged  with  this  heat  after  a  while  as  to 
fail  to  keep  at  60  degrees  ?  If  the  tendency  is  in  that 
direction,  would  it  not  be  better  to  run  the  pipe  out 
250  feet  and  back  250,  so  as  to  bring  in  contact  with 
the  pipe  as  large  a  cooling  surface  as  possible.  Does 
The  Rural  know  of  any  ice  machine,  or  machine  using 
“  refrigerine  salts”  that  can  be  easily  handled  and 
be  within  the  means  of  the  ordinary  farmer  ? 
Preparing  Cream  for  Shipment. 
If  you  will  observe  the  following  directions  in  pre¬ 
paring  your  cream  and  can  induce  your  dealer  to  try 
it  again,  we  do  not  think  he  will  find  any  fault  with 
it.  Separate  the  cream  as  quickly  as  possible  after 
milking,  at  a  temperature  of  from  75  to  85  degrees, 
Fahrenheit.  Run  the  cream  rather  thin  and  do  not 
permit  it  to  fall  any  distance  as  it  runs  from  the  sep¬ 
arator  into  the  can  or  other  receptacle.  Immediately 
after  separating,  cool  down  at  once  by  using  some 
special  cooler,  through  or  over  which  the  cream  may 
run,  if  this  be  possible.  If  not,  set  it  in  ice  or  cold 
water,  stirring  slowly,  cooling  it  to  as  low  a  tempera¬ 
ture  as  is  possible,  say  from  40  to  50.  Hold  the  cream 
at  this  temperature  as  long  as  possible  without  danger 
of  souring,  say  at  least  36  hours.  This  will  give  it  a 
smoothness  and  body  which  no  cream  can  possibly 
have  while  fresh.  Handled  in  this  way,  separator 
cream  will  make  as  fine  ice  cream  as  can  be  made  from 
cream  raised  by  the  old  gravity  process,  and  it  will 
make  just  as  much  in  quantity.  The  cream  which 
your  ice  cream  man  buys  from  the  North  is  without 
doubt  separator  cream.  It  would  be  somewhat  haz¬ 
ardous  to  handle  cream  raised  in  the  old  way,  in  such 
long  distance  shipments.  It  is  packed  in  ice  and  the 
trip,  first  to  New  York  and  thence  to  the  South,  gives 
it  the  maturity  needed.  No  reputable  producer  or 
dealer  adds  anything-  to  his  cream — it  goes  pure.  It 
is  possible  that  in  vex-y  hot  weather,  some  few  dealers 
may  add  some  preparation  of  borax  or  boracic  acid  to 
it  to  prevent  its  souring,  but  such  a  proceeding  is  un¬ 
lawful  and  renders  the  cream  liable  to  confiscation 
and  destruction.  The  largest  ice  cream  makers  of 
New  York  city  use  more  or  less  separator  cream  and  it 
is  only  a  question  of  time  when  gravity  raised  cream  will 
be  out  of  the  market.  There  were  some  objections 
to  it  in  the  first  place,  in  the  early  days  of  the  separa¬ 
tor.  Some  of  them  partially  churned  the  cream, 
which  impaired  its  quality.  The  skill  of  our  inventors 
has  largely  overcome  that  obstacle,  and  now  the 
stock  objections  to  separator  cream  are  no  longer 
heard.  r.  n.-y. 
Plan  for  a  Sub-Cellar  Dairy. 
The  underground  method  of  cooling  a  dairy  has  been 
tried  without  much  success  for  some  years,  and  more 
especially  when  it  was  first  introduced  about  a  dozen 
years  ago.  The  plan  was  to  dig  a  deep  ditch  like  a 
drain,  and  lay  large  tiles  or  a  stone  channel  in  it  con¬ 
nected  at  the  further  end  with  the  open  air  by  a  pipe 
to  supply  the  draft.  But  the  device  was  opposed  to 
scientific  principles  and  chiefly  to  that  one  on  which  it 
is  impossible  to  cause  a  cold  current  of  air  to  rise  in  a 
warm  atmosphere,  or  to  make  a  warm  current  flow 
downwards  into  a  cold,  underground  passage  by  any 
natural  influence.  To  do  this  is  to  oppose  that  uni¬ 
versal  law  by  which  lighter  air  rises  and  colder  and 
denser  air  falls— the  law  of  gravitation  in  fact.  But  it 
is  possible  to  get  a  cool  current  of  air  in  this  way  by 
some  mechanical  device  which  will  either  draw  the  air 
through  the  underground  channel,  or  force  it  through 
it.  Many  devices  have  been  tried  for  thus  ventilating 
houses,  as  by  burning  something  in  a  suitable  pipe 
above  the  channel  and  thus  producing  a  current,  a  part 
of  which  is  diverted  into  the  apartment  to  be  cooled. 
But  none  of  them  have  become  practically  useful. 
The  most  effective  way  of  overcoming  the  difficulty 
described,  so  far  as  I  have  learned,  is  to  use  a  two- 
storied  cellar,  so  to  speak,  or  what  may  be  called  a 
sub-cellar,  the  lower  part  of  which  is  at  least  12  or  15 
feet  below  the  surface,  and  is  closed  against  the  upper 
and  warmer  air,  by  a  perfectly  close  floor  having  a 
tightly  fitting  trap  door  in  it  and  a  stairway  down  to 
the  bottom.  The  cellar  is  lined  with  brick  or  stone  and 
kept  whitewashed  with  lime  to  increase  the  light 
which  comes  through  a  glass  window  in  the  floor.  I 
have  seen  several  such  cellars  in  the  South,  one  of 
which  struck  me  as  being  excellent  for  the  purpose  of 
a  dairy  for  which  it  was  used.  Fig.  149  shows  how  it 
Sub-Cellar  for  Cream  in  Hot  Climate.  Fig.  149. 
was  constructed.  It  was  so  cool  as  to  make  me  shiver, 
and  glad  to  get  out  of  it  on  a  warm  July  day. 
The  upper  part  was  used  for  a  churning  and  store 
room,  and  had  a  broad  roof  over  it  and  thick  stone 
walls.  A  stairway  led  down  into  it,  and  another  into 
the  lower  one.  Two  tiers  of  shelves  were  made  on 
three  sides  of  this  lower  part,  and  these  held  the  milk 
and  butter.  The  owner  told  me  the  temperature  did 
not  vary  more  than  two  or  three  degrees  the  whole 
year.  The  only  objection  to  it  was  that  at  times  it 
was  damp,  but  on  my  suggestion  to  use  fresh  burned 
lime  to  absorb  the  water — which  it  does  very  greedily — 
this  fault  was  wholly  removed,  with  the  consequent 
mustiness  that  troubled  him  in  the  hottest  part  of  the 
summer.  This  cellar  had  been  in  use  for  several  years, 
and  had  been  found  quite  satisfactory.  No  doubt  it 
might  meet  the  case  in  question,  if  the  soil  is  quite  free 
from  water  to  the  required  depth.  This  is  obviously  a 
sine  qua  non ,  unless  the  drainage  could  be  secured  at  a 
moderate  expense.  Some  coolness  may  be  secured  by 
using  salt  water  or  other  solutions  of  crystalline  and 
saline  substances.  A  lowering  of  the  temperature  of 
six  or  eight  degrees  may  be  made  by  dissolving  a 
pound  of  salt  in  10  gallons  of  water,  and  more  by  ad¬ 
ding  sulphate  of  soda  to  the  salt.  But  in  practice  all 
these  modes  of  refrigeration  have  been  found  incon¬ 
venient  or  undesirable  in  other  ways.  I  have  experi¬ 
mented  with  them  in  dairy  work  and  found  them  more 
costly  and  troublesome  than  ice.  The  common  ice 
machines  may  be  made  useful  if  the  dairy  is  large 
enough  to  stand  the  expense,  as  they  have  been  found 
indispensable  in  breweries  on  account  of  their  cheap¬ 
ness.  So  far,  however,  all  the  attempts  to  get  up  a 
cheap  small  machine  for  cooling  dairies  have  failed. 
Some  years  ago  I  sold  cream  to  a  manufacturer  of  ice 
cream,  and  learned  much  of  the  ways  and  methods  of 
the  business  from  my  friend  who  bought  my  cream. 
Not  much  cream  goes  into  the  final  product  as  a  rule, 
and  the  solid  cream  does  not  make  as  good  an  ice 
as  that  which  is  largely  diluted  with  milk.  Eggs 
beaten  with  the  milk  make  the  ice  more  porous  and  of 
better  consistency,  and  a  solution  of  gelatine  or  corn 
starch  boiled  is  used  in  place  of  the  egg  albumen. 
This  mixture  is  not  made  by  the  dairymen,  but  by  the 
makers  of  the  ice.  No  doubt  the  maker  mentioned 
was  an  honest  one  or  did  not  know  of  this  practice  and 
perhaps  the  seller  of  the  cream  had  been  posted  on 
this  method  of  the  trade.  It  is  a  very  simple  thing  to 
understand  that  anything  that  would  add  to  the 
viscosity  of  the  cream  would  render  it  more  frothy  in 
the  icing  of  it.  But  this  is  done  by  the  makers  and  not 
by  the  cream  dairymen.  The  larger  part  of  the  ice 
cream  consumed  has  not  a  particle  of  cream  in  it,  but 
is  made  of  milk  and  eggs,  or,  as  I  have  explained,  of 
gelatine  or  corn  starch  to  add  to  its  substance.  The 
eggs  give  the  requisite  creamy  color  as  well  as  the 
richness  of  flavor,  making  practically  an  emulsion 
more  like  the  pure  cream.  henry  STEWART. 
*  *  » 
A  Shire  Stallion. — The  stallion  pictured  on  our 
first  page  is  owned  by  Powell  Bros,  of  Shadeland, 
Crawford  County,  Pa.,  and  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the 
breed.  The  shires  and  their  grades  are  well  liked  for 
dray  horses  and  first-class  specimens  are  readily  sala¬ 
ble.  It  is  to  such  horses  as  Rantin  Davy  that  farmers 
must  go  for  the  best  success  in  breeding  dray  horses. 
Powell  Bros,  have  all  the  leading  breeds  of  horses  in 
stock. 
Business  Bits. 
Tub  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  New  York  Milk  Exchange,  Lim¬ 
ited,  was  held  on  Wednesday  last,  but  no  change  was  made  In  the 
price  of  milk;  It  remains  2 %  cents  net. 
The  Rukai,  only  voices  the  results  ot  many  experiments  when  It 
commends  dried  brewers’  grains  as  a  food  for  dairy  cattle.  Elsewhere 
In  this  Issue  will  be  found  the  advertisement  of  the  Long  Island 
Drying  Company,  who,  we  understand,  are  offering  this  food  at  very 
moderate  prices. 
Breed’s  Wbedeu  on  Wheels.— A  late  Rural  says  that  If  some  one 
would  get  something  like  Breed's  weeder  on  wheels,  so  as  Jo  ride.  It 
would  be  a  very  line  thing.  Not  only  have  I  something  like  Breed's 
weeder  on  wheels  here,  In  Wyoming  County,  N.  Y.,  but  I  have  Breed’s 
weeder  itself  on  wheels.  It  Is  a  very  line  thing  Indeed,  and  does  Just 
as  good  work  as  though  the  driver  were  on  foot  In  the  dust.  E.  l>.  P. 
Buying  Fat.— Mr.  W.  W.  Weston,  who  operates  a  large  buttor 
factory  at  Honesdale,  I’a.,  wants  only  good  milk.  The  prices  which 
he  pays  are  offered  for  milk  which  contains  34f  percent  of  butter  fat 
and  all  Is  paid  for  on  that  basis.  The  milk  Is  all  tested  with  the  Bab¬ 
cock  test.  If  It  shows  less  than  8 %  per  cent  of  fat,  a  corresponding 
deduction  Is  made.  If  It  contains  more  than  that  amount,  the  pro¬ 
ducer  receives  a  proportionate  addition  to  the  usual  price  This  seems 
to  be  fair  to  all  concerned. 
Hay  Slings.— W.  F.  H.,  Mount  Vernon,  N.  H. — 1.  Where  can  the  hay 
slings  spoken  of  in  The  Rural  of  April  lti  be  procured,  and  what  do 
they  cost?  2.  Can  they  be  made  at  home?  8.  Can  they  be  used  for 
unloading  ensilage  corn  to  advantage? 
Ans. — 1.  Ricker  &  Osborne,  Rochester,  N.  Y.  2.  We  think  they  are 
secured  by  a  patent  so  that  you  could  not  make  similar  ones  at  home. 
3.  Yes,  but  we  doubt  If  It  would  pay  unless  the  stalks  were  put  in  the 
silo  “  whole.”  If  fed  directly  to  the  machine  for  cutting,  the  slings 
would  be  somewhat  of  a  disadvantage. 
Raising  Cream  in  Cans. — J.  S.,  Spokane  Bridge,  Wash. — In  using 
a  live-gallon  deep  milk  can  for  raising  cream,  how  long  should  the 
milk  stand  and  at  what  temperature  to  get  the  best  results?  Should 
the  cans  be  covered  closely? 
Ans.— As  soon  as  possible  after  the  milk  is  strained,  and  before  It 
has  cooled  perceptibly,  put  It  In  the  cans  and  put  them  In  the  lee  or 
lee  water.  The  cream  should  be  ready  for  skimming  In  from  12  to  15 
hours.  If  the  cans  are  of  the  Cooley  pattern,  they  may  be  entirely 
submerged.  Unless  they  are,  they  should  not  be  shut  tight. 
Tread  Power  vs.  Steam  Engine.— What  Is  the  difference  In  the 
amount  of  power  obtained  by  the  use  of  a  team  of  horses  (weighing 
say  2,200  pounds)  In  a  good  tread  power,  and  of  a  two-horse-power 
steam  engine  such  as  can  be  bought  of  any  good  maker  ?  farmer. 
Ans.— An  engine  horse  power  Is  33,000  pounds  lifted  one  foot  per 
minute.  This  Is,  no  doubt,  considerably  In  excess  of  the  work  done 
by  a  horse,  yet  I  have  reason  todoubt  that  a  steam  engine  of  two  nomi¬ 
nal  horse  power  would  be  equal  under  any  circumstances  to  the  work 
done  by  two  horses.  In  small  engines  the  losses  by  friction  are  very 
great,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  a  11  ve-horse-power  engine  would  bo 
required  to  do  the  work  usually  obtained  from  a  single  team  In  a 
tread  power.  [prop.]  r.  c.  casmutkr. 
Pedigrees  op  Imported  Sheep.— Why  should  we  complain  of 
Secretary  Rusk’s  order  as  to  the  length  of  pedigrees  which  sheep  to  be 
Imported  “free”  for  breeding  purposes,  must  possess?  I  do  not  want 
any  breeding  animals  whose  pedigrees  cannot  be  traced  back  for  live 
generations.  It  Is  exactly  for  animals  bred  carefully  for  years  that  we 
go  to  England.  If  the  friends  of  any  breed  of  sheep  have  neglected  to 
keep  a  record,  their  pedigrees  are  worthless  to  men  not  acquainted 
with  the  breeder  or  his  flock.  If  private  records  have  been  kept,  the 
formation  of  a  flock  book  society  Is  but  the  work  of  a,  day  and  a  slight 
expense.  Let  the  duty  on  sheep  Imported  for  stock  purposes  be  raised 
to  $10  per  head,  so  as  to  cut  off  the  Influx  of  foreign  sheep,  and  then 
pedigrees  so  certified  that  they  will  admit  animals  free,  will  be  badges 
of  honor,  and  less  fraud  will  be  perpetrated  by  Irresponsible  traders 
and  speculators,  to  deal  with  whom  Is  to  invite  deceit  and  disappoint¬ 
ment.  GEO.  E.  BRECK. 
j'REE  GIFT  Crates.— At  the  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Institute  Farmers’  Club,  the  subject  of  non-returnable  or  free 
crates  and  baskets  for  berries  was  discussed.  Mr.  J.  B.  Rogers,  of 
Newark,  opened  the  discussion,  and  gave  plainly  his  reasons  for  advo¬ 
cating  the  change.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Callahan,  Secretary  of 
the  Grocers’ General  Association  of  New  York  and  Its  suburbs,  who 
presented  the  matter  In  a  forcible  manner.  The  Chairman  of  the  New 
York  Retail  Grocers’  Union,  also  spoke  In  faver  of  the  reform,  as  did 
IXr.  Hexamer,  Wm.  E.  Wilkins,  of  the  Merchant’s  Review,  and  Paul 
B.  Flynn,  of  the  New  Jersey  Trade  Journal.  Several  numbers  of  the 
club  also  spoke  for  the  change;  no  one  opposed  It.  It  Is  more  than 
probable  that  the  coming  season  will  see  the  new  method  fairly  under 
way.  Florida  strawbereles  are  already  coming  In  free  crates  and 
baskets. 
A  Berry  Ticket.— Here  Is  a  cut  of  a  ticket  which  I  And  very  con¬ 
venient  in  berry  time,  in  keeping  accounts  with  my  pickers  : 
The  row  of  figures  at  the  bottom  represents  units  from  one  to  nine  ; 
the  upper  row  of  figures  consists  of  tens.  Any  figure  punched  in  this 
row  Is  equal  to  10  times  the  figure  punched  below.  If  you  punch  eight 
In  the  tens  row,  It  is  equal  to  80.  If  a  picker  picks  in  a  day  73  quarts,  I 
punch  seven  In  the  upper  row  and  three  In  the  lower.  If  a  picker 
picks  173  quarts  In  a  day,  I  punch  nine  and  four  in  the  upper  row,  mak¬ 
ing  90  and  40,  or  130  quarts;  then  I  punch  seven  in  the  lower  row.  I  do 
not  take  up  the  tickets  until  the  season  Is  over.  This  method  does 
away  with  book  accounts,  and  It  Is  easy  to  settle  with  each  picker  at 
night  when  through  picking.  One  should  use  a  good  punch— one  which 
cannot  be  imitated.  jameh  m.  pi.oss. 
Tens:  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  0,  7,  8,  9. 
JAMES  M.  FLOSS, 
Grower  of  Small  Fruits, 
Burden.  N.  Y. 
Units:  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9. 
