1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
775 
but I plant in drills. Digging is finished in this sec¬ 
tion. Our best record was at the rate of 2,100 bushels 
per day. I could have dug that many in that field, if 
they could have been taken care of. Our expense for 
repairs has been trifling, and we are all well pleased 
with this solution of the digging problem. 
C. E. CHAPMAN. 
MAKING ICE CREAM ON THE FARM. 
IS THE HE ANYTHING TO THE BUSINESS? 
Some Reasons for Not Trying It. 
First let me state that I have never made a gallon 
of ice cream to sell, but I have sold, and seen a great 
deal of selling, cream to the ice cream maker, and my 
advice to any one is not to do it. Here are my reasons 
for such advice, and if they are not sound, do not fol¬ 
low them : In most country towns, as well as 
cities, the demand for ice cream is very irregular. A 
spell of warm weather will create a brisk demand for 
it, while a few cool days will leave the ice cream 
dealer with a surplus of ice cream on his hands for 
which he finds no sale. Then all the Sunday schools 
in the neighborhood will take it into their heads to 
hold a picnic on a certain day, and there is again a 
great demand for ice cream. Then there will be a run 
of church suppers, and a corresponding call for ice 
cream ; but on the day of the supper, the weather will 
turn cold or rainy, few people will come to the sup¬ 
per, and the next morning the ice-cream man will 
have a lot of ice cream thrown on his hands that he 
cannot sell. lie has to take it, or the next time the 
church people will go elsewhere, and each and every 
one will tell all their friends that they must not buy 
ice cream from So and So, as he is so unobliging. 
Then, again, it is entirely a different business from 
the dairy business, and one that must be learned just 
as thoroughly as any other business. And if one 
begin to learn it, and at the same time to sell the 
ice cream on which he is 
learning, when he has 
learned it, he will have a 
new lot of customers to look 
for. Don't try it yourself, 
but find some ice-cream 
man and agree to supply 
him with the cream, and let 
him add the ice. There will 
come times when he can¬ 
not take your cream, and 
you will have to make but¬ 
ter ; but he should pay 
such a price that you can 
afford to do this and still 
make a profit on what you 
sell him. But be satisfied 
with this ; do not try to 
run two things at one time, 
for one of them will most 
likely get out of running 
order. p. b. crosby. 
Baltimore County, Md. 
An Experience of 18 Years. 
In 1875, having a surplus 
of butter, I concluded al¬ 
though having had no ex- 
perience, to make ice 
cream. This was done by 
hiring a man to make it by 
hand ; another man was engaged to peddle it out 
from my wagon. Ice cream was then worth 28 cents 
per quart, wholesale, and 40 to 45 cents, retail; we 
fixed on the plan of selling it to the peddler at whole¬ 
sale, and letting him have the difference as his pay. 
If ice cream were like wheat, this would pay the sales¬ 
man very handsomely, but as it is, melting a little 
when the lid is off and in handling, it gave the sales¬ 
man a fair profit. The horse and wagon were main¬ 
tained by me, and carried my name as maker of ice 
cream. This marking of the wagon is an essential, if 
one wish to establish a trade. All the care of the 
cream was taken by the maker, and the salesman was 
allowed to return unsold cream, so that it could be 
made over if necessary. 
Later on, cream was bought from neighbors and the 
butter trade given up, the aim being to get good, rich 
cream, for which 18 cents per quart, dry measure, 
were paid. The cream was to be skimmed, one quart 
from six quarts of milk set in open pans in spring 
houses, the right being reserved to sample cream so 
as to keep up a good grade. As no corn starch or 
other adulterant was used to make body, rich cream 
was an essential in getting good ice cream. The best 
granulated sugar, a fine grade of vanilla bean, Turks 
Island salt, fruit for flavor, and no extracts of any 
kind, were used to produce the ice cream, which thus 
prepared was a wholesome article that sold very 
freely. We found that it cost from 10 to 12 cents per 
quart. The use of horse powgr at first, and of aq 
engine later, was found necessary ; a large addition 
to the selling force followed. 
When it came to supplying city trade, it was found 
that many of the smaller places had so little trade 
that they were of no value to any one, while the 
larger places made it themselves so as to get the profit 
of the manufacturer, or else bought it of some one 
right at hand, so that if trade at a certain hour was 
brisk, they could get a supply at once. This may not 
apply as an objection in some places, but in large 
cities it does. We found our best sales in manufactur¬ 
ing villages near us, and in the after part of the day 
or evening. It would not be practicable to sell it on 
a morning milk route. Some good trade was found 
at boarding houses and hotels, also for parties and 
festivals. What seems the best method to sell, 
would be to have an agent in the city or town to 
attend to all sales, and make collections ; ship to him 
by railroad, or if the cream is to be peddled, let the 
peddler live at the place of sale and ship to him, thus 
saving the wear and tear of team, which is a heavy 
item and the main one which caused me to discontinue 
the business. It used to take 183^ quarts of cream, dry 
measure, for a 40-quart can of vanilla ice cream, while 
17 quarts would make 40 quarts of pineapple flavor, 
there being often two quarts of juice put in. This 
was done by using the paddle after the machine. 
Without the use of the paddle, about 37 quarts would 
be the product. j. p. 
Wawa, Pa. 
Some Practical Rules for the Trade. 
The first steps taken to secure patronage were the 
sending out of circulars to such persons as were 
deemed likely to purchase, and this was followed by 
the delivery of samples from the freezer. I had a milk 
route in the neighboring city, and the samples were 
delivered from the milk wagons during the afternoon 
round. Samples were not all delivered the same day, 
the drivers simply putting out what they had, and 
leaving word as to when they would have more. On 
the next occasion, they sold what they could, putting 
out as samples what was left, until the route was 
covered, and then beginning over again. Orders soon 
began to be given in advance, and the cream for these 
was put up in brick-shaped molds. As the trade in¬ 
creased, small individual molds, pyramids, etc., were 
used for special orders, though the freezer was not 
dispensed with for what might be termed transient 
trade. The molds were filled with any flavor, or with 
two or more flavors as desired, but as a rule, but one 
flavor is sent in the freezer. The small molds were 
packed in special boxes, which were delivered at the 
house, and returned with the molds. Unless fancy 
prices can be obtained, the small molds are impracti¬ 
cable, as they are not only expensive, but consume 
much time in filling and packing. The brick is the 
cheapest and most convenient form of mold, and very 
acceptable to the general customer. These can be 
carried in any kind of box or vessel, and are readily 
repacked when delivered at residences. Fancy molds 
of all kinds are more difficult to fill, pack and handle, 
and are generally required for particular occasions 
only. 
The cream should be of superior and uniform 
quality, and it is only by careful attention to this 
that a trade can be secured. People will not. patronize 
you unless you can (jive them something better than they 
can get elsewhere. Do not make a cheap cream because 
some of your patrons want the earth for the price of a 
handful of soil. Better sell them the best quality at 
the price of poor, until you can afford to drop them. 
To secure uniform cream, the separator is of great 
value, and should be used if possible. The choice of 
a freezer is also a very important factor in the mak¬ 
ing of ice cream, and should command careful at¬ 
tention; neither should one neglect to be prepared 
to repack the molds in ice when delivered at the 
house, especially if they are to be transferred from 
your shipping box. Patrons will expect it to keep in 
good order until they use it, and no pains should be 
spared to see that it does, within reasonable limits. 
The small fruits of the farm can be utilized to 
great advantage, and one must not neglect ices and 
other delicacies of that class ; but do not attempt fruit 
flavors with syrups. Nearly all the fruits can be pur¬ 
chased preserved in their natural flavors. To secure 
an ice cream trade, requires patient and persistent 
effort, the prodigal expenditure of samples, and a 
first-class article. Any one who has worked up a 
milk or butter route, will realize some of the difficul¬ 
ties to be overcome. Though the cost of a plant is 
greater, ice cream is far 
more satisfactory and prof¬ 
itable than either milk or 
butter, provided a high- 
class route be secured. Be¬ 
gin in a small way with 
freezer and packers only, 
purchasing the more ex¬ 
pensive molds as occasion 
demands. Sample the best 
ice cream to be purchased 
in your locality, and try 
to make better, h. g. o. 
Clifton, Va. 
THE BUSINESS HARE. 
A NEW INDU8TRY TO GO 
WITH POULTRY. 
Last winter, I visited A. 
II. Hawley, who is breeding 
Belgian hares on a farm 
near this place. He had on 
hand about 400 hares of 
all ages, 120 of which are 
high-grade breeding does. 
The rest, with the excep¬ 
tion of about 20 bucks kept 
for breeding purposes, are 
young stock, from one week 
to six months old. 
The main breeding house, built expressly for the 
purpose, is 16x24 feet, with six-foot corner posts and 
a quarter-pitch shingle roof. The sides are double 
boarded, with tarred paper between. The south side 
has 3x6-foot hotbed sashes inserted up and down every 
three feet, with wooden doors to close over them at 
night and in very cold weather. In each gable of the 
building near the peak, is a ventilator, which may 
be opened or closed at will from the floor by means 
of a small cord. This house has accommodations for 
44 breeding does and 6 bucks. The pens are arranged 
around three sides of the building in tiers three pens 
high. Those for the does are 3x4 feet and 20 inches 
high in the clear, while those for the bucks are 2x3 
feet and the same height. The partitions are made 
of boards extending six inches up from the floors of 
the pens, the rest of the partition being wire netting, 
one-inch mesh. This insures perfect ventilation on all 
sides except the sides against the wall. A box such 
as canned tomatoes are packed in, is used for a nest. 
A round hole seven inches in diameter, is cut in one 
end for an entrance, and one-half of the top is made 
into a cover. This is placed in the pen one week be¬ 
fore the young are expected to arrive, and taken out 
as soon as they leave the nest. 
The rest of the stock is kept in houses which were 
formerly used for pigeons and poultry. They have 
all been arranged to conform as nearly as possible to 
the above plan. In speaking of feed, Mr. Hawley 
said, “Clover is greatly relished, and is the staple 
