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ROCHESTER, N. Y. — SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1854 
! WHOLE NO. 213 
VOLUME V. NO. 5 J 
you heat the cream of these million of little 
butter bags too hot, they will parch open, just 
like parched corn, and the yellow oil will run 
out, making in one ease a scum of melted but¬ 
ter. The only difference is that the cream is 
not salted, and the butter is. So while thaw¬ 
ing the cream, you must not set it where it will 
melt, and when you put the pot into warm, 
water, you must not have hot water. Have the 
water so that you can hold your hand in it, 
and do not think of driving business, or you 
will have a mess of melted cream to float over 
the butter-milk pot.” 
When the milk is “just barely milk warm,” 
the churn should be scalded and the cream put 
in, and then commence churning. The butter 
will come in ten minutes, or perhaps in five, 
but butter that comes in five minutes is not as 
good as that churned double the time. If the 
milk is too warm, the butter will be white—if 
a little warmer, it will not come at all—if too 
cool, it will froth up and not come. 
This matter of frothing is not well under¬ 
stood by most butter-makers. We copy, there¬ 
fore, “Dairyman’s” explanation: 
“If you put the cream into the churn as 
warm as dishwater, it will not eotne: in this 
case let the churn stand open till the cream 
cools down so as to be the least bit warm to 
your finger—then tne Dutter will certainly 
come shortly. But if the cream is cool and 
not warm at all, then it will not come. When 
may you know that it is certainly loo cool? 
Namely, just when it f roths up a great ways 
in the churn. You may churn a week and it 
will only not come, all the more. So stop at 
once, turn it out into the cream pot and warm 
it again, and be more careful; for, if it is just 
a little warm, it certainly will come. Notice. 
It will almost always froth up to rector four 
inches, but after churning five o~ ten minutes, 
the froth looks creamy, and -does v not rise any 
higher, then no matter: it will come soon. But 
if a light, white froth fills the churn, and if, by 
thrusting your finger down through into the 
cream, you find the cream cool and even cold, 
then turn it out—it is of no use to churn. But 
if there are several inches of froth, and still the 
cream is really warm, then churn away. If the 
cream is too warm it will not froth at all—not 
a bubble; and if, on taking off the cover, it 
steams up well, you had better let the cover be 
off and cool down till it is just barely warm, 
then churn. But if it is so very warm as not 
to froth, and steams so that you can hardly see 
down to the cream, it never wall come so—it 
must cool down some.” 
The object of scalding the churn just before 
putting in the cream, is to warm it—in summer, 
cold water should be used to cool it Another 
thing—the churn must not be too full; there 
must be room for the dash to break the cream, 
or the butter cannot be made. 
Dairvman” 
Spffflw's Sural gltto-fjarkr: 
A QUARTO WEEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary, and Family Newspape: 
genious, and to some extent undoubtedly true. 
But we have never seen any good effect follow 
the direct application of potash to wheat, bar¬ 
ley, turnips, &c., while, if the theory is right, it 
should have given great crops. We come to 
the conclusion, therefore, that the increase of 
crops derived from liming, is owing, in a great 
degree and in most cases, to the increased 
amount of organic matter, especially of ammo¬ 
nia, which, by accelerating decomposition in 
the soil, lime renders available to the plants.— 
There are some objections to this view, but on 
the whole, it is the only one which we can, at 
present, reconcile with demonstrated facts res¬ 
pecting the value of ammonia to wheat and 
other cereal crops. 
The old English practice of liming, then, is 
one of exhaustion. It increases the crops, not 
because it supplies, like barn-yard manure, Pe¬ 
ruvian guano, sulphate ammonia, &c., the ele¬ 
ments which the plants most need, but because 
it renders what already exists in the soil avail¬ 
able. If these elements were not in the soil, 
lime, in most cases, would do no good. And 
it is found that, when land has been once limed, 
the second application is much less beneficial 
than the first. Under such circumstances it is 
not to be wondered at, that, guided by experi¬ 
ence and the teachings of true science, the 
quantity of lime used as manure in England, is 
less and less every year, while every effort is 
made to increase, by keeping more stock and 
purchasing American oil-cake and other cattle 
foods, the barn-yard manure; and if more than 
this is required, by buying guano, sulphate of 
ammonia, &c., which of themselves supply 
those elements of which the soil is most defi¬ 
cient We do not anticipate, therefore, that 
lime, except in rare cases and for special ob- 
▼’Ul »»w V><i extaufifcoly u«>J aa a manure 
in this country. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOOKE, 
assisted nr 
JOSEPH HARRIS, in tlie Practical Departments: 
EDWARD WEBSTER, in the Literary and News Dep’ts. 
Corresponding Editors: 
J. IF. Bixry,—II. C. White, — T. E. Wktmore. 
Tin; Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unique and 
beautiful in appearance, and unsurpassed in Value, Purity 
and Variety of Contents. Its conductors earnestly labor 
to make it a Reliable Guide on the important Practical 
Subjects connected with the business of those wliose in¬ 
terests it advocates. It embraces more Agricultural, Horti¬ 
cultural, Scientific, Mechanical, Literary and News Matter, 
interspersed with many appropriate and handsome engrav¬ 
ings, than any other paper published in this Country,— 
rendering it a complete Agricultural, Literary and 
Family Newspaper. 
XT For Terms, &c., sek last pack. 
fJJSEHQ put 
PATENT IMPROVED GANG PLOW. 
cost of drawing would be nearly one-third less 
Any way you can look at it—the economy of 
burning greerr wood is more than questionable. 
Every farmer should look at, aud determine 
to keep a stock of wood on hand, sufficient to 
last one year, at least And he may take an¬ 
other look at the difference between wood sea¬ 
soned just enough, and under cover, and that 
which has lain out doors until all the sap-wood 
has become rotten, and one-half its value been 
lost by exposure to the weather.— a. 
Our engraving represents an improved Gang 
Plow, patented by Killam & Yalleau, of 
Scottsville, in this county. 
The pole has a horizontal motion, with which 
the wheels are so connected that the ma- 
machine may be easily turned, the wheel on the 
outside of the circle adjusting perpeudicularly 
to the beam—the other at the same time form¬ 
ing a pivot on which the plows may turn. The 
wheels can be raised so as to give the plows 
any required depth, or lowered so that they 
can be driven anywhere on- the farm. It i3 
said that the wheels keep the plow steady, with¬ 
out holding, in the roughest ground. The 
draught comes wholly on the beam, consequent¬ 
ly there is little strain on the pole, so that it 
never galls the necks of the team, and thus is 
obviated one of the strongest objections to the 
use of gang plows or cultivators. The pole 
can be arranged for either two or three horses 
abreast, as circumstances require. 
We have seen this implement, and believe 
it will prove far more efficient than the ordinar 
ry gang plows, and, in many cases, much pref¬ 
erable to the common cultivators. The prac¬ 
tice of preparing land for wheat by one good 
plowing, and then cultivating, harrowing, &c., 
till the soil is in good tilth for sowing, is found 
to be much better and cheaper than the old 
fashioned summer fallow. This gang plow will 
not of course “ break up,” but it will enable the 
farmer, on any but the stiffest clays, to dispense 
with all except the one plowing—thus saving 
much labor in the busiest season of the year. 
Six acres is a common day’s work, with three 
horses and this gang plow. 
Joseph Williams & Co., West Henrietta, 
Monroe Co., N. Y., are making these plows, 
aud they have already sold quite a number in 
Livingston, Monroe, and other of the best 
wheat growing Counties in the State, where 
they are said to give entire satisfaction. 
Progress and Improvement. 
Eds. Rural :—In .the first number of the 
Rural, present volume, I noticed a statement 
under the head of “ a good crop,” which I deem 
worthy of notice; it going so far to show the 
reward of labor and well directed husbandry, 
as well- as to prove the necessity of improve¬ 
ment in the great business of agriculture. 
Mr. Jackman therein states that he raised on 
nine and three-fourths acres, four hundred aud 
eight bushels of wheat, (about 42 bushels per 
acre,) and sold it for §1,50 per bushel; all with 
“ a slight manuring, &u” Now I propose to 
show what I have done the last year, and leave 
others to decide as it regards “ good land,” &c. 
I had a piece of land containing 13 acres, 
six acres of which had been planted to com 
three years in succession, previous to sowing it 
to wheat, without any manuring. I plowed it 
in the fore part of the summer, cultivated it 
two or three times to kill thistles, and then 
plowed it once more preparatory to sowing it 
to wheat The remaining 7 acres, I sowed af¬ 
ter taking off a crop of broom corn; it being 
the fourth crop of the same kind in succession 
without even “ a slight manuring”—harvested 
the broom com about the fifth of Sept (1852) 
—cut the stalks, placed them in the furrow 
and covered them about seven inches deep. I 
then sowed about 26 bushels of white Soule 
wheat on the whole piece, draggingin the seed 
both ways, and afterwards rolled it with a 
heavy roller. Threshed the crop about the 
last of August, (1853,) drew it to the mill, aud 
had five hundred and eighty-three bushels and 
a half good clean wheat, besides three or four 
bushels of cleanings; averaging a trifle over 
forty-five bushels per acre; sold it for §1,50 
per bushel. If my friend Jackman can beat 
this, then I will try again and manure it 
II. B. Smith. 
Aron, Jan. 21,1854. 
BUTTER-MAKING IN WINTER. 
We find in the Maine Farmer of the 15th 
ult, a valuable but lengthy article from “ Dai¬ 
ryman” on the general subject of Butter-ma¬ 
king—especially of setting milk and churning 
cream in freezing weather. We condense the 
most important suggestions thereof, for the 
benefit of our readers. 
Setting the Milk. —Experience has taught 
“ our dairymen,” that milk must be set either 
in a warm place, or a cold one where it will 
freeze, to have the cream rise quickly and 
freely. If the pans are set in a cool place in 
the winter, the milk will grow bitter before the 
cream rises. Put it when it freezes partially 
or even wholly, and the cream comes up as 
perfectly as in summer. 
To get the cream off of solid ice, let the pan 
stand a while in a warm room, and it will come 
off cleaner and easier. 
Churning.—Temperature of the Cream .— 
It is said that the cream should be at a tem¬ 
perature of 55 ° when in the churn, and this is 
doubtless correct How to get it there, and 
how to know when it is about right, without a 
thermometer, is explained by the writer before 
us. The cream is “ice-cream” perhaps, and 
the manner of thawing it is of some impor¬ 
tance. Stand it in the corner by the fire over 
night, or the cream pot may be set in a vessel 
of warm water, or the cream may be put in a 
tin pan, and then placed in a larger pan of 
warm water, until “the cream feels just the 
least bit warm to the end of the finger, or not 
quite milk warm” when it is ready for churning. 
It should be remembered it is one tiling to 
thaw frozen cream, and quite another to melt 
it When cream is heated too hot, there is a 
yellow scum on the top of the cream pot, 
which is just the same as melted butter. Melt¬ 
ed butter can never be butter again, nor can 
melted cream be either cream or butter—or 
anything but melted butter, by any process of 
churning. “ Dairyman” explains this as fol¬ 
lows: 
“ Butter exists in milk in very minute par¬ 
ticles, diffused throughout the whole mass, and 
by setting hi a summer temperature, or in a 
frosty room, these particles rise to the surface 
and form a coating called cream. The butter 
particles are really little bags or sacks of but¬ 
ter, or butter oil. The little minute bag is a 
thin film of curd,—just the same thing as cheese 
, curd,—and this bag is full of butter. Now, i A 
eral rule, peaty, mucky, or low swampy lands are 
most benefited, but they require a very large 
amount to render the application decidedly 
aud permanently beneficial. On such soils, 
three hundred bushels per acre is ultimately 
the most profitable quantity to use; and indeed, 
on all soils where liming is decidedly beneficial, 
a large quantity should be applied at once.— 
Oyster shell lime from the fineness of its par¬ 
ticles has a quicker effect than ordinary lime¬ 
stone lime, and need not be used in such large 
quantities. It is plain that liming is an expen¬ 
sive means of enriching the soil, and that it 
should only be resorted to where other means 
will not bring about the same result. 
Science did not teach the art of liming. It 
was the result of observation and experience; 
perhaps originally, like the use of plaster, of 
accident. And it is somewhat remarkable that 
science has not yet thrown much satisfactory 
light on the rationale of the process. There 
arc many theories, all of which have some ap¬ 
pearance of correctness, but which are unfor¬ 
tunately contradictory. We shad not stop to 
examine them all. There is probably some 
truth in most of them. The three most prom¬ 
inent reasons assigned are, first, lime is a con¬ 
stituent of all agricultural plants, and therefore 
lime is beneficial. Second, lime by a well 
known chemical process, renders the insoluble 
potash of the soil available to plants, and as 
plants contain a large quantity of potash, it is 
to be presumed that by liming, which is equiv¬ 
alent to applying potash, we greatly increase 
the crop. Third, lime greatly accelerates the 
decomposition of organic matter, changing it 
into suitable food for plants. 
To the first reason we say, that if lime was 
beneficial, merely from supplying an actual 
constituent of the plant, one hundredth part of 
the quantity which experience shows to be 
best, would be amply sufficient; and a few hun¬ 
dred pounds of plaster, from its greater solu¬ 
bility, would bo much better than several tons 
of lime. Lime, however, is very beneficial in 
many cases where plaster has no good effect. 
For these two reasons, we think the benefit of 
liming is not because it supplies lime to the 
plant The second reason assigned is most iu- 
BNSEASONED FUEL, 
A few calculations relative to the compara¬ 
tive value of green and seasoned wood for fuel, 
may serve to remind those interested of the im¬ 
portance of attention to the subject Every 
body knows that green wood is poor stuff for 
kindling a fire, though some contend that it 
will keep it up as well as seasoned, if applied 
constantly, not sufferiug the heat to go down. 
That is, if you have a good fire to season it in, 
you can buru green wood as well as dry. But 
to the calculations: 
A green stick of wood weighing 100 lbs., 
when seasoned weighs but 66 lbs., or such is 
about the average of wood commonly used for 
fuel. In the seasoned stick you have all the 
wood—all that will support combustion—you 
have only got rid of 34 lbs. of water. Now, 
water will not bum, and if present in fuel, it 
has to be converted into steam, at the expense 
of that fuel, and it will take five times as much 
heat to make steam of water, as it will simply 
to bring it to the boiling point Here is seen 
at once, the poor economy of burning green 
wood. 
We have shown that about one-third of the 
weight of green wood is water — now, how 
many barrels of water are there in a cord?— 
There are 128 cubic feet in a cord, which allow¬ 
ing two-fifths for vacant space between the 
sticks, leaves 77 solid fcet of wood,—one-third 
of which is water—equal to over six barrels of 
water in every cord of green wood. The heat 
required to evaporate this water, would bring 
thirty barrels to the boiling point. And this 
is not the only expense. If the wood was cut, 
properly piled and seasoned in the woods, the 
Churns and Churn-dashers. 
likes the common dasher churn better than any 
other, and a great many butter-makers agree 
with him. If the cream is right, the butter will 
come as soon with one churn as another, and 
the simplest is the best. 
It is a fault of most churn-dashers, that the 
prongs or wings are .wider than necessary or 
useful. With dash prongs an inch and a half 
wide, the work of churning is much lighter 
than with them three inches wide, and the but¬ 
ter will come quite as soon. 
Working the Butter. —If butter comes white 
and soft, it is not much matter; the churn should 
stand open until it cools off, and it should 
then be taken out, or it may be taken out to 
cool in the tray for a few minutes, and then be 
worked and salted If cooled too long—so as 
to crumble—put a little milk-warm water to it 
In working over the butter a second time, set 
the butter first in a warm room for three or 
four hours until it softens.—a 
TO LOVERS OF PUMPKIN PIE 
The subscriber has two quarts of seeds of 
the sweet potato squash for distribution among 
the readers of the Rural. I will send ten seeds 
in an envelope to any one writing for them.— 
If they enclose a stamp, it will be used to pre¬ 
pay the letter. My compensation will be 
ample in the pleasure of passing round a good 
article. Last fall they were grown in a potato 
field without extra attention, and weighed from 
10 to 50 lbs. We have kept them in a cellar 
with potatoes, and they are now as sound as 
when picked, and, if possible, of better quality; 
we have pumpkin pies from them in perfection. 
I. W. Briggs. 
West Macedon, Wayne Co., N. Y. 
Plaster for Peas. —A correspondent of 
the Country Gentleman, has used plaster for 
15 years on all grain crops, potatoes, <fcc., and 
thinks he derived no benefit from it, except on 
peas and grass. He applied plaster to one 
ridge of peas and left one without. The one 
with plaster exhibited a dark green, thrifty ap¬ 
pearance, and yielded one bushel and eighteen 
quarts, while the one, the same size, not plas¬ 
tered, was pale and unthrifty, and yielded two 
quarts less than a bushel 
Barns should always be on the same side of 
the road as the house, and back of it if possi¬ 
ble. When the bam is near the highway, aud 
on the opposite side from the house, the road 
is frequently filled with implements, &c., and it 
offers greater temptation to thieves to loaf 
around and steal than a well enclosed bam 
within sight of or contiguous to the house. 
