MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
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THE MILK QUESTION AGMN. 
In the New England Farmer is a state¬ 
ment of the cost, of the necessary buildings 
and machinery, with the partial explana¬ 
tion of the process of condensing milk, to¬ 
gether with a statement of the cost and 
profits of the business per day, with the 
milk costing 12^ cents per gallon. Now, 
the farmers of this section are completely 
at the mercy of the contractors in selling 
their milk, and for seven mouths of the year 
receive only this price for their milk, and 
are liable, even at that, to have their milk 
returned on their hands as sour; or if they 
have more I ban they want, not to be taken 
at all, thus leaving ft on their hands; and as 
they have not made preparations for utiliz¬ 
ing it in any other way, it is a complete loss 
io many eases. If the statement is correct,I 
think it will he a good way out of the diffi¬ 
culty, as it would not only be a good opera¬ 
tion for those most immediately concerned, 
but by taking so much milk out of the mar¬ 
ket-, it would make a better prioe for that left 
(by reason rtf smaller supply). If, therefore, 
yua can give me any information in regard 
to the matter, you will confer a great favor, 
as well as help settle the question of how 
best to market the milk.—JAMBS M. ItiLEr, 
Boston, Mass. 
We are glad to see public attention di¬ 
rected to the subject of condensed milk. 
The city milk consumer has been subjected 
to frauds in milk dilution and adulteration 
year after year, with no hope of redress. 
Farmers in the country, who send their 
milk by rail to the city, are often at the 
mercy of the middlemen, while the difficul¬ 
ty of keeping milk sound and in good order 
until it is delivered to the consumers, seem 
to demand a radical change in the way milk 
is usually put upon the market. Again, 
milk as it comes from the cow, as is well 
known, contains 87 per cent of water. To 
transport this water over the railway for 
long distances, and in carls, to the door of 
the consumer, entails a heavy expense, 
which must either be taken from the pro¬ 
ducer or charged to the consumer. We see 
no ready way of obviating the difficulty of 
putting pure, healthy milk upon the city 
and village markets, except it be by the es¬ 
tablishment of milk condensing factories, 
and the substitution of condensed milk for 
the vile ltuid under the name of milk now 
generally sold in eilies. 
As a sanitary measure the use of con¬ 
densed milk, in preference to the crude ar¬ 
ticle as sold in the cities, can hardly be 
over-estimated. There can bo little doubt 
but that a vast train of diseases is iuduced 
or aggravated by the use of crude milk as 
it comes to the city consumer. Even in the 
country and upon the farm milk not unfre- 
queutly contains germs of disease and is 
unwholesome, though perhaps unsuspected 
by the dairyman who produces it. Now 
the process of condensing destroys these 
germs or living organisms while the milk is 
fresh, and before they have time to multi¬ 
ply and spread their accumulative poison 
throughout the fluid, lienee condensed 
milk may be regarded as more reliably 
healthy than any ordinary specimen of 
crude milk. 
Condensed milk has been approved by the 
mod distinguished chemists, medical and 
food authorities, and the general adoption 
of this milk for infants would contribute 
largely to decrease the t< rrible mortality 
arising from unhealthy food given to chil¬ 
dren. 
Plain condensed milk—that is, milk man¬ 
ufactured without the addition of sugar- 
will keep sound and in good order for sev¬ 
eral days. It is simply crude milk elimi¬ 
nated of 75 per oent. of its bulk in water, 
and is sent to the consumer in large cans, 
and sold by the quart iu the same way as 
crude milk. We do not see why a certain 
number of these establishments could not 
be made profitable to milk producers. 
The cost of transportation and the hand¬ 
ling of the milk would be seventy-five per 
cent, less than for crude milk, while its 
longer keeping qualities aud uniform char¬ 
acter ought to render it popular with the 
consumer. 
It must be remarked, however, in this 
connection, that coudeused milk manufac¬ 
ture requires skill and experience in its 
operators aud much attention to details. 
Provision must be made that only good, 
clean, healthy milk be received at the fac¬ 
tory; and unless this mutter is thoroughly 
attended to aud a good reliable article 
manufactured, the condensing business will 
be liable to turn out a failure. As lias been 
stated before io these columns, a factory 
aud its appliances will cost from $10,000 to 
$20,000, according to its size and the ma¬ 
chinery with which it is furnished. 
DAIRY NOTES. 
I have commenced putting up a dairy 
house or creamery, aud want to ask you a 
batch of questions, and wish yon would an¬ 
swer through the Rural New-Yorker. 
1. I want to know what is the most ap¬ 
proved method of setting milk, (my purpose 
being to make butter and skim cheese,) hav¬ 
ing plenty of cold spring water; and by 
piping thirteen rods we get nine feet fall. 
2. What, is the suitable kind of pipe to use 
for such purpose ? 
3. What kind of apparatus is necessary to 
make cheese for fifty cows? Please answer 
iu detail. 
4. What is the usual price paid for milk 
when sold to factorymen—say in Western 
New York? 
5. What does sweet, cream butter bring in 
market as compared with other kinds, also 
skim cheese? 
C. 1 - it difficult, to churn such cream ? 
Why don't all of these dairy apparatus 
manufacturers advertise their fixtures in 
the Rural ; they must know that all dairy¬ 
men take that paper, or should.— Austin 
13. Culver, Westfield, N. Y., May JO. 
1. TriE most approved method of setting 
milk for cream is to have cold spring wat er 
constantly flowing about the vessels con¬ 
taining the milk, so as to keep it. at uniform 
temperature of about CO'Fahr. There arc 
two methods for effecting this object, viz., 
by having tanks or pools sunk in the earth, 
which are to receive the water. In this 
case vessels of tin, 20 inches long and 8 inch¬ 
es iu diameter, are used to hold the milk. 
They arc filled within 3 inches of the top 
and immersed in the water to the depth of 
the milk. This is termed “deep setting," 
and is very extensively practiced at the 
butter factories where large quantities of 
milk are manipulated. 
A less expensive method, and one very 
much liked by some, is to use the Jewett 
pans. They are constructed to hold the en¬ 
tire mess of milk from a herd of 20 up to 
100, or more, cows. The pans are arranged 
so as to allow water to flow under the milk, 
aud four pans are sufficient. The milk is 
set from three to four inches deep in the 
pans, and the flow of water under the milk 
holds it at uniform temperature. There 
arc a number of butter factories in Frank¬ 
lin Co., N. Y., where this apparatus is used, 
and they report a good yield of butter. 
2. Good pine logs are suitable for conduct¬ 
ing ttie water, and perhaps, on the whole, 
are as good as anything. Cement.pi ping, 
lead aud iron are used. In the matter Of 
piping wo should be governed somewhat by 
the expense. 
3. There are so many kiuds of cheese mak¬ 
ing apparatus, all good, that it would seem 
almost invidious to designate any particular 
one. We should advise our correspondent 
to consult "Practical Dairy Husbandry,” 
published at the Rural office, which de¬ 
scribes pretty fully several kinds of appa¬ 
ratus in use among dairymen. We may 
remark, however, that for a small quantity 
of milk —say from Jifty cows only, ami for 
making only the cheese—the “ self-beaters ” 
as they are called, or vats that have heaters 
underneath, or attached, are in all respects’ 
efficient. But iu butter aud skim cheese 
manufacture, the vats may be supplied with 
heat from a steam boiler, while an engine to 
supply power for driving the churns will be 
found convenient. Of course, the expense 
is greater for this than for the other; but 
when there is much cream to churn, we 
should prefer it. 
4. There is no stated price for milk when 
sold to factorymen. Tlfe price is usually 
regulated in accordance with the price of 
cheese, less the cost of manufacturing and 
furnishing. Thus, for instance, if ten 
pounds of milk, on an average, is taken for 
one pound of cheese which sells for 14c., 
and if two cents per pound be charged for 
“ manufacturing and furnishing" the cheese 
for market, then the ten pounds of milk is 
worth 12e. In other words, ten pounds of 
milk is worth at the factory two cents less 
than the average price of a pound of cheese 
as sold from the factories. 
5. A fancy article of butter, whether 
from sweet or sour cream, brings the high¬ 
est price in market. The butter will be 
ranked in market according to its quality. 
AVe do not understand that there is any 
premium for “sweet cream butter.” Skim¬ 
med cheese also commands a price in ac¬ 
cordance with its quality. As a general 
thing, skim cheese of fair quality brings 
from two to five cents less than whole milk 
cheese per pound. We have known instan¬ 
ces where small, fancy-shaped “skims” sold 
as high as whole milk cheese. 
G. Cream chums more readily when it 
goes to the churn slightly acid; it is said 
also to give the best yield when churned in 
this condition, and we should so recommend. 
Alomcfiltc (LTcmomir. 
BILL OF FARE FOR A WEEK. 
Monday’s Dinner. — My Monday’s 
breakfast was published on page 214, Rural 
New-Yorker, March 30. Here is my din¬ 
ner. As it is wash day, I shall have to make 
arrangements accordingly. I have baking 
to do (wffiicli I do not mean shall happen 
again on Monday as long as I do my own 
work). First of all, my sponge for my bread 
is light; I must mix that, and while it is 
rising, T will make some mince pies. I keep 
the mince all prepared, and then it is 
handy. I will bake two or three, for they 
will keep a few days, and other pics, or 
almost all others, are better to be eaten the 
day they are baked. T will bake cookies, 
ginger snaps and fruit cake, as they will 
all keep, if made good. I contend it, is 
economy to make anything so it w ill keep, 
if not eaten at once. I like to keep fruit 
cake on hand, for it makes a very good des¬ 
sert with a cup of coffee, in case of unex¬ 
pected company. 
Now that I am done baking, I am going 
to have roast beef for dinner. The roast 
weighs six pounds; we have to roast a piece 
as large as that, in order to have it good. 
We have dinner at one, and. as it takes 
lifteen minutes to a pound for it to bake, it 
is time it was in the oven. The oven wants 
to be quite hot, I think, for the meat re¬ 
tains the juices better to have the oven hot 
at first. 1 do not season my roast, until a 
few minutes before it is done. I will have 
potatoes, turnips and baked squash; and 
w r hile they are cooking 1 will set the table. 
1 want plates, glasses, napkins, &c. 1 will 
have tea. so I will put on the tea service. 1 
will have grape jelly and pickles, as they 
are both good with a roast; also, brown 
bread, white crackers and ginger snaps, as 
it will not injure the crackers or ginger 
snaps if they are not eaten. For a dessert 
1 wdll have mince pie, cheese, and some 
apples. I like to see fruit, on a table. It 
always tastes good, too, to most people, 
after dinner, and it is, 1 believe, considered 
wholesome. 
I will now take up my dinner, as it is 
done. I will mash the potatoes, turnips, 
and squash; put them iu vegetable dishes 
and smooth them nicely down ; take up my 
meat, w hich is done just right. I have just 
1 ried it with a fork, and the juice looks 
right. I will put the roast on a plat ter— 
not too big a platter nor too small; l dis¬ 
like to see a small roast on a large platter. 
Now my dinner is ready, and good enough 
for any one who likes it. One gets accus¬ 
tomed to what, our family likes, and we 
must cook accordingly, i think in a family 
of fivo or six. if they all like one kind of 
meat, there's no sense in getting more than 
one kind—if you have soup, especially. I 
intended to have had soup to-day, but 
could not get around to it; but if you are 
all w'ell and hungry, you will make out, I 
think, quite a good dinner. In my next I 
will tell you what I had for tea. m. n. r. 
Union Springs, N. Y. 
FLAVORING WITH LEAVES. 
D. Bury, in The Garden, says:—Leaves 
are more or less popular for garnishing, but 
it has often surprised mo that, they are so 
little used for flavoring. With the excep¬ 
tion of sweet and bitter herbs grown chiefly 
for the purpose and parsley, which is neither 
bitter nor sweet, but the most popular of all 
flavoring plants, Comparatively few other 
leaves are used. Perhaps I ought also to 
except the sweet bay, which is popular in 
rice and other puddings, and certainly im¬ 
parts one of the most pleasant and exquisite 
flavors. But, on the other hand, w-hat a 
waste there is of the flavoring properties 
of peach, almond, and laurel leaves, so rich¬ 
ly charged wdth the essence of bitter al¬ 
monds, so much used in most kitchens! Of 
course, such leaves must be used with cau¬ 
tion, but so must the spirit as well. An in¬ 
fusion of these could readily be made, either 
green or dry, and a tea or table spoonful of 
the flavoring liquor used to taste. 
One of the most useful and harmless of all 
leaves for flavoring is that of the common 
syriuga, AVhen cucumbers are scarce, these 
are a perfect substitute iu salads or any¬ 
thing in which that flavor is desired. The 
t ast e is not only like that of cucumbers, but 
identical—a Curious instance of the correla¬ 
tion of flavors in widely different families. 
Again, the young leaves of cucumbers have 
a striking likeness in the way of flavor to 
that of the fruit. The same may be affirm¬ 
ed of carrot tops, which are as like carrots 
in taste as may be. In most gardens there 
is a prodigious waste of celery flavor iu the 
sacrifice of the external leaves and their 
partially blanched footstalks. Scores of 
sticks of celery are cut up into soup, when 
the outsides would fla vor it equally well or 
better. 
The young leaves of gooseberries added to 
bottled fruit give a fresher flavor and a 
greener color to pies and tarts. The leaves 
of the flowering currant give a sort of inter¬ 
mediate flavor between that of black cur¬ 
rants and red. Orange, citron, and lemon 
leaves impart a flavoring equal to that of 
t he fruit and rind combined, ami Komewdiat 
different from both. A few leaves added to 
pies or boiled in the milk used to bake with 
rice, or formed into crusts or paste, impart 
an admirable and almost inimitable bou¬ 
quet. In short, leaves are not half so much 
used for seasoning purposes as they might, 
be. 
- +■++ - 
ODDS AND ENDS, 
New Mode of Washing,—The ill effects 
of soda on linen have given rise to a new 
method of washing, which has been exten¬ 
sively adopted in Germany, and introduced 
into Belgium. The operation consists in 
dissolving two pounds of soap in about three 
gallons of water as hot as the hand can bear, 
and adding to this one tablespoonful of tur¬ 
pentine and three of liquid ammonia; the 
mixture must then be w r ell stirred, and the 
linen steeped in it for two or three hours, 
taking cure to cover up the vessel contain¬ 
ing them as nearly hermetically as possible. 
The clot lies arc afterward washed out and 
rinsed in the usual way. The soap and 
water may be reheated, and used a second 
time, but in that case half a tablespoonful 
of turpentine and a tablespoonful of ammo¬ 
nia must be added. The process is said to 
cause a great economy of time, labor, and 
fuel. The linen scarcely suffers at all, as 
t here is little necessity for rubbing, and its 
cleanliness and color are perfect. The am- 
Miouiaaud turpentiue, although their deter¬ 
sive action is great, have no injurious effect 
upon the linen; and while the former eva¬ 
porates immediately, the smell of the latter 
is said to disappear entirely during the dry¬ 
ing of the clothes. 
Home-Made Candy. — Use a new tin 
basin; put into it four tablespoons of water, 
one pound of “ coffee A ” sugar, ono tca- 
spoonful of good cream tartar; boil, stirring 
constantly to avoid burning. After it be¬ 
gins to have a soapy appearance, try it 
often, by dropping a little into cold water, 
and if done, it will at once become brittle. 
Butter an earthen dish, and pour the hot 
candy into it, that it may cool just enough 
t o handle. Flavor to taste with oil of pep¬ 
permint, win tergreen, sassafras, or lemon. 
Two drops of oil will flavor it strong. For 
variety, divide into three or four parts, and 
flavor differently, by touching one kind of 
oil to each; work iu the hands at once; the 
more it is pulled the whiter it will get. 
lloarliound Candy is made, in every 
respect, like the other, except after it is 
cooked enough, add to the same quantity, 
while boiling, one tablespoon of the fluid 
extract of hoarhonnd; then pour it into a 
dish large enough that it ma3 r flow out thin; 
buttor the edge of a case knife, and indent 
the candy on top, while it is yet soft, in 
shape of sticks, or in squares; after it is 
cold, it will follow these indentations in 
breaking.—M on A, Titusville. Pa. 
llow to Mix Mustard.—Mustard should 
be mixed with water that, lias been boiled 
and allowed to cool; hot water destroys its 
essential properties, and raw cold water 
might cause it to ferment. Put the mus¬ 
tard iu a cup, with a small pinch of salt, 
and mix with it very gradually sufficient 
boiled water to make it drop from the spoon 
without being watery. Stir and mix well 
and rub the lumps well down with the back 
of a spoon, as mustard properly mixed 
should be perfectly free from these. The 
mustard pot should not be more than half 
full, or rather less, if it will not be used for 
a day or two, as the mustard is so much 
better when fresh made. 
.Stamp for Stamping Butter.—Mrs. C. 
E. Keat asks “ how can I get a nice stamp 
for stamping butter?" Most dealers in 
wooden ware keep them. If those near 
you do not, take a piece of hard maple, 
mark on one side of it tin*, outlines of the 
figure you desire to produce on the butter, 
and ask your brave husband or noble boys 
to carve out these figures for you, so that 
when you press it upon the butter ball it 
will leave just such a device—say your own 
name — as you xvaut. It is easily enough 
done. 
Domestic Inquiries.—S. A. H. asks for 
a recipe for preserving eggs in lime water 
and brine. 
