words, the milk has been damaged before 
it reaches the manufacturers. In the case 
detailed by our correspondent, the fault, 
we should say, lies in Jtha milk before it 
reaches the factory. Still it would be well 
to examine the rennet, and be sure that the 
taint does not come from this source. 
Great rare should bo taken atalltimes, but 
especially in hot weather, in selecting good, 
sweet rennets, lu soaking the skins and 
preparing for use, stone crocks should be 
used, as wooden vessels are liablo to taint; 
and when once tainted t hey are difficult to 
cleanse, and will not unfrequently spoil a 
good batch of rennets before suspicion is 
aroused that anything is wrong. We have 
often seen tainted milk and floating curds 
from the use of tainted rennet; hence, man¬ 
ufacturers should look sharply that taints 
do not come from this source. 
Nothing is said concerning the water at 
the factory; but as an agitator is used, it 
is presumed that the milk is cooled by 
water running under the vats during the 
night. If the milk room is well Ventilated 
and everything is kept sweet and clean 
about the premises, we may reasonably con¬ 
clude that the cause of the trouble is in the 
milk before it reaches the factory. 
Of course, from a brief description of the 
facts as given, it would be mere guess work 
to hit upon the real cause of the trouble. 
It may possibly come from the milk of one, 
two, three or more patrons, but wo can 
suggest some of the leading causes by which 
our correspondent may investigate, aud 
possibly discover, whore the trouble origi¬ 
nates. Perhaps tho most common source of 
injury to milk during hot weather, is in 
shutting the warm milk closely in the can 
and hauling to the factory. Milk should 
be cooled and aerated at the farm before it 
is started for the factory. There are various 
devices for this purpose, some of which aro 
advertised in the Flu hat, New-Yorker. 
At all events, the Arno la ventilator, cost¬ 
ing only a few shillings, should be attached 
to every carrying can. 
Inquiries should bo directed concerning 
the herds and their treatment. Perhaps 
Rome patron is nddiug tho milk from a dis¬ 
eased cow, or a cow with broken udder. 
Dogs may be used to some extent in racing 
the cows from the pasture, thus overheating 
the milk in the udder. Some patron’s cows 
may be taking their drink from stagnant 
pools, from sloughs or frog ponds. Perhaps 
carrion lias been left exposed in the pas¬ 
ture. All these are capable of producing 
tainted milk. It ispresumed of course that 
the pails and cans of patronB are kept scru¬ 
pulously clean, and that the milking is per¬ 
formed in a neat and cleanly manner. There 
are other causes which might be named, 
but we feel quite certain the trouble will be 
found among those enumerated. 
A word now may be offered in regard to 
the treatment of tainted milk. Such milk 
requires the use of more rennet than sound 
milk, as the coagulation should be hastened. 
Then, after the curd is cut sufficiently with 
the knife, tho mass should be heated quick¬ 
ly to a temperature of Off, and when tho 
acid is slightly developed, draw the whey, 
and heap the curd in the vat, allowing it to 
take oil considerable more acid, it then 
should be passed through a curd mill, and 
salted. The curd from tainted milk should 
have a long and freo exposure to tho atmos¬ 
phere, being repeatedly stirred and turned 
before it is put to press. We give here only 
some of the leading outlines of tho process; 
but for tho minutiae and best manner of 
treating Heating curds and tainted milk 
see Practical Dairy Husbandry, a work to 
be had of the Publisher attheltuRALNEW- 
Yokker office. 
at Little Falls this year have readied 14%0. 
If these rates can be maintained as an 
average for the season, if the season be one 
of ordinary make, farmers will, perhaps, 
feel themselves remunerated, ns it gives 
them net, about throe cents a quart for 
their milk. Last year the highest price 
paid for cheese at Little Falls for the same 
time, was twelve and three-quarter cents; 
and yet American cheese was quoted in 
London two shillings higher during tho last 
half of May, than for tho corresponding 
time this year. 
We cannot see how it is possible to pro¬ 
duce milk in England less than four cents 
gold per quart. Assuming this to be the 
cost, we could send our cheese to England, 
underselling the English make on the basis 
of the rates named, and allow from three 
to four cents per pound for transportation 
and commission to dealers. But whether 
the prices named be maintained or decline 
during hot weather, to the rates of last 
year, our dairymen will do well to study 
the cost of producing milk hero aud com¬ 
pare witli what it coats abroad. They will 
then bo able to say whether they aro able 
to make cheese for export or not. 
[It. is proper to say that this article has boon 
deferred some time, because of the pressure 
upon our columns, of what; we regarded more 
important articles.—Eon. Rural.! 
FOWLS IN GEORGIA 
COST OF MILK IN ENGLAND 
Enclosed I send you a statement show¬ 
ing what 1 have done with poultry since 
January 1. My common fowls I gave the 
run of tho farm, but fed them regularly 
three times a day, same as fowls comflned. 
My yards for Brahmas, Leghorns and 
The London Milk Journal gives an ac¬ 
count of a farmers’ meeting recently held 
in Manchester, with the view of placing the 
relations between the producers and con¬ 
sumers in a better position. From state¬ 
ments made at the meeting, we get some 
idea of the cost of producing milk, a mat¬ 
ter of some importance to American dairy¬ 
men who are now furnishing so much cheese 
for the British people. In comparing the 
cost of producing milk with what it was 
two years ago, the Chairman observed that 
cows were £7 (S35) dearer now than then. 
Two years ago cows could be bought at .£21 
(§105) each, and now they could not be pur¬ 
chased under au advanco of 33 per oent. 
As to the wages of cow-men two years ago, 
he paid fourteen shillings sterling per week, 
but uow he trembled to think how long it 
would remain at eighteen shillings. That 
was au increase of 21 per cent. As to the 
cost of utensils, he was assured by one of 
the leading firms in Manchester, that they 
would not take au order now under 20 per 
cent, advance of what the price was two 
years ago. There was a corresponding in¬ 
crease in other departments, so that tho 
average increase in tho cost of production 
was 28 per cent. lie also pointed out that 
he had not reckoned the increase in taxes 
and tho rent of the land. On the whole, 
the Chairman thought the price of milk 
should not be less than four penoo (eight 
cents) per quart. 
Manchester is on the borders of Cheshire, 
one of the largest dairy counties In England, 
and we presume tho statement of the in¬ 
creased cost of milk is very fairly repre¬ 
sented. 
We are told that American cheese is in 
sharp competition with English make, and 
that in order to ensure a ready sale of our 
goods we must put them down low enough 
to command tho situation. In other words, 
we must sell cheaply if we wish to hold the 
English market, and if wo cannot sell as 
low as last year’s prices, wo had better 
stop making checso for export altogether. 
Now, according to official reports sent in to 
the American Dairymen’s Association, the 
average price received for New York fac¬ 
tory cheese last year (1871) was §11.73 per 
hundred pounds; and, deducting two cents 
per pound for manufacturing and furnish¬ 
ing, the net receipts to the farmer worn not 
quite nine and three-quarter cents per 
pound. Allowing four and a-half quarts of 
milk to make a pound of cheese, which is 
only a fair average, tho farmers receive for 
their milk delivered at the factory only a 
fraction above two cents pur quart —or, to 
be exact,, two and one-sixth cents. Tho 
price of cheese during tho Winter, it is 
true, advanced to high ratos, but as it was 
nearly all in the hands of buyers, the farm¬ 
ers were not benefited by tho rise. 
We think the great bulk of New York 
cheese last year was sold lower than it 
ought to have been sold, and that in regu¬ 
lating prices some regard should have been 
had to tho cost of producing milk, not only 
at home but in England. We are not in 
favor of exorbitant prices for any farm 
product; but our farmers are entitled to a 
fair living profit; and when they send their 
products into tho markets of the world, 
prices should be regulated somewhat upon 
the values of the goods with which they are 
competing. The great bulk of English 
cheese is hold until Fall or early Winter, 
aud fine English cheese always brings a 
good price, 
Tho American cheese interest is now very 
large, and shipments, we arc awai’e, aro 
very difficult to be controlled; but tho 
great fault of our system of selling is in 
keeping the markets glutted during hot 
weather. An overstocked market in hot 
weather, when au article like cheese is al¬ 
most sure to deteriorate on the holder's 
hauds, mast, of necessity, break down 
prices below real values; whereas, if our 
factories furnished only what could be easily 
handled and go Into consumption, better 
prices would be maintained. We are not in 
fivor of any system of marketing which, 
during a considerable portion of the year, 
foroes prices down below actual values, aud, 
during the other portion, puts them up ex¬ 
travagantly above real values. Dealers de¬ 
serve to be fairly remunerated for their 
labor, and we are glad when they are more 
than remunerated; but we are sorry to see 
the cheese trade made a vehicle for wild 
speculation where fortunes aro won or lost, 
as “on change.” Prices on the 1st of June 
TROUBLE IN THE MILK VATS 
I have charge of a small factory of about 
200 cows. We began making cheese the 14th 
of May. I had perfect success until thefith 
of June, when I perceived a kind of taint 
in tho milk, which has troubled me ever 
since. 
Up to tbn 8th of J urn? I had used only one 
vat; tho 8th of June I used, and continue to 
use, two vats. 1 have had one floating curd 
in the time. I managed to get along with 
that very well. I have tried every way that 
I know to prevent the milk from tainting, 
but so far without success. 1 know the 
Cheese made from such milk to be inferior 
in quality to that made from good milk, 
and therefore crave information from a 
more experienced person than I am. We 
use an agitator, and have used ion in tho 
milk until 1 became convinced that- it was 
a damage to tainted milk and so loft it out. 
At first 1 thought the trouble was in cleans¬ 
ing tho milk things of tho factory, and took 
great pains In having them kept sweet, and 
believe they were. 
I have tested the milk of the patrons by 
changing from one vat to tho other, l did 
not know but they might neglect their pails 
and strainers, as their cans were clean and 
all right a.i far as 1 could see; when they 
were dirty 1 spoke to them about it and 
they would come better. Some of the 
cheese, after being taken from the press, 
seemed inclined to leak whey about the 
next day after taken out, and continue to 
ooze from tlio sides lor a week or ten days, 
though but very little -just enough to show 
and make them look bad; and T had to 
scrape most of I hem with a knife, some of 
them t wice, and then grease them. This is 
the third year l have worked in tho busi¬ 
ness and I never saw anything like it before. 
There are no whey vats, or any thing to make 
an impurity in the atmosphere nearer than 
thirty rods, where there is a hog pen where 
the whey goes. I havo kept the spouts 
cleaned out as well as possible, and stre wed 
ashCs under the factory, and done every¬ 
thing which 1 think will prevent the taint 
that shows itself. The Cheese that were 
made first of the poor milk being abcut 
ready for market, taste strong, and are. of 
bad Haver. If you can give me any infor¬ 
mation on this subject it will be gratefully 
received. -Hot.i.in Stafford, Orjord , N.ll. 
Cochins, were built as per inclosed plan, 
f intended at first to keep four varieties, 
but could not got tho games I wanted, and 
therefore only built for throe lots of fowls, 
lu the lot where there are two small yards 
(twenty foot each) f gave each variety equal 
time to ran on the hundred foot lot, shut¬ 
ting them up alternately at noon each day. 
The yards and houses cost $17 50, being 
built entirely of split boards—both houses, 
and fences, and gates, all lmug with wooden 
hinges, having done all the work myself. I 
intended to have sent you a statement at 
the closo of the year, but shall sell out this 
month preparatory to moving to Florida, 
where I intend to raise poultry on a larger 
scale, as I know there Is money In It. I 
will also mention, that I lost over one hun¬ 
dred chickens (most of them eight weeks 
old or over,) by rats, having tent coops 
without plank fioors. See page 3. 
Poultry account from Jan. I to July 20, 1872, 
Dr. 
To 80 lions anil cock*, ut Min .$18 00 
•’It " " “ . 1 50 
*• (l White Leghorn, do., do., at *2,50. 15 00 
•* 5 8. 8. Poland, do,, do. 13 75 
“ 1 trio Dark Ui-uhiuuu. 20 0o 
“ 1 “ Bull" Cochins. 7 00 
“ Feed, sulphur and popper. 28 07 
- *103 32 
CR. 
By 1I2K do*, ..$33 50 
“ 20 “ 1 homo consumption... <1 00 
“ 10 spring chickens. 7 25 
“ 28 White Leghorn chickens. 85 50 
“ 1 pair S, 8. Polands. 3 00 
“ 2 trio- Dark Brahmas. 11 00 
“ 1 do*. White Leghorn oggs. 8 00 
“ 12 common fowls fold). 0 50 
** 0 White Leghorns (old) . 10 00 
Stock on flmul. 
“ 40 White Leghorn chickens, 50c. 20 00 
" 10 Dark Brahma ** “ ..... 8 00 
“ 14 8. 8. Poland " '*. 7 00 
“ 1 trio Brahmas, old stock. 20 00 
“ 1 “ Cochins “ 7 00 
" 5 S. S. Polands » 13 75 
“ 15 common fowls “ 7 60 
Bollix Stafford, Orjord, N.ll. 
The questions raised by our correspond¬ 
ent are very important, and cover a great 
deal of ground. The troubles complained of 
are by no means isolated or confined within 
narrow limits; for they exist, more or loss, 
over the whole dairy region wherever tho 
factory system has been introduced. The 
causes producing tainted milk aud floating 
curds are various, and have been a fruitful 
theme for discussion at the meetings of 
Dairymens’ Associations for years. Home 
of these causes have been found out, and 
others are imperfectly understood; but it 
may bo of some satisfaction for our corre¬ 
spondent to know that these troubles are 
not always, or, indeed, generally, to be 
charged to want of skill in manufacturing— 
though skill aud experience in handling 
such milk may often modify, to a large ex¬ 
tent, bad influences, and save tho product 
from loss. 
Tainted milk and floating curds are much 
more prevalent during hot Summers than 
during cool seasons; and the hot, sultry 
weather of June of the present year was so 
favorable for their development that wo 
hear of their “cropping out” in many lo¬ 
calities, and often at places where in pre¬ 
vious years no such troubles obtained. It 
is true, the causes may sometimes be traced 
to neglect at the factory, in keeping uten¬ 
sils and surroundings clean and sweet, or 
from bad rennet; but tho most general 
cause lies back of the factory—in other 
Balance 
Macon, Ga. 
Patent Skipper Extractor.—The Os- 
soo. Mich., Farmer, says, D. Green, A. M. 
Green aud S. D. McNeal, of that plaoe, 
havo applied for a patent ou a device for 
ridding cheese of skippers, that works like 
a charm, and describes it as a box of suffi¬ 
cient capacity to hold the cheese, and so 
constructed as to exclude the air from the 
cheese by the use of water or any like fluid 
which causes skippers to come out and drop 
into the bottom of tho box, where they are 
found on opening the box. The prooess is 
simple, and tho work effective, aud will be 
of great service to grocery and factory 
men. _ 
Gilt-Edged. Butter in Pound Boxes. 
—Some of the Greenfield, Mass., farmers 
are said to market their butter in Boston, 
put up iu ouo pound tin boxes. These are 
packed in ice, and arrive at the Liubas fresh 
and nice as they leave the dairy. It is tho 
gilt-edged butter that receives this treat¬ 
ment, and it brings seventy-five cents or 
more per pound. 
POULTRY NOTE8 AND QUERIES. 
Feeding Turkeys.—S. E. MoNair does 
not find it easy to raise turkeys, and asks 
some one of experience to tell him what to 
feed then with to make thorn strong and 
hearty. Another correspondent sends us 
a let ter ad vising that young turkeys bo kept 
on the nest a day or two after they are 
hatched, and then kept in a small yard for 
a few days, where they oannot run far, for 
that, injures them. Feed with wheat mid¬ 
dlings or flour bread, soaked in milk; also a 
little curd now and thou. Don’t give In¬ 
dian meal to young turkeys. 
Disease Among Ducks.—A correspond¬ 
ent says his Rouen ducks often gut very 
stiff and remain so for several days, bo that 
they can scarcrly walk around, and some 
die without getting better. He asks ex¬ 
perienced readers to give the oauso and a 
remedy. 
