the country, and forcing upon their customers 
an inferior article, or go without. 
We believe ifmore attention was paid to the 
requirements of the home trade there would 
be a much larger consumption of cheese 
at better prices to the producer and more 
profits to the numerous small dealers in all 
our country towns and villages. The home 
trade in ail the leading cheese-producing 
counties is managed on the plan of “con¬ 
suming at home that which the dairyman is 
ashamed to sell abroad ” The poor, second 
grade and refuse cheese is carried to the 
neighboring village by dairymen and peddled 
out to the grocer, who buys of course at low 
of milk rooms and dairy houses, by which 
the objections alluded to may in part be 
obviated. It cannot be denied that climate 
has an important influence on the flavor and 
quality of dairy products, and if experience 
shows that the summers of Kentucky are 
not so warm as to affect the flavor of dairy 
goods to any greater extent than they do 
ordinarily in New York, then Mr. L. lias good 
foundation it would seem for wlmt he claims. 
Mr. Locke thinks that Kentucky, during 
the next twenty years, will rise to the second 
or third cheese manufacturing State in the 
Union, and he bases this opinion upon the 
fact that the country is well watered, the 
lurg l)ir$Iwnbr}i 
therefore, their eggs should he placed under 
a hen.” 
POULTRY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
The Houdnu Fowls. 
The Manchester (N. H.) Mirror and 
Farmer, in an article on this breed of 
French fowls, says that much of the n- 
cently imported stock is deficient in the fifth 
toe, but have fuller muffs. It then adds: 
“ It is insisted on by some that a Houdan 
is not a Houdan if it be deficient in this 
point, or lacks a muff, and muffless birds are 
frequently much finer in appearance and 
size than those which have them. This 
breed is too desirable in its useful character 
to be compelled to carry points which are 
not of practical importance or value.” 
X. A. WILLARD, A. M., EDITOR, 
Or Lim.« Fh.lm, Hiuwn Couxrr, Nr*- Vorc. 
ROUEN DUCKS. 
J. L. Pettit, from Lorain Co.,0., writes: 
“ I have been rearing what were recom¬ 
mended to me as Rouen ducks during the 
past season, and having some doubts as to 
their purity, I write to ask if yon will have 
the goodness to give, in the Rural New- 
Yorker, a portrait of a pair of these ducks, 
with the markings and characteristics of the 
same. I am a new beginner in rearing fowls, 
only a few showers have fallen since spring, 
and that grass and water are very scarce in 
many places. The wheat crop is reported 
to he good, but oats and other spring crops 
are short and poor. 
At the Derby cheese factory the managers 
have been advertising for more milk—owing, 
our correspondent says, no doubt to the dry 
weather. He is also sorry to hear that the 
English factory cheese is not so good as was 
expected, but he speaks of the Derby cheese 
market as about to open, ami that in a few 
days the make will he farther tested, when 
the Comparative merits of the factory cheese 
must be very fully determined. We are 
hoping to get a favorable report, and we 
cannot but think that with the skillful 
American manufacturers employed at the 
Derby establishment, the cheese must prove 
superior to that made at the farm dairies. 
From all the accounts that we can get 
from various purls of England it appears 
clear that the cheese crop this year will fall, 
by reason of drouth, fully one-third below 
the average annual make. This would show 
a deficiency of about sixty millions of 
pounds—or a quantity equal to that covered 
by our annual export. It is very probable 
aLso that the Gennrtu soldiers, composing 
the Prussian armies, draw largely upon the 
product of Dutch cheese, which must cutoff 
supplies to the English from the continent. 
Now, if our information is correct, the pros¬ 
pect is that larger shipments of American 
cheese will be demanded for England I he com¬ 
ing fall and winter than ever before. The crop 
in America is by no means so large as was 
anticipated early in the season. Putting all 
these items together we cannot but think 
that cheese has already touched “rock bot¬ 
tom ” prices, and that an advance may with 
reason be expected. 
It there be at any time a temporary de¬ 
cline in prices, it must result from a very 
unwise action on the part of farmers and 
cheese producers in pushing forward their 
product in large quantities, thus for the time 
overstocking the New York markets. This, 
under 
I know that small eggs are not desired, hut 
this is a great curiosity. I have had big 
eggs as well as any one. The hen that laid 
the egg is half-bred game, which breed with 
the pure game 1 have been keeping until 
this year, when I tried the Brahmas, which 
shall supersede my game stock,— G. F. W., 
Allegheny , Pa. 
Finn of Poultry House lor 100 Fowls. 
In response to the inquiry for a poultry 
house that will accommodate one hundred 
or more fowls, H. J. Skinner of Homer, 
O., writes that his house “ is a little expen¬ 
sive to begin with, but it is cheaper, by 
far, than the common run of vermin-breed¬ 
ing houses met with through the country. 
It has a ceiling and sides that are lathed and 
plastered. The partitions are made of 
smooth lath or boards, and set up endways 
and fastened securely at both ends with" a 
space between them of from one and a-Lalf 
to two inches. The nests are twelve inches 
wide, fifteen inches high, and fifteen inches 
long, and so constructed that they may he 
slid out at pleasure from the laying-room 
into the sitting-room; reserving room for a 
door in either case to keep the fowls sepa¬ 
rate. The doors and windows are placed 
so that a good draft is secured in warm 
weather, and plenty of light in cold weather. 
The perches are made portable, so that they 
can he moved or taken out at pleasure, to 
make it convenient to clean out the hennery. 
The length of the building is sixteen by 
thirty feet, which is divided into six rooms 
or compartments, two are laying and roost¬ 
ing rooms, one sitting-room, and three for 
runaways or rooms for roamnge.” 
ExperimotitH in Rrecdiuu Crested Turkey*. 
It will be recollected by the readers ef 
the Rural New-Yorker that there was a 
great furore made over one of these turkeys 
at the N. Y. Stale Poultry Exhibition, last 
fall. Mr. W. B. Teoetmeier of Finchley, 
Eng., lias the past year been endeavoring in 
breed them, and thus gives his experience, 
through the columns of the London Field, 
He says“ From the late period of the year 
at which I received the bird, I was not suc¬ 
cessful in rearing any young from him last 
season. This season I have been more fur- 
lunate. I placed with him two hens rmc 
A PAIR OF- ROUEN 13TJCKS 
land being fertile, and remarkably well 
adapted to grazing. 
AVe have long been aware that for stock- 
raising the blue grass region of Kentucky 
was among the best on the continent. As a 
dairy section, there is little doubt but an 
abundance of blue grass and an abundance 
of good water must be favorable for keeping 
cows and for the production of an abundant 
flow of milk. The only objection that oc¬ 
curs to us as standing in the way of success¬ 
ful dairying in Kentucky, is its climate. We 
notice that the maximum temperature of 
Louisville, as reported by the Department of 
Agriculture, during July and August, 1868, 
was 90° and 91° respectively. During Sep¬ 
tember and October of the same year it was 
87° and 81°, while the mean temperature of 
the State, as reported from several places of 
observation, was, during June and July, 80° 
and 78°, respectively, and for September and 
October, 65“ and 56°. 
Already several cheese factories have been 
established in Kentucky. The countias of 
Fayette, Clark, Shelby, Woodford and Madi¬ 
son have each a factory which takes the 
milk of from two hundred to four hundred 
cows. There may be others in the State, 
but we have no reports showiug the make 
of cheese per cow at any of the factories, 
and indeed very little is known among the 
dairymen of New York as to the measure 
of their success. Will not some of the fac- 
torymen in Kentucky report to us in regard 
to their establishments, anil especially in re¬ 
gard to the points we have raised? We 
should be glad to learn something, also, in 
regard to the relative profits of dairying and 
stock raising in the blue grass region of the 
State. 
rates and sells at the market rates of tiie best. 
The better way would be to send this Bluff 
to the large cities, selling it for what it is, 
since in large cities there is always a de¬ 
mand for low priced cheese to supply a cer¬ 
tain class. A low-class cheese is not wanted 
in the country, especially among a com¬ 
munity which lias some knowledge of what 
good cheese is. 
The system inaugurated by our home 
dealers and dairymen operates to decrease 
the consumption of cheese in the cheese 
dairying districts from year to year. It 
should he abandoned, and only tlie finest, 
grades of cheese put upon the counters of 
our grocers. In this way everv cheese-pro¬ 
ducing county would soon find a good mar¬ 
ket at home for a considerable portion of its 
goods, which now too often seek a distant 
market at prices too low for any profit to the 
producer. 
having always, up to within the past two 
years, spent my time behind the counter of a 
dry goods store, and not knowing much 
about poultry raising, and becoming desirous 
to learn, I knew no better or surer way than 
to ask for the information through your 
columns.” 
We have given in former volumes of the 
Rural New-Yorker, an engraving of what 
we considered a good representation of a 
pair of ltouen ducks, which we herewith re¬ 
produce for the benefit of our correspondent 
and all readers interested in the subject, to¬ 
gether with such remarks as wo then made 
upon this noted breed of aquatic fowls. We 
will say right here that we consider the. Rou¬ 
en one of the best breed of ducks—if not the 
very best, all things considered, for the breed¬ 
er or amateur to breed,—its superior quali¬ 
ties not being surpassed by any other varie¬ 
ty of birds. 
“ It may be imagined, from their large size, 
that they must consume or need much more 
next 
any circumstances, must depreciate 
prices Cheese during warm weather should 
go forward no faster than it can be con¬ 
veniently handled and put upon the market. 
New York dealers are not prepared to hold 
cheese in hot weather for any considerable 
length of time. Nor do they care to take 
the risk at such season with the prospect ol 
large arrivals weekly accumulating upon 
their hands. Hence the market must, be 
cleared ; and forced sales always tend to the 
depreciation of prices. 
Our home dealers who are in the habit of 
laying up considerable stocks for winter 
sales, will do well, we think, to engage their 
stocks early at the factories, setting the time 
for their deliveries, Farmers and others in 
the immediate neighborhood of factories and 
who wish to get “ a flue thing ” cheap, should 
lose no time in laying up the few cheeses 
needed for family use. They will find goods 
of the finest flavor and quality to select 
from, and obtain their supplies at reasonable 
rates. 
Country grocers in the cheese-making dis¬ 
tricts, we think, for the. most part, manage 
poorly in the selection of their cheese stocks. 
Most of these establishments purchase “from 
hand to mouth,” selecting only medium or 
poor grades, and the population in our home 
villages find it so difficult to obtain a good 
article, that purchases arc made sparingly, 
and consumption, of course, is checked. 
Double and treble the quantity of cheese 
would be consumed annually in our home 
villages, if really fine goods were put upon 
the counters of our grocers. Cheese con¬ 
sumption is not promoted by the sale of 
refuse stuff like that found in most, of the 
shops i hroughuut, the cheese producing coun¬ 
ties of New York. The complaint is uni¬ 
versal among consumers, that all the good 
cheese is shipped away, and that “ a tip-top” 
DAIRYING IN KENTUCKY, 
food than our smaller'variety of ducks 
to pigs, our common ducks are great eaters, 
and devour almost everything that comes in 
llieir way, but this is not the canj with the 
Rouens, for they are remarkable easy keep¬ 
ers, and require much less food than the 
common duck. Another thing in favor of 
the Rouen is, they are perfectly hardy, and 
are not disposed to roam from the immedi¬ 
ate vicinity of their pens. They are a kind 
of logy bird, and seem to care less for water 
exercise than other breeds. They commence 
laying when quite young. A friend of ours 
says he has had those hatched iu March 
commence laying in the latter part of August 
or fore part of September of the same year. 
Old birds have been known to lay profusely 
during mid-winter. 
“ The color of the Rouen drake is described 
as follows:—Bill inclined to green, the nail 
and around the nostrils being black; head 
and neck, as far as the white collar, which 
should be very distinct, brilliant iridescent 
green; throat and breast, claret-brown ; back, 
scapulars and thighs gray, with minute wavy 
dark lines at light angles to the shaft of the 
feather; tail brown, with the outer edge of 
the feathers white, forming a broad margin 
of that color, the three center feathers being 
curled; primaries brown; secondaries with 
a bar of bright steel-blue forming the specu¬ 
lum, the band of black, the extremities being 
tipped with white; lesser wing-coverts rich 
brown ; greater wing-coverts the same, with 
a narrow white margin; under part, of the 
body gray, with the same wavy dotted lines 
as on the back ; legs and feet orange. The 
plumage of the duck is of a rich brown color, 
every feather being marked more or less with 
black; bill, legs and feet dusky; irides in 
both sexes are of a light-brown color. The 
body of the ducklings, when first hatched, is 
of a yellowish-brown color, and remains so 
until they are in perfect feather. The Rouen 
is no wanderer, and in fact may truly he 
termed the “stay-at-liome” breed. There 
is but little difference in size betweeu the 
drake and the duck; in fact, it is said in 
many instances the latter will outweigh the 
former. The Rouen, being a dull and leth¬ 
argic breed, do not prove good mothers, 
Novel Churning. 
A correspondent of the San Joaquin 
Valley, Cal., Argus gives the following new 
method of making blitter, practiced nt a 
rauclio in Mendocino county— AVhilc stop¬ 
ping at the farm I witnessed a most novel, 
and to me new, method of making butter. 
While giving directions how to do it, my 
hostess detected my thoughts in my face— 
seeing is believing. “ Come,” said she, “ I 
will give you convincing proof.” I followed 
her to the milk room; 1 saw her [dace a 
quantity of cream in a thick linen sack, then 
roll the sack in a large cloth, and place it in 
a hole which had been dug in the sand for 
tiie purpose. It was then covered up with 
sand and a board placed over it. The next 
morning, when removed, it came out as fine 
a roll of butter as ever I saw taken from a 
churn. It required but little working, as the 
earth absorbed nearly every particle of milk. 
It is now five days old as 1 write, and just 
as sweet and solid as butter can be. 
be, decidedly, no; being firmly impressed 
with tiie fact that all varieties have fully as 
great a tendency to throw back to, or repro¬ 
duce the characters of, more remote progen¬ 
itors, as those of their immediate parents, I 
should think it most likely that these birds 
will in their turn produce crested young, 
either if paired with one another—which, as 
the chickens were bred from two hens, and 
are easily distinguished, could be done with¬ 
out injuriously close interbreeding—or if the 
pullets were paired with the old crested 
cock. Unfortunately, my present conven¬ 
iences for breeding turkeys are very limited, 
and consequently I shall have to make ar¬ 
rangements for other persons to carry out 
the experiments. It is a pity so good an 
opportunity of reproducing and perpetu¬ 
ating an interesting variety should be lost." 
AVe understood that Mr. Gavit— who 
owned the crested turkey shown at our 
State Show, last fall — was to have experi¬ 
mented with his during the present year, 
but have not as yet been able to learn any¬ 
thing relative to his success. AVill he give 
us liis experience ? 
Exportation or Coudenaed lilltk. 
The official returns just received at the 
Bureau of Statistics show that the total 
value of condensed milk exported from the 
port of New York in the year 1809. was 
$79,652, of which $21,870 went to England, 
$14,900 to Australia, $9,494 to the United 
States of Columbia, $9,176 to China, $8,116 
to Brazil, $3,087 to Cuba, $3,093 to the Brit¬ 
ish West Indies, and $1,767 to the Danish 
AVest Indies. 
