animal for a year ; now if you multiply by 
,§Hh[g gusbmtdrg. 
DAIRY NOTES ON VIRGINIA.-III. 
Lincoln is a pleasant little hamlet about 
three miles from Hamilton, the latter place 
being geographically nearer in the center of 
Loudoun Co. The Friends' Meeting-House 
is located at Lincoln, and in the immediate 
vicinity there is a considerable number of 
persons holding to the Quaker faith. The 
surface of the country in this direction is roll¬ 
ing, and from the higher elevations delightful 
views of the Blue Ridge on the one hand and 
the Catoctin on the other, may be had. 
f. i. SMITH S FARM. 
Mr. Edward J. Smith has a nice farm of 
136 acres near Lincoln. He is a butter dairy¬ 
man, keeping from 18 to 20 cows and some 
young stock. His herd is composed, for the 
mo3t part, of the native or common cows of 
the count ry, though recently Mr. S. is paying 
more attention to breeding, and has two thor¬ 
oughbred Short Morn cows, one from Ken¬ 
tucky and the other from Pennsylvania. 
These, with a Short-Horn hull, form a nu¬ 
cleus for the improvement of his herd. 
The farm is divided off as follows :—Pas¬ 
ture, 48 acres ; meadow, 18 ; wheat, 15 ; corn, 
20 ; timber, 20 acres. The soil is a tolerably 
stiff clay, and is naturally well adapted to 
grass, the Blue grass being indigenous to all 
this section. The meadows are usually seeded 
down to timothy and clover, and the yield 
in ordinarily good seasons is one and one-naif 
tons of hay to the acre. 
COURSE OF CULTOIE. 
The system of farming here is to plow grasB 
lands every six years. The first crop taken 
off is corn ; then follows two crops of wheat 
when the lands are seeded down to grass and 
remain in grass for three years. Winter 
wheat is the kind generally grown through 
Loudoun County, the spring varieties not 
being well adapted to the soil and climate. 
Mr. Smith says his crop usually averages 
from 15 to 20 bushels wheat to the acre, and 
corn averages about. 40 bushels. Oats arc not 
very much grown, reliance being had upon 
corn as a gruin for feeding horses ; and it is 
usually fed on the cob, or at least so far as we 
noticed among farmers and others feeding 
their teams, this was the case. The Virginia 
corn does not seem to be so hard as the flint 
corn of New York, aud besides, the Virgin¬ 
ians soften the gruin to some extent by soak¬ 
ing in water previous to feeding. 
PASTURING AND WINTERING STOCK. 
It takes about two acres of pasture to carry 
a cow, and the pasturuge is had until Decem¬ 
ber and sometimes later. But in case cows 
are giving milk, it Is customary to supple¬ 
ment the pasturage by feeding fodder coi n 
and other feed, commencing about the mid¬ 
dle of November. Bowed corn is not very 
much grown among those who are trying to 
keep cows. In wintering stock the animals 
are fed for the most part on corn fodder— 
straw aud corn stalks, with an addition of 
mill stuff, such as bran, shorts or corn meal. 
Bran costs here about $22 per ton. The farm 
is well watered, springs of soft water being 
in nearly every Held. 
In examining Mr. Smith’s pastures we 
found the grass not so thickly set as to fully 
cover the ground, there being many inter¬ 
vening spaces, and we expressed the opinion 
that in seeding a larger quantity and a great¬ 
er variety of seeds should have been used. It 
must be observed, however, in this connec¬ 
tion, that severe drouths had prevailed over 
this section of the country during the past 
two years and grass seeds, especially clover, 
did not catch well. But Mr. Smith and others, 
in puttiug down pastures, use seed sparingly, 
which, under the system of plowing the land 
so frequently must necessarily result in a 
lighter stand of grass than is desirable on a 
stock farm. It seemed to us that a marked 
improvement in pasturage could be obtained 
by adopting the plan practised among the 
dairy farmers of England in putting down 
lands to grass that are plowed every four or 
five years, Euglish farmers find it advisable 
to use a large quantity aud a greater variety 
of seeds than are generally employed in 
America, aud the result is that a heavy 
growth of grass and a good sod is obtained 
at once, while, with us it often takes a long 
time for the land to reach the same condition. 
In other words, by their seeding and the use 
of one or two kinds of seed, the stand of grass 
at first is sparse, and it remains so until im¬ 
proved by self seeding or the springing up of 
those grasses natural or indigenous to the 
soil. We have seen a good sod and fine pas¬ 
tures quickly obtained by the plan we have 
suggested, and we have no doubt that the 
farmers of Loudoun County who are now 
entering upon the dairy, will find it to their 
advantage to adopt this plan and especially 
so where the lands are plowed frequently for 
grain crops, 
MEADOW BROOK BUTTER FACTORY. 
When the Old Dominion Cheese Factory 
was first established at Hamilton, Mr. Smith 
and several of his neighbors commenced de¬ 
livering milk at the factory, and continued 
to do so for the season. But the distance to 
Hamilton being three miles ami upward and 
the roads (a part of the way at least) none of 
the best., the carting of the milk was felt to 
be onerous. To avoid this obj actional feature 
of the business, Mr. Smith determined to 
enter upon the experiment of building and 
operating a butter factory. He had never 
seen one in operation, and consequently had 
to study out his plans and make himself ac¬ 
quainted with all the details of handling the 
milk and making the butter. The first move 
was to send to the Rural New-Yorker 
office for WlLLAJRD’H “Practical Dairy Hus¬ 
bandry," and from the suggestions and in¬ 
structions given in that work, he erected 
and put into successful operation the “Mead¬ 
ow Brook Butter Factory.” The building is 
ol’ stone, 24 by 80 feet, two stories, and is ar¬ 
ranged so as to have an ice room in connec¬ 
tion. The cheese room is 24 by 0% feet, flag¬ 
ged with stone and with horse power for 
churning outside. Recently a boiler and en¬ 
gine have been introduced. The plan adopted 
for setting the milk is the pool or deep-can 
system. The pool receiving the waste water 
from the lee house is from 58 to 60* during 
the hottest weather, but at the time of our 
visit the milk room showed a temperature 
of about 55*. 
Last year there were 14 patrons that deliv¬ 
ered milk ; but in May, when we were at 
the factory, only six patrons were prepared 
to send forward their milk, the whole num¬ 
ber of cows being between 60 and 70. The 
daily delivery of milk from these was about 
1,200 pounds, and the average product was a 
pound of butter from 28 pounds of milk. 
PREPARING THE BUTTER FOR MARKET. 
The milk is kept in the pools about 48 
hours and then taken out and skimmed and 
after the butter is made it Is put up in half- 
pound prints for market. The butter is accu¬ 
rately weighed in half-pound lumps and then 
pressed in a mold, receiving a neat stamp. 
The prints are oval in shape, about2% by 3% 
inches and 2 inches thick, and after stamp¬ 
ing, each print is wrapped in white muslin, 
the cloth being cut in small squares, the prim 
laid upon it and the corners of the cloth com- 
ingupon the sides of the print. This gives 
it a very nice appearance. 
The butler is made for the Washington 
Market and is shipped in boxes, having an 
ice chamber in the center. The boxes are 31 
by 16% inches and 15 inches deep. The ice 
chest is of tin, placed in the center of the 
box, aud is 16% by 5 inches, 15 inches deep. 
At the bottom there is a hole, which extends 
also through the box for the escape of wafer 
from the ice as it melts. Movable shelves, 
with cleats on the edges, are fitted on each 
side of the ice chest, the one above the other, 
for holding the prints. The box holds 10 
shelves, 6 on each side of the Ice chamber, 
and the shelves, when in place, leave a space 
between each of 2% inches, or just sufficient 
to clear the tops of the prints. 
We give a rough draft of the box and the 
form of the movable shelf in illustrations 1 
and 2. 
Each shelf holds 20 prints or 10 pounds of 
butter, aud consequently, the box holds just 
100 pounds. The whole package when filled, 
aud the chamber packed and closed, weighs 
224 pounds, and the freight to Washington 
from Hamilton is $112. In packing thebut- 
Washington for 45c. per pound, exclusive of 
dealers’ commission for selling, which is 
usually about oe. per pound. Mr. Smtth 
makes a nice article of butter, and his suc¬ 
cess, considering all the circumstances of 
inaugurating this business in Virginia, is re¬ 
markable. He is an intelligent and progress¬ 
ive farmer, ingenious and full of resources, 
and although a dairyman of but two or three 
Kick 1—Butter Package with Ice Chamber. 
years’ experience, has shown an aptitude for 
the business which is rarely met with. 
SPAYING COWS. 
Mr. SMITH has been trying the experiment 
of spaying cows for milk, and so far is pleased 
with the result. In July, 1878, he had the 
operation performed on an ordinary cow, and 
she made an average yield of eight quarts of 
milk per day all winter, and this spi’ing, 
when turned to pasture, is us good as the 
average new milk cow. We saw some ani¬ 
mals which had been recently spayed and 
they were doing well. Wc learned that spay¬ 
ing for beef had been practised for a long 
time in this section of Virginia and with the 
best results. Wo are glad that Mr. Smith is 
making the experiment with miloh cows, 
since this question has a practical importance 
in connection with the dairy. Some Euro¬ 
pean writers have recommended it in the 
highest terms, giving the result of experi¬ 
ments, showing a good yield of milk for long 
periods. We have no knowledge of any care¬ 
fully-conducted experiments in this country. 
It has been occasionally tried, but the persons 
having charge of the animals have generally 
neglected to give them the proper care and 
feed in order to keep up a flow of milk. We 
shall hope to hear from Mr. Smith in regard 
to this matter, aud trust a fair trial may bo 
made with his eow^, so that he may know 
whether spaying for milk is to be recom¬ 
mended to our dairymen. 
iheej Husskmlrg. 
Fia. 2 —Movajikk Shelf for Holding Botter. 
ter a plain board is used to receive the prints 
at the bottom of the box ; there the shelf, as 
illustrated in Fig. 2, is placed on top and thus 
continued until the whole number of prints 
are in, when a movable shelf just coming 
to the top of the box is placed over the top 
prints, so tliat when the lid of the box is 
brought down it presses tightly on it and 
thus keeps the shelves trom shucking and 
prevents any injury to the prints. Mr. Smith 
gets six cents a pound for manufacturing and 
putting up the butter, and the butter sells in 
C0TSW0LD SHEEP. 
One of the subscribers of the New England 
Farmer sent to the office a specimen of wool 
from pure Cotswold sheep, and asked an 
opinion of the wool and whether such sheep 
are the ones from which to breed a profita¬ 
ble flock. The inquiry was submitted to Mr, 
Thomas Whittaker of Boston, an expqrt in 
wool matters and sheep growing, and his 
reply is as follows : 
In reply to your first question, “ What do 
you think of the wool f, ” I think it is a good 
class of wool, and, at the present time, is 
much wanted for the production of luster 
dress goods known as alpacas ; but you must 
understand that much of the value of this 
depends on how you keep your sheep ; if 
such wool becomes weak in the staple, or 
eotted, its value is depreciated to a great 
extent. If you allow your sheep to fall off 
in condition, between fall and winter feed, 
you will have a weak place in the middle of 
the staple. At that point it will break in 
two, making two short staples, instead of 
one. long wool; this renders it almost worth¬ 
less as a combing wool, and only fit for 
blanket wool. 
If the sheep fall off in condition during the 
winter, the weak places will be nearer the 
bottom of the staple, and though of more 
value than the former described, its value is 
much less than if the staple was perfect. If 
the sheep are turned from dry feed to new 
grass in the spring, they will be likely to 
scour and fall off in condition, and the weak 
points of the staple will be near the bottom ; 
this will produce much more waste than a 
perfect staple, and consequently be of much 
less value than one which is perfect; this, 
with the showers we have in spring, are apt 
to render the fleece clotted, which reduces 
its value one-third or one-fourth, just in pro¬ 
portion to the hardness of the cott. 
Bear this in mind that the long wooled 
sheep emit little yolk, and their wool does 
not slied the rain like merino sheep, hence 
the necessity of having them housed during 
rains. The drying of the fleece on the sheep 
robs the animal of too much heat ; reduces 
its condition and weakens the staple ; while 
the moisture accelerates the cotting process. 
Remember that nature generally furnishes 
protection to animals, and in the sheep the 
protection afforded is at the expense of the 
wool. In this ease it is much better to build 
a shed to keep the sheep dry than to allow 
nature to cott the fleece in order to keep the 
body dry and warm. 
Sheep are liable to diseases of the skin 
which are more apparent in the wool than 
elsewhere, and the only bad effect proceed¬ 
ing from them is to discolor, and sometimes 
make tender the wool close to the bottom of 
the staple ; this, however, tends to depre¬ 
ciate its value. Of course in these diseases 
I do not include the scab. For this there is 
a very good cheap remedy—roots. For win¬ 
ter feed for sheep nothing surpasses turnips, 
aud unless you are disposed to raise roots for 
winter feed, you cannot succeed well with 
this class of sheep. Corn iuduees the dis¬ 
eases of which wo Bpeak, and should only be 
fed in moderate quantities. You must also 
bear in mind that a flock of thirty of these 
sheep is equal to a flock of one hundred 
merinos, and is enough for one farm. The 
annual produce of mutton, lambs and wool 
from a hundred merinos, and the quietness 
of their habits would require less cost in 
fencing. But it is no use trying to make 
breeding and raising this class of sheep an 
object unless you have made up your mind 
to raise roots and feed abundantly, Farmers 
complain that this class of sheep eat so much, 
forgetting that something ia never made 
from nothing; that one of these sheep 
weighs as heavy at two years old as three 
merinos weigh at three years old. 
The Cotswolda are a profitable breed of 
sheep to raise, not only for their lambs, one 
of which iu August would be worth as much 
for the butcher three Merinos of the ago, 
but for their mntton, which is worth more 
than beef. The fleece from well-fed sheep 
will weigh about eight pounds, and I huve 
known them weigh sixteen pounds of well 
washed wool. This wool readily commands 
from forty to fifty cents per pound, and I 
want it understood that I do not intend to 
hold out any false hopes by giving delusive 
figures. Apart from this, they have another 
value, which is to cross with the Merino. 
The wool from this cross is of more value at 
the present time even than the wool from the 
full blood, on account of its being finer and 
better adapted for a oertain class of goods 
now fashionable. • » 
- »■»» ■ - 
WASHED AND UNWASHED WOOL. 
Mr. A. M. Gajiland in Western Rural 
saysThere is a great amount of contro¬ 
versy as to the difference in profit between 
selling wool washed and unwashed. Every 
farmer can easily test this for himself, and 
can also test the difference in weight between 
washed and unwashed wool, and also the 
relative weight of lleeee per pound, of the 
animal) as well as t he weigut of fleece grown 
per day, per pound of animal. Thus many 
questions of importance to t.lie shepherd may 
».>e determined. When the fleece is the prime 
object, those families producing the largest 
amount of cleanly scoured wool for a given 
carcase, are the most valuable, but where 
the mutton is a prime object, the case be¬ 
comes different. 
Wool may be eutirely freed from oily mat¬ 
ter and dirt, by taking two pounds of salt, 
and one of soda-ash to ©very five gallons of 
water ; this should bo enough to wash one 
fleece thoroughly. Weigh the fleece to be 
washed including the string, having all per¬ 
fectly dry. Untie and save the string. Im¬ 
merse the fleece in a tub with the liquor, 
and press, squeeze and work it until thor¬ 
oughly scoured. Rinse in clear wuter, and 
place on frames in a cool, airy room uu til 
entirely dry, or if you have-convenience for 
erecting a frame over a stove or heater, so 
much the better. Discard the liquor and 
rinsing water, and proceed with the fleeces 
to be tested. 
Each fleece should be numbered, and a 
record made corresponding to the number 
of the fleece, stating the sex, age, breed, 
weight of animal, and the number of days’ 
growth of fleece. When perfectly dry, it 
should be again tied, weighed, and its re¬ 
cord placed against the statement in the 
book. The difference between the unwashed 
fleece and the washed fleece, less the twine 
used in tying, will show the loss in weight. 
Divide the weight of the scoured fleece by 
the number of days it was growing, and you 
have the amount produced by the animal in 
a day, divide this fraction by the live 
weight, and remainder shows the amount 
produced by each pound weight of the ani¬ 
mal per day ; multiply the fraction by 365 
and you will have the product per pound of 
the live weight of the aumial you wul have 
the number of pounds of wool it will produce 
in a year. 
Thus you may continue with various 
fleeces of as many breeds or families of a 
breed as you may possess. From the data 
gathered, you may estimate the relative 
value of different breeds, and the several 
families of the breed, and thus improve your 
flock to its utmost limit. 
