JAN.46 
ORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Dan® gusbandrg. 
ANOTHER NEW BUTTER PACKAGE. 
We arc glad to notice anything looking to 
an improvement in butter packages. And 
we have for years urged that the common, 
cheap, slightly built butter tub is a nuis nice 
that ought to be discarded. Immense quan¬ 
tities of butter are injured by being put up 
in these tubs, and if retained in them for 
any length of time in hot weather the butter 
becomes unfit for the table, and positively 
Injurious for human food. We gave some 
account recently in these columns of butter 
packages made of tin, and novv we have the 
suggestion that packages of iron, coated in¬ 
side with porcelain, meet every requirement 
that can be desired for packing butter. The 
porcelain package Is impervious to air,—it 
does not discolor nor taint the butt r, and, 
being of iron, is strong and durable. We 
9 hould presume such packages could be made 
efficient; and the only objection that occurs 
to us, is, that possibly the cost may be too 
large. We do not know bow cheaply the 
“Iron-porcolain ” packages can be furnished, 
but wo do know that many dairymen have 
an abhorence of high-priced packages; and 
they will often peril their reputation as 
butter makers, by laying down their goods 
in a poor, defective tub, in order to save a 
few cents on the tub. Butter dealers, we 
think, are much to blame In this matter. 
They could easily bring about a reform in 
butter packages were they to insist upon a 
good tub. They should make from ?, to 5 
cents difference in the price of butter per 
pound, according to the goodness or efficiency 
of the package. But so long as the same 
price is paid for the same quality of butter 
put up in good and indifferent packages, re¬ 
form in this matter will be slow. 
The Country Gentleman refers in a recent 
number to Mr. M. B. Gleason of Clymer, 
ChantanquaCo., who has been sending butter 
to Albany put up in tin, and also in wood, all 
ooated with an insoluble varnish. The butter 
was sent, in order to try the experiment of 
using acoathig of varnish on butter packages, 
and also the comparative value of tin and 
wood. The wooden bores were somewhat 
similar to grape boxes, round, of thin stuff, 
made like cheese boxes, except that the top 
and bottom both had covers. The tin boxes 
wore made in the same way. The boxes 
were of two sizes, two pound and five pound, 
and on taking off both covers, top and bot¬ 
tom, the butter readily slipped out of the 
box in line condition and of attractive ap¬ 
pearance. 
We have seen roll butter put. up in this 
way and we suppose this was the case with 
Mr. Gleason’s boxes, though, from the ac¬ 
count above given It would appear that the 
boxes were rather flat than long, it is stated 
that the varnish used imparted no taste to 
the butter, and that it would not wash off 
except by the use of alcohol. Again, the tin 
was no better, lighter, or cheaper than the 
wood, while one objectionable feature of the 
tin is uoticed in giving a slight appearance of 
rust on the edge of the thin muslin which 
was put over the butter. And although this 
discoloration did not extend to or injure the 
butter, it gave the package a somewhat 
untidy appearance. 
-♦»»- 
CONCERNING THE EAR MARK8 OF 
BUTTER COWS. 
a pink hide, or the skin may be almost the 
sole avenue of escape from the body, the 
butter in consequence being light-colored ; 
or there may be so little coloring matter 
evolved, as to furnish none to the skin, and 
a very scanty supply to the ear aud milk. In 
selecting Jersey cows, in order to judge in 
regard to the color of their butter, he recom¬ 
mends thut the ear be inspected. 
Dr. STURTEVANT, in his recent address 
before the Connecticut State Board of Agri¬ 
culture, alluded to this color of the ear iu 
selecting cows, but ho thought some caution 
jShcejt gjtt'ihnitrj. 
CONFINING SHEEP IN CLOSE QUARTERS. 
As the advantages of sheep husbandry are 
becoming more acknowledged, many farm¬ 
ers may be keeping these Invaluable animals 
this winter for the first, time, and feeling uux 
ious every attempt to be a good llockmaster 
should be successful, 1 wish to caution each 
one against confining his sheep too closely ; 
for there is nothing so injurious to the pros- 
Hon. John Shattuck, a noted butter 
dairyman of Chenango County, N. Y., said, 
at the late Convention of the New York State 
Dairymen’s Association, that he had found 
the color on the Inside the ear to be one 
Infallible guide in the selection of a good 
butter cow. If the skin on the inside the cal¬ 
ls of a rich yellow color, the cow was sure to 
give a good quality of milk ; that is, milk 
rich In butter. He said In all his experience 
he had never known this sign to fail. Mr. J. 
W. North, In the Maine Farmer, gives some 
further information concerning the subject. 
He observes that cows producing very high- 
oolored butter have a large amount of the 
car secretion, in many Instances the whole 
internal surface being covered with a thick, 
orange-colored, oily matter; on the other 
hand, the light-colored butter makers present 
a scanty, thin and pale yellow secretion, in 
power of secreting a certain amount of this 
yellow pigment. If the quantity be suffi¬ 
ciently large, secretion will take place freely 
in the mammary glands, the ear and skin. 
If, however, the production be limited, the 
tendency may be wholly toward the milk 
glands and ear, causing the animal to exhibit 
should be observed in clearing away the se- p er jtjy of ewes, especially, as shutting them 
cretion t hat may have accumulated on t he , (1 y ;irt j g u p t j ay- A lot of sliearhogD, or others 
skin, so that the true color of the skin ou the jntonriod for mutton in the spring, is a differ* 
inside of the cur may be seen. Other v* tats ent thing; they may be fed highly and be 
the accumulated secretion, if taken for the brought out fat by feeding either a few roots 
true color of the skin inside the ear, would Qr od ca j C(J w jDi K rain aud lmy; but breeding 
deceive, as it might bo darker or exhibit a ewos an j tegs, or any sheep intended to be 
deeper color than that of the true skin. He ,- m should be taken out of their night 
regarded the color of the ear as a good guide ,j lla |.t,ers every day, unless it should rain very 
in respect to the color of the butter which j ie . a vily, and allowed to roam over some old 
the cow would yield. pasture for hours. Should snow cover the 
-- surface they should go just the same, ul- 
CONCERNING BUTTER GLOBULES AND though on very severe days they should go 
THE BUTTER PRODUCT OF COWS out late iu a Tllornin £ Come in earlier in 
_ ' the afternoon, arid instead of this run and 
. „ , ,. . the eating of a little grass, taking them off 
At the recent farmers’convention at VVoo'l- « rf, they will relinhtlu-lr h»y 
stock, Good., uluci teoiisptoo-i o much bettor ajid ttl.ro will ba no sickness nor 
Connecticut State Eoari of Agnoutture, Dr. | kM| „„ r , viu tl „re 
Lewis Stortkvant advanced the fol ow, , fi J wiU 
ideosconcerning the formation of milk kio- I ' ’ . ........ „_ 
_ , , . . n V i’ i hi and rat up and suck in a lew runmtos attei 
T “ d 10 °? , f “° d ,°“ ' ; „ : their birth ; also, if the owe, have had some 
product. Ho commenced by referring to the food for a nioi.th heforo they ycan- 
causo o( the opacity of m. k It deny., it. ^ wiII be llb ,,„ilk. This is 
water y fluid 11 Thoy arfAthe oils or butter-fat, not» theoretical statement it. Is practical, 
. - y , . as mv experience has extended over eighteen 
encased in a policle or membrane, album • y , ... . . ... v 
' ‘ . ,,,. !, ... years In the United States and in different 
inous in its character. They are the tnor- . , . 
. . . “ „localities from New England to the South, 
phological portion of the milk. Thoserum is I T , . „ „ . . . 
h in, „, . On two occasions I had from fom to six liun- 
ooio iosed of casetne, sugar of milk and \ . .. , ... 
various suite in solution. The globule varies ewes and they aid aX nigh i , she,Is 
in size from the 1-1500 to 1 2700?Of an inch in , a,,out s ® v0 ®*' y in oaoh lot ’ ' ul . .V 1 ® 
diameter. The size varies with the breed, ^ 111 day-time 
... ., ,. j. , . .. „ . ... m lk was plentiful with the long wools and 
with the time from calving and with the. . ... , .. 
b downs, but thu merinos were some ot them 
. . .. .. >lf< short till two or three days after they had 
Tho nun,,to necretm( oe'ta oi tho uddto. IJo Tb „ on both estot o»had mtad 
thought, arc really hut a »tago of ' _ y l„„,b« U,a year before. liavtaR been 
meat of Ua. la.tttr K ohulo ittolf. Tho Kite » winter ; hut after tho daily 
tn'ow bv buddincr iiiid fchw ik'.w is off . « . , « 
y \ .. . ... w ,„ t exercise and the beneficial effects of natural 
and becomes a butter globule. \\ hat was . . , 
, ' * , . . , . . treatment the next winter, there were more 
before part of the animal is now a globule. ’ 
In the early stages of lactation, and before Ive ambs than ewes aud not one per cent. 
parturition, the power of casting off milk 038 """ a'iy ,u 
cells Is not so complatc as later. The contents In Knglan.l the ow«s are often too fat when 
Of the «'lobules vary in character, some kinds they have lambs and if they have eaten tur- 
belng more waxy than others. su,tl Swcd « 3 thcra ^ of tro ' n 
. .. „ . . . three to live per cent, from lambing, as the 
In discussing in m uerict. o oo< * e ea ti n g 0 f ruo ts in excess grows the young in 
thought it must be either to increase the size lh . ^ ^ ^ ^ flegh and ^ CttUSCB 
of the glo mles oi y lnen.asing , ie ener 0 y ^c passage for the larger lamb to be smaller ; 
of the g mu s causing gi ra ei rape i y o thus in consequence of protracted and diffi- 
produot ion. An extra feed of linseed meal, i inflammation will ensue and after¬ 
given to a cow previously kept on hay in* wj]1 ^ ^ . howyven thorc to 
creased Hie n . m « “ . 1 ^ little danger of this in America, the trouble 
the In,sen and giving twd^quarto of shorts wcak lambs uml no milk for 
the glo mles < d 1 • . " " . ^ _ . them because of “confining sheep in close 
again to corn meal the globules increased m ^ , )arter8 » 
size and decreased on returning again to hay. | ,,ua ers- 
Farther, as a result of the above feeding, it If hay made from grass mowed when 
was found that the weight of milk decreased young and just in bloom, or before all is fully 
or, the linseed meal, but the percentage of out is harvested well for ewes, there is no 
cream increased. On the shorts the weight necessity whatever for feeding grain or aught 
of milk increased materially but the per- else ; but il to help the hay to hold out longer 
centago of cream decreased proportionately; anything else is desirable would give 
on corn meal the milk increased and cream wheateu bran and a lew oats. By liberality 
still further decreased. hl feadin * 8heo P *■ woo ‘ wbic1 Wl1 
From his experiments lie concludes that increase so as to pay for the extra food, and 
1 1 , \ ... . it 18 in fact the same m every respect with 
the udder, having the largest secreting sur- „ , „ .. , .... 1 , , . 
1 , , , .. the flock of ail ages and conditions; if kept 
face will produce the greatest number ot . . .... . . n 
, . , .... in one uniform thriving 8tp.tt? there Is seldom 
butter gome.-. g'o", 'a lv 1 s ° any disease or trouble of any kind, ft is not 
action governs t »e I-" 01 IK ' ° 1 ^ unf » coddling and keeping sheep out of rain that 
anally, tho M. o tho colls Is lar S oly do- aMUMm takil ,^ of thorn, for nalther 
pendent upon hree.1 or ml,ontance. rein, nor bdow, nor cold hurts them If well 
In regard to ext ra feeding, he. said with f fl( j Of course, in very severe climates, they 
some cows the relative constituents or pro- should he put under shelter during the night 
portion of butter in the milk could not, he in- antl in V( . ry i )a fl t ] ays , ; but so sure as any 
creased by such feeding, while with other breeding flock or young ones to be kept on 
cows (the cultivated breeds) the proportion (m . Con u, ie< i ft i) the time, as certain it will be 
of butter could be increased between eer j^at Die effects of the confinement will he 
tain limits. Breeding does more to increase felt oven up to shearing time; and any one 
the product, than feeding, though within may satisfy himself on this head by reading 
certain limits feeding does affect it. He Mr. Randall’s “Practical Shepherd,” where 
gives a- generul conclusions the following : p, j 8 related sheep have died from a shower 
1. The butter product is largely governed 0 f ra in just after losing their tleccc, whereas 
by food. i it is common practice in England to shear 
2. There is a structural limit to the butter sheep in February and March and then drive 
capacity of each cow, them to bo penned in tho open street of the 
3. When the oow is fed to this limit, in- market town. When I was a young man, 
creased food cannot increase the product. thousands used to go from Gloucestershire 
4. The superior cow has this structural and adjoining counties to London, ju*t shorn, 
limit at a distance from ordinary feed and is an d walk all the way (80 to 100 miles) lying 
more ready to respond to xtimuli than the In open yards for four, five or six nights ; 
inferior cow. this was cruel, but it disproves all the non- 
5. The superior cow is seldom fed to her sense about English sheep being naturally 
limit, while the inferior cow may be fed be- delicate, 
yond her limit. j Now I believe sheep of every variety are 
In making up the above abstract of Dr. as hardy as horses ; for nature has given 
Sturtevant’s remarks we have consulted them a warmer coat and when Bheep are in 
the report of the Norwich Courier, in addi- good health and in full flesh their fleeces 
tion to our own notes taken on the occasion, don’t wet through ; for in heavy rain they 
Borne eases found only at the bottom of the more ready to respond to stimuli than the 
ear. His theory is that every animal has the inferior cow. 
0. The superior cow is seldom fed to her 
limit, while the inferior cow may be fed be¬ 
yond her limit. 
In making up the above abstract of Dr. 
Sturtevant’s remarks we have consulted 
the report of the Norwich Courier, in addi¬ 
tion to our own notes taken on the occasion. 
will stand and the water all runs off the same 
as off an umbrella and during drizzling rains 
when they lie down, on rising, they shake 
themselves aud all the moisture flies in every 
direction ; therefore, don’t err in confining 
sheep too closely and don’t bo uneasy about 
weather hurting them which it will never 
do unless they have been made delicate or 
have been starved for want of food. There is 
a medium in nil things and there is too much 
of extremes in every country, particularly 
in America, both coddling and neglect, being 
equally bad. A Working Farmer. 
--- 
COMBING WOOLS. 
Referring to my article in the Rural 
for Oct. 17, I wish to rise to an explana¬ 
tion of what might seem rather a muddy 
idea. Speaking of the prices of merino 
or clothing wools as compared with comb¬ 
ing, it should be stated that a long staple 
merino, by which I mean a staple of at least 
three inches in length, will bring as good a 
price as the English blood combing sorts of 
the same length, like South-Down or Cheviot. 
Hero I would suggest to farmers, that inas¬ 
much n>- combing wool, especially of merino 
or delaine quality is becoming so desirable to 
the combing industry, it would be well to 
adopt tho Euglish system of sorting the hogg 
or yearling fleeces from the general flock at 
shearing. Almost, every flock of well kept 
grade merinos will give, in its yearlings, 
more or less desirable combing wool either 
for stuff goods or hosiery. The staple at this 
age is always longer and stronger than at 
any later period of the sheep’s ag*s. Hence 
the English stapler makes a distinction in 
his prices current, placing a higher figure 
upon hogg fleeces than wool from more ma¬ 
ture sheep of the same breed. 
As combing wools are in such demand at 
this time, I think farmers would do well to 
sort, out the yearling fleeces, as thereby they 
will find more or less wool which will do well 
for the worsted manufacturer. The produc¬ 
tion of combing wool is now tho great need 
of American sheep husbandry. By making 
tho production of a longer staple a specialty, 
we can secure a large supply of wool superior 
to English combing wools for stuff goods, as 
shawls, delaines, &0., because we have so 
much of the merino blood disseminated 
through our flocks that we should have at 
once what England has never grown and 
France has not been able to furnish her man- 
ufmiturlnsr industries ft i adequate supply for 
her higher stylo worsted goods. In New 
Zealand the farmers have turned their a tten¬ 
tion to making combing wool a specialty, 
and are crossing tho merino ewe with Cots- 
wold bucks, and are producing some very 
desirable wool. 
The day for the production of clothing wool 
has gone by, except choice grades like Mr. 
Chamberlin’s Silesian, of which but a small 
supply Is grown In this country: though if 
Southern farmers would adopt Mr Cham¬ 
berlin’s system of sheep husbandry they 
would find it a great gain over anything they 
, now practice. Without, therefore, any He- 
rioua or violent change, our farmers might 
• so change their wool product as to produce 
. an abundant supply of the finest worsted 
. wools iii the world and at the same time 
I largely increase the meat product of their 
I flocks. 1 feel much interest in the effort of 
, Mr. Grant of Victoria, Kan., in regard to 
sheep breeding and stock raising generally. 
, He may be successful in crossing merino upon 
■ Mexican sheep both in the increased weight 
t, and firmness of fleece, but I think a cross 
r with Ronth Down or Cheviot preferable, as 
1 he would geta hardier, and on most accounts 
T a much superior breed of sheep than tho 
L j merino. I think where sheep are kept in 
t large flocks, us they must bo on the plains, 
, tho long wool or combing varieties will not 
x be a success, as they are the sheep of the 
( amble, rather than the pastoral farmer, I 
^ hope we shall hear aguiu from Mi’. Grant on 
r his sheep enterprise. 
3 Whenever the condition of the Cotton 
r States gets so trauquilized that farming can 
a be perused with desirable success, cotton and 
I- sheep will be as important auxiliaries as tur- 
L , nips and sheep In the Norfolk system of farm- 
g ing. [t has always seemed to me that there 
( is no portion of the Union east of the Rooky 
a Mountains, where high farming could be 
t made so profitable as in the cotton zone. The 
t time must come, perhaps in the next genera- 
; tion, when by the introduction of another 
- rotation Into their farm practice they will 
/ work a revolution quite as wonderful as that 
wrought by tho introduction of sheep and 
B turnips into the light soils of Norfolk. But 
i farmers should turn their attention to comb- 
i ing wool and good mutton if they want to 
a make sheep husbandry a success. 
r T. C. Peters. 
