CORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
$ah|iJ |§tt«skttdrg. 
THE MeLEAN CREAMERY AND 
ITS GOODS. 
When we were at the Dryden Fair in 
Tompkins Co. t we took occasion to drive over 
to the McLean factory in company with Mr. 
Osman, Editor of the “ Dryden News.” 
The McLean factory is one of the largest 
in the State, and is now owned and run by 
the American Dairy and Commercial Com¬ 
pany. It is coder the charge of Capt,. Gard¬ 
ner, who is a large stockholder in the Com¬ 
pany. 
The McLean factory was erected some 
years ago, but, on its sale to the American 
Dairy Co., it was thoroughly overhauled, 
large additions made to it, together with a 
neat and commodious dairyman’s house. 
The whole is nicely painted, and, with the 
roads and premises kept in the best order, it 
presented a most attractive appearance. In 
driving up to the establishment the visitor 
is impressed with the neatness and eleanli 
ness of the surroundings, and he at once gets 
the idea that everything done here must be 
first class. We wore not disappointed in our 
favorable Impressions as we entered the 
building. Capt. Gardner was at, home, and 
in person took us through the various de 
partraents. 
BUTTER MAKING. 
The McLean, like other factories of the 
American Co., is managed as a creamery, 
where the skimmed milk is converted into 
cheese. It receives the rnilk from about 550 
cows. This is purchased from the neighbor 
ing farmers, who deliver it at the factory, 
and are paid for every ten pounds at the rate 
for which the best fancy cheese sells in the 
New York City market. 
Deep setting is practiced, and the milk, as 
soon as received, is strained into deep cans, 
which go at once to the pools. During Sep¬ 
tember the milk was allowed to stand from 
24 to 36 hours, when it is skimmed, and then 
goes to the vats for cheese making. The 
most scrupulous neatness is observed about 
the pools and In the butter room. At the 
hour of our visit the churning had been Un¬ 
ished, and the butter was being worked 
over. It was of tine color, of good grain, and 
of excellent flavor. In the manufacture of 
the butter we saw nothing that, differed ma¬ 
terially from the usual practice adopted at 
other first-class creameries where the pail 
and pool system is employed. About 275 
firkins of butter were stored in the cellar of 
the dairy-house, this department being espe¬ 
cially devoted for this purpose. The firkins 
when filled are headed up, a hole in the up 
per head being loft open for the reception of 
brine, and when ready to ship the hole is 
plugged. The brine is kept constantly on 
the firkins while they remain in the cellar, 
and the method of preparing it is a secret. 
During glimmer the milk yields an average 
of three pounds of butter from every 100 
pounds of mt‘k. During September from 35 
to 30 pounds of butter was taken from 1,000 
pounds of milk. The butter goes to one firm 
in New York, and, on account of its superior 
quality, commands the highest market price. 
MANUFACTURING THE SKIMMED MILK. 
We were in time to see the process of 
cheese-making, and in the manner in which 
the skimmed milk is improved by the use of 
oleomargarine. This material comes in bar¬ 
rels. It is a pale, amber colored fat, odor¬ 
less, and with nothing unpleasant, in the 
taste. It is perfectly free from specks, or 
sediment of any kind, and when melted is as 
transparent as water. It is taken from the 
barrel, and is prepared for use by placing it 
in a tin vessel, which is arranged so that it 
may be melted, and brought to the proper 
temperature by steam, and which Is 94 
Fahr. The milk, meanwhile, is brought to 
a temperature of 93’ Fahr. when the melted 
oil is passed through a strainer, and thor¬ 
oughly miugled with the milk. This process 
is accomplished by means of wooden pad¬ 
dles, filled with holes, having long handles 
like rakes. About 20 pounds of the fat is 
used for every 1,000 pounds of milk, but as 
the milk will take up only about 12 pounds 
of the oil, the residue is subsequently ski in 
med oil from the whey and saved for future 
use. Rennet is now added, also, and the 
coagulation is effected sufficiently in ten 
minutes so that it is ready to be cut in the 
usual way with the gang of steel knives. 
The process of working the curds, salting, 
pressing, &e., does notdiffer materially from 
that commonly employed at the cheese fac¬ 
tories, the only distinguished feature of the 
whole being the substitution of the oleomar¬ 
garine for the butter removed. It will be 
bserved, however, that when the original 
fat of the milk has been taken the skimmed 
milk will not absorb, or hold the same quan¬ 
tity as that originally removed. 
The curds have a bright, lively appearance, 
and their flavor is sweet, and agreeable to 
the taste. During the latter part of Septern 
ber about a pound of cheese was made from 
10% of milk, including, of course, the per¬ 
centage of oleomargarine added. 
APPEARANCE OF THE CHEESE. 
There was quite a large number of cheese 
in the curing room, and Capt. Gardner gave 
us the trier, inviting us to test the quality as 
we desired. The cheese have not the smooth, 
handsome appearance as at some “whole- 
milk” factories. Neither did we find them 
so full of the sweet, nutty flavor, as the fine 
'‘whole-milk" cheese ; but they showed a 
much better quality than the ordinary 
skimmed cheese, and many of them were 
mellow and palatable, and such as we should 
not object to place upon our own table. Oc¬ 
casionally we struck a July cheese that was 
“off flavor,” but this, perhaps, would be no 
uncommon occurence in some of our “ whole 
milk ” factories. 
Capt. Gardner remarked, that they did 
not claim to make a cheese that would com 
pete with the best “ whole-milk ” cheese, and 
hence it would lie rather unfair to judge the 
goods by that standard. What was claimed 
is, that the cheese are better than skimmed 
milk cheese, as ordinarily manufactured; 
that their process so Improved the skimmed 
milk that a good, palatable cheese could be 
made from it ; that by this means a largo 
amount of useful food maybe utilized that 
must, otherwise make inferior food or go to 
waste. He. said the goods sold for satisfac 
tory prices, and that no complaint had come 
from consumers concerning the quality of 
the goods. They intended to make a good, 
palatable and healthful article of food, and, 
as far as neatness, cleanliness and care in 
handling milk to obtain that result, the Mc¬ 
Lean factory will, without doubt, compare 
favorably with the best iu the State. 
THE COUNTRY FROM WHICH MtlK IS RECEIVED 
is rolling, well supplied with good, cool wa¬ 
ter, while the grasses are sweet and nutri¬ 
tious, thus affording ull the elements for pro¬ 
ducing good milk. 
Tompkins County has been noted a long 
time for the excellence of its butter. It is 
admirably adapted to dairying. The farm 
ersj are thrifty and intelligent; great atten¬ 
tion is given to the care and management fo 
stock, and, with all the essentials for making 
a good product, we are not surprised at its 
success. 
We were well pleased with Capt. Gard¬ 
ner’s factory and his products, and we ad 
vise those who have taken so much pains to 
throw discredit on the Captain’s goods to 
visit McLean, and taste for themselves, and 
it will ho strange, indeed, if they do not 
come away with a good opinion of the pro¬ 
ducts here manufactured. 
H^dsman. 
HOW MUCH SHOULD A COW EAT T 
SORGHUM AS A SOILING CROP 
FOR THE DAIRY. 
Amono the forage plants for soiling cattle, 
sorghum lias been occasionally recommended. 
Mi-. A. Davis of Du Quoiu, 111., has used the 
plant for this purpose during a series of 
years, and pronounces it excellent as a cattle 
food. At the late District Fair of Southern 
Illinois Mr. Davis exhibited some stalks of 
sorghum, of the red seeded variety, that 
measured eleven feet in length, it being a 
sample of two acres planted for feeding dai¬ 
ry cows. 
The Du Quoin Tribune says a portion of 
the ground growing this crop was measured, 
and the cane cut and weighed in the pres¬ 
ence of Mr. W. Fonda and Father Donned, 
and the weight was found to be over sixty- 
tons to the acre of green feed, an equivalent 
to abcut eleven tons of dry feed to the acre. 
The laud producing this enormous crop, it is 
stated, raised three crops last season, viz. one 
of iiay, then one of corn fodder mid turnips, 
the last yielding at the rate of 950 bushels to 
the acre. Mr. Davis, we should say, has 
not only an excellent piece of land, but must 
understand the secret of obtaining large 
crops. Sorghum for soiling has not been 
grown to any extent at the East. Would it 
not be well for sonic of our dairy farmers to 
make trial of it another year. From the ac¬ 
count given by Mr. Davis it must be a very 
profitable crop. 
■---— 
In England animals having l-32d. impure 
blood is reckoned a “thoroughbred.” By 
this means, those having the poorest cattle 
and using blooded males cau, in a few years, 
get their stock on the Short-Horn heid 
books. 
3 mere is no doubt that horses arc some¬ 
times overfed with bulky and innutritions 
provender. Cows are not liable t.o suffer in 
this way, for they rechew their food in the 
cud ; but oven with cattle it is often import¬ 
ant in winter to know how much should be 
fed to have all eaten without waste. Wher¬ 
ever the practice of soiling prevails farmers 
want to know how much provender in its 
gieen state is necessary to keep stock in con¬ 
dition. This subject is discussed in a very 
interesting manner by a correspondent of the 
N. E. Homestead, whom we quote : 
“ For eight cows I began wheeling the com 
to them by the wheelbarrow load. This was 
slow work, as the cows would consume one 
load while [ was after the other. I then took 
it to them by the wagon load, keepinc tho 
cows in at night. One small wagon load 
would not suffice. I thought 1 would like to 
know how many tons one cow could go 
through In a day, I weighed one load and 
found it to be 2,315 pounds, and on Saturday, 
5 P. M., tho eight cows were set to work. 
Let me say, further, that they were not 
starved for 13 or 21 hours prior to this, but 
were woll filled at the time of beginning the 
task. At 7 P. M. the stalks were turned over 
to them until they were full, and enough for 
their lunch during night left within reach. 
They were let out for water on Sunday, but 
were not dry, only two indulging. They 
were fed three times on Sunday. None would 
drink on Monday ; again they were fed dur¬ 
ing Monday ; at 5 I\ M. the whole load, 2,245 
pounds, was consumed, an average of 146% 
pounds per day, or each cow ate 293 pounds 
in the 48 hours and was not uncomfortable 
either. The cows shrank during tho time 
about three pounds each. The corn sowed 
was Ohio mixed ; at time of cutting it was 
fully ten feet high. From August 1, my past 
ures have increased, owing to keeping cows 
off at night. I regard grass as better for 
milch cows than fodder, unless you are mak¬ 
ing butter. I sell milk in town, and to pro¬ 
duce it in large quantities I feed ‘ brewer’s 
mult;’ this produces a large How of poor 
‘ lueteui fluid but followed up with mcai, or 
com ami oats ground together, iL makes a 
large flow of good milk. 1 cannot afford, 
these hard times, to buy meal, so I feed sowed 
corn (cut and fed green) which answers every 
purpose and is much cheaper. 
“ The amount or fodder corn ucow will eat, 
according to the above statement, is certainly 
very large ; but we must remember that this 
food is very juicy, holding a largo percentage 
of water. If we are to take the baking ex¬ 
periment of the joviul President of the New 
York Agricultural Society, (Harris Lewis,) 
the 146% pounds of corn contained only about 
11% pounds of dry food, which would bo a 
rather small allowance, after all, for u good 
sized co a, since she will eat 25 to 30 pounds 
ol well cured hay per day, iu winter. But 
the probability is, that our friend Lewis car- 
rled the drying process to a very great ex¬ 
treme, having carbonized a large proportion 
ol the woody fiber ; and when corn is dried 
at a moderate heat, it will be found to con¬ 
tain, in its most succulent state, 16 to 18 
pounds of dry substance in 100pounds, which 
would give about 25 pounds of dry food to 
each cow in the above experiment, and this 
would be just equal to 29 pounds of air-dried 
hay. We have tested cows with clover in its 
most watery state, and found they would 
each eat 100 pounds per day. This gave 
about the same amount of dry substance as 
140 pounds of green corn—as clover will dry 
out about (•> per cent. But J. H. 8. may con¬ 
gratulate himself on feeding even 116 pounds 
of green corn per day ; for if Ids corn was 
ordinarily thick on the ground and ten loot 
high, he had, no doubt, 80 tons per acre, 
which would feed a cow 410 days to the ucre| 
thus making an acre feed a cow 16% months. 
What crop will do better than this ¥> 
-- 
THE HOLSTEIN COW. 
cheese maker, the globules being small and 
uniform in size. The shim-milk is of a very 
blue tinge. The butter made from the oraam 
possesses great lasting qualities. 
Several instances are on record and are 
well authenticated, where cows of this breed 
have given large quantities of milk. One 
cow is certified to have yielded an average 
of 18 quarts a day for nine months. A heifer 
owned in Chemung Co., N. Y., gave, .after 
her first calf, 15 quarts aday for nine months. 
An instance is also recorded where a Holstein 
gave 75 lbs. for ten consecutive days, of milk 
that yielded 22.70 of cream. The record of a 
heifer belonging to a Block-Breeders’Asso¬ 
ciation in N. Y. Htate, shows that after her 
first calf, she gave for 12 days 40.63 lbs., for 
the next month, May, 43.17 lbs.; in June, 
52.18 lbs.; August, 50.12 lbs,; September, 41 
lbs.; October, 33.17 lbs., being an average 
per day for the 7% months of close upon 45 
lbs. Her feed was, for the first mouth, sim¬ 
ply hay with three pecks of turnips daily, 
and afterwards pasture uud two quarts of 
corn meal. After Oct. 1, four quarts of a 
mixture of oats, corn and shorts, and % bush¬ 
el of roots were ted.—Canada Farmer. 
The Holstein bred cows are now attracting 
much attention in various parts of this con- 
tinonl from their wonderful milking quali¬ 
ties. They aie natives of the north of Ger¬ 
many-large, heavy cattle, of compact form, 
making, when flattened, excellent beef, and 
being also good workers. They have been 
grown in Holland for generations with spe¬ 
cial regard to their milking qualities, la that 
country they are invariably black and white ; 
but in their native Duchy they ure found of 
various colors. The quality of the milk of 
1 the Holstein is such as fits it well for the 
WILL THE MARKET FAIL I 
When we talk of the great possibilities of 
stock raising in this country, some persons 
are always ready with a bio of skepticism. 
They can’t see for the life of them where we 
will find a market for these fine cattle and 
blooded hogs and imported horses when 
everybody gets to work at (t. Take one item 
of Short-Horns. There never was such a 
market for these animals as now. Last year 
there were comparatively few purchased in 
this State ; this year there have beeu a large 
number bought, and next year the number 
will be still greater. As a consequence of 
this increased demand the prices are better. 
The time is not far distant iu the fut ure when 
beefsteak vviil be higher than it is now. How¬ 
ever unpalatable this news may be to those 
who bay all of that article at seemingly high 
prices now, it is not bo distasteful us will be 
the poor beef they now eat., after they have 
OfiOe become accustomed to the steak that 
comes from these Short-Horns. We do not 
fear to predict that the time is coming when 
nothing loss than Short-Horn beef will satisfy 
the market demauds. Besides, the English 
markets are beginning to draw upon no al¬ 
ready .—Live Slock Journal. 
A STRANGE DISEASE. 
According to the Lexington (Mo.) Regis¬ 
ter, a singular and startling disease lias 
broken out umong the cattle in this section. 
The disease affects tho optical nerves, and 
when once it attacks the poor dumb brutes 
total blindness invariably follows. The dis¬ 
ease is an unaccountable one, and from its 
nature and appalling results, is creating a 
profound sensation among cattle owners. 
The problem as to the nature of the foul dis¬ 
order is a knotty one, and probubly will 
never be satisfactorily solved. In the mean¬ 
time, immediate steps should be taken to 
eliminate or at least arrest the further pro¬ 
gress of the horrible malady. 
NOTES FOR HERDSMEN. 
In order to ascertain tho gain in weight of 
growing cattle, an experiment was tried as 
follows A Short-Horn bull calf was weigh¬ 
ed on the 12th of April, 1874, when he was 
just fourteen months old, and his weight was 
found to be SOS pounds ; May 12 ho weighed 
593 lbs.; June 12, 703 lbs.; July 12, 801 lbs.; 
August 12, 886 lbs., and Sept, 12, 966 lbs,; a 
total gain in live months of 463 lbs., or 92% 
lbs. per month. 
A Writer to the Agricultural Department 
at Washington says lie received at the rail¬ 
road station in Washington, during 1874, for 
the milk sold from 27 cows, §1,000—or §26 
per cow. They grazed on 100 acres and con¬ 
sumed the wheat straw of 26 acres, corn fod¬ 
der from 80 acres, besides the fodder grown 
on two acres sown broadcast, 15 tons of clo¬ 
ver hay ai.d 100 bushels of wheat bran and 
corn meal. 
Feedlnu Carrots. — Cattle relish carrots 
amazingly in the spring, after a long confine¬ 
ment to grain diet. Carrots should be cut in 
long slices, not crosswise ; then there is no 
danger of a too eager animal getting choked. 
At first, carrots will act as diuretic and laxa¬ 
tive ; afterwards these effects pass off. it is 
claimed that the carrots are good for the 
wind and iliat they produce afine, silky coat. 
These effects are due only to the fact that 
they restore a proper tone to the body, and 
thus are conducive to health. 
