800 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER ©EC. 4 
tpring water, no ice is needed, but as the tem¬ 
perature of spring water is usually that of the 
It seldom is low enough in Summer. 
The Milk Can.— In order to promote the 
apid cooling of the milk, the pails for set¬ 
ting it are made small and oblong, because 
this shape has been found the most effective 
to this end besides permitting the cream to be 
easily skimmed off the milk. The cans are 
made of iron or steel-plate completely tinned 
inside and out. They are usually about 20 to 
24 leches deep, and hold from two to three 
galloue each, the milk generally rising to 
within tw o or three inches of the top. One of 
the cans is represented at figure 400. Originally 
when the milk was cooled by spring water 
these cans had a diameter of 18 inches and a 
depth of 24, but siuce ice has been used almost 
exclusively, their size has been decreased. 
Figure 407 represents a milk-strainer which fits 
on top of the can and through which the milk 
is strained ns soon as convenient after having 
been drawn from the cow. Figure 408 shows a 
lid which covers the can in hot weather or 
whenever it is desirable to keep the milk from 
contact with the outer air. Two little funnels, 
one at each end, permit the escape of the gases 
and odors from the milk iu the early stages 
of cooling. In hot weather the water in the 
tank rises to the same bight as the milk in the 
cans, 60 that the cream as well as the milk is 
kept quite cool and sweet; but in cold weather 
the surface of the milk is a few inches higher 
than that of the water. 
When the Cream Rises.—I n Summer the 
temperature of the cooling-rootu is kept as 
low as possible, but iu Winter it is never 
allowed to .fad .below 50 =■ Fah., if possible. 
The time requited for the cream to rise de¬ 
pends on the temperature of the milk, of the 
water in the tank and of the room. If the 
temperature oi the iee-water at the time of 
eettiug the milk does not exceed 38o Fah.— 
which is as low as it ever should be—aud does 
not rise higher during the cooling, the cream 
may be skimmed off in from 12 to 18 hours, 
but it Is safer to let it stand 24 hours, as at 
that low temperature the cream rises rapidly, 
but Is thin and requires a longer time to 
become firm. 
The Cream should be put into an iee-water 
bath immediately it is skimmed, and onght 
not to be kept more than two days in Summer 
and three days in Winter before it is churned, 
otherwise it will become bitter and acquire a 
bad taste which it will impart to the butter. 
The cream raised by this method is thinner 
than that which rises iu flat vessels in com¬ 
paratively warm rooms; but there is more 
of it, so that the amount of butter obtained 
from a given quantity of milk is about the 
same in each case; while that secured by this 
system is of finer quality; the skim-milk, too, 
is better, while the expense for vessels and 
buildings is considerably smaller. 
Butter Making. —A temperature of 57 ° to 
60 ° Fab. has been found the best for making 
the butter, something, of course, depending 
on the quality ot the cream, the season, etc. 
The churn commonly used is driven by water 
or steam power, and consists of a barrel rest¬ 
ing ok a frame aud vertically movable on 
trnnions. In it a churn-staff armed with 
two wings rotates at a speed of 120 to 180 rev¬ 
olutions, according to the quantity of cream 
in the churn, which usually contains from 17 
to 60 gallons. The butter comes in about 45 
minutes, aud is separated lrom the butter¬ 
milk first by a strainer and then by hand 
work. It is then tested by the dairymaid and 
divided inlo three classes, alLer which it is 
weighed, when the particulars are entered in 
thefactoiy journal. Before churning some 
fluid annatto is added in quantity suitable to 
the d.fferent seasons, and the varying tastes 
of the markets for which the butter is intended. 
The assorted lumps of butter are carefully 
worked together one after another, and from 
two to five per cent, of pure, fine, dry salt is 
added, the quantity here, too, depending on 
the taste of the market to which the product is 
to be sent. From a quarter to a half per cent, 
of sugar is also mixed in. It is then packed in 
beech-wood casks holding from 60 to 100 
pounds each, and which have previously been 
saturated with brine, the name of the dairy 
having been pressed upon the top of the but¬ 
ter, which is then covered with a piece of 
gauze on which a little salt is scattered. If the' 
butter is of first quality the name of the dairy 
and the weight of the butter are painted on the 
cask, but if this contains second-class butter 
the initials of the dairy alone are put on it, 
while third-class butter is sold at once or re¬ 
turned to the deliverers of the milk. 
—-«-«-♦- 
Helf-turning Cheese Shelves. 
Not the least troublesome duty in farm ! 
dairies where cheese is made, is that of turn¬ 
ing the cheeses. In factories this is easily 
accomplished by the use of self-turning cheese 
shelves, a specimen of which is here illus¬ 
trated, with the suggestion that Us introduc¬ 
tion more generally into farm dairies would 
be a welcome saving of labor to the women of, 
the family upon whom usually devolves the 
duty of turning the cheeses. In each frame 
there are three or more ’‘sets" of shelves, 
each containing three rows of cheese. Each 
of these sets is turned separately and easily in 
about the time it would take to turn a siugle 
cheese by hand, with the advantage of allow¬ 
ing each cheese to rest on a dry spot at every 
turning. The sets are held in position by a 
catch and carry-latch in the end, and strips of 
wood at the back prevent the cheese from slip¬ 
ping off. The cut fig. 403 fully explains the na¬ 
ture of this excellent labor-saving contrivance. 
<% $o nitre garii. 
MANAGING AN INCUBATOR. 
L. S. HARDIN. 
Further experience with my incubator has 
led me to change or modify some of my pre¬ 
vious statements. That others may avoid 
some of the errors into which I have fallen, it 
will be well to call attention to them. The in¬ 
structions that came with my machine advised 
me to put two pounds of sulphate of zinc into 
the battery jar. This I found a great nuisance, 
as it covered the jar and all the apparatus with 
which it came into contact, with a white cru6t, 
and was so disagreeable to the hands that 1 
would neglect cleaning the zinc to avoid it. 
An expert in telegraph machinery told me that 
this sulphate of zinc did more harm than good, 
and was only used for starting the battery. 
Acting upon his suggestion, I dissolved two 
handfnls of blaestone in water, emptied and 
cleaned the jar aud zincs, refilled with fresh 
water and the dissolved bluestone, put back 
the copper and zincs, and all went on better 
than before. I have had great trouble with 
the glass tube in the gauge because it gets 
foul with dust and prevents the mercury from 
working smoothly. Cleaning it with a straw 
is a poor device. I now use a short piece of 
very flue wire and wrap the end of It with the 
finest sewing silk. This makes an .admirable 
swab to clean the tube with. On replac¬ 
ing the wire in the tube, I lay a piece of 
cotton cloth on top of the tube and push the 
wire through it; this excludes the dust and 
causes the gauge to work much better. 
In hatching I am now getting out about 75 
per cent, of the fertile eggs, but at this time of 
year, when the hens and cocks are molting, 
only about two-thirds of the eggs produced in 
ordinary flocks are fertile, aud as fresh coun¬ 
try eggs are selling for 35 centB a dozen at the 
store, the egg accouut is a pretty expensive 
item, it is very hard to procure eggs at this 
season of the year, no matter what you are 
willing to pay for them, as hens have nearly 
stopped laying. I have engaged all the eggs 
from several flocks, ranging in numbers from 
60 to nearly 100, aud find it impossible to get, 
on an average, more than a dozen eggs a day, 
which is below the capacity of my machine; 
for this I can utilize about 150 eggs a week. By 
offering farmers a cent a dozen more than 
hucksters pay, all their spare eggs can be en¬ 
gaged. Next season I hope to get many of 
them to use cocks of the larger breeds, so as 
to make early broilers. 
I now have in the neighborhood of 100 chicks 
from a few hours to four weeks old, and some 
I procured that were hatched by an incubator 
at Coney Island, are over three months old, 
and a finer lot all through I never Baw. The 
percentage of Iosb is very small. Those that 
have broken the shells and come out strong 
have grown right along, and I have not lost 
one of them. In every batch of eggs there are 
always two or three chicks that cannot get out 
of the shells. These I help out and fuss along 
with them. Nearly all such die about the third 
day, and those that live are crippled so that 
it does not pay to work with them, except for 
the experience one acquires in handling them. 
I have learned to “ cram *’ a little chick to 
perfection, for I find that the Instant anything 
troubles a chick it ceases to eat and, of course, 
sood dle6 unless forced to eat. 
It is astonishing how interested every mem¬ 
ber of the family has become in the Incubator 
since the brooderB have begun to be filled up 
with little chicks. Even the neighbors pay 
daily visits and cannot get over their amaze¬ 
ment at this singular undertaking. Presents 
for the little chicks come in so rapidly that I 
have not bought any feed to speak of, though, 
of course, this state of affairs will not last 
forever. The little things are handled so much 
that they are very tame and grow amazingly 
and eat enormously. As Wright says, they are 
the hungriest of God’s creatures, and, unless 
sick, have wonderful appetites. I am experi¬ 
menting with different kinds of feed—corn- 
meal, coarse and fine, oat-meal, bran-bread, 
wheat, worms, meat, cabbages, potatoes and, 
jn fact, everything that offers a fair chance to 
be a good and economical feed. Of the effect 
of these I will be able to speak more wisely 
after further experience. The chicks need 
constant attention, at ieast they do now, as we 
have not got fully settled down to a routine 
with them, but we are rapidly working in that 
direction. 
•-- 
FEEDING CHICKENS. 
There is no point in the chicken business 
about which there is a greater diversity of 
opinion and practice, and about which there 
should be greater unanimity of practice 
than that df feeding poultry. This ap¬ 
plies particularly to young chicks the 
first two days and the first two weekp. 
We will give a small bill of fare. 
Some people will insist upon it that other 
things are better while the price or trouble of 
procuring such food may deter others from 
following our advice. But this at least is a 
good list of feed aud if better can be had it 
certainly should be. The first meal should be 
bread crumbs and boiled yelk of eggs mixed 
in equal parts. Oae yelk will feed 12 chicks. 
First week, oat-meal moistened with milk morn¬ 
ing and until night, when cracked corn should 
be given. This feed the first week or ten days 
fig. 407. 
will give chicks a good start, and as they do 
not eat much at this time the expense will not 
be great. A little minced meat the first week 
is excellent. They should be fed every two 
or three hours during this week, and no food 
should be left in the coop or left over to sour. 
If too much has been made up, feed it to the 
older chickens, us it will give the little ones the 
scours. We know this advice is not exactly 
seasonable, but it naturally precedes the reg¬ 
ime lor older fowls. 
fig. 408. 
After the first week the morning meal should 
[be either of corn, buckwheat, barley or oats 
(mixed one half in bulk with wheat bran. 
Mix with milk if you have it. if not, with 
'water, only until it crumbles; do not make a 
slop of it. At noon the feed should consist of 
boiled potatoes mashed, a little hashed meat, 
uncooked, and not too much of it, with cab¬ 
bage leaves, turnips or somethiug green and 
fresh. At night whole corn and a little wheat 
if convenient. Wheat screenings are delu¬ 
sive and more costly than good whole wheat. 
The following is an excellent list to choose 
from. 
List ok Foods,—G rains : Barley, buckwheat, 
hemp, Unseen, millet, maize, oatB, wheat. 
Meals.—Barley-meal, Indian corn-meal, linseed, 
oatmeal, sltarpB or pollards. 
Aids in Feeding—Bone-dust, rice, oyster shell 
(prepared), ground barleycorns, Balt, meat, house- 
scraps, bones, liver, fat, fish, hay seeds, sunflower 
seeds, etc.; green food of all sorts. 
If feeding is carried out with Judgment, and 
changes are rung upon the foods named above, the 
fig. 403. 
