JUNE 48 
THE BUBAL NEW-YORKER. 
303 
In former times, commonly known as “ those 
good old times,” in 1 arge towns and cities the 
merchant who handled the greatest value of 
goods and. consequently, was the most impor¬ 
tant character in the trade, would be appealed 
to every morning by the smaller dealers to 
learn what he was paying for certain classes of 
goods. His dictum generally governed the 
market, and being able u> put the price up or 
down at his sole pleasure, he would often do 
it to suit his own stock on baud to the evident 
disadvantage of bis contemporaries, who might 
have small stocks while he had large, or vice 
versa. To lake this large power out of the 
hands of individuals and put it where all could 
reach the benelit of It and have it work barm 
to no one, “ Boards of Exchange ” were organ¬ 
ized. 
The Board of Exchange in this city is 
an association of cheese and butter merchants 
who meet every noon in a large room called 
•‘’Change.'' Here the Secretary calls the 
meeting to order, and calls in a loud voice to 
know if any one has butter to sell, calling first 
“crea mery, Slate," then “Western,” “selec¬ 
tions,” “firsts." “seconds” and “thirds,” 
these terms applying to the quality of the 
goods offered. After the sales of butter, he 
calls “cheese"—“ fancy,” “good to fine” and 
“poor to fair." The purchases are all 
made without inspecting the goods, but a 
standing comm ttee settles all disputes that 
may arise between the parties to these trades, 
and one of the committee Is appointed an in¬ 
spector to examine the goods, if called upon 
to do so. The terms above used by the Secre¬ 
tary are all defined in the by-laws of the asso¬ 
ciation. After ’Change is adjourned a com¬ 
mittee meets to determine what quotations 
6hall be, and, governing themselves by the sales 
and purchases made that day on ’Change and 
outside transactions that they know of, they 
sot the quotations. The general knowledge 
as to the number of packages received in the 
city and exported, prices, saleB, etc., is all 
considered private information and not to be 
given to any one who is not a member of the 
Exchange. 
The following terms used at the Exchange 
have the meanings following : “ Straight 
lines or lots” means packages of uniform 
quality and appearance usually coming from 
the same maker or shipper. " Home demand ” 
applies to sales in the United States, while 
“ foreign market,” of course, means any mar¬ 
ket out of the country, though England and 
Germany take fully ninety-one hundredths of 
our butter and cheese that are sent abroad. 
“ Pails ” are the return-butter pails that come 
mostly from Orange couuly or makers near, 
by who require the packages 6ent back to 
them. “Tnbs' are usually Welsh tubs and 
other makes of like size and appearance. 
“ Firkins ” are the small barrels in which but¬ 
ter is packed, while “half-firkins” are the 
same sawed in halves. " State creamery ” 
means that made in New York, while “ West¬ 
ern ” means from any State west of New York. 
“Imitation creamery” means butter ground 
together until of uniform appearance and put 
up in tubs like regular creamery. “Factory " 
butter is usually a little better than creamery, 
it being made at cheese factories where the 
top cream only is skimmed off. The term 
“ unhroken invoices" means all the goods in¬ 
cluded in an invoice, thereby not allowing 
picking over or culling. "Ohio fiats” are a 
certain style of cheese made much flatter thau 
those of the usual shape ; it may be full-milk 
or ekimmed. “Lard butter” is a mixture of 
pure lard and about 10 per cent, of good 
butter. H. 
poultry garb 
ADVANTAGE OF HENS HAVING A GOOD 
RANGE. 
Leaving home late in November last, to be 
absent till the following May. I had my little 
flock of white Hamburg fowls removed to a 
neighbor’s, for fear they would be stolen, if 
allowed to remain at my untenanted place. 
To keep these fowls from mixing with bi6 
own, my neighbor had to confine them to a 
yard of about 20 feet square adjoining their 
roosting house. During this time, they did 
not lay half as many eggs as a similar flock 
had done kept at home during three months 
of the preceding year. In May, I brought 
these henB back to my own place, where they 
have a good run on a grass lot and a small 
space of plowed ground. A few days alter 
thi6 they began to increase the number of 
their eggs, aud in about afortuighi, they more 
than doubled them dally—some days, trebled 
them. As their food and water were precisely 
the same at both places, I cun only aeeouut 
for this increased ogg-productiou by the hens 
having a run where they could get plenty of 
fresh grass, some insects, and pick up various 
things from the ground, which we can not well 
observe, and which are known aud appreciated 
only by the hens themselves. Hamburgs and 
Leghorns are great grass eaters, and I have 
sometimes thought that when of a good quality 
it was equivalent to one-fourth of the other 
food given them for their nourishment. When 
kept by my neighbor, the poultry had pork 
scraps occasionally, which were equivalent, for 
meat, to the insects they now catch in the open 
field. a. 
UnsceUantotts. 
THE OUTSIDE AND THE INSIDE OF 
SOME THINGS AGRICULTURAL. 
The Growing Taste For Rancid Butter. 
It is a curious fact that in the discussions 
which have been going on for months past on 
the queslton of oleomargarine vs. batter, no rec¬ 
ognition has been made of the existence and 
steady increase of the taste for rancid butter 
among the heartier-leeding and robuster class 
of laboring men. To be sure, this form of a 
depraved or cultivated taste is scarcely seen 
or noticed in the butter aud cheese-produc¬ 
ing portions of the country, nor so much in 
cool latitudes; but when one gets into great 
cities with their dense population, or into 
towns or cities of any size, south of the Ohio 
River, the existence of a decided and increas¬ 
ing taste for rancid butter becomes as plain 
as any other new thing. After all, what are 
the. physiological or other reasons why stout 
stomachs may not acquire a liking for butter 
in a certain stage of decomposition as well as for 
someklndsof cheese—Limbnrger, for instance, 
which to many persons is as offensive, both to 
taste and smell, as the best or worst of the kako- 
dyles. 
It will probably be shown, in course of time, 
that the obstacle to the wide and general adop¬ 
tion of oleomargarine as a complement to com- 
mou food, will not be found in the fact that it 
is an artificial production, or that it is made 
oat of offensive and unhealthy materials, but 
that, being fat or tallow, and these alone, or 
mostly, it does not satisfy a want which cen¬ 
turies of civilization have created in the human 
stomachs. It is possible, if means were taken 
to ascertain the direction of popular laste, the 
lower grades of butter might be so handled as 
to suit it, and to the satisfaction and profit of 
all concerned; for in the light of the facts be¬ 
fore us, we can scarcely d oubt that, in course 
of time, there will be as widely divergent ta9tes 
for butter as for cheese, with as wide differ¬ 
ence in the smell and flavor of the butter of 
the future, as between the new and delicate 
full-milk, aud the fully matured and strong- 
scented Limburger cheese. 
Rumyu, 
How many readers of the Rural New- 
Yorker have heard of Kumyss or are aware 
of the extent to which it is being manufactured 
in Chicago and consumed in that city and its 
vast two or three hundred miles of neighbor¬ 
hood? Kumyss is fermented cows’ milk, the 
word being an adaptatiou of Koumiss, the Tar¬ 
tar appellation for fermented mare's milk. 
Kumyss is a food, not a medicine—or rather be¬ 
longs to a class of foods, which are at the same 
time medicines, like blood, cod-liver oil and 
buttermilk (which it considerably resembles) 
of animal, and huckleberries and celery of 
vegetable origin. The chemical composition of 
a quait bottle of the Tartar Koumiss (which 
that made from cow's milk closely resembles), 
according to the analysis of a London chem¬ 
ist of reputation, is as follows : 
Water.lu,8«2 grains, 
AJcotiol. 191 “ 
Caserne and Albumen. 128 “ 
Lactose. 682 “ 
Lactic Acid..... 130 " 
Fat. 36 " 
.,.. 90 •• 
Carbonic Acid. 180 “ 
Total. 12,003 “ 
Kumyss is a pleasant, wine-like beverage 
charged with carbouic acid, generated in 
course of fermentation. It is put up in strong 
bottles and drawn by a champagne tap. It 
has all the properties of milk In more digesti¬ 
ble form, and is admirably adapted to cases 
where milk, under the ordinary lorm, cannot 
he taken and digested. Its manufacture is a 
difficult and delicate rather than a costly 
process, aud for this reason it is at present 
confined to few hands. But it is so valuable 
as a food medicine that its consumption mast 
be, sooner or later, greatly extended and its 
manufacture accordingly. This brief de¬ 
scription of Kumyss is the “ outside" of some 
of the new things agricultural, the “inside” 
being that, sooner or later, dairymen aud milk 
producers may quite reasonably anticipate 
and be prepared for, a vastly increased de¬ 
mand for milk, over aud above that wanted 
for batter and cheese and town and city con¬ 
sumption. 
Potash. 
It is probable there Is no one subject occupy- 
iug the attention of horticulturists and fruit 
growers more than potash and Its relations to the 
successful production of fruits, and especially 
the sour fruits. One can scarcely take up a 
publication devoted to any form of agricul¬ 
ture, without coming across the experience of 
some cultivator of fruits, who reports the 
beneficial effects of the use of potash in the 
form of its commercial salts, or ashes leached 
or nnleached. Here, it is the case of barren 
orange trees which have b**en made fruitful; 
there grape vines have been rescued from the 
dominion of blight, mildew, and rot; in one 
place pear trees, liberally fertilized, have been 
saved from blight; in another, the yellows 
have been bauiBbed from peach orchards, and 
besides, it is known and conceded that on 
Boils otherwise com paratively barren, If they 
are the product of shales and rotted granite, 
the most productive apple orchards are to be 
found. In the matter, too, of vegetables which 
have sour jnices, like pie plantand the tomato, 
manures and fertilizers for them are power¬ 
ful for their good, in proportion to the quantity 
of potash they contain. Moreover, we are told 
that potash is the base, without which few or 
none of the vegetable acids can have an exis¬ 
tence, and that in its absence, there can be 
neither starch elaborated nor sugar formed. Yet 
with all these experiences iu its favor and all 
these facts made known, chemists, whether agri¬ 
cultural or otherwise, have left us in the dark 
as to the why aud the wherefore, as to the meth¬ 
od and the manner in which potash acts in 
producing these phenomena ou vegetable life, 
growth and development. And this leads to 
the suggestion, that if some one having op¬ 
portunity, inclination and leisure, would un¬ 
dertake the task ot going over half a dozen of 
the better agricultural papers and magazines 
of the country and gathering from them all 
the items relating to the good or bad effects of 
potash when applied to fruits and vegetables, 
such a collection, if published, would not only 
, be exceedingly valuable to the practical gar¬ 
dener and fruit grower, but also help to solve 
the problem of the role of potash in the life 
of vegetation. b. f. jr. 
-♦♦ ♦ - 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
Grain for Milling.— The Millers’ Exhibi¬ 
tion now being held at Cincinnati, is proving 
very successful. Among the reports made to 
it by special committees appointed to investi¬ 
gate various subjects, the following on “Grain 
for Milling” is of special importance to 
farmers:—We have met with much difficulty 
in determining which is the best wheat for 
milling in the United Slates, on account of the 
vast extent of wheat growing districts, extend¬ 
ing through twenty-three degrees of latitude 
and fifty-seven degrees of longitude, having a 
length of 3,800 miles and a breadth of 1,7C0, 
covering au area of 8.260,000 square miles, em¬ 
bracing all the States in the Union but three, 
and the entire Territories, with every variety 
of soil and climate. We find the same vari¬ 
eties of wheat grown in different States, while 
possessing the Bame general properties, differ¬ 
ing materially in value for milling. The Fife 
wheat of Northern Minnesota and Dakota is 
far superior to the 3ane variety grown in 
Iowa, Wisconsin, or Illinois. The Boughton or 
Tappahannock wheat of Virginia, Tennessee, 
and Georgia, is mnch more rich in gluten than 
the same kind grown in Indiana, Ohio, or 
Illinois. 
We also find a great diversity of opinion as 
to the merits of particular kinds of wheat 
grown in same localities, making it a difficult 
matter for your committee to determine which 
are really the most desirable varieties of wheat 
for milling purposes. 
We are of opinion that a general discussion 
at this meeting of the association, where all 
the large wheat districts are fully represented, 
will do more to settle which are the most de¬ 
sirable wheats to use than any report your 
committee would be able to make. From the 
inlormaiion before your committee, mostly 
obtained frem correspondence, we find the 
following varieties among the best for milling 
purposes: 
Winter Wheat—Longberry Amber, Lancas¬ 
ter, Indiana Red, Alabama, Orange, Velvet 
Chaff, Boughton or Tappahannock, Jennings. 
Spring Wheat—Minnesota Fife, China, Mam¬ 
moth or Rio Grande. 
The Longberry Amber is extensively grown 
in Virginia, aud. with the Lancaster, is most 
sought by millers, being rich in gluten, and 
possessing properties very desirable for ahip- 
plng to warm climates. 
The Indiana Red is spoken highly of as a fine 
glutinous wheat; also the Alabama, tbe latter 
being but little raised, owing to its light yield 
per acre. 
The Jennings is a white wheat, hard, gives 
excellent color aud good strength. 
The Orange makes a good family flour of 
fair strength, and yields well in flour. 
The Velvet Chaff possesses good strength, 
and yields fairly iu flour, is au early variety, 
grows a stiff straw, and is well adapted to 
strong and rich soils, where most varieties 
would produce too rank straw and lodge. 
The Boughton or Tappahannock is highly 
spoken of in some localities, while in others it 
is not considered a desirable wheat; it is a 
white wheat, not particularly rich in gluten, 
but makes a good family flour ; is easily dam¬ 
aged by moisture. 
The Fultz and Clawson are taking the lead 
with farmers, yielding largely, but are very 
undesirable for millers, being soft and weak 
and containing little gluten compared with the 
first-named varieties. 
The Clawson is used somewhat to mix with 
damp, strong wheat. 
In spring wheat the Minnesota Fife Is in¬ 
comparably the be»t of any spring variety. It 
is rich in gluten, very hard, and yields im¬ 
mensely in middlings for purification and 
manufacture into patent flour; it is essentially 
“ bread-making " wheat, producing a large 
nnmber of pounds of finest bread from a fixed 
number of pounds of flour. This wheat ia 
grown extensively in the Northwest, attaining 
its greatest perfection in extreme northern 
latitudes, particularly in Northern Minnesota 
and Dakota. In Wisconsin and Iowa it is 
much the best spring wheat grown. 
The Rio Grande, China, or mammoth, is a 
large-berried, heavy wheat, yielding well in 
flour, and next to Fife in glutinous properties, 
it is particularly adapted to weak lands, having 
a rank growth of straw, and standing drought 
remarkably. 
The Canada Club we consider the next best 
spring variety, butitissoft; it makes an excel¬ 
lent family flour when strength is not a particu¬ 
lar object. 
The Lost Nation or Prussian Fife we con¬ 
sider the poorest spring wheat grown, having 
a thick bran, very soft, weak in gluten, not 
even making a white floar. It is grown ex¬ 
tensively in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, 
yielding well, and is considered by farmers as 
being safer for a crop than Minnesota Fife, 
China or Club. 
“ Waldo” the Instructive correspondent of 
the Ohio Farmer says:—“I live in a neighbor¬ 
hood where broom corn is extensively grown, 
and those who have followed the business reg¬ 
ularly have done well at it, but once in every 
few years the price goes up to a figure which 
makes it very profitable, and there is a large 
namber of farmers who, with no experience in 
managing the crop plant largely of it, and I have 
known the price to fall in one year from $200 
to $40 per ton. As this is below the cost of 
production under any circumstances, and it 
will cost an inexperienced farmer much more 
to get the crop ready for market than the one 
who understands it, it is easy to see that the 
new beginner is likely to get enough of it in 
growing one crop. As I look back over my 
own experience for twenty-five years on tbe 
farm, I can trace more failures and losses to 
changes than to all other causes combined, 
and it has been a dear lesson learned in the 
school of experience, to stick to a regular 
system iu farming. ‘But,’ do you ask, 
‘should we make no changes, but follow in 
the same ruts worn by our ancestors ?’ By 
no means; but because your neighbor has 
cleared $40 per acre on a broom corn crop, or 
made a fine profit on wool, don’t put your 
whole farm iu the former, or sell off your stock 
and invest in sheep.” 
8peaking of Chicory, the Grocer says:— 
“But the most of it is kiln-dried, and after 
roasting is ground into a brownish red powder, 
to be used as a mixture with or substitute for 
coffee. It iB stronger than pure coffee in equal 
quantities, and gives a good color to tbe de¬ 
coction. It has a large consumption among 
the poorer classes of Europe, and is used 
largely at European hospitals on account of 
its superior qualities of nutrition and a total 
absence of nervous slimula.ing qualities, such 
as are found in coffee. Tne nutritious sub¬ 
stance, according to the analysis, represents 
66 per cent., while coffee represents only 81 
per cent. A great deal of this favorable result 
must be attributed to the presence of a kind of 
sta 1 ch in the root, which is trausmuted by kiln 
drying into gummy extractive matters of 
highly nutritious character. Chicory is con¬ 
sidered abroad, as the most suitable of all sub¬ 
stitutes for coffee, as the aroma which is devel¬ 
oped by the roasting of the chicory root, is 
similar to that of coffee, when roasted. 
[Most of the ground coffee purchased at 
coffee or grocery stores is largely adulterated 
with chicory —and the adulteration, in our 
opinion, ia a very desirable one. We would 
ask our readers to purchase a pound of bean 
coffee and have it ground. Then add from, 
one-eight to one-quarter of a pound of good 
chicory and mix them well together. We 
think that, prepared just the same as pure 
coffee, except that a less quantity serves, it 
will generally be preferred—at least, by those 
who are not informed of the adulteration. 
Chicory is a composite flower (Ciolioriuoi 
Intybus), resembling the Ox-eye daisy, though 
bluish in color. Though somewhat scraggy 
in Its growth, it is still 6howy, and may easily 
be cultivated in garden plots. The roots may be 
Baved, dried in the oven, and ground the 6ame 
as coffee.—E ds.] 
