206 
MARCH 20 
THE RURAL WEW-YORKER. 
be done at the risk of a cold to the animal 
and whenever necessary should be followed by 
gentle and immediate drying. The best way 
is to keep the cows so clean that washing will 
not be needed. 
CAKE OF THE MILK. 
The milk should be carried to the dairy as 
soon as taken from the cow, and without 
shaking it. for this diminishes the amount of 
cream which will rise. Straiuiug should be 
doue immediately, before the cream has an 
opportunity to rise, and special attention 
should be giveu to the strainers, which, from 
their office, are very likely to become foul. 
All vessels used in the dairy should be thor¬ 
oughly cleansed with boiling water. The 
choice between deep and shallow setting is a 
difficult one to make, and depends upon the 
product intended to be turned out. 
Butter exists in milk in the form of globules 
of various sizes, and when milk is set for 
cream, the globules rise in the order of their 
size, the largest ones first. The phenomena 
of rising cream may be witnessed by pouring 
a tablespoonful of castor oil into a transparent 
bottle nearly full of water, and shaking the 
two vigorously together. When the shaking 
suddenly stopped, the oil will be seen rising 
small globules, as butter in milk, though 
much faster. 
In a deep can as used in the system of deep 
setting, the large globules rise quickly and 
evenly, the distance they have to travel giv¬ 
ing them a chance to outstrip the smaller 
ones. If these are skimmed off before the 
small ones join them, and churned by them¬ 
selves, they produce the choicest of all butter, 
if tbe preparatory work has been right. If 
all the cream is allowed to rise before skim¬ 
ming, the butter will be of uneven grain due 
to the regular arrangement of layers of the 
various-siz9d globules. 
But manv of the smallest globules never 
i each the surface of a (jeep can on account of 
the resistance of the great weight of milk 
above them. In a shallow pan the butter 
globules rise large and small together, to a 
certain extent, and there is a more uniform 
mixture of sizes throughout the cream, and 
the resulting butter will be of a uniform grain, 
though not equal iu quality to the first-cream 
butter of the deep-can system. The proper 
temperature of the milk-room where the 
cream is gathered is (50°, and it should neve r 
rise above 65 u . At this point the cream can 
all be gathered from any milking in thirty- 
six hours. A thermometer is a necessity, and 
at the very' moderate price asked for such con¬ 
veniences, should always be provided; guess¬ 
work does not answer. 
MAKING THE BUTTER. 
I have been a long time coming to the point, 
do you think* True. But if every prelimin¬ 
ary has not been carefully and faithfully at¬ 
tended to, no amount of labor in the actual 
making of the butter will turn out a good 
article. 
For choice butter, the cream must be gath¬ 
ered and churned before it sours, having been 
passed through a proper strainer, if at all 
lumpy. The temperature in the churn at the 
start should not be above 00°, und if 5° 
lower, it is better, for the action of churning 
will raise it. But the room in which the 
churning is done ought to be made comfort¬ 
able for tbe workers. The churn itself should 
be scrupulously cleaned with boiling water 
after every' using, and again scalded out just 
before churning, though it mast be allowed 
to cool down before the cream is put in. 
It is hard to say which of the churns in the 
market is the best. They are all good enough 
to allow each of us his own preference. The 
office of the churning is to break the envelopes 
of the butter globules, and the motion of the 
dasher or churn should be just sufficient to do 
this without breaking the grain of the butter. 
Fine butter is of a waxy consistency, and too 
much churning will make it like grease. The 
old-fashioned barrel-churn, with its upright 
dasher, has always seemed to me to make tbe 
best butter, and I shall not discard it until I 
find a churn which will excel it. When the 
butter has formed, stop churning; lift out 
the butter gently, and wash the milk out of it 
quickly and thoroughly, but uot to excess, for 
this destroys the flavor of the butter Work 
the butter as little as possible, hut get all the 
milk out. Never touch the butter with your 
hands; ulways use a ladle. One ounce of salt 
to two pounds of butter, is enough when the 
butter is for immediate use. For Winter but¬ 
ter use nearly twice as much, about four 
ounces to five pounds. 
When the cattle are properly fed no artifi¬ 
cial color wilt be needed. The expedients for 
covering up a lack of coru-meal are only in¬ 
teresting to those who ought QOt to know any¬ 
thing about them. If pails are used for pack 
ing. select only such wood as is odorless. Tin 
pails and earthenware jars make excellent 
packages, because they may be made so 
thoroughly clean. 
U remains poyy only to sell the product, but 
this is already half-done if the dairy work has 
not been slighted. Do not be satisfied with 
anything short; of the best, and the market 
will soon reveal its interest in your work. 
Women. 
CONDUCTED BY MISC RAY CLARK. 
ONE KIND OF HOME INFLUENCE. 
It is a part of every woman’s duty to dress 
neatly and becomingly at home. 
Whatever outside duties woman may be 
called upon to perform, she is the centre of 
the home circle. On her depends largely the 
attractiveness Of the home, and no woman 
has a right to dim its brightness or lessen her 
power by being careless concerning her per¬ 
sonal appearance. 
It may seem like a bold assertion, but it is 
none the less true that, a woman who is always 
neatly dressed is able to exercise a greater in¬ 
fluence for good thau one who is the reverse. 
The well-dressed woman is more attractive 
to the eye, and the eye is one of the main ave¬ 
nues to the heart. 
Other things being equal her influence is 
more potent than her neighbors, 1 whose repu¬ 
tation of dressing “just as it happens 11 at home 
in some indefinable way casts a shade over 
whatever virtues she may possess. A woman 
neatly dressed is ready for emergencies. The 
chance caller and the unexpected guest finds 
her ready to receive them. But perhaps the 
greatest ne *essity for looking well at home 
exists in the home itself. To the members of 
our own family circle we owe our first duty, 
A tidy well-arranged home is very inviting to a 
tired man and tho charm is Lightened if she 
who presides over the home is neat and tidy 
also. And perhaps some who are ever study- 
ing the subject of how to keep the boys at 
home evenings would flud the problem half 
solved if they gave a proper amount of atten¬ 
tion to home dress. 
The woman who is both mistress and ser¬ 
vant, as very many housekeepers are. is con¬ 
stantly' met by the temptation to neglect her 
own adornment and sacrifice her own tastes 
and wishes to the numberless demands upon 
her time and strength. Of course to a busy 
woman every moment is precious, yet a few 
spent in freshening the toilet will scarcely be 
missed and somehow one feels rested, and the 
work goes easier for it. 
The habit of dressing neatly at home like all 
other habits, is st rengthened by practice, and 
if a girl is early taught that neatness in dress 
is one of the cardinal virtues, she will prac¬ 
tice it almost unconsciously. 
It should be made a part of a girl’s home 
training—not only' the duty' but the method. 
Let the child understand that it is to please 
others rather than to win admiration for her¬ 
self and it will but help to make her thought¬ 
ful. 
This is a subject svliich concerns us all, and 
if we give the matter the thought which it de¬ 
serves we shall see its importance moreelearly 
If we hold up the mirror of theory in which 
to view our practice no doubt many of us will 
find imperfections which need only be seen to 
be remedied, .So we shall be helped thereby, 
our homes made brighter, and our families 
happier. 
A STORMY DAY IN THE COUNTRY. 
The sitting-room at Uncle Norman’s present¬ 
ed a pleasant contrast to the war of elements 
outside. It was a plain farmer’s home but 
peace and content seemed to prevade the air. 
The room itself is worthy of a passing men¬ 
tion. The floor was covered with a pretty 
striped rag carpet, and the walls were papered 
with a small flowered modest paper, while here 
and there an oil painting or an engraving of 
fine stock was hung, while family photographs 
framed made an agreeable variety, A long 
shelf at one side of the room, orname ted with 
a neat lambrequin, held the vases and other 
Christmas gifts of the last holiday. A desk 
well filled with books and an organ were in 
appropriate corners. A large center table 
was covered with papers and periodicals. 
Shakespeare aud Scott occupied conspicuous 
places near a large volume of the last Census Re¬ 
ports. Uncle Norman himself sat at one side, 
his comfortable arctics close at hand, ready 
for use at chore time; his spectacles on his 
nose was looking over the last agricultural 
paper and now and then passing his verdict 
on some of the articles that met his eye. 
Aunt Jane sat near by helping her ten-year- 
old boy to study out a geographical enigma 
iu which he was much interested. An older 
boy with a thoughtful face was plodding 
carefully through the mazes of decimal 
fractions; while the young daughter of the 
house was busily engaged iu arranging oblong 
blocks of bright colored merinoee in a brick¬ 
work pattern for a sofa pillow. 
The gray cat purred sleepily on the home 
made rug. The fire roared and snapped in 
the huge stove, as if bidding defiance to the 
fierce storm that raged outside. “O how I 
love a stormy day! 11 said little ten-year-old as 
he looked up from his completed puzzle. “I 
like to go to school; but when it. snows and 
blows so that you can't go it is so nice to have 
a good time at home:” and he sallied out of 
the room, aud presently the sound of cracking 
hickory nuts came from the kitchen, telling 
his next amusement. Thus pleasantly passed 
the worst storm of the season so far, at Uncle 
Norman’s, and similarly in many a plain but 
happy country home. B. c. d. 
Three ladiesandgentlemen recently walked 
to the top of Mount Washington from the Glen 
House, made a sled of barrel staves, and coasted 
down. 
-» >-+- 
Mrs. McElroy, the President’s sister, is 
very popular in W ashiugton. She has a bright, 
sweet, sunny face, and very quiet manners. 
IShe has the gift of remembering faces and 
names. She dresses very modestly. 
- 
Harriet Beecher Stowe does not pay 
much attention to fashion in her toilette, but 
she is always dressed like a lady and, far from 
being plain, her face is fair, refined, and pleas¬ 
ing, if not positively handsome. 
-- 
At her coronation the new Queen of Mada¬ 
gascar, who is young and pleasing, wore a 
gown of ivory satin heavily embroidered in 
gold, and a train of dark crimson velvet, also 
gold embtoidery, fell from her shoulders and 
was borne by six officers of state. Although 
her face was calm, her hands trembled like 
aspen leaves. 
Dxnitfstic Ccottoim} 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE. 
MY EXPERIENCE WITH A NEW 
CEMENT. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
The door bell rang, and presently the house¬ 
maid announced, “Mr. Williams w'ould like to 
see you ” I fouud Mr. Williams to be a stran¬ 
ger, a tall, .full bearded, iron-gray haired, 
mau, wearing gold-rimmed eye-glasses, a large 
diamond in his shirt front, a shining silk hat, 
and good broadcloth. No sigu of being a 
book agent. Just how he made kuown his 
business I do not remember in detail, but it 
was doue in a very adroit fashion, so that I 
was led to regard his visit as a favor for 
which I should tie duly grateful, and particu¬ 
larly for the inestimable cement to which he 
wished to call my attention. He theu pro¬ 
ceeded to show me a large number of testimo¬ 
nials to its unequaled qualities from the more 
prominent women in my neighborhood, and I 
was quite entertained with their literary 
efforts in its praise. And all the time I was 
wonderiug where he earned the cement. 
Finally he slipped his hand in the capacious 
pocket of his top-coat., and drew out a small 
pasteboard box, which held the great inven¬ 
tion of the age—the invention of a manufac¬ 
turer of china in England, Newton by name, 
who was worth six millions of dollars, but who 
refused to put this cement in the “trade” to 
prevent counterfeits from being palmed off 
u|>on the public, etc.; also that he, Mr. Wil¬ 
liams, was the only agent for it in the United 
States. He only sold it as he called at ladies’ 
houses, and there was no place where they 
could send and buy it. It must be taken 
from him when he had the goodness to call, 
or it could not be secured. Aud what were 
its qualities? Absolutely water-proof and 
fire-proof, and it would meud wood, china, 
glass and silver, so that the articles would be 
as good as new, and show no signs of tho 
meuding. It was not stick}', like stratena, 
and could be quickly applied, and if the 
mended vessel were filled at once wfith boiling 
water, it could immediately be used. Theu 
followed numerous accounts of the things 
mended with it by Mrs. Williams—before she 
died; how, wnen the last pudding dish wus 
split and company was coming, the dish was 
quickly put together and the pudding baked 
in it. Had I not something I would like to 
have mended? Yes, certainly, a bushel or 
two of brokeu wares. 
But would it mend granite-ware, this won¬ 
derful discovery—the light, dainty granite- 
ware utensils that give to cooking a new ease 
aud charm—the granite ware that tne tin¬ 
smith aul the blacksmith and the general 
tinker all say cannot be mended? “ Oh, yes,” 
came the assuring reply, “it will mend that 
perfectly.” I thought of my “lovely” soup 
kettle, that had iu its side a hole big enough 
to let your little Huger through - all good but 
that hole, and it hud cost a dollar and a half. 
But how much did Mr. Williams ask for the 
cement? Out of the box came two tiny white 
bottles, one containing a fluid, and the other a 
white powder, to be mixed, forming a thin 
mortar, price two dollars-aud-a-hulf! “Al¬ 
together too much,” I rejoined. “Oh, no; 
many ladies who knew its value, would not 
be without it if it cost five times that.” Mean¬ 
time, the maid had brought, iu various broken 
wares to be experimented on. One was a 
tureen, broken nearly in two; a china cup, 
with a handle off, a pudding d ish, that leaked; 
some broken plates. But the soup kettle could 
not be found. Turning a goblet upside down, 
he poured out a few drops of liquid aud a 
“shake” or two of the powder, mixed them 
with his forefinger, and touched the edges of 
the broken pieces. Into the cracks of the pud¬ 
ding dish ho rubbed the mortar. Asking for 
boiling water, he filled the mended tureen and 
the pudding-dish. After a few minutes he 
emptied them, aud pronounced them ready 
for use. 1 begau to feel that I might as well 
part with two dollars-aud-a-half gracefully 
as otherwise, although longing greatly for the 
soup-kettle. Mr. Williams assured me that I 
could meud it as well as he—any child, even 
could, aud telling me how, he pocketed his 
money and left the remnant of the materials 
he had used. “ A fool and his money are soon 
parted,” 1 repeated to myself, as his stately 
figure moved away, aud l felt a certain kind 
of satisfaction iu realizing that I had been 
humbugged with my eves open. 
The mended tureen remained in constant 
use, and now, after four months, it seems as 
good as ever. But four or five days after the 
man’s departure, I took up the tea-cup he had 
mended, aud the handle came off! It made 
me feel very uueertaiu in regard to my wares. 
Finally the soup kettle was fouud, and I has¬ 
tened to mend it according to directions, and 
at once tilled it with hot water aud used it 
constantly for a week to 1 eat water in. Theu 
it was turned upside down, aDd laid aside for 
a month. When again brought into requisi¬ 
tion it leaked. I rneoded it over, and set it 
away to dry for four days. The mortar dried, 
cracked, and served no purpose, I mended it 
the third time, filled it with hot water as at 
first, and it was used for heating water con¬ 
tinuously for ten days. When it again gave 
out, I mended it still another time, until I had 
nearly exhausted my two-dollars-and a-half 
on it, aud it again gave out. Then I set it 
away, aud declared that 1 would like to see 
Mr. Williams. 
Meantime. I had mended a number of other 
things, filling some with hot water at once, 
and placing others away to dry gradually for 
a few days. The first to come apart was a 
platter, the next a butter plate, and finally a 
vegetable dish. Some pieces have been as 
much a success as the tureen. For mending 
fine china, glass, lamp .shades, and things of 
that sort, l believe this cemeut to be very 
good. But for ordinary kitchen-ware, I do 
not think it an “economy” to invest in it. I 
have written thus briefly of my experience 
with it, as some of you will doubtless receive 
a visit from Mr. Williams ‘‘in the Spring,” 
and you may know what to rely upon if he 
volunteers to mend your granite-ware, give 
him the chance, and report after three months. 
P. S.—The "successful" tureen, written 
about in the foregoing, has since come apart. 
What cau one conclude but that this costly, 
and wonderful new cemeut, is but a sorry fail¬ 
ure? If any reader of the foregoing is willing 
to accept my experience in lieu of her own, 
she will save thereby two dollars and a half, 
and a sense of having been cleverly cheated, 
which is not so easily estimated. 
HOME IMPROVEMENT. 
I have just been reading Charity Sweet¬ 
heart’s ‘ 1 reverie” in one of the Jauuarynum¬ 
bers of the Rural, aud although I very much 
doubt, the reality of such a person, i would 
like to say a wold to the many faimers’ 
daughters, who, like Charity Sweetheart, in 
isolated country homes, are lougiug for a 
higher intellectual life, and who amid their 
uever-ending round of daily work, aud the 
most uncongenial surroundings for tho growth 
of such a life, are striving to improve them¬ 
selves, and obtain some degree of culture by 
devoting a few moments of each day to read¬ 
ing and study. Of all such i would ask if they 
have ever given any attention to the Chau¬ 
tauqua Literary and Scientific Circle? For 
they must have heard of that, wonderful or¬ 
ganization. with its80,000 students, the man¬ 
lier rapidly increasing each year. It is a sort 
of “Home College,’’ and is very useful iu pro¬ 
moting habits of study aud reading by one’s- 
self, aud is designed for persons situated just 
as Charity Sweetheart is, who find it “diffi¬ 
cult to study without a master.” The reading 
is laid out for each week, mouth, and year, 
with questions aud answers, and is explained 
nud simplified by copious notes. To quote 
from one of its text books: “ It is a school for 
those v ho, conscious of their needs, earnestly 
desire tbe highest culture possible for them. 
