OCT 43 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
674 
but the cows. I have seen those cows. I 
have seen the farms and the farmers there. 
I have a memento of a visit to those islands, in 
the shape of a photograph I brought from 
there about 80 years ago. ‘‘Such a country 
and such a heebies.” and such cattle! The 
little, rough-coated pony of those barren 
islands, where outssometirnes never ripen, and 
the cattle eat seaweed, is a type of the cow. 
A noted work on cattle says, “This cow is a 
fit type of her miserable surroundings.” Take 
her away and she will no longer bo a Shetland 
cow. What do we want of such animals? 
But anything will do to speculate with. 
Few persons know anything about the Swiss 
cattle. Brit for the mountain regions of Am- 
ei ica perhaps there is no better kind of cow 
than this, which is a mountaineer by nature 
and by birth, A few of these cattle have 
been imported into this country, but like some 
other meritorious animals, their lightseems 
to have been “ hid under a bushel.” One cow 
of this breed has the notable record of 010 
pound of butter in a year and 8000 pounds in 
five-and-a-balf years, the smallest yearly prod¬ 
uct being 527 pounds; and yet the Swiss cows 
have never had a boom except this modest 
one which I here give them. 
There seems to be imminent danger of 
trouble among tho little and the big stock- 
men in Texas. The big fish with their liar bed 
wire fences want to swallow up the little ones; 
“nesters” as they arc called. The nesters 
cut the fences and threaten to wipe out the 
men who are monopolizing the ranges. These 
monopolists fence in big tracts of laud and then 
keep their cattle on the outside range until it is 
eaten down; then their herds are turned in, 
to the fresh, fenced range. That is insuffer¬ 
able and such greediness must lead to trouble. 
If English laud owners who have robbed and 
starved generations of tenants and laborers in 
their own country, try to do this here in the 
“free wild West" they will soon leurn that 
this is not Euglaudor Irelnnd aud such meth¬ 
ods wout go down. Such things, however, 
are inevitable aud ouly instances in which 
history is repeating itself. 
Breeding is said to be an art. Is it? There 
seems to be a “streak of luck” or accident in 
it too; but then it is a great art to turn acci¬ 
dents to account. It is said of a great man in 
other ways, who had a wid - reputation as the 
best shot in the country, that he gained it in 
this way. He was at a great shooting match 
and was bantered to try his hand. Saying 
nothing—a mark of wisdom by the way—he 
raised the rifle, shut his eyes and struck the 
bull’s-eye fairly. “ Oh that’s luck only, try 
again.” “ When you have done it gentlemen, 
I will do it again.” But not one did it. There 
is a good deal of this in breeding aud reputa¬ 
tions have been made in this way. The great 
Hambletouiau (Rysdyk’s) never went inside 
of three minutes, and yet he has in his pro¬ 
geny three horses at least, which have records 
of less than 2.20, and scores which have gone 
from 2.80 to 2,40. With such experiences re¬ 
peated constantly not only with horses, but 
with cattle, how can it be said breeding is an 
art? And yet there is this much of an art 
about it that one can base his plans and meth¬ 
ods u]x>n his own experiences, and follow up 
lines which have been marked out with 
something like certainty. But. after all, it is 
somethiug Jike a knack which one may have 
in getting around in the dark, from a habit of 
calculating distances. And t hus it is that so 
very few men become successful breeders 
even after a lifetime of practice. 
Nevertheless ull who keep stock, if it is 
but a fowl, must learn what they can of the art 
of breeding. They should note the history of it. 
For it is an art that is made up of experiences 
aud results. We get dues from these but no 
certain rules by which we can prognosticate 
certain results. At least, the most wo learn 
is this: that family peculiarities ruu iu fam¬ 
ilies. It may bo that a borse or a bull or a 
cow may reproduce the likeness of an ances¬ 
tor or a side relative and not its own. It is 
not true that “ like produces like” any closer 
than this. A general likeness of type, a family 
likeness may be reproduced, but only rarely 
an individual likeness. Thus a second-rate ani¬ 
mal, of a first-rate family, may produce in its 
progeuy a first-rate animal, while a first-rate 
one may never produce so good a oue as itself. 
And this lays the foundation for line breed¬ 
ing or iu-aud-in breeding as it is called, but 
not from one animal to its own progeny, 
but by less closely related members of the 
family. Thus a farmer or small breeder may 
lay the foundation for a family by selecting 
the best of his herd aud breeding in this line, 
the best with the best, aud so on fur years, 
with advantage. Aud he may do this more 
safely than he can go outside of his carefully 
bred herd and bring iu some strauge auimal 
which may spoil the work of half a lifetime. 
♦ 
MILK SETTING. 
Mr. Stewart, in the Rural of Aug. 25, in his 
comments on my criticism of a statement in 
a former issue, says I overdo the matter a 
little, aud, like all special pleaders, overshoot 
the mark in trying to make out a case against 
what was said by a man who perhaps knew as 
much about milk as I do. Now I do notclaim 
to be wiser than the teachings eveu of Mr. 
Stewart, because I have been a diligent stu¬ 
dent of his writings and have learned a good 
deal from them; but when I wrote the article 
referred to I was not aware that i was to 
be bitterly assailed by him. He doesu’t try to 
disprove any assertions I made; but by reflec¬ 
tions and insinuations intimates that my ex¬ 
perience must have been of a very unfavor¬ 
able kiud because I spoke about bad odors, 
taints, etc., as some of the unavoidable things 
in a dairy. Mr. Stewart, farther says, it is in 
the man and not in the dairy that these things 
exist. Ho certainly is favored above the 
common lot of mortals here below, if his sur¬ 
roundings are so pure that he is entirely free 
from all these annoyances. I am free to ad¬ 
mit that a man has the control of these things 
in a good degree; but for Mr. Stewart to say 
that they do not exist or that they are avoid¬ 
able is, I think, begging the question consider¬ 
ably; as a matter of fact their existence or 
non-existence is not the question at issue at 
all. I think I can safely say that nine-tenths 
of the butter-makers of our land have no other 
conveniences for caring for their milk than 
small pans into which it is strained in the cel¬ 
lar; and I ask this class ot Rural readers if 
they have ever found a cellar so pure that the 
above aunoyauces could not be found therein. 
One of the strongest, points presented by the 
manufacturers of creameries is the freedom 
they afford from all species of what Mr. Stew¬ 
art is pleased to call “filth.” I do not object 
to this term; but go where we will, these very 
things are all about us, Mr. Stewart to the 
contrary notwithstanding, and a man need 
not necessarily be a filthy man because he 
tries to avoid such “ filthiness.” Mr. Stewart 
is too intelligent not to know that the reverse 
is the ease; a man or woman who has no care 
about guarding against these annoyances is 
sure to be a person of “ filthy ” habits. Of 
course, if one has a cold spring or a good 
creamery he can avoid all the trouble; but 
how many have these conveniences ! I have 
never seen or heard of a dairyman or woman, 
Mr. Stewart excepted, who has not been wor¬ 
ried and sorely tried by all the annoyances 1 
have spoken of; and yet, in spite of this unfor¬ 
tunate state of things, Mr. Stewart seems to 
think that because they exist, the man who 
recognizes their presence aud guards against 
them iu his milk-room must be filthy and won't 
keep bis cans clean. 
Now as to the proofs of the correctness of 
my former statements, which is t he main point 
at issue. Mr. Stewart sneeringly refers to im¬ 
age, and talks as though a life-long experience 
was of no account. I said that my experience 
began fifty years ago at tho age of eight, to 
show that my conclusions were not of a mush¬ 
room growth; but I further said that it was 
only “yesterday" I made the trial which re¬ 
sulted us stated. No " infantile'' experience 
about that, Mr. Stewart! Why didn’t he try 
to disprove, if he could, the assertions I made 
in regard to the cooling of milk. Was it be¬ 
cause I did with what he calls my “ favorite 
creamery,” what he can’t do with his, that his 
shoe pinched? My veracity is called in ques¬ 
tion because my milk was set at a temperature 
of D4 degrees instead of at SO degrees. Now if 
Mr. Stewart thinks that milk should stand 
around in the stable until it cools down to SO 
degrees, he has a perfect right to his opinion; 
but 1 should call the practice “ filthy." How¬ 
ever, iu spite of this, 1 think it is very wise 
for him to let his milk cool down to that tem¬ 
perature with the creamery he uses; for 
by so doing ho gets rid of the auimal odor in 
his milk, or perhaps his cows don't impart auy 
odor to their milk, before plungiug It under 
water. I prefer to get my milk into the cans 
as soon as possible, aud, by using the can I do, 
1 can give it all necessary airing. According 
to his theory tuid according to the statement 
which provoked my former letter to which 
he referred, it takes a long time to cool milk, 
while he says it is not very easy to get the 
milk to the dairy before it loses or without 
its losing, more than four degrees, unless it Lie 
in the hottest of weather. Yesterday being 
raiuy, the thermometer stood at fit) degrees, 
and after strainiug my milk into the cans it 
was U2 degrees—even if he won’t believe it. 
1 make no pretensions to scholarly acquire¬ 
ments, owing perhaps to my having begun 
my education too young, aud to my limited 
period of schooling having been passed in a 
mere country school-house, aud because of 
that Mr. Stewart may be able to “swamp” me 
with his pen; but, for all that, the facts a 
stated ai - e facts that he can't disprove, after 
giving him credit for knowing more than I 
do about milk. 
One word in regard to the quantity of 
butter made from milk set in cans, or, as it if 
usually set, in pans. Here again Mr. Stewart 
may doubt my figures, yet in the mouths of 
June. July and August there was only half a 
pound difference iu the quantity of butter 
made in each month, using the same number of 
cans. I hardly need to make the assertion 
that such a uniform result cannot be obtained 
in the usual manner of handling milk. In con¬ 
clusion, Mr. Stewart says the mode of setting 
milk is all a matter of convenience with him, 
because he has no bad odors, flies, taints, etc., 
to contend with. He is most highly favored 
certainly, and because of that fact,he concludes 
that everybody who is not so fortunate must 
be unclean. While I willingly concede that 
cleanliness is the one thing needful iu a dairy, 
I do not give myself the credit of being any 
cleaner than other folks who may differ from 
me. I, for one, am after the truth, and I 
suppose that is what the Rural is after. 
[Your supposition couldn't be more correct. 
Eds.] The old assertion that truth is mighty 
and will prevail, will apply right here, whether 
it comes from the pen of “your humble ser¬ 
vant,” or from that of some one of more lofty 
pretensions. S. LEHMAN, 
Schoharie Co., N. Y. 
-» ■» ♦- 
A CHEESE CD RING-ROOM. 
O. S. BLISS. 
The question of J. S. P., Centreville, Va., 
and the answer, p. 827, suggest some thoughts 
on the subject of dairy and curing rooms for 
warm climates. 
An eveu temperature is of the greatest im¬ 
portance in curing cheese. What that tem¬ 
perature shall lie depends to a considerable ex¬ 
tent on the character of the cheese and the 
rapidity with which it is desired to cure it: 
but it may be assumed that the best tempera¬ 
ture for most American cheeses is about 70 
degrees to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Several 
kinds of fancy cheeses are cured at a lower 
temperature, but few can be cured at a pre¬ 
vailing temperature higher than 70 degrees 
with safety. With the cool nights which so 
generally prevail in the South, it is not 
difficult to secure a good curing temperature 
in properly constructed houses. These ought 
to be built, apart from the making houses; for 
they should not be subjected to the deleterious 
effects of the heat aud moisture which are in¬ 
separable from the manufacture of cheese. 
The two kinds of houses may, however, be 
connected by a short platform or bridge. 
Where such a construction is not convenient, 
the apartments should be separated by parti¬ 
tions, plastered on both sides so as to leave a 
series of air cells extending from the bottom 
to the top and open at the top. Draughts of 
air through a curing room are not congenial 
to that medium humidity of the atmosphere 
which it is desirable to maintain. Neither is 
it desirable to keep it so close as to have it be¬ 
come surcharged with moisture. Some pro¬ 
vision for ventilation, subject entirely to con¬ 
trol, is therefore necessary. But the control 
of the actiou of the air within an apartment 
implies; its protection from all external in¬ 
fluences. To this end non-conducting walls 
are a necessity. A brick wall with an air 
space in the center, or on one of its faces, with 
proper ventilutiug registers through it, would 
meet the requirement in the case. 
if wood is used the walls should be double, 
each part upon its own line ot studding, the 
center being filled with some non-conducting 
substance, as charcoal, sawdust or fine shav¬ 
ings. Ur, if they are made tight so as to keep 
full of cold air without auy reference to the 
temperature of that outside, aud open out at 
top, the effect will be quite the same. The 
coldest air which at any time roaches the 
level of the mouth of the air eells will of its 
own gravity fill them, and it will remain 
there till it becomes warmer than that above 
it, or until it is in some other way displaced. 
But air spaces which are open at the bottom, 
whether they uru open ut the top or not, 
are of very little value. The cold air runs 
out of them just as water runs out of a leaky 
dish, and Is replaced by the lighter, outside air, 
so that the air in the spaces is always of the 
same temperature as that outside. If the ob¬ 
ject of the air spaces is to help to keep the 
room warm, then they should be closed at the 
top, but may be open at the bottom. The 
necessity for absolutely confining tho air in 
the air cells iu order to have it in any degree 
effective in protecting inclosures against 
either heat or cold, precludes the use of paper 
and other cheap substitutes for sound, sub¬ 
stantial material and good workmanship iu 
the construction of dairy buildings. In order 
to iusure the maintenance of an oven, low tern, 
pornture in an apartmeut.it requires essentially 
the same protection above as at the sides. 
The loft or attic over the apartment should 
not be ventilated in a manner to permit 
draughts of air through it. A single ventila¬ 
tor on the ridge is all that is required and is 
better than more. A single opening from the 
loft into the apartment below is all the venti¬ 
lation it requires in that direction. Ail the 
air spaces in the walls may also communicate 
with the loft aud receive their cold air supply 
from that source. 
A curing room constructed as described 
will become filled during the night with cold 
air through the ventilator alone, making an 
entire change in the air within the apartment. 
If it is liable at any time to become too cool, 
the register in the ceiling may oe closed and 
the supply shut off. It is not necessary that 
the air in a curing apartment should be con¬ 
stantly changing, though it should be changed 
often enough to prevent an undue accumula¬ 
tion of moisture. This may be effected at 
any time when the air outside is warmer 
thau that within, by opening any low dowu 
aperture, when the cool, moist air will flow 
out like water, to be replaced by the lighter 
external air. But generally all necessary 
changes wid unavoidably take place during 
the ordinary opening and closing of the doors 
during the day and the regular flowing in of 
the night air. 
A curing room should be well lighted. All 
sorts of mischief are concocted in the dark. 
But the windows should be to all intents and 
purposes parts of the wall, made double, clos 
and fixed. If protection from the sun 
necessary, as it generally will be, staining the 
glass is better than either blinds or curtains. 
There are several very cheap methods of ren¬ 
dering the glass opaque. 
THE GUENON SYSTEM. 
Farmers in general doubt that there is any 
good m the Guenon system. Is not this doubt 
caused by Guenon having claimed too much 
for it, and also by its complications; Of 
course the complications of the system are as 
great in the translations of Guenon’s work as 
in the original. 
But if the system, stripped of all its super¬ 
fluous matter, is brought down simply as to 
whether the escutcheon is not an additional 
good point to judge dairy cattle by, I thinK 
the farmer, who gives the subject proper at¬ 
tention will admit that it is so, 
When simplified in this manner, the system 
could be learned perfectly by half an hour’s 
study and would be of just as much practical 
value as the more complicated one. By its 
means, anybody can, from a herd of cattle,pick 
out the cow with the best escutcheon, and, other 
points being equal, that cow will be the best 
milker of them. 1 do not depreciate the other 
points for judging, but 1 maintain the escutch¬ 
eon is an additional one. That is, if 1 had two 
cows t hat would lie usually judged equal, I 
would say that the cow with the better escutch¬ 
eon was the bet ter milker. 
The farmer will find most .use of this simplified 
system when judging his calves. Usually he 
has about three times the number of calves he 
intends to raise, aud keeps those of his best 
milkers. He does uot know w hat they will 
turn out, until they have their first calf, and 
theu quite often he is grievously disappointed. 
Several of the most important points are not 
developed to any extent till near calving, and 
consequently a study of these would not help 
one to make a good selection among calves 
five or six weeks old, the age at which most 
farmers choose which calves they will keep. 
Theu it is that the escutcheon is particularly 
valuable, being us large then in proportion to 
the size of the body, as it will be in after life. 
Thus the farmer knows that if he keeps the 
calves with the largest escutcheons, he is 
keeping those that should turn out the largest 
milkers. I say should, because if the animal 
while young is weakly, this circumstance w ill 
affect the flow of milk in after years. 
If the farmer finds that none of his ealves will 
turn out first-class milkers, he can sell them 
to the butcher, and buy calves with good es¬ 
cutcheons from his neighbors at no greater 
cost than the loss of his time. 
Montreal, Canada. N. R. Macaulay. 
THE B01S INCONNU. 
CHARLES M. HOVEY. 
Few trees find a name more appropriate and 
correct than the oue applied to the Celtis Oc- 
cidoutalis (of Liuua-us), aud I much prefer 
this to its tnauv other local aud native names. 
Iu Uliuois, Miehaux says the French called 
Bois Inconnu, or the Unknown Tree, what in 
other parts of the country is called Pepperidge 
Tice, Nettle-Tree, Hackberry, Beaver Wood, 
Hoop Ash, Sweet Gum, Sugarberry, and Fa Is * 
