DEC 3 
344 
ture must keep smaller herds and prepare to 
give them shelter and feed during storms and 
heavy snows. This will mean fewer head, 
more care, smaller losses, and consequently 
more profits. L. J. t. 
Canon City, Colo. 
DAIRY SCHOOLS AND “WORKING 
DAIRIES” IN THE UNITED 
KINGDOM. 
SECRETARY J. S. WOODWARD. 
Great and rapid improvement in Danish 
butter due to public instruction in butter¬ 
making ; dairy schools in Ireland\ “work¬ 
ing dairies” in England; labors of Pro¬ 
fessors Carroll and Long , and Miss Con¬ 
nell; programme of a “ working-dairy ”; 
large attendance, close attention , and ex¬ 
cellent order-, English and Danish dairy¬ 
maids. 
Only a comparatively few years ago, of all 
butter made, probably Danish was the worst 
in quality, and most unattractive in form, 
and it found no sale outside the home market. 
Realizing that all the conditions of soils, 
climate, grasses and water were perfectly 
adapted to the production of the finest butter, 
a few public-spirited Danes began the syste¬ 
matic instruction of the butter-makers (mostly 
girls) and induced the Government to make 
appropriations for the continuance of the work, 
and although but limited sums have been ex¬ 
pended, so much improvement has been made 
that now Danish butter finds ready sale in the 
best markets at fancy prices, and as a long- 
keeping butter it has no superior. 
It was not long before the English noticed 
the change in the quality and aDpearance of 
the butter, and being quick to discern the 
cause, an effort was made to produce like 
good results by the introduction of this sys¬ 
tem of instruction into the British Islands. 
One of the pioneers of these dairy schools, 
and one of the most successful, was estab¬ 
lished in Munster, near Cork, Ireland, and a 
later one that has had great influence in 
making these schools popular, was established 
at Glasnevin near Dublin. It is mainly the 
success of these schools that has led to the es¬ 
tablishment of others both in England and 
Scotland. Both sexes are admitted; but most¬ 
ly girls become students of butter making, 
and the demands for instructors and dairy 
managers is so great that the most efficient 
students find ready and constant employment. 
Both of these schools owe much of their 
success and usefulness to Prof. Thomas Car- 
roll, a most indefatigable worker and a per¬ 
sistent believer in this mode of dairy instruc¬ 
tion. The Royal Agricultural Society (soon 
followed by the Royal Dublin Society and 
also the next most important Society, the 
Bath and West of England), saw the advan¬ 
tages of bringing practical dairy instruction 
to the notice of visitors by the establishment 
of what are called “ Working Dairies,” and 
so popular have these become that there is now 
scarcely an important agricultural show held 
in the United Kingdom of which a “ working 
dairy ” is not one of the leading features. 
Among the most efficient workers at these de¬ 
monstrations and among those oftenest called 
for are Prof. Thomas Carroll, Director of the 
Glasnevin School, Dublin, and Prof. James 
Long, of the Royal Agricultural College, Cir- 
incester. Another very efficient worker is Miss 
Mary Connell, at present employed as in¬ 
structor of butter-making at the Cheshire 
Dairy School, and a former pupil at the 
Munster School, under Prof. Carroll. Last 
summer, while in England, 1 had the pleasure 
of attending several of these “ working 
dairies,” the most important of which was the 
one at the Bath and West of England Show at 
Newport, Monmouthshire. This was in opera¬ 
tion five days, or during the whole continu¬ 
ance of the show. The hours of working and 
instruction were daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., 
and I can give no better idea of the manage¬ 
ment and scope of the instruction than to copy 
the programme of a single day :— 
A. M. 9 to 10. Dairy and dairy utensils 
open to inspection. 
A. M. 10 to 11.30. Cream separators at 
work by steam and hand power. 
A. M. 11. Illustrations of the making of 
Devonshire cheese. 
A. M. 11.30. Prof. Carroll lectures; and 
Miss Connell illustrates improvements in 
butter-making. 
P. M. 12.30 Prof. Long illustrates the 
making of soft and foreign cheese. 
P. M. 2—. Butter making competition by 
males and females. 
P. M. 5—. Prof. Long’s lecture. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
P. M. 5.30 Dairy and utensils open for in¬ 
spection. 
Prof. Long’s topics were—Dairy Cattle,their 
Feeding and Management; Milk, Cream, and 
Butter; Butter-making at Home and Abroad; 
English Cheese-making. Besides the separat¬ 
ing of cream by mechanical means, the vari¬ 
ous modes of setting were tested and the milk 
was tested both before and after the separa¬ 
tion of the cream so as to show which device 
extracted the butter most perfectly. 
Prof. Carroll usually treated of butter¬ 
making, showing the right and the wrong 
way, and commented on the manner in which 
Miss Connell was handling portions of butter. 
Figure 397, taken from the drawing 
kindly made on the spot for me by Prof. Car- 
roll, shows the general arrangement of the 
building. It will be seen that one side and 
one end were furnished with seats rising one 
above another, so that all could easily see and 
hear. The other side of the building was 
open so that crowds could stand ana inspect 
the work. In the other end of the building 
and back of the observer, (not shown) stood the 
stove for heating the milk and the portable 
engine for furnishing steam and power, and 
near this end of the building and adjoining was 
the room in which were the creamers and 
cream cans. The charge for passing into the 
building and occupying seats was Gd. (12 
cents.) The illustration also shows the butter¬ 
making contest, when 21 dairy-maids were 
churning. At the left, the first is Miss Connell; 
in the far end of the hall stands Prof. Carroll. 
Among the others were three Danish dairy¬ 
maids in their national costumes, j'ust brought 
over to snow their method of manufacturing 
butter, and through the body of the building 
are the butter-workers all ready for use. The 
churns used were the ordinary barrel and all 
were alike. The cream is mixed thoroughly 
and dipped out, a small quantity at a time, 
and placed in the different churns, so as to 
get the quality as nearly alike as possible, the 
quantity being the same. Each girl then 
managed the cream, churn and butter accord¬ 
ing to her fancy, and the prizes are awarded 
upon the quantity, appearance and quality of 
the butter, after it is salted and prepared 
ready for market. 
The attendance at all times was large and 
close attention was paid to the lecturing and 
work. During the contests the interest was 
intense. The seats were packed and an im¬ 
mense crowd gathered on the open side of the 
buildiDg; and I don’t wonder at it, as a more 
beautiful sight I never saw. Everything was 
scrupulously clean. The maids were very 
neatly though plainly dressed, and were 
good-looking, bright and intelligent and 
scattered among them were the Danish maids 
in their peculiar costume. Notwithstanding 
the very large attendance, so orderly was the 
crowd and so intent upon hearing what Prof. 
Carroll had to say were they that the only 
sound that interfered with the hearing of 
every word was the swish, swish of the 21 
churns. I am promised photographs of Prof. 
Carroll, Miss Connell and of the Danish maids, 
which I hope to receive in due time, and I 
will then take pleasure in showing them to 
Rural readers, with some further notes on 
this system of dairy instruction. 
THE EDUCATION OF FARMERS’BOYS. 
D. G. PORTER. 
Approval of the Rural's advice; the farmer 
needs education as a man; the farmer's 
life should be the brighest and grandest 
imaginable; the farm life divided into a 
season of labor and a season of leisure; 
winter presents a time for study that far¬ 
mers' sons should take advantage of; our 
agricultural colleges should meet this re¬ 
quirement by 'making winter terms partic¬ 
ularly attractive. 
I am glad to see the emphasis given by the 
Rural to the sentiment of a contributor that 
“education and brains are of as much use to 
the farmer as to the business man. I am 
tempted to add, and with an additional em¬ 
phasis, “or any one else.” The man is more 
than the trade, even if the trade be farming, 
and the first object should be to educate the 
man. If the man is educated, the farmer will 
be, provided there is common sense to start 
with. What farmers need more than any¬ 
thing else is education, of course as farmers, 
but more especially as men. The farmers’ 
institutes will do considerable towards educa- 
ing the farmer, and something towards edu¬ 
cating the man, but not nearly enough; and 
farmers should by no means be satisfied with 
the farmers’ institute and the district school 
as the limit of their educational opportunities. 
Now I wish every reader of the Rural would 
pay particular attention to what I am going 
to say. There is no industrial occupation 
which offers such natural facilities for edu¬ 
cation as that of the farmer, none which 
may so readily become a stepping-stone to 
the learned professions and positions of 
honor and influence. We have only to 
avail ourselves of these natural facilities, and 
farmers will become the best educated class 
in the land, and the farmer’s home, more 
often than even the business man’s, will be¬ 
come the center of a bright intellectual and 
social life. Now, ^brother farmer, do you 
think this is an object worth a little effort? 
If so let me call your attention to a brief 
statement of the means by which it may be 
accomplished. 
The farmer’s year in these Northern latitudes 
is by nature divided into two periods, one of 
labor, the other of leisure; one when labor 
is productive and we want all the help we can 
get; the other when there is not much to do, 
when what we do is not very remunerative, 
and when we can spare our boys for study 
as well as not. Now to become an educated 
class we have only to adapt our educational 
institutes to these provisions of nature. Lis¬ 
ten to the following from the Address of Act¬ 
ing Master Draper to the National Grange 
recently convened at Topeka, Kansas. 
“The trouble presents itself in the fact that 
the parents of thousands of our boys cannot 
afford to send them to the higher educational 
institutions for the whole year, as they are 
dependent upon their assistance through the 
summer months, either on the farm or in the 
varied trades that are active then, but which 
are comparatively quiet during the winter 
months. By arranging for a winter term 
and course of study to begin about October 20 
and close early in April, these same boys, 
as well as those less favored who are depend¬ 
ent upon their own labor to secure the neces¬ 
sary funds, would have au opportunity, 
through a course of study of four half-year 
terms, to obtain an education that would 
have a direct and practical bearing in its ap¬ 
plication to numerous callings in life, wnile 
those who are intent upon a professional vo¬ 
cation, could, if necessary, continue their 
studies for a longer term of years with that 
end in view.” 
Now what is the matter with this proposal 
of Acting Master Draper for the education of 
farmers’ boys? What do the intelligent far¬ 
mers’ sons of New York State say to a college 
course of winter terms at Cornell University, 
which will be so inexpensive as to be easily 
within their reach, and so that any capable 
young man could earn enough in summer to 
support him at college during the winter? 
Now if this is what the farmers of New York 
want, they have only to say so, and say so in 
a way that will show that they mean what 
they say. Cornell University has an income 
of perhaps 350,000 a year, enough to support 
a score of professors, which is derived from 
the Morrill Land Grant Act, and which was 
intended to be mainly devoted to such 
education as would develop agriculture and 
the mechanic arts. The best way to develop 
agriculture and the mechanic arts is to edu¬ 
cate those who are devoted to their pursuits, 
and the only way to educate these classes is 
to adapt the terms of our educational institu¬ 
tion to their necessities. This is the people’s 
rights as regards the State universities. And 
we may expect that Cornell, so liberal in 
optional courses and the range of her studies, 
will readily arrange a course of wint p r terms 
for the sons of farmers to commence if need 
be with a preparatory department, if the de¬ 
mand for such a course is made by the far¬ 
mers of the State. 
Waterbury, Conn. 
Em'jfll topics. 
9 
BUCEPHALUS BROWN’S NOTIONS AND 
IDEAS. 
Mrs. Partington’s shrewd observation, to 
the effect that she “had always noticed that 
sensible people thought just about as she did,” 
expresses my own sentiments in reading the 
letters in the Rural’s “Breed or Feed” sym¬ 
posium. In the long run, the best results are 
found to follow the plan of sufficient nutri¬ 
ment without over-feeding. This applies 
equally, as regards biennials, to the first and 
the second year; but over-nutrition does less 
harm when given the second than the first 
season. In growing turnip, beet, and carrot 
seed, I prefer chemical fertilizers, (on land 
that had plenty of dung the previous year), 
to grow the roots; and dung again to grow 
the seed. In this way, over-grown and 
prongy stock is avoided. 
One Reason why a new variety is found 
to vary so greatly is the temptation that ex¬ 
ists to plant out everything while the seed is 
bringing a fancy price. The newer beets are 
a case in point, seed from the best dealers not 
being exempt from great variation. The 
Egyptian beet was a marked exception to 
this rule. The Dewing is another, and al¬ 
most the only one, among varieties of Ameri¬ 
can origin. The Eclipse and the Edmunds 
are very irregular, and ought to have been 
kept back several seasons longer. 
Planting Whole Potatoes. Who does 
it as a rule? Notwithstanding the reports 
of repeated experiments, over a long 
series of years, all claiming to show much 
the best results from planting whole tubers 
from medium to large size, I am yet to see a 
grower practicing this plan, as a regular 
thing, even where potatoes are very cheap in 
the spring. 1 am not aware that any of the 
experimenters who claim to have demon¬ 
strated the fact, have changed their practice. 
Frankly, I doubt the demonstration of the 
fact, and I think the Rural’s experiments 
have proved beyond dispute that as good (and 
better), results may be got from cut seed. 
Who has ever grown at the rate of a thou¬ 
sand bushels of potatoes per acre from whole 
seed? 
Where It Is. —On land suited to potatoes, 
the quantity grown depends chiefly upon the 
thoroughness of the culture, and the abund¬ 
ance and seasonable availability of the plant 
food, the natural productiveness of the 
variety planted being also taken into account. 
The Potato Crop.— The average crop in 
the different States, as given on page 749, from 
the Government Report, cannot he correct. 
Either Maine and Vermont are set too low, or 
Massachusetts and Rhode Island too high. 
And can it be possible Iowa averages but 54 
bushels per acre? As regards lower New 
England, it is well known that the bulk of 
the crop there is dug and sold early, as “new 
potatoes;” while in Northern New England few 
are harvested until after the tops are dead. 
It is not doubted that the soil and climate of 
Northern New England are much better suit¬ 
ed to the tuber than of the coast region. 
Taking these points into account, I feel very 
sure that the average crop of the former, 
per acre, is fully double that of the latter. 
The probability is that 150 and 75 bushels 
would be much nearer the truth. 
Black Raspberries.— At last I see the 
truth reported, from Prof. Maynard, as to 
the season of the Souhegan raspberry. I have 
given it as fair a test as could be, and have 
not found it a day earlier than the Doolittle, 
or in any way superior. In fact, the Doolittle 
is considerably the most productive, and also 
rather larger, when grown side by side. 
Shropshire Sheep. —Is Mr. Henry 
Stewart’s judgment of these sheep confirmed 
sufficiently by the experience of others in this 
country, and especially in New York and 
New England, to make it a safe guide? I 
should very much like to see a “symposium’’ 
on that subject in the Rural. Doubtless, 
whichever way the tariff goes, the meat value 
of sheep is to be the determining factor of 
their profit in the East. There are many 
farms in these States where sheep ought to be 
kept, but are not. The fine-wools have almost 
disappeared, except among the thoroughbred 
breeders for export. The Cotswolds have 
had a considerable run, yet do not suit every¬ 
body. What is wanted is a hardy and not 
too enterprising sheep, that will give us the 
best market lambs and the least trouble and 
disappointment. Let us know more about the 
Shropshires. Gan the rams lick a dog? 
The Wheat Corner seems to have stirred 
up the people pretty thoroughly, and the di¬ 
verse talk, here and there, illustrates from 
what a thoroughly selfish point of view this, 
as well as other public questions, can be 
viewed. It is not what is right and wrong in 
the business that seems to be considered, but 
how what is done is going to affect the per¬ 
sonal interests of classes and individuals, for 
the time being. How few people are really 
willing to accept and abide by the truth ex¬ 
posed in the proverb: “Right wrongs no¬ 
body.” I sometimes think the efforts being 
made to give the farmers more influence in 
public affairs may end in no more good to the 
people at large than the predominance of any 
other single class interest. How much better 
off will this nation be if the class interest of 
the farmers alone, or of any powerful section 
of them, is to control legislation, instead of 
the manufacturing, the commercial, or the 
financial class—or all these together ? If from 
agricultural predominance we can insure 
equal rights to all, then let it come; and the 
sooner the better. But if no class can be 
trusted to be just, then all that is left is to go 
on in the old way, dickering and compromis¬ 
ing, and roughly adjusting differences, with 
the weaker going to the wall every time. I 
was talking this matter over with a Congress¬ 
man lately, and he declared that there never 
was a more ignorant, besotted, tyranical ad¬ 
ministration of public affairs, in England, 
than when the landed interest controlled the 
government. 
