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THE RURAL HEW-TORKER. 
MORE BUTTER WINNERS. 
Last week we gave some notes from dairy¬ 
men who won prizes at the meeting of the 
Vermont Dairymen at Burlington. Here are 
a few more: 
FROM H. W. WALKER, WINNER OF FIRST PRIZE 
FOR 10-POUND TUB. 
My cows are high-grade Jerseys. They are 
watered twice a day and are fed morning and 
noon on Timothy and clover hay, at night on 
cut corn-fodder. Their grain is 4)4 parts 
corn-and-cob meal, 1)4 P art bran and one- 
half part linseed-meal. Of this mixture they 
are fed, twice per day, four quarts in the 
morning and four at night. I shall very soon 
increase the bran to two parts and the linseed- 
meal to one part. 
I use the Cooley creamer. The milk re¬ 
mains in the creamer 24 hours, at a tempera¬ 
ture of 42 degrees. The cream is ripened un¬ 
til acid, churned in a Stoddard barrel churn, 
washed in granular form, and salted in '.he 
churn. I endeavor to leave in the butter, 
after it is worked, one half ounce to the 
pound. I use the lever worker, and Thatcher’s 
butter-color. I market in ten-pound boxes 
lined with dairy cloth. 
To produce prime butter after a nice herd 
of cows is secured, it is imposed upon the 
workman, in the manufacture, to very care¬ 
fully watch all the different changes through 
which the milk, cream and butter have to 
pass, and to see that all requirements are 
strictly conformed to in the varied processes. 
If one point is neglected, the whole work is 
destroyed or very much impaired. 
Windsor Co. 
FROM STEPHEN HEWITT, WINNER OF THE 
SECOND PRIZE FOR FIVE-POUND BOX. 
My cows are high-grade Jerseys I give 
them all they will eat up clean of a good qual¬ 
ity of English hay, and a mixture of, say, 500 
pounds of Western corn-meal, 100 pounds of 
cotton-seed-meal, and 300 pounds of wheat 
bran, fed dry twice a day, in rations of from 
two* *to three quarts per feed—in the morning 
after the hay, and in the evening before the 
bay, with good spring water. The milk was 
set in a Stoddard creamer 24 hours, m run¬ 
ning water, and the cream was ripened by 
warming from 12 to 20 hours before churning. 
It was churned iu a Stoddard churn 30 miu- 
utes,at a temperature of 00 degrees, and washed 
while in a granular form, in the churn. 
I colored my butter with Wells & Richard¬ 
son’s butter color using in the cjram about 
three tea spoonfuls for.from 40 to 50 pounds of 
butttf, and 1 u=ed about three quarters of an 
ounce of Higgius’ssalt to the pound, dry. It 
was worked with a lever worker just enough 
to salt it evenly. I pack my butter iu five- 
pound boxes line! with a parchment paper 
made in Philadelphia I consider it of the 
utmost importance that the feed and water 
should be good, and that the stable sbo Id be 
light and airy and moderately warm, and that 
everything should be qui'e clean, and the milk 
ing quiet. 
Windsor Co. 
FROM F. D. DOUGLAS. WINNER OF THE SECOND 
PRIZE FOR FIVE-POUND PRINT. 
My cows are mostly grade Jerseys, bred up 
from giade Short-horn and native stock. I 
have a few registered Jerseys. I milk usually 
from 40 to 50, all told; but as I raise my own 
stock, selling aunually such as fail from old 
age, or do not test satisfactorily, I always 
have a large proportion of young animals. I 
raise from 15 to 20 heifers annually, the most 
promising of which are retained until maturi¬ 
ty, and then disposed of, if they do not give 
satisfactory returns for food aud care. My 
herd last season did uot represent over 35 ma 
ture cows, estimated by the weight of milk 
produced by the heifers, as compared with 
the average of the mature cows. By this esti¬ 
mate, the herd produced an average of over 
300 pounds of butter per head. 
I manage so that my cows come in, as far 
as practicable, in September. I raise my own 
hay and grain, aud iu favorable seasons buy 
little but cotton-seed meal. The food ration 
for my cows in milk is made up of early-cut 
bay, aud a mixture of corn, barley, oat, pea 
and cotton seed meal, the proportions depend¬ 
ing somewhat upon the amount of each of the 
four first named produced. I seldom feed 
moie tliau two quat ts of cotton-seed meal per 
head, per day, never more than three quarts, 
and it is always mixed with lighter food. The 
amount of the grain ration depends upon the 
flow of milk given at the time, the deepest 
mi'kers receiving the most. Two aud three- 
year-old heifers get but one-half to two-thirds 
as much as mature cows. I tiud that every 
judicious increase of the grain ration, up to 
the point where the digestive organs begin to 
be over-taxed, is followed by increased profits, 
provided always that the cow is worth keep¬ 
ing. 
The grain ration is always divided into two 
feeds, and placed upon the hay. I do this to 
compel the cows to eat it slowly, and thus se¬ 
cure a more perfect mastication and com¬ 
plete mixture with the saliva. This first step 
in the process of digestion is an important 
one. Injury to stock from heavy feed is 
often caused by want of attention to this 
matter. 
The cream was raised by’.the original “ deep¬ 
setting ” process brought out by myself iu 
1868, usually called the Douglas method. 
This method attracted much attention at the 
time, but as no patents were secured upon 
any of the devices used in connection with it, 
and no effort was ever made to introduce it, 
it has never been extensively adopted. By 
this system, the milk is set 12‘inehes in depth, 
at a temperature of 63 degrees theoretically, 
though, practically, at a range of temperature 
from 61 to 66 degrees. By this system, a 
more perfect separation of the cream is se¬ 
cured, with a much smaller’consumption of 
ice, with much less labor throughout the en¬ 
tire process, and with better keeping qualities 
in the butter product, than by any other pro¬ 
cess of cream raising yet devised. 
The butter was churned in a Mosely & 
Stoddard barrel churn. It requii ed about 30 
minutes to churn the batch from which the 
sample was taken; but with batches of from 
150 to 175 pounds, it usually requires from 45 
to 60 minutes. It is churned by horse power, 
and the duration of the churning depends 
somewhat upon the number of revolutions 
per minute. It was washed and salted while 
in the granular state, particular pains being 
taken not to allow it to mass until after the 
salt was thoroughly incorporated in it. It 
was then worked sufficiently to expel the 
brlue, using pressure rather tbau a grinding 
process. It was colored but slightly, with 
Wells & Richardson’s butter-color. 
W indsor Co. 
Shall Dairymen Combine?.— Yes, com¬ 
bine Thatcher’s Orange Butter Color with 
yt.ur cream every mouth in the year and you 
will advance the price of your butter. This 
is the best combination.— Adv. 
Woman $ Worh. 
«» HMlI 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAFLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
A LL the shops are now displaying their 
spring goods, although New York is 
far frtm balmy, as far as the weather is con¬ 
cerned. Among the newer fabrics are what 
our mothers used to know as Grecian lustres, 
now called brilhantines. They are very soft 
and tine, with a lustrous, silky gloss. They 
suggest Irish poplin, but are finer. There is 
no doubt they will make very useful and 
tandsome summer gowns, for they throw off 
dust, and wear a long time. A black bril- 
liantiue, trimmed with black and white surah, 
would make a serviceable summer gown for a 
woman who expects her one best nress to 
serve for some time. A large hat or small 
capote of black lace would go with it. The 
hat might be trimmed with for-get-me-nots or 
violets, the latter being the most fashionable 
flower at present. Another handsome gown 
could be made of pearl-gray brilliantine, 
trimmed with white or silver braid, the or¬ 
namentation consisting of a braided vest and 
skirt panel. 
* * * 
Most girls like a nice white muslin for hot 
days. White frocks of all-over embroidery 
have been almost doue to death; one may 
display more style with less elaboration. A 
pretty model is somewhat of the Directoire 
style, fine India linen being the material pre¬ 
ferred. The gathered skirt is perfectly plain; 
and no bustle is worn, only a small pad. The 
plain,round waist has a falling over frill about 
two inches deep around the neck and down 
the front. The sleeves are full and puffed, 
about three-quarters length; a frill about four 
inches wide finishes them. A wide sash, 
which may be of muslin, is woru, tied in the 
back—iu the front it is pulled out to double 
the width at the sides, and held in place with 
ornamental pins. This is very beccuiiug to 
a slender figure. A surah sash, either moss 
green, golden green, dull yellow, or pale terra¬ 
cotta, is lovely ou the white gown. Pale 
blue ribbons, which used to be the ambition 
of most girls with their white gowns, are now' 
rather out of date. Lavender or lilac is very 
pretty, aud seems growing in favor; but it is 
a color that fades too sxm to be very service¬ 
able. A pretty' additiou to a white muslin 
frock is> hat of shirred white mull, either a 
poke or a flat Directoire. It is not difficult to 
make, and may be trimmed either with a bow 
of ribbon or a bunch of flowers. It is becom¬ 
ing to most youthful faces, and may often be 
contrived at small expense, as a means of sav¬ 
ing a better hat. 
* * * 
Summer is certainly a season for economy 
in dress. One may contrive a sufficiency of 
changes at a small expense. Cotton fabrics 
are coming more into wear every year, as 
they increase in beauty. A very convenient 
summer garment is a flannel blouse waist. It 
can be worn with so many different skirts, be¬ 
ing comfortable enough for warm days if de 
sired, while in chilly weather it may be worn 
either with cotton or woolen skirts. The 
color must be chosen with some idea of har¬ 
mony; plain cream-wbite goes with anything, 
but it is naturally very easily soiled. English 
gi,rls are very fond of these blouses in differ¬ 
ent shades of red. They come in pretty 
miDgled stripes also. Of course, a handy 
woman can make one of these garments easily 
enough They have full sleeves with deep 
cuffs, just like those on a boy’s shirt, except 
that the cuffs do not button. They have a 
large, flaring sailor collar, the open space at 
the neck being filled up by a plastron with a 
high collar. This plastron is hooked into 
place, so that it may be moved if desired, the 
place being filled with a gay silk handkerchief 
or fichu by way of change. For country ex¬ 
cursions one of these blouses, worn with a 
plain flannel skirt and little sailor hat, makes 
the prettiest and most suitable costume a girl 
can wear. A pretty combination may be 
made with a gray and pink striped skirt of 
tennis suiting and a plain gray blouse with 
striped collar and cuffs. 
* * * 
One cannot answer all the qustions a child 
asks; but an intelligent interest in what he 
wants to know will teach observation; it 
makes all the difference between eyes and no 
eyes. When a child comes in exclaiming 
over the dear little pussy-willow, it is no 
trouble to admire it with him, and to tell him 
that the pussy is the blossom. It is the same 
with everything else; the child whose mother 
encourages powers of observation in this way 
is always better informed than one whose 
treasure is greeted with “Don’t bring that mess 
inhere! I don’t know what it is.” Every¬ 
thing in nature is wonderful to children; 
thrice happy are they whose country homes 
enable them to find “tongues in the tree', 
sermons in stones, books in the running 
’wroV' and good in evervthing.” 
A LETTER FROM EUNICE WEBSTER. 
to have one, too. As the man*is the real and 
only head of the familv (or ought to be ac¬ 
cording to J. H. G ), why doesn’t he go and 
do all the trading for the family, instead of 
trusting the “chief cook” with the money he 
sees fit to dole out to her ? Besides, she would 
be out of hearing of “the music of the tea¬ 
kettle ” while she was gone for some cloth for 
his shirts and some necessary articles for the 
family use. There is a very self sacrificing 
man around here, who goes to the city every 
fall and gets himself a nice suit, and for his 
wife he gets some limpsey cotton fabric, and 
then wonders why her dresses don’t look like 
those of the rich folks. Truly, we “chiet 
cooks” admire such thoughtfulness, and if the 
1 supreme ruler ” comes home drunk, swears, 
abuses ns,and spends his momy on other “chief 
cooks,” surely we ought to be contented with 
“the music of the tea-kettle” and our 
positions generally'. If “ the lord and master” 
doesn’t spend all before he dies, we can have 
the use of one-third of what is left, and if he 
is thoughtful he will select some black cotton 
fabric, so that we’ll not have to go to any ex¬ 
tra expense in case that time should soon 
come 
THE GOSSIPS’ CLUB. 
W HAT a fight is being made over that 
Thanksgiving cartoon, and, like the 
rest of belligerent humanity, I want a hand 
in it. I wonder if J. H. G. thinks that women 
ought to be three steps lower when it comes to 
a fight. Probably it would depend ou whether 
he thought be could whip his opponent on a 
level. 
How much we read or hear to the effect 
that man and wife are cne; but it seems in 
many cases ttat they are two. or ought to be 
according to J. H. G. viz., the “supreme 
ruler” and the “chief cook.” J. H G. would 
like to know why so mauy women are “always 
and eternally ” dissatisfied with their positions 
in life. I’d like to know why so many men 
are “always and e’erually” afraid that a 
woman will have an idea or venture to under¬ 
take anything without first pleading, on bend¬ 
ed knees, for the sanction of some pantalooned 
biped with regard to the matter. If women 
ought not to figure prominently in out door 
scenes, why didn’t the artist put her on the 
piazza 3 Such a position would have been 
nearer “the music of the tea kettle.” Accord¬ 
ing to J. H G’s views, perhaps it would have 
been still more appropriate to have her look¬ 
ing out of the kitchen door or window, admir¬ 
ing instead ot sharing in the scene. I w r onder 
if J. H. G. thinks a'wonmn ought to figure in 
the milking stable. That would be quite dis¬ 
tant from “ the music of the tea-kettle,” and 
she wouldn’t be in her realm either; but per¬ 
haps he would condescend to accept her assis¬ 
tance in order to humor her, or make her 
think she is of some use to him. 
I wonder why an apron was put on that 
woman. Probably after the voices of the 
cattle aud swine had ceased to fill her ears 
with their rich melody, she went back to “the 
music of the tea-kettle.” Maybe she thinks 
she will have to clean up the yard when the 
barnyard cnoir has retired from the scenes. 
I wouder which choir she likes best—that in 
front, or the one that is gathered around the 
family ? 
It seems that all the animals and the family 
can sing without a book ; or perhaps there 
was only one and, of course, the leader and 
head of the house must have that Perhaps 
he wouldn’t dole out money enough for her 
A DOZEN laoies in the widely-spread little 
village of B—. have formed a woman’s 
club, the design of which is not by any means 
a new one In order to nip in the bud the 
criticism of husbands who might be inclined 
to sarcasm, they have called it “ The Gossips’ 
Club ” They do not claim that it is for mut¬ 
ual improvement, and there is not the slight¬ 
est pretence made to the study of Shakespeare 
or Browning, or Emerson. The only require¬ 
ment for membership is a promise that the 
candidate will never take the floor when an¬ 
other woman has it, that she will bring work, 
either fancy or useful, and that when the club 
is held at her house, only tea, coffee or 
chocolate, and wafers shall be served. There 
is a fine of 25 cents for the first offence and 50 
for the second; said offence to consist in men¬ 
tioning the name of a neighbor coupled with 
any remark that the speaker would not make 
if the other person were present. Peculiar 
rules and restrictions for a gossips’ club, 
thought I when invited to join/mentally de¬ 
ciding that I would go and learn what these 
remarkable women would talk about. 
After a few preliminary remarks about the 
health of their children, etc., the ladies settled 
down to their work. Now. thought I, either 
some one will be kep* > ;riY collecting the 
fines, or there will be awkward pauses. I 
was, however, so agreeably disappointed in 
the intellectual status of my sex that I will 
mention some of the subjects discussed at this 
meeting. 
“ Did it ever occur to you.” began Mrs. A—. 
a lovely, white-haired lady of 50, “that 
women plan too much? As head of the house, 
we decide upon a certain system and method 
which we carry out though we may' walk 
rough-shod over the habits and propensities 
of every other member of the family. That 
the washing shall be done on Monday is a law 
as inexorable as that of the Medes and Per¬ 
sians. It has taken me a good many years to 
discover it, but I have learned that there is 
such a thing as too rigid an adherence to a 
plan that may have been a very good one 
originally. If in the morning you portion out 
a certain amount of work that you wish to ac¬ 
complish before night, and then find vour 
plans upset by inevitable little mishaps, you 
are very apt to feel annoyed, and if you were 
very much bent indeed upon carrying out the 
plan, your annoy'ance will amount to an irri¬ 
tation of feeling that will not be slow in com¬ 
municating itself to the rest of the family. 
One of the Pest managers, with the happiest 
families, and the best ordered buu s e, that I 
know of, tells me that her rule through life 
has been: ‘ What-oever thy hand findeth to 
do, do it with thy might.’ She says her duties 
so unfold themselves from hour to hour, that 
she never feels the necessity for making plans 
ahead ” 
“ The education of our daughters,” said 
another lady whose apparent occupation was 
the making of a set of crocheted table mats, 
‘‘is a subject that must always be dear to every 
mother’s heart. Children need a certain 
amount of letting alone, but they also need 
our care and guidance, and a certain amount 
of culture. They are the plants which God 
has given to us and we must prevent them 
from being choked by weeds. I think that 
every girl, no matter how bappy her borne or 
how rich her parents, should be taught some 
vocation that will enable her to make a living 
if necessary. A man if he be in any sense 
manly, will not care the less for bis wife be¬ 
cause be feels that she is able to care for her¬ 
self and if he is not manly, she may care for 
herself whether she is able or not. Two years, 
after a girl has finished her studies, will be 
