6?4 
THU RURAL NEW-YORKER 
OCTOBER 12 
into their hands, as it is evident that they 
have paid the manufacturers a good deal of 
money for mixing, when they could have 
done it themselves. The enormous expenses 
of printing, advertising, rents, agents’ com¬ 
missions and salaries, all have to be paid 
for by the farmer, and he cannot well af¬ 
ford to do it at present prices for his pro¬ 
ducts. 
New Haven County, Conn. 
FROM N. S. PLATT. 
I used Baker’s com manure on corn one 
year and got a bountiful crop with all the 
manure broadcasted. I did the same next 
year and got only a fair crop, the season not 
being very favorable. I concluded that ni¬ 
trogen was not needed, and so put but lit¬ 
tle in my mixture for corn this year; but 
the season being wet and cool, I now think 
I made a mistake. The stalks did not at¬ 
tain the size they should have done, though 
the ears are well shaped and well filled out. 
I used Baker’s Peach-tree manure in grow¬ 
ing peach trees in the nursery two years in 
succession, getting nicer trees than with 
stable manure. In handling the fertilizers 
I used an old shm el, as the acid injures a 
good one. I mixed the ingredients on a 
tight barn floor. They were dry and mixed 
easily, three turnings being enough; cost 
of mixing less than $1 per ton. My peach- 
tree mixture in results equals Baker’s and 
costs less. I have not compared mine with 
other mixtures as to results, but by analy¬ 
sis I got the same ingredients at less cost. 
Wisconsin Butter Winners 
How They Won Prizes. 
HISTORY OF THEIR BUTTER. 
FOOD! COW! TOOLS! 
At the meeting of' the Wisconsin Dairy¬ 
mens’Association last February, a number 
of prizes were offered for best specimens of 
butter. Immediately after the meeting the 
R. N.-Y. sent to the winners of these prizes 
the following list of questions, the design 
being to secure all the facts possible regard¬ 
ing the history of this prize butter : 
1. What breed of cows ? 
2. How were the cows fed and handled ? 
2. How was the cream cared for ? 
4. How ivas the butter churned, worked, 
colored and packed f 
The following answers were received in 
due time. We have held them until now 
before publishing them because they refer 
to winter butter. It is now time to prepare 
for making winter butter and it seems more 
timely to give these facts now rather than 
at the end of the season, when pastures 
will soon change the whole system : 
FROM E. J. FEAR, WINNER OF FIRST PRIZE 
FOR DAIRY BUTTER. 
My cattle are the common native breed, 
crossed with the Short-horn. They were 
fed on clover hay and silage corn-fodder 
that was cut and shocked in the fall; this I 
haul to the barn and run it through a 
Smalley feed-cutter, cutting it into five- 
eighths inch lengths. The cows were also 
fed a few roots night and morning, and 
plenty of good, pure water warmed to 
about 70 degrees. They were kept in a 
good warm stable in the basement of 
the barn, and during the cold weather were 
only out of the stable long enough to drink 
and allow the stable to be cleaned. The 
cream was raised by the Fairbank system, 
kept in a warm room till slightly acid, then 
churned at a temperature of 62 degrees. It 
was churned in a rectangular churn, worked 
with a ladle, salted with Higgins’s salt at 
the rate of one ounce to the pound in the 
churn. It was colored with Hansen’s Ban¬ 
ish butter-color, and packed in eight-pound 
pails. Most of my butter is put up in half- 
pound prints and shipped in 30-pound cases. 
For the last three years I have sold most of 
it in this way, to one of our leading mer¬ 
chants in Augusta, as fast as I could make 
it. During the warmest weather I put it 
up in 30 and 60-pound tubs or eight-pound 
pails. In fact, everthing is done in accord¬ 
ance with the latest methods, my aim be¬ 
ing to make as good an article as can be 
made. 
Augusta. 
FROM C. P. GOODRICH, WINNER OF SECOND 
PRIZE FOR DAIRY BUTTER. 
Of my cows two-thirds are grade Jerseys, 
the rest common cows. They were fed on 
well-cured, early-cut clover and millet hay, 
and cut, dry corn-fodder. The grain ra¬ 
tion, fed at two meals, was 10 to 15 pounds 
each day, one-half in weight being wheat 
bran, one-fourth ground oats, and one- 
fourth corn-meal. The cows were kept in 
the stable nearly all the time, but let out 
twice a day to drink warm water from a 
tank. The cream was raised in broad, 
shallow pans, each large enough to hold one 
milking of the entire herd. The tempera¬ 
ture was kept at as near 60 Q as possible, 
and the cream stood 36 to 48 hours before 
skimming. It was stirred up so as to mix 
in each skimming, and was kept at 60°, 
the last batch *not being put in when the 
churning was done. This was done once in 
two days. By that time the cream was suffi¬ 
ciently ripened, being slightly acid. Be¬ 
fore churning the temperature of the cream 
was raised to 64 degrees by putting warm 
water into it. It was churned in a revolv¬ 
ing square box churn in 25 minutes. The 
churn was stopped when the butter was in 
pellets the size of peas or corn. The butter¬ 
milk was then drawn off and the butter 
washed quickly twice with clear water. It 
was then taken upon a clean butter-worker 
and one ounce to the pound of Warsaw 
high-grade salt was mixed in when the 
butter was in as moist a condition as pos¬ 
sible. After lying on the worker three 
hours to allow the salt to dissolve, it was 
worked just enough to distribute the salt 
evenly and then packed in eight-pound 
bail boxes which were lined, bottom, sides 
and top.with parchment paper. This paper 
prevents the brine from leaking out and 
also prevents the flavor of the wood from 
affecting the butter, for these boxesare 
usually made of elm which sometimes has 
a bad flavor. The butter was colored with 
Hansen’s Danish butter-color to just the 
shade of good June butter. 
Fort Atkinson. 
FROM MISS LEAH ALLEN, WINNER OF FIRST 
PRIZE FOR BUTTER MADE BY A YOUNG 
WOMAN UNDER 20 YEARS OF AGE. 
Some of our cows are grade Jerseys and 
the rest common native cows. Papa thinks 
the care of cows is more important than 
the breed. They are fed once a day with 
corn unhusked, stalks and ears together. 
Each cow has six quarts of meal made 
from oats and barley and one peck of veg¬ 
etables, beets and carrots per day. She also 
has all the good clover hay she wants. 
This is cut while in early blossom and care¬ 
fully cured so as to retain the leaves and 
blossoms. The cows have fresh water, not 
warmed artificially, but pumped from a 
deep well. Their stables are warm and are 
kept clean. The cows are also kept clean 
and well bedded. They are never exposed 
to inclement weather, but on pleasant days 
they are turned out in a well-littered yard 
for exercise and a good sun-bath. 
The milk is set in deep creamery cans and 
cooled in water and skimmed when 24 
hours old. The cream is kept in a tin 
cream can, each additional skimming being 
well stirred in. The whole is kept cool un¬ 
til the day before churning when it is set in 
a warmer apartment and a starter of sour 
cream is well stirred in. 
The butter is churned in a barrel churn. 
It is well washed with brine and salted 
while in the granular form; then, after 
standing about one hour, it is massed by a 
few slow revolutions of the churn. Then it 
is immediately packed without any work¬ 
ing. We use Hansen’s Danish butter-color. 
I am in my 14th year. I do not often 
make butter all alone, but help mamma 
and always do some part—different parts 
at different times. 
Beaver Dam. 
FROM MRS. C. W. FERGUSON, BEST EX¬ 
HIBIT OF HALF-POUND PRINTS. 
I have grade Short-horns and feed good 
hay and meal with a little bran. I use the 
Cooley process. The cream is churned in a 
revolving barrel churn, salted with Hig¬ 
gins’s salt, and colored with Wells, Rich¬ 
ardson & Co.’s butter-color. I never use a 
butter-worker. I leave off churning when 
the butter is in the granular state. I w T ash 
it with water at a temperature of about 45 
degrees and change the water about four 
times; then I let it drain a few moments 
i nd salt it at the rate of about one ounce 
per pound. I then mix the salt with the 
butter and let it dissolve. Then I revolve 
the churn until the butter comes into balls 
—sometimes small and sometimes large. 
Then I either pack it or stamp it without 
any more working. 
Augusta. 
FROM NELSON CORNWALL, BEST 
BUTTER IN PRINTS. 
My cows are the common scrubs; but I 
have been using a thoroughbred Jersey sire 
for the last year. The cows are kept in a 
basement barn and I let them out in the 
middle of the day when it is warm. When 
it is very cold I keep them in the stable. I 
feed them corn-fodder in the morning and 
at noon, and at night I give them good 
clover hay, and they get corn and oats 
ground together morning and evening. I 
have a heater in my cattle tank and warm 
the water to about 70 or 80 degrees every 
day. I calculate that one great point in 
keeping cows is to give them warm water 
to drink. Then they will give more milk, 
and it will take less feed to keep them. In 
regard to the cream, I use what they call 
the shot-gun cans which are 20 inches deep 
and eight inches across—same size as the 
Cooley can. I keep the cream in a cool 
place till I get enough to churn; then I put 
the cream in the cans and set it in warm 
water on the stove the night before I chum 
and warm it up to 75 or 80 degrees. But 
before I do this, I put in for a starter about 
a pint of butter-milk saved from the pre¬ 
vious churning, and then I set the cream 
in a warm room, where it will be ready for 
churning in tlie morning. I churn as soon 
as the cream begins to thicken. I use the 
barrel churn and churn at 62 degrees. 
When the butter is about the size of mus¬ 
tard seed I stop and make two or three 
quarts of weak brine and put that in, and 
then revolve the churn a few times and let 
it stand three or four minutes and then 
draw off the butter-milk: then I get two 
pails of water and put in a handful of salt 
and temper it to 50 degrees, and put it in the 
churn and revolve a few times. I next let 
it stand for a few minutes, then draw off 
the water and repeat this operation. I then 
put in salt (after all the water has been 
drawn off), about one ounce to the pound, 
and mix it up in the churn. Next, I revolve 
the churn a few times, let the butter stand 
a few minutes in the salt, then revolve the 
churn until the butter is in a solid mass. 
1 then pack it or print it, as may be, out of 
the churn. I use no butter-worker, as I 
think working it spoils the grain. I use 
Wells, Richardson & Co.’s coloring and the 
best dairy salt. 
Augusta. 
FROM JAMES SHIEL—BEST BUTTER FROM 
JERSEY COWS. 
I keep Jersey cows. I feed meal and 
bran and corn-fodder in a dry state, and 
clover hay. If I had silage it would be bet¬ 
ter. I use the Cooley cans and submerge 
them in water and then turn the cream in¬ 
to a large earthenware jar and keep it 
till it turns ; then I'put it into a large, re¬ 
volving barrel churn and churn until the 
butter comes into a granular form. Then 
I put brine in and revolve the churn a few 
times, and then the butter will be like 
small shot. Then I draw off the butter¬ 
milk and put in water and revolve the 
churn, and then drawoff the water and 
repeat till the water is clear. Then the 
butter is fit to be salted. I shake the salt 
over the butter in the churn and revolve 
once and salt again. The butter is like 
shot all this time. Then I revolve the 
churn over and over till the butter is in 
one big ball ready for packing. It is packed 
in tubs. If the butter is to be printed it 
will have to be worked somewhat with a 
butter-worker in order to form the prints 
in good shape. The less working the but¬ 
ter gets, the better. 
Augusta. 
PHOTOGRAPHS OF BUTTER. 
(See page 675.) 
A GREAT deal has been said by dairy 
workers about the proper time for stopping 
the churn. A great deal of this informa¬ 
tion has been lost, for the reason that it is 
difficult to tell a person just how a thing 
should look. One glance from an observing 
eye is worth half an hour’s mere talk. The 
R. N.-Y. conceived the idea of having 
samples of butter photographed just as 
taken from the churn—one “just right” 
or just as good dairymen would prefer to 
have it, and the other showing the effects 
of over-churning. Mr. F. E. Benedict of 
the Victor New York Creamery, who is con¬ 
sidered one of the best dairymen in the 
State, kindly secured the photographs 
which are shown at Figures 253 and 254. 
Mr. B. writes as follows regarding the 
pictures: 
“ The picture showing large lumps—see 
Figure 254—represents the over-churned 
sample, such as a person will find among 
the majority of fanners. The other sample 
with particles like shot—see Figure 253— 
shows the condition in which butter would 
be when properly handled. The object of 
having the butter in this condition is that 
it may be in such a shape that the butter¬ 
milk may be washed out instead of having 
to be worked out, as would have to be done 
when the butter is churned into large 
lumps. Cream that is properly ripened and 
churned at about 60 degrees can be brought 
to the proper granular condition with a lit¬ 
tle care in watching the churn. Then by 
washing the butter-milk all out, and work¬ 
ing just enough to thoroughly distribute the 
salt, the butter should be in the best possi¬ 
ble condition for immediate use or for 
keeping.” 
FEEDING FOR WOOL, 
A few Opinions as to the Best 
Ration for the Production 
of a Heavy Fleece. 
FROM F. O. HOGMIRE. 
I have never fed for a large production of 
wool. My experience is that a sheep kept 
fat through the winter will shear from one 
to two pounds more v\ ool than a poor one. 
There is no question that bean pods will 
produce as much wool as anything else. 
They keep the sheep healthy, and take the 
place of grain when grain is high. 
Genesee County, N. Y. 
FROM FRANK STORK. 
I consider good clover hay and corn fodder 
and oats the best feed for the production of 
wool. My half-blood two-year-old ewes 
averaged nine and a-half pounds of wool 
and raised lambs. I let mine run in a 
woods pasture, and stable them every night 
in winter, and also on stormy days. 
Richland Center, Wis. 
FROM L. B. BEET. 
While the sheep-breeders of Vermont are 
quite at one in their judgment as to the 
best kind of hay and grain to produce a 
healthful growth of wool and carcass, no 
accurate experiments have, to my know¬ 
ledge, been conducted to demonstrate the 
exact effects of different foods fed in varied 
rations. This subject has already enlisted 
the attention of Prof. Cooke—the director 
of our experiment station—and he proposes 
to request several sheep-breeders of the 
State to conduct feed experiments under 
his supervision bearing upon this very sub¬ 
ject. We shall await results with interest. 
At present no grain ration is thought to 
surpass oats and bran, especially for lambs 
or young sheep. As a rule, little corn is 
fed to Spanish Merino sheep in Vermont. 
This grain, however, is a profitable food for 
fattening well-matured rams for the West¬ 
ern trade. When fed heavily to breeding 
ewes, it is thought by some to produce 
barrenness. Beans, peas and, indeed, all 
kinds of grain are fed by Vermont shep¬ 
herds; but largely for change, or variety, 
to please our sheep—we like to see them 
happy—but oats and bran form the staple 
grain ration. As the term “liorse-hay” 
implies Herd’s-grass, not less does sheep- 
hay imply clover. This, with mixed 
grasses, cut the last of June and well cured, 
is not simply desirable, but seemingly in¬ 
dispensable to the best development of the 
frame of the sheep, as also to the rapid 
growth of the wool. 
Addison County, Vermont. 
FROM HENRY STEWART. 
The term “feeding for wool” by no 
means represents any unreasonable propo¬ 
sition. A sheep having a carcass of 100 
pounds live weight may have a fleece of 20 
or 25 pounds of wool, including, of course, 
with the wool, the yolk and oil which ac- 
