i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
641 
of one pint to a gallon. After standing 24 hours, the cream 
is removed and put into tin stands placed in ice water, the 
cream for one day’s milk being sufficient fora churniug. 
The temperature of the cream during the ripening period 
is not so arbitrary as during the process of churning; 
about 70 deg. or a little below that will answer, always 
remembering that the warmer the cream is kept, the sooner 
will it be ready for the churn. When kept near 70 deg., 
when properly ripened, it will be slightly acid but not 
very sour, and will possess the consistency of butter-milk. 
If allowed to stand after it has ripened, until it becomes a 
sour, solid mass, the yield of butter will bo smaller and 
its flavor inferior. When put into the churn, its tempera¬ 
ture in summer should be about 62 deg., and in winter 64 
deg.; this will allow for the changes naturally occasioned 
by the motion of the churn and the surrounding atmos¬ 
phere, and will permit the butter to register about 64 deg. 
For a number of years we have used a Davis swing 
churn, and still like it too well to change it for any other. 
It does not get the butter as quickly as some others are 
said to do, but it is easily managed, easy to clean, and has 
no intricate machinery to get out of order. When the 
butter granules assume the size of small shot, the rapid 
motion is stopped, and the churn is swung slowly back and 
forth for five or 10 minutes, in order to allow all the butter 
to rise to the top of the milk, after which the milk is 
drawn off from below, and cold water is poured in and 
drawn off until it comes off clear. The butter is then 
lifted out with a cedar paddle into a wooden bowl, weighed 
and salted in the proportion of three-fourths of an ounce 
of salt to the pound ; the salt being lightly worked in, as 
it is best at first not to attempt to get out all the water. 
A small quantity of fine white sugar, about one tea-spoon¬ 
ful to the pound of butter, is worked in with the salt. 
This, without imparting to the butter any sweetish taste, 
gives it a rich, delicious flavor which many persons think 
very desirable. The fresh butter is then placed on ice, in a 
we usually make two weekly shipments, and manage to 
keep it in excellent order between times by excluding the 
air with the parchment butter paper both while it is on 
the ice and while it is being shipped. Perfect cleanliness 
in every particular should be enforced in and around the 
dairy, all wash water should be emptied at some distance 
from the house, and the skim-milk and butter-milk carried 
off every morning and evening, for butter as well as sweet 
milk and cream is a ready absorbent of all noxious gases. 
All vessels immediately after being used should be washed 
in tepid water, then scalded, and put out-of-doors for the 
sunshine and fresh air to purify them. The churn should 
be treated in the same manner, and if any sour smell be 
detected, it may at once be removed by scalding it in 
strong soda water. HORTENSE DUDLEY. 
THINNING GRAPES; NEW VARIETIES FOR 
MARKET. 
At a recent meeting of the Allegan County ( Michigan ) 
P ontological Club, a grape grower made the following 
statement: “ I have found that by pruning and thin¬ 
ning I can get the same number of pounds of grapes 
in a smaller number of clusters, and they will be 
more compact and uniform in size and bring the 
highest price in the market .” Is this your experi¬ 
ence f What varieties, all things considered, are best 
suited to your market, and what new varieties are to 
be recommended ? 
Judicious Thinning Always Pays. 
Thinning fruit on the grape vine is a practice which I 
have followed for years. The grower to do it to the best 
advantage, must know the habit of the variety. Some 
sorts will always have loose, open clusters, while others 
will fruit freely. Some are shy bearers and the difficulty 
is to get enough fruit set. A grape vine to give the best 
results must bear fruit enough, but not too much. An 
dations of birds. By this treatment, leaving only the 
largest and finest clusters evenly distributed upon the 
vine, the grapes will ripen perfectly with their highest 
flavor; the vine will mature its wood for next season’s 
bearing, and I do not hesitate to say that the crop will, in 
most cases, be worth from two to three times as much as 
if all had been left without thinning. 
Delaware, Ohio. geo. w. Campbell. 
“I Believe It To Be a Fact!” 
I am not aware that careful experiments have ever been 
made to determine that a grape vine will produce as many 
pounds of fruit by removing a portion of the clusters as 
when all are left to grow, still I believe it to be a fact. 
This much I do know, however, that vines that are 
properly pruned, fed and cultivated, and whose bunches 
have been thinned to a proper number, produce much 
finer clusters and more dollars per acre, and retain their 
health and usefulness to a greater age. Among the new 
varieties Moore’s Diamond, Ulster, Wyoming and Wood¬ 
ruff seem to be promising for market. Among the older 
kinds Worden and Niagara are deservedly popular. If I 
were confined to one variety for market or home use I 
would select the Worden. Although not to be classed 
among the finest in quality, it is still very good. It has 
about all of the good qualities of the Concord, and is, in 
.many respects, superior to it. It has been very profitable 
this year. It should, however, be followed by a later 
variety, as it is not a late keeper. Delaware and Brighton 
also rank well with us, especially for home use ; while we 
depend upon the Lady for a few early white grapes for 
home consumption. WM. FARNSWORTH. 
Waterville, O. 
Thinning Pays; Market Varieties. 
I regard the Allegan County grape grower’s conclusion 
as correct, when thinning is judiciously practiced. When 
grapes have been properly pruned in late autumn or early 
FRENCH COACH FLOQUET. Fig. 280. 
TROTTING BRED COLT GENERAL LAMAR 8SS9. Fig. 28 1. 
well-glazed earthenware crock, covered with Elliot’s parch¬ 
ment paper, where it is allowed to stand until next morn¬ 
ing, when it is carefully worked over and packed in tin 
buckets ready for shipping. 
We find that the largest yield of butter is obtained when 
the milk is cooled quickly after being brought to the dairy, 
and when it is kept at an even temperature, cold enough 
to prevent its becoming sour, until after the cream has 
risen and been removed. Either extreme heat or extreme 
cold seems to cause some chemical change in the character 
of the milk, that interferes with the right management of 
it ever afterwards. Neither is it a good plan to mix very 
sour cream with that which is sweet, for although the 
mass may taste sufficiently acid and appear of the right 
consistency, yet the last cream added will not be of the 
requisite ripeness, while the first has begun to spoil; so 
that neither will yield as much or as flue a quality of 
butter, as it otherwise would. Unless both cream and 
milk are kept on ice, no cream in summer should be kept 
longer than 36 hours after the milk has been brought to 
the dairy, which would allow 24 hours for the cream to 
rise and 12 for it to ripen; but as this would necessitate 
churning the cream from each milking separately, we 
may, by putting that first gathered on ice, keep it sweet 
for 12 hours before mixing it with the next, after which 
both may be allowed to ripen together. It is scarcely nec¬ 
essary to add that no butter should ever be allowed to be¬ 
come warm enough to be soft and oily; if once the little 
walls surrounding the butter granules are melted down 
they can never be built up again. To be in perfection, 
butter should be kept so cold that some effort will be re¬ 
quired to slice it with a knife, or if it lie broken it should 
present an appearance as though it were composed of 
irregular crystals. 
If it could be so arranged, all butter should be shipped 
the next day after it has been churned, but as our custom¬ 
ers want it either the first or the latter ;part of the week, 
injudicious thinning will many times result in a positive 
injury; but if there is an excessive load of fruit for the 
growth of the wood, by all means take out the poorest 
clusters first, and if that is not enough don’t stop till some 
of the good ones are taken off too. For market, Catawbas, 
Concords, Niagaras aud Delawares have proved the best 
in the Lake Keuka section. Moore’s Early aud Worden 
promise well enough to warrant planting as black grapes. 
Moore’s Diamond for a new whits grape promises well. 
Empire State is doing better this year than ever before. 
Penn Yan, N. Y. GEO. C. SNOW. 
“ From One-Third to Two-Thirds of the Fruit.” 
If this statement is understood to refer to a vine of the 
same variety, either left to run wild, without pruning or 
thinning, or to one properly cared for and pruned, and the 
fruit judiciously thinned, I believe the statement to be 
quite correct. And I would even go further, and say that 
after a vine has been carefully pruned, it will often be 
found profitable to thin out the fruit according to the 
strength and natural habits of the variety. Some kinds 
habitually produce more clusters than the vines can ma¬ 
ture, and if all are left, many imperfect bunches, many 
small, unripe berries, with much immature wood and en¬ 
feebled vines will be found at the end of the season. The 
present crop is poor, and, w ith the same treatment, the 
next one will be poorer still. A continuance of this treat¬ 
ment with some varieties will kill the vines, or render 
them worthless. From one-third to two-thirds of the fruit 
may, with advantage, be taken from very productive va¬ 
rieties by thinning, and the earlier it is done, after the 
grapes are out of bloom and the clusters are formed, the 
better. First, all the small and imperfect clusters should 
be cut out; then, those which are crowded should be 
partly removed and all weak shoots, leaving but one 
bunch to mature. This is specially advisable when the 
grapes are bagged to protect them from rot, or the depre¬ 
spring, there should be little or no pruning proper in sum¬ 
mer—merely the removal of any excess of fruit as soon as 
the clusters are developed enough to determine which will 
be the largest and most perfect ones, and “pinching in” the 
fruiting canes, (which are to be cut away at the fall 
pruning,) so soon as they shall have produced three or four 
leaves beyond the last cluster of fruit. Aside from the 
foregoing, I would do no summer pruning beyond the 
pinching in of such rampant canes as threaten to rob or 
dwarf the weaker ones. I think summer pruning, carried 
only to this extent, will usually improve the market value 
of the crop; while it will not perceptibly diminish its quan¬ 
tity, or otherwise injuriously affect the health or vigor of 
the plant. 
The Concord has achieved such popularity in the general 
market that it is more extensively planted than any, 
possibly than all other varieties. Notwithstanding this 
fact, I am disposed to fully justify the remark made by 
The Rural, some years since, that “the time is past 
when people should plant the Concord.” Worden is as 
hardy, sufficiently vigorous and productive, as well as 
earlier and of better quality. Moore’s should have a 
limited recognition as a very early and hardy grape, of 
tolerable quality. Delaware may, even yet, be profitably 
planted by those who will treat it wisely, and who will 
cater to the tastes of the better class of consumers. 
Brighton, though requiring careful treatment, will abun¬ 
dantly repay growers who supply the highest and most 
appreciative grade of consumers. Its great beauty and 
high quality will more than compensate for the greater 
care aud, perchance, a slight deficiency in quantity. Niagara 
proves somewhat less hardy than Concord, but is possibly 
slightly better in flavor as well as less foxy; but it is, 
even yet, somewhat a novelty in the markets, and it may 
be assumed to be yet a matter of doubt how far its color, 
and that of the Pocklington also, will permanently hold 
its popularity. Isabella and Catawba seem likely yet to 
