THE CULTIVATOR. 
15 
PRODUCTS OF THE DAIRY. 
We trust that no apology is needed for calling the at¬ 
tention of the public to the importance of this subject. 
The production of butter and cheese is not a matter in 
which farmers alone are interested, but one which con¬ 
cerns every individual almost without exception, in 
whatever section of country they may reside, or in what¬ 
ever occupation they may be engaged; for of the entire 
population of this country, very few can be found who 
are not either producers or consumers of these articles. 
True, there is occasionally to be found a person who has 
so little taste for good things as not to appreciate the lux¬ 
ury of a bit of good cheese, or the almost indispensable 
accompaniment of every meal, a nice ball of butter, and 
it is to be feared that in the larger towns, families might 
be found who have not the means to purchase these arti¬ 
cles. The poor man in the country, however limited his 
means, and to whatever extent he may be deprived of 
the delicacies and refinements of life, nevertheless keeps 
his cow and usually his pig also; thus providing himself 
with that which cannot always be obtained by even the 
wealthy in our large cities, pure milk and good sivcet but¬ 
ter, while with the addition of a little meal or a few po¬ 
tatoes, the pig contributes in a great degree to the more 
substantial provision of the laborer. No wonder then 
that that observing and shrewd writer, Colman, should 
descant so agreeably on the pleasures to the poor man, 
of keeping his cow and his pig. 
The farmer has this advantage over all other classes, 
he can appropriate the choicest of the productions of the 
soil and of the dairy for his own consumption, thus ena¬ 
bling himself and family to enjoy the first and best fruits 
of honest labor, and*well directed industry and skill. To 
no branch of agriculture does this remark apply with 
greater force than to the productions of the dairy. Un¬ 
favorable circumstances may injure the quality of the but¬ 
ter or cheese sent to market, but nothing need prevent 
the farmer from partaking of the best which the skill and 
care of the dairywoman can furnish. We design in this 
article simply to call attention to the subject, and to pre¬ 
pare the way for some remarks in a future paper; when 
we hope to be able to show to farmers the importance, 
the necessity indeed, of great improvement in the quality 
of their dairy products, and to prove to them that a very 
great increase in the average quantity per cow can pro¬ 
fitably be effected. Indeed, when we consider the great 
defects which exist in the quality of much of the butter 
and cheese now manufactured, and the comparatively 
small quantity from each cow which is made in many of 
the dairies, we are forced to the conclusion that in few 
branches of agricultural or household duties, is there 
more need of improvement. 
There seems to be but a comparatively, small portion 
af the country which is well adapted to dairying. A soil 
suitable for the production of the proper grasses; a cli¬ 
mate of the proper kind for the manufacture and preser¬ 
vation of the butter and cheese; an abundant supply'- of 
pure water; cool and dry cellars in which to preserve the 
butter in good condition; all these, and many other 
things, must combine to constitute a good dairy district. 
Several counties bordering on the Hudson river, would 
seem well adapted to this object; and the high reputation 
of much of the butter made in those counties, proves 
their adaptation to this business. This limited extent of 
territory, is however, no more than is needed to supply 
New-York and other large cities with milk, and to some 
extent, with butter for family" use in the summer months. 
The same remark will also apply to that portion of Penn¬ 
sylvania at no great distance from Philadelphia. In ad¬ 
dition to the supply of milk and butter for family use, the 
counties contiguous to large cities must give the finish 
to the fattening of the great proportion of the cattle which 
are required for supplying the city with fresh beef. 
New-England, with her numerous manufacturing estab¬ 
lishments, and the employment of her citizens in the va¬ 
rious mechanical occupations, consumes vastly more but¬ 
ter and cheese than she produces. Western New-York 
must always be a wheat growing region; (unless the 
owners of the soil exhaust it by severe cropping,) and 
so to a great extent are the western States. 
The central and northern parts of the State of New- 
York, must therefore constitute the dairy district, from 
whence must be derived a very great proportion of the 
butter and cheese used in our large cities, and which is 
needed for shipment to Europe. The demand for cheese 
for this latter purppse, is now considerable, and will, 
doubtless, greatly increase, if proper attention is given 
to the manufacture; but it is idle to expect a foreign de¬ 
mand for a poor article. It is then to the dairymen in 
the district referred to, that this subject presents itself 
with the greatest force; and we deem it one of sufficient 
moment to demand attention from our agricultural jour¬ 
nals. We propose in our next, to give some statistics 
relating to the products of the dairy in different sections 
of the country, and also the quantity exported, as far as 
such information is within our reach. These facts will 
not, it is hoped, prove entirely uninteresting to any class 
of readers, whether producers or consumers. 
E. Comstock. 
iToreigu (ftomsponbetxcc. 
MR. NORTON S LETTERS—No. YI. 
Lab. of Ag. Chemistry Association, ) 
Edinburgh, Oct. 30, 1844. $ 
Luther Tucker, Esq.—Since the date of my last let¬ 
ter, I have made an excursion into Ayrshire and Ren¬ 
frewshire. I accompanied Prof. Johnston, who went 
for the purpose of delivering four lectures in Ayr. He 
has, on at least one occasion before, addressed the Ayr¬ 
shire farmers, and so pleased and benefited were they, 
that they invited him to come again and give them a 
somewhat more extended view of the great subject of 
the application of Chemistry to Agriculture. In compli¬ 
ance with this invitation, was the * iesent visit. I will 
give a brief sketch of the plan and subjects of the Lec¬ 
tures. 
The first was upon the organic part of plants. This 
organic portion of all vegetable bodies is separable into 
starch, gluten, woody fibre, gum, sugar, &c. By the 
simple experiment of burning sugar, one of these bod¬ 
ies, it is shown that it resolves it: elf into carbon or char 
coal and water; the same is true of woody fibre, starch, 
and a great,proportion of vegetable bodies. The pro¬ 
perties of charcoal were explained, and the two gases 
of which water is composed, oxygen and hydrogen, were 
exhibited through their more striking phenomena. In 
gluten and other vegetable bodies, we have a fourth in¬ 
gredient, nitrogen; this was also shown, and the method 
of its formation explained. We see then that the organ¬ 
ic, which is far the larger portion of plants, consists of 
four substances, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. 
Plants collect these indispensable materials in various 
ways; the carbon chiefly through the leaves in the form 
of carbonic acid gas; oxygen and hydrogen through the 
roots, a great proportion in the form of water, and the 
nitrogen through the roots, also in the form of ammonia, 
or other compounds. The decay of various substances, 
and the vegetable acids present in the soil, also supply a 
certain amount of all these bodies. 
Lecture 2d, was upon the inorganic part of plants and 
soils. When we burn a quantity of vegetable matter, far 
Jthe greater proportion is driven away, but something al- 
i ways remains. This, though a small part of the whole, 
fis indispensable; it is as absolutely essential as the glue 
or nails of the carpenter, or mortar of the mason; 
plants cannot live long entirely without some, though the 
proportions in which they re«,uire it, vary. This inor¬ 
ganic portion consists of eleven substances: potash, soda, 
lime, magnesia, alumina, oxide of iron, oxide of manga¬ 
nese, silica, sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, and chlo¬ 
rine; other things are rarely present. The organic por¬ 
tion is derived chiefly from the air, but partly from the 
soil; but this comes wholly from the soil. Every fertile 
soil then must possess the above constituents,' and a soil 
which does not, will not grow good crops. If rich in all 
of the others, but deficient in one, lime for instance, it 
will not nourish a healthy grain or root crop. Thus we 
may have a soil that may at once be made fertile, by the 
addition of some one absent ingredient. Here chemical 
