206 
THE CULTIVATOR 
JvtX 
tide, there is a communication from Mr. Dox, who 
mentions ears of corn, 22 inches long, grown on sub¬ 
soil raised from a well, and “ of some timothy or herds 
grass growing on a soil that was thrown out in 
digging a cellar, some of the heads of which were 
nearly 14 inehes long.” Now I do not believe, either 
the Wandering Jew, or Peter Rugg, in all their travels 
ever saw such ears of corn or heads of grass, grown 
by the aid of nitrogenized manures. 
Where do the countless millions upon millions 
of bushels of corn and wheat grown upon the western 
prairies, obtain their nitrogen from ? Not from the ap¬ 
plication of nitrogenised manures. 
How has the fertility of the soil of Egypt been kept 
up from hundreds of years before Abraham’s time, down 
to 1848 of the Christian era ? By annually having re¬ 
stored to it the finely comminuted mineral matters,, 
(by the overflow of the Nile,) to replace those drawn 
from the soil by the annual crops. 
Precisely thus, has the fertility of the alluvial lands 
on the Deerfield, (Mass.) river, been kept up for more 
than a century; and so upon others. I have named but 
few facts compared with what X could cite in this case 
—but enough to sustain my propositions. So here X 
rest the matter. Devi Bartlett. Warner, N. H., 
April 10, 1848. 
“ IRISH ROSE BETTER ” FOR THE 17. S. IAf¥. 
In our last volume, pages 213, 284, some remarks 
are made in relation to the subject indicated by the 
above caption. The indefatigable Secretary of the 
New-York State Agricultural Society, Mr. Johnson, 
has taken hold of the matter, and has unraveled some 
of the mysteries with which the business of supplying 
Uncle Sam’s navy with butter has hitherto been envel- 
oped. The results of his investigations are published 
in the Society’s Transactions for the last year, from 
which we gather the following faets. 
The navy of the United States requires 60,000 pounds 
of butter annually. In the proposal issued by the de¬ 
partment, it is said—“the butter must be of the descrip¬ 
tion, quality and manufacture of the present navy but¬ 
ter, made in the mode of ( Irish Rose Rutter . The 
milk must be thoroughly worked out, and the butter 
cleansed of all impurities, and extraneous substances, 
and be put up in seasoned white oak firkins, containing 
about 80 lbs. each, well and strongly hooped, so as to 
be perfectly air and pickle tight. Persons offering pro¬ 
posals are required to produce satisfactory evidence that 
their butter will stand the test of tropical climates, and 
preserve its sweet and wholesome qualities for years.” 
From this statement, it was deemed important to as¬ 
certain how “ Irish Rose Butter ” was made, if there 
was any such butter. The secretary therefore opened 
a correspondence with gentlemen engaged in the butter 
trade in Liverpool, and in various parts of Ireland. It 
appeared that most of these dealers never heard of 
“Irish Rose Butter,” and that if any is now made under 
that name, which is doubtful, it is of a quality wholly 
unsuited to the navy, or for long keeping. A letter to 
the secretary from a house in Liverpool, says—“ We* 
understand that there is Rose butter, which is put up 
w ith very little salt, and.is nearly as good as fresh but¬ 
ter, but it is not fit for export.” 
No other intelligence was obtained concerning “ Irish 
Rose Butter,” except that a letter from Clonmel, in Ire¬ 
land, stated that one of the Waterford houses brands, the 
firkins of their best quality of shipping butter with arose. 
But this is not navy butter. That for the British navy 
is obtained from Cork, “where a larger quantity of 
salt is used in the manufacture, and where it is made 
up expressly for foreign exportation.” This butter is 
packed in good tubs or casks, containing 66 to 70 lbs. 
each. “ The quantity of salt mixed in the making ot 
the butter, to be about one pound of salt to 10 or 11 
pounds of butter, and the buttermilk to be well worked 
out of the butter, without using, however, the hand too 
much. In packing, care should be taken to pack it a.s 
closely as possible.” In packing the butter, space is 
left at the top of the cask for pickle, and at the port of 
exportation, the pickle is added, with one or two pounds 
of salt additional, to each cask, to keep the pickle at 
full strength. 
A letter from Clonmel describes the mode of making 
the celebrated “ Irish butter ” of that neighborhood, as 
follows :-“Our best makers have large, airy, cool dairies, 
and churn twice or three times a week, which depends on 
the heat of the weather. Caution must be used not to 
allow the cream to be too long in the tubs and pans, or 
until it gets sour, as the butter will then be inferior and 
what is termed cheesy . The buttermilk must be well 
washed out of the butter, and when salted, it should be 
packed firm into the firkin. These, w.ith great cleanli¬ 
ness, are the principal things to be looked after in the 
manufacture, otherwise your butter will not keep its 
quality. The quantity of fine salt is three pounds to the 
firkin, containing about 65 pounds. The butter in this 
district is made expressly for the London and North of 
England markets; in the former, at certain periods of 
the year, it takes precedence of the Dutch.” 
But the Secretary has ascertained that notwithstand¬ 
ing the terms in the government proposals, that the 
butter for the U. S. navy, must be “ made in the mode 
of Irish Rose Butter ,” not a word is said about such 
butter in the contract ! In reference to this inconsis¬ 
tency, it is asked—“ Why was this so drawn ? Was it 
to prevent those who never heard of ‘ Irish Rose But¬ 
ter,’ and knew not bow it was made, from offering pro¬ 
posals ? It is presumed it must have been inserted 
through inadvertence on the part of the person prepar¬ 
ing the notices. But from whatever reason it was in¬ 
serted, its effect has been, beyond all question, to pre¬ 
vent persons from offering proposals, who might other¬ 
wise have done so.” 
It has been proved, as we learn from the paper under 
consideration, that the butter which has been furnished 
under the proposals alluded to, has usually been what 
is called “ Orange county butter,” and it is said “ the 
gentleman who has special charge of this department, 
is of opinion that no butter made out of Orange county 
will resist the action of tropical climates and pre¬ 
serve its qualities for years.” 
As the quantity of butter required for the supply 
of the United States navy on foreign stations, is 
not less than 60,000 pounds annually, and is continual¬ 
ly increasing, the question is considerably important, 
whether all this butter must be made in the county of 
Orange? What are the peculiar qualities imparted by 
the territory encompassed by the boundary lines of that 
county, that it should be entitled to such pre-eminence? 
It is admitted that soil, climate, and quality of herbage 
have aifr influence on butter; but can the county of 
Orange claim any special advantages of this kind ? It 
is admitted also, that a large portion of the butter pro¬ 
duced in Orange county is of excellent quality; but the 
question is simply, whether the same skill and attention 
which is there given to the manufacture, will not or 
does not produce equally as good butter in other coun- 
