1851 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
401 
duce, but this year the trees bear but very little—not 
enough apples being obtained for the home demand. 
Live Stock. —There are kept on the farm sixteen 
cows, two heifers, one bull, five horses, eight Leicester 
sheep, twelve swine', besides young pigs. The cows are 
chiefly a cross of the Short-horn and common stock; a 
few have a dash of the Devon. They are kept for mak¬ 
ing butter, not for breeding stock for sale. They are fed 
in winter in the barn, night and mofning, on hay which 
is a mixture of clover and timothy, with what corn-fod¬ 
der they are inclined to eati n the yard, while they are 
out. Each cow is also fed every day, from the time they 
come off grass till after their calves are fatted, with eight 
quarts of the following mixture: Two quarts corn-meal, 
three quarts shorts, one quart oil-cake meal. After the 
calves are taken off, and the milk is devoted to butter, 
the oil-cake is discontinued, from an idea that it injures 
the quality of the butter. 
The cows calve the latter part of January or first of 
February. The main object in having them “ come in’ 7 
at this time, is that the calves may be fatted and sent off 
while veal will command a good price, and also leave the 
best of the season to be availed of for making and selling 
butter. The calves suck till they are six weeks old, and 
are then sold in market at four and three-fourths to five 
cents per pound, live weight. They bring from eight to 
ten dollars each. The cows being well fed and sheltered 
in a warm barn at night, and in all inclement weather, 
and allowed the liberty of the yard for exercise and air 
in pleasant days, they give a large quantity of milk, 
make the calves fat, and afford a large quantity of but¬ 
ter after the calves are taken away. The sixteen cows 
gave an average of 180 pounds of butter each, in 1850, 
besides fatting their calves. 
Mr. C.’s ideas in regard to the proper way of keeping 
cows, deserve to be mentioned. He holds that they should 
have an abundance of good food, and be kept in good 
order. If they get fat, even, as they frequently do to¬ 
wards the time when they go dry, he considers it no dis¬ 
advantage, and refuses to sell his best cows to the butch¬ 
er, though offered a high price. He says the fat is not 
lost, that it is only stored up in the system, and after the 
cows calve, it goes into the milk, and either fats the 
calves, or forms butter. We think this is correct reason¬ 
ing. Great loss is sustained in many instances by cows 
being very poor when turned to grass. When in this 
condition, it takes considerable time, and a large amount 
of food, to fill up the wasted tissues of the body, and 
give the animal any surplus to spare. 
Butter Making. —As already remarked, butter is an 
article of importance on Mr. Cornell’s farm, and it is so 
on most farms in this section. It is made with great 
care, and sent to Philadelphia every week, where it 
brings an average of twenty-five cents per pound. We 
mq,de very particular inquiries in regard to the kind of 
room which was preferred to set milk in for this purpose, 
and found that spring-houses were considered best. We 
are satisfied this opinion is well founded. An unfavor¬ 
able idea in regard to such houses has been entertained; 
but the objections have arisen from the want of proper 
attention to certain requisites, the most important of 
which is purity of air. The great advantage of spring- 
houses is the security of a proper temperature—50 to 55 
degrees—by which the milk may be kept from souring 
till all the cream rises. But with this temperature it is 
essential that there should be a pretty free circulation of 
air, charged as little as practicable with dampness. This 
is found necessary for the perfect separat ion of the cream 
from the milk, and for the making of the best butter. 
Without a spring-house, it is difficult to obtain at all 
times the required temperature. Farmers who cannot 
avail themselves of a good spring, often used what is 
called a vault for setting milk. This is an under-ground 
room, the walls, roof, and floor of which are of stone. 
A dry and shaded situation is selected for the site. The 
dimensions are usually such as to admit of the milk be¬ 
ing set on the floor, as that imparts a coolness to objects 
coming in contact with it. The top, which is commonly 
arched, should be high, (not less than nine or ten feet,) 
to promote ventilation, which is effected by an aperture 
in connection with the door, and a chimney or pipe at 
the opposite end of the vault, passing through the roof 
to the surface of the ground. It has formerly been the 
practice to build these vaults in connection with wells— 
that is, the vault is open to the well on one side. Mr, 
Cornell has two, one of which is of the latter kind, but 
its use has been latterly discontinued, and the other used 
in its stead. The advantage of a cooler temperature 
by a connection with the well, is over-balanced by the 
dampness, and this cannot be avoided with the imper¬ 
fect ventilation which belongs to an underground apart¬ 
ment. 
Mr. James C. Cornell, (a brother of Mr. A. C. jr., 
and whose farm adjoins that of the latter,) has a spring- 
house, the best, perhaps, we have ever seen, and never 
have we seen any place of the kind which indicated bet¬ 
ter management. The spring runs into the house atone 
end, and the water flows over the floor, which is of bricks, 
the depth being governed by a gate through which the 
water has an outlet. In warm weather the pans stand 
on the floor, and the water is raised round them to the 
height of two to three inches. The pots which hold the 
cream are also set in the water in warm weather. It is 
kept constantly running, and it is so cold that there is 
nc^difficulty in keeping the temperature of the room low 
enough for the cream to rise well. The house is in the 
shade of large trees, but the surrounding ground is solid 
and dry. There are windows in each side of the milk- 
room, near the roof, provided with shutters, by which 
the quantity of light is regulated, and wire netting to 
keep out flies. When the weather is too cool, or a high¬ 
er temperature than that of the open atmosphere is 
wanted, the milk is set on shelves, and the room is 
warmed by a stove. This is done early in the spring 
and late in the fall. 
The strictest neatness and care are practiced through¬ 
out the whole process of managing the milk, cream and 
butter. The milk is first strained into a large vat, which 
does not stand in the milk-room, and when considerably 
cooled is drawn off into the pans, which are set in their 
appropriate place. The cream is taken off before the 
milk sours. Mr. J. C. Cornell is confident that noth¬ 
ing is gained in quantity by allowing the milk to sour 
before it is skimmed, and that the souring is decidedly 
injurious to the quality of the butter. The particular 
crisis observed in taking off the cream is this: when the 
cream has all risen, it readily separates from the milk— 
the particles of cream adhering together, merely floating 
on the watery fluid below. A person can soon learn by 
close observation when the proper time has arrived. 
Mr. C. states that he has noticed when milk was permit¬ 
ted to sour before it was skimmed, that the acid of the 
milk appeared to decompose the cream, which was grad¬ 
ually made thinner—actually wasted away. 
The cream is churned while perfectly sweet. A b^- 
rel churn is the kind used. It is worked by a horse, 
with a small lever-power. The churn is placed in an 
open room at one end of the dairy, a belt connecting 
with the power. When the butter is taken from the 
churn, it is worked, salted and set in the dairy for a day, 
when it is again worked over, and put up in pound lumps 
for market. Mr. J. C. C. is not in favor of using water 
for working butter, believing that water injures the fla¬ 
vor of the butter, and operates against its keeping. It 
is worked on a table with a brake. The form of brake 
found to operate best, is three inches wide and an inch 
and a half thick, with square corners. This is better 
than a round or oval form, as the operator can keep the 
butter better together, and press every part more equal¬ 
ly. In moulding it into lumps, a small shallow scoop and 
spatula, both of wood, are used—the hand not being 
brought in contact with the butter. The Ashton salt is 
the kind used, a little less than an ounce to the pound 
of butter. Neat tubs, holding ten pounds each, are used 
for conveying the butter to market. In warm weather 
they are packed in boxes with ice. The butter is all sold 
to regular customers, who engage a given quantity for 
each week. We scarcely need to say, that the quality 
of the butter is unexceptionably fine. 
Poultry. —Considerable attention is paid through this 
section to raising chickens and turkeys for market. A 
