10 
[April 4. 
THE COTTAG 
have added a small pump to remove the whey. This gatherer 
causes a saving of labour, and while it presses the whey from 
the curd, removes less curd and butter in the whey; I, there¬ 
fore, recommend its use to all cheese-makers.” 
The different quality of cheese produced from different 
soils was alluded to at the same meeting, by Mr. H. Yates. 
On some soils there is certainly, as he remarked, great diffi¬ 
culty in making cheese of good quality, the poorest land 
usually producing the best cheese. The same management 
in Derbyshire which succeeds on poor land, yields heavy or 
sweet cheese on rich land. It is found in that county that a 
warm room up stairs, employed as a clieese-room, will render 
the cheese liable to sweetness. Another farmer who attended 
the meeting, making cheese from 00 acres of land, added, “it 
is only on 50 acres that my dairy-man can make good 
cheese ; ” when his cows are turned on to certain pastures, 
the cheese, it seems, in spite of all his care, will “ heave.’ 
Mr. Bernays very justly thought that the quality of the cheese 
must naturally depend upon the age of the cow, the state ot 
its health, the distance it has to traverse in search of food, 
and on the quality of the herbage. Pastimes with a plentiful 
deep green herbage will yield a milk richer in butter than 
cheese, whilst the contrary is the case if the pasturage appear 
lean. The heaving of the cheese, the assembled farmers 
seemed to agree, is caused by a fermentation hi the whey 
left in it; gases are formed which exposed the coats of the 
cheese. In some dairies, however, the heaving of cheese 
can scarcely be prevented. The difficulty, Mr. Gretton 
thought, arose from it not being easy in those places to get 
such a curd as will allow the whey to be well pressed from it. 
There is always great risk of heaving if the whey is not well 
pressed out. These practical observations will be of service 
to many a young beginner, and may not he without their use, 
even to the experienced owner of dairy farms. Their perusal, 
too, may serve to convince the general reader that there is 
no department of the farmer’s very difficult vocation that 
does not require the exercise of much more vigilance and 
skill than is believed by those who are much too apt to decry 
what they cannot understand. Cuthbert W. Johnson. 
LUCERN. 
In accordance with the wish of many correspondents, we 
have to state as our opinion, that Lucern is the most profit¬ 
able crop that the cottager or any one else can grow for a 
supply of green food for his cow, horse, goat, and rabbits. 
It may be cultivated in any nook not over-shadowed with 
trees, though it will yield more abundantly if grown, as it 
well deserves, upon a portion of the main quarters of the 
allotment plot. On the merits of the plant we have lately 
seen a letter 1 published by Mr. Moore, Curator oi the Glas- 
nevin Botanic Garden, at Dublin, and it is so applicable to 
our present purpose, that we shall quote it as follows :— 
“ Lucern appears particularly well suited for being cul¬ 
tivated on the light gravelly, or lime stone soils. It is also 
well adapted for the soiling system, which is even- day be¬ 
coming more general among the holders of small pieces of 
land—-a class to whom I would beg specially to recommend 
a trial of Lucern. It is easy to cultivate, and will remain 
permanently in the soil for a great number of years, without 
losing any of its vitality or productiveness. The young 
plants soon arrive at a state of growth when they yield a 
good produce, which continues to increase during the first 
three years or so, when their vigour continues unabated for 
a considerable period, if the soil be not too damp or boggy. 
The portion of the Botanic Garden allocated for the agri¬ 
cultural plants is composed of a thin gravelly soil, where 
the Lucern lias been growing at least eight years, without 
receiving any kind of manure, and it is now as vigorous as 
ever it was. It is, however, well known that Lucern is greatly 
improved by top-dressing; and T would consider it a plant 
particularly suited for being affected by those stimulating 
artificial manures which act quickly; but even without 
manure, it will afford to be cut four times in the season, 
yielding a good crop each time. The first before the end of 
April, which is a circumstance greatly in its favour—that 
being the season when food for cattle is most required. M 3 ' 
reasons for recommending the cultivation of this plant to the 
small farmers arc, because it will yield a larger quantity of 
1 nutritive green food for. cattle than most of our other agri- 
E GARDENER. 
cultural plants; because it may be cut earlier than any ot 
our other plants, Italian ryegrass excepted ; because it is 
well calculated for being grown in small, compact patches, 
where the economical division of land is an object; because 
it requires less labour, and less manure than other green 
crops ; and, finally, because it will remain permanent in the 
soil, and produce a good crop ten or twelve years in suc¬ 
cession. 
“ The best season for sowing Lucern has been proved to 
be March, or very early in April. It may, however, be sown 
on land from which earl}' potatoes have been removed after 
midsummer, in which case it will have well established itself 
before winter; and after the potato crop the soil will be in a 
favourable state for the growth of the Lucern." 
The best time for sowing Lucern, as is stated by Mr. \ 
Moore, is during the first fortnight of April. Let the plot ( 
intended to be sown be trenched, and the seed sown very I 
thinly in drills twelve inches apart, and one and a half inch j 
or two inches deep. The easiest way of delivering the seed, 
is b}’ putting the seed into a pint bottle and baling a quill 
inserted through the cork. The seed may be sown very j 
thinly and evenly along each drill by the aid of this very 
simple contrivance. Twenty-four pounds of seed will be 
sufficient for an acre. Thin out the plants to eight inches 
apart, and keep them constantly free, from weeds. This free¬ 
dom from weeds is most important; and to effect it, the 
hoe must be thorouglil}'used once or twice after e\ ei 1 } cutting. 
Do not wait until the whole plot of Lucern is mown before 
you begin hoeing, but hoe every square yard between the 
rows as soon as the scythe lays it bare. It should hat e a 
dressing of manure every spring, and the best way of doing 
it is to take off with the spade about an inch of earth from 
between the first and second rows, and cany that earth to 
be used for the last rows. Then sprinkle the manure 
between the first and second rows, and cover it with an inch 
of earth pared off from between the second and third rows, 
and so on until the whole is similarly treated. Never dig 
between the rows, for the plants are much injured b} _ their 
roots being cut and disturbed. You may cut the Lucern 
twice the first } T ear, and three times annuall}' afterwards.* It 
is most hearty, or nourishing, just as the flower-buds appear, 
and whilst in flower. If sown earl} - in April, the first cutting 
from it will be in the course of August. 
The soil best suited to Lucern is one that is light, but not 
stoney, on an open, gravelly, or chalky bottom. It cannot 
endure stagnant water to its roots, and on a wet clay it \\ ill 
not succeed at all, though on clay well-drained it may be 
grown. . 
The manures which maybe applied to it advantageousl}, 
besides common dungs, are soot, malt dust, and guano. . 
The amount of produce is difficult to define; but the first 
cutting of an acre has been known to keep two horses for 
seven weeks ; the second cutting kept them for the same 
period; and the third cutting kept them six weeks, a few 
oats being given them daily besides, during the whole time. 
An average produce of green Lucern from a square rod at 
one cutting, is said to be full 100 pounds ; anil this quantity 
is enough for a cow for twenty-four hours. She ought to 
have only a little at a time, as she will be apt to be hoven, or 
blown, upon it as much as if fed upon clover. Bigs are fond 
of it, but like it best whilst young. 
Lucern is the Merliatyo saliva of Botanists, and is native j 
of various parts of Europe. Its employment as a fodder 
was known to the Romans, and is mentioned by its earliest 
writers under the name of Medic, yet it was not until the 
time of Philip Miller, the author of “ The Gardener’s Die- , 
tiouary,” that much was known about it in England; and 
even now it is not cultivated so extensively as its productive : 
nature deserves. G. W. J. 1 
HINTS FOR HUMBLE HOUSEHOLDS. 
No. 1 . 
Many of tiic evils of which the English poor complain 
might be greatly mitigated by a proper knowledge of that 
which conduces more or less to the comfort of every family— 
Cooking .—There is no country hi the world where the 
* In Ireland, and other moist mild situations, or seasons, it may be 
cut four times. 
