THE CULTIVATOR 
125 
commences at four in the morning, (the milkers rising 
at three,) in the field, and the milk is conveyed to the 
dairy by a one horse wagon from hooks, in which large 
vessels are suspended. To prevent the milk from fly¬ 
ing over the brim of these vessels in moving the wagon, 
thin pieces of wood, of nearly the size of the vessel, float 
on the milk, and this practice is adopted when pails are 
carried by the hand. 
The effect which vessels made of different materials 
has on the promoting or retarding the acidity of milk, 
has received much attention in Holland ; and the con¬ 
nection which this process has with electricity has 
been more fully investigated than elsewhere. The lia¬ 
bility of tin to rust renders it objectionable ; zinc has 
scarcely been tried, but fears are entertained that inju¬ 
rious properties will be communicated to the milk ; 
great care is required to keep copper tinned ;■ and the 
vessels most generally preferred on all accounts, are 
shallow wooden heelers, holding about eight quarts. 
In some few instances glass vessels are used, and some 
of the reports speak of them highly. As glass is a 
nonconductor, it is to be expected the influence of elec¬ 
tric causes will be less on glass than most other sub¬ 
stances. It has been found that cream, to make first 
rate butter, must be removed from the milk before the 
latter gets at all sour, and that the cream will not fully 
rise under thirty-six hours ; to prevent souring before 
that time, especially in sultry weather, or during thun¬ 
der storms, requires particular attention to tempera¬ 
ture. 
A cellar temperature of from 60 to 62 degrees, gives 
the best and the most cream, the rising being completed 
in 36 hours ; a greater degree of warmth hastens the pro¬ 
cess, but lessens the quantity of the butter ; a lower tem¬ 
perature preserves the milk 48 or 60 hours, but imparts 
an unpleasant flavor to the cream and butter. The 
commencement of souring in milk is marked by a slight 
wrinkling of the cream, and a slightly acid taste. When 
this appears, whether the milk has stood a longer or 
shorter time, skimming commences. As fast as it is 
collected, it is poured through a hair seivekept for this 
purpose alone, into large barrels of 240 quarts each, in 
which it remains till the necessary sourness is attained, 
which in summer usually takes 24 hours, and in winter 
36 or 48 hours. During this advance to acidity, the 
cream is frequently stirred to prevent its coagulating, or 
becoming cheesy, and when fit for churning, the skill 
of the dairy woman is required to determine the pro¬ 
per temperature to make good butter. In warm wea¬ 
ther the churn is rinsed with the coldest water, and if 
necessary cold spring water is added to the cream, but 
if the cellar is properly made, this is rarely necessary. 
In cold weather the churn is washed in warm water, 
and is sometimes applied to the cream itself. The 
churning being completed, the butter is immediately 
carried to the butter cellar, where in a large tray or 
trough made of beech or oak highly polished, and pro¬ 
vided with a plug at the lower extremity to let off the 
milk, the butter is slightly worked and salted with the 
purest salt, molded with a ladle into a mass at the up¬ 
per end of the trough, and left for some hours to drain. 
In the evening it is thoroughly kneaded and beat, the 
dairy maid lifting a piece of 3 or 4 pounds, and slapping 
it against the trough with great force, to beat out the 
milky particles. After the whole mass has thus, piece 
by piece, been freed from the buttermilk, it is again 
spread out, and receives its full salting, (in all about 
la ounce of salt to a pound of butter,) which is 
worked with the utmost care equally through the whole, 
and is then molded into a compact mass. Butter in 
Holstein is seldom washed, though in some other parts 
of Holland it is practiced with the greatest success. 
When enough is made to fill a cask, the several churn¬ 
ings are once more kneaded and beat thoroughly toge¬ 
ther, a very little fresh salt is added, and it is then pack¬ 
ed in the barrel, which is made of red beech wood, wa¬ 
ter tight, and previously well washed with water and 
salt. The cask must be filled at a single packing, each 
layer pounded down, and care being taken that no inter¬ 
stice is left between the butter and the sides of the cask. 
This packing of a cask at a time gives the butter of 
large dairies the advantage over small ones, as it must 
be left longer exposed to air before the quantity requi¬ 
site to fill the barrel is obtained. 
“ The qualities of first rate butter are considered to be 1st, a 
fine yellow color, neither pale nor orange tinted; 2d, a close, 
waxy texture, in which extremely minute and •perfectly trans¬ 
parent beads of brine are perceptible: but if these drops be ei¬ 
ther large,or in the slightest degree tinged with color,it indicates 
an imperfect working of the butter ; while an entirely dry, tal¬ 
lowy appearance, is equally disapproved; 3d, a fresh, fragrant 
perfume, and a sweet kernelly taste ; 4th, good butter will above 
all be distinguished by keeping for a considerable time, without 
acquiring an old, or rancid flavor. 
“ The quantity of food which can be afforded to the cows du¬ 
ring winter, is determined at the beginning of the season, when 
the harvest returns are known; and in plentiful years the cal¬ 
culation is, that each cow should be allowed three sacks of grain, 
(generally oats, at 140 pounds the sack,) 3,000 pounds of straw, 
including bedding or litter for the stable, and 1,800 pounds of 
hay of good quality ; while for every hundred pounds of hay de¬ 
ducted, she must receive twenty-five pounds of grain more, and 
vice versa.” 
During the winter the requisite color is given to the 
butter by some coloring material; and the best for this 
purpose is found to be a mixture of annatto and turme¬ 
ric. in the proportion of 5 oz. of the latter to one pound 
of the former. 
The average quantity of milk from the Holstein cows, 
is about 2,500 quarts per annum ; much depending on 
the food and care ; and it is calculated that every 100 
pounds of milk will give 3i pounds of butter, 6 pounds 
of fresh cheese, 14 pounds of buttermilk, and76| pounds 
whey, where cheese is made. Fifteen quarts of milk 
are considered a fair average for a pound of butter, 
though sometimes a cow gives milk so rich that 12 
quarts make a pound. “ On the whole, it is consider¬ 
ed a fair return from the Holstein dairies when the pro¬ 
duce amounts to 100 pounds of butter and 150 pounds 
of cheese per annum to each cow.” 
Letter from an English Correspondent. 
Below will be found an extract of a letter from John 
Hannam, Esq., North Dighton, Yorkshire, which may 
not be uninteresting to some of our readers. Mr. Han¬ 
nam, is one of the ablest writers as well as farmers in 
England, and his contributions to the Quarterly Jour¬ 
nal of Agriculture, are always valuable. Of his last 
communication, (on the proper period of harvesting 
wheat,) a condensed view is given in the “ Work for 
the Month.” In common with the liberal and enlight¬ 
ened of every country, Mr. H. takes a deep interest in 
the cause of agriculture every where, and his kind ex¬ 
pression of good will conveyed to us, will meet with a 
hearty response from every American farmer. 
North Leighton, Wetherby, Yorkshire , April 17, 1841. 
Gentlemen —Your polite favor came to hand yesterday, for 
which I beg you will accept my best thanks. That any effort 
of mine for the spread of agricultural science, should entitle 
me to the notice of those who are devoting their energies to its 
cultivation in a country so far distant as America, I do not for 
a moment imagine, and for this reason it is that I feel it as a 
compliment. But it is not as a personal compliment that your 
communication gives me greatest pleasure, nor is it for the 
sake of bandying unmeaning verbiage (for such is reciprocal 
“ cawing ” to use the Scotchman’s term,) that 1 lose no time in 
acknowledges: it; but because t regard it as one more evi¬ 
dence of the diffusion of a spirit of citizenship (if I may use 
the term,) in the cultivation of agricultural science. And, in¬ 
deed, it is only by an encouragement of this spirit, which re¬ 
gards not the boundaries of nationality, and confines not its 
exertions to either ‘New’ or ‘Old’ World, that knowledge can 
ever be surely promoted, or that agriculture can ever be what 
it ought, an universal science, as perfect in its principles as it 
is profitable in its practice. That it is entitled to consideration 
as a profitable science, none I think, can deny ; for of all sci¬ 
ences it is the only one which can be fairly said to produce or 
create wealth. Such, however, it does; and the nation en¬ 
couraging it is encouraging the very means which will best in¬ 
crease its wealth. That it ever will become as perfect in its 
principles as it deserves cannot be asserted—w e may ho e it; 
that it will, however, become much more so thanitTs, is cer- 
tain,—and the most conclusive evidence of this is the spirit of 
intercommunication and of reciprocal assistance betrveen the 
agriculturists of different countries, who, having different soils, 
climates, and manners, have different opportunities of observing 
phenomena and recording truths. But I am speaking enthusias¬ 
tically. In this cause, however, you will excuse it. 
I am glad to observe that you have established a “New-York 
State Agricultural Society.” Of the advantages to flow from 
it, it is unnecessary for me to dilate to you. Nevertheless, I 
may say, that in my opinion they will be neither few' nor un¬ 
important. In England, these societies are doing much, and 
they will yet do more:—in what way I have endeavored to 
show in the “Quarterly Journal of Agriculture” for last month, 
which you have perhaps seen. 
But I augur success to your societies on another ground. 
The great obstacle to agricultural improvement in England has 
been an apathetic affection to old plans, and an aversion to 
modem improvements as “ new fangled notions.” This feeling 
you have not to contend with. A great proportion of Ameri¬ 
can farmers, especially those xvho have emigrated from Eu¬ 
rope, have no hereditary prejudices:—they are men who have 
some Quixotic spirit in them—they have broken from the beat¬ 
en path of their fathers—have risked their all in a country, to 
the climate, customs and soil of which they were strangers, 
and they are, therefore, ready to seize upon every information 
and to test every system which will increase their knowledge 
or improve their farms. Or, to speak plainly, they come as 
strangers, feel that they are ignorant, and are not above receiv¬ 
ing instruction from any source. In England, very often, men 
inherit the farms upon which they were born, and with the 
property of the parent inherit, too, his prejudices. To them 
these prejudices are proverbs, and they practice them in spite 
of all the opposition that modern science can make. Educa¬ 
tion, however, is fast dispelling this cloud which has so long 
darkened the horizon. Even now, in Scotland, and the North 
of England, it is no bigger than a man’s hand. 
I cannot conclude without saying a word on the ‘ Cultivator.’ 
Till its arrival, I had no idea that the American farmers could 
boast of such a journal—for, with all our advantages, I must 
say that we cannot show a journal likely to be so practically 
useful. Our journals may be, and are highly useful, but then 
their price, and the high tone in which they are written, con¬ 
fine them amongst the educated farmers who least require 
their aid. Was there a journal established here, and conduct¬ 
ed in the practical maimer that the Cultivator is, and at the 
same moderate charge, I have no more doubt of its complete 
success than I have of its usefulness amongst that class of 
farmers who require enticing to “adopt” improvements. 
I have written at length, (and probably not intelligibly,) for 
I must say (and I am not ashamed that it is so,) my zeal in the 
cause of agriculture is greater than my ability. As brother 
laborers, however, in the same field, I know you will excuse 
my prolixity, and believe me to be, gentlemen, 
Your obliged servant, 
Eds. Cultivator. JOHN HANNAM. 
Watering 1 Plants. 
“ “Watering out-door crops is frequently recommended during 
dry weather; but it should be avoided as long as is possible, as 
the benefit of artificial watering is but temporary, and it has the 
effect of exciting the roots, thereby rendering them more liable 
to suffer when the water has evaporated .”—English Farmer’s 
Journal. 
Every gardener or others who have xvatered plants, 
will, it is believed, assent to the justness of the above 
remarks. As plants are usually watered, there can be 
little doubt the application does as much hurt as good. 
In a shower of rain the whole atmosphere is saturated 
with vapor, the sky is clouded, and the water on the 
plants is not immediately carried off by evaporation. 
When plants are watered, it should be done on the ap¬ 
proach of evening, that evaporation may he less ac¬ 
tive, and the water used should be either rain water or 
water which has stood for some time in the sun, until 
the temperature is that of summer showers. Frequent¬ 
ly moving the earth around plants, will prevent for a 
considerable time the necessity of watering, as is seen 
in the case of corn that is hoed resisting the effects of 
drouth much longer than that which has not been so 
treated. 
The Wheat Crop. 
The following is an extract of a letter from Gen. R„ 
Harmon, Jr., of Wheatland, one of the best wheat 
towns, as Gen. H. is one of the best farmers, of West¬ 
ern New-York. As some of our readers may wish to 
obtain seed wheat from that section of the state, we 
would inform them that they may obtain a superior ar¬ 
ticle by applying to Gen. H. 
“ Wheatland, N. Y., July 17, 1841. 
“As there is much anxietv on the coming harvest of the 
great staple of Western New-York, I will venture to give my 
views. In March, when the snows went off, wheat looked as 
well as common, if not better: the month of April, and the first 
half of May, was wet and cola, so much so that wheat grew but 
very little ; from the middle of May till the last of June, we had 
no rain ; the weather was tmcommonly warm and dry ; but for 
the last three weeks we have had frequent showers. When the 
hot and dry weather commenced, wheat started rapidly and 
began to shoot up the stalk before it had spread but little, which 
has reduced the number of heads from each stool from one- 
fourth to one-third less than the common number, and the 
drouth was so severe that some of the stalks seemed to dwindle 
and nearly perish; but when the rain came on, they revived, 
and have put forth heads, so that it is ripening more uneven 
than I have ever known it. If the rust does not affect it, it will 
ripen more rapidly and give a smaller berry than usual. It is 
feared, however, it will not escape the rust. Wheat ripening 
after tne 2uth of July, is very subject to be affected by the rust, 
and there will be but little that will be fit to cut by that time. 
Some of the most forward is now out of danger from rust. To 
take the most favorable side, we cannot have more than three- 
fourths of a crop. 
“ The wheat worm has not made its appearance this season. 
The fly or insect, has done more injury this season than com¬ 
mon. I have some w'hite May Virginia wheat that I commenced 
cutting on the 15th; it has been injured more by the drouth 
than the white Flint. The Tuscan with me has not sustained 
itself through the winter as well as the Flint or the white Vir¬ 
ginia. I have several kinds of foreign wheat under cultivation; 
all of them have been injured by the winter except the white 
Florence from France. It is doubtful whether we can succeed 
in this latitude with the celebrated varieties of foreign wheat: 
they may, however, become acclimated and prove valuable. I 
shall continue to test several of the most approved kinds.” 
The Toad. 
“ What is the use of toads?” is a question we heard 
asked the other day, with an air of triumph which indi¬ 
cated they were animals of which nothing good could be 
said. We do not think so, for though not to he classed 
among the most beautiful of animals, the toad has cer¬ 
tainly many redeeming qualities, and which should save 
him from wholesale condemnation. In the first place 
he has the most beautiful eyes in the world, (were it not 
that the charge of partiality might be preferred we 
would except those of some half a dozen of our lady 
friends ;) and in the second place he has a wonderful 
facility of stowing away, in that carbuncled body of his, 
all ants, flies, worms, bugs, &c. that may come in his 
way, during feeding hours. He does not eat the less be¬ 
cause people rarely see him eat, and he clearly prefers 
flesh to saw-dust or bran bread. The tongue of the 
toad is a curious contrivance. It is long, attached to 
the fore part of the lower jaw, and folds back upon the 
opening of the throat. When the toad approaches a 
worm or other insect, there is a slight motion or nod of 
the head and the insect disappears. The tongue has 
been thrown forward, ani the insect adhering to its sur¬ 
face is swallowed instanter. That he “ sucks poison 
out of the earth,” is a fable to be classed with the in¬ 
fluence of the moon, or the doctrine of transmutation ; 
yet as he certainly does good service as a destroyer of 
insects, he deserves all reasonable protection. 
Old Lime Plaster on Wheat. 
A writer in the Farmer’s Gazette says he sowed two 
pieces of spring wheat afier brining and rolling the seed 
in slaked lime. On one of these fields he sowed or 
spread a number of loads of old plaster from the Avails 
of old houses, and harroxved it in with the seed. Both 
fields were entirely free from smut, xvhich that year 
was generally ruinous to xvheat; but the wheat of the 
field Avhere no lime was used, (except for rolling the 
seed,) was badly shrunk ; xvhile that which grew on the 
field, Avell sprinkled xvith old plaster, xvas good, sound, 
plump wheat. 
Culture of Potatoes. —In earthing up potatoes, the soil should 
encroach as little as possible on the foliage when the latter is in 
a young state ; but as the young stems advance in growth, and 
more foliage is produced, the loss of the few lower leaves that 
may be smothered by a full earthing up, will not prove injuri¬ 
ous ; they are, in fact, the first that suffer natural decay. 
Earthing up is in all cases advantageous ; but more especially 
as regards the larger varieties. The sides of the hills or ridges 
should be convex, rather than concave or straight, because the 
latter forms afford but little earth at top in which tubers can. 
form.— Lon. Farm. Jour. 
Broken Wind in Horses.— A great number of dissections 
have proved that the cause of this disease is a rupture of the 
air vessels in the lungs. The di fficulty of breathing which some 
persons experience after unusual or prolonged effort, would 
seem to arise from the same cause, and there is some reason to 
think that the disease may be hereditary. This is an important 
suggestion, so far as the human race is concerned. 
“I)r. Jacksonfound that of 28 persons affected with this rupture 
of the air cells, 18 were the offspring of parents (father or moth¬ 
er,) affected with the same disease, and that several of them 
had died from this cause. In some instances the brothers and 
sisters of these persons were similarly affected. On the other 
hand of 50 persons unaffected with the disease, three only were 
the offspring of parents who had suffered from it; whence it fol¬ 
lows that rupture of t.he air cells of the lungs is frequently a 
hereditary disease; a fact important toman and horse, at all 
events to the breeder of the latter.— Medico-Chirurgical Rev 
