its commencement, the temperature was found to be 60° or 10° higher than at the commencement. The quantity of butter obtained was twenty-nine pounds or nearly two pounds of butter for each gallon of cream. It was of the best quality.

2d experiment, 26th August. Fifteen gallons of cream were put in the churn at the temperature of 55°, the weight per gallon being eight pounds two ounces. By churning an hour and a half the temperature rose to 60° at the end of churning, being three hours and a quarter from the beginning, the temperature had increased to 65° or ten degrees higher than at the commencement. The yield of butter was twenty-nine pounds four ounces, of good quality, not sensibly inferior to that obtained in the first experiment.

3d experiment, 29th August. Fifteen gallons of cream were put into the churn at a temperature of 58°, the weight per gallon being eight pounds two ounces. At the end of an hour's churning, the temperature had risen to 63°, and at the end of the process, which lasted three hours, the temperature was found to be 67°, or 9° higher than at the beginning. The quantity of butter obtained was twentyeight pounds, and was slightly inferior in quality to that produced in the two former trials.

4th experiment, 4th September. The same quantity of cream was employed as in the former experiments, the temperature being 60° and the weight per gallon being eight pounds one ounce. During the churning the temperature increased as before, and at the end of three hours, when the operation was finished, it had risen to 68°. The quantity of butter obtained was twenty-seven pounds, of a quality similar to that in the fourth experiment.

5th experiment, 9th September. A like quantity of cream was used at the temperature of 66°, and the weight per gallon was eight pounds. The churning occupied two hours and a half, at the expiration of which the temperature was found to have risen to 75°, being an increase of 9°. Twenty-five pounds eight ounces of butter were obtained by this experiment, of a character much inferior to that produced in any of the former experiments, being soft and spongy.

Mr. Ballantine also prosecuted a similar set of experiments, the results of which showed that the greatest quantity of butter from a given amount of cream was obtained at 60°, and the best quality at 55° in the churn just before the butter comes. When the heat exceeded 65°, no washing or working could extract the buttermilk

from it without the aid of salt, but when salt was well worked in, and the mass allowed to stand twenty-four hours, and then well washed and worked, it could be extracted.

sour.

The same gentleman, after an experience of thirty years, came to the conclusion that butter is yielded in the largest quantity and of the best quality from entire milk kept until it was perceptibly When put in the churn, warm water is to be added, as he says, sufficient to bring the temperature to 65° (or 10° higher than when cream is churned.) It should then be churned at the rate of thirty-eight or forty strokes per minute, until the butter comes, which usually requires three to three and a half hours, when the velocity is diminished in order to gather the butter.

There is much difference of opinion among the best dairymen as to whether butter should be washed or not; some holding that the finest flavor is inevitably lost thereby; while others maintain that without washing in pure soft water it cannot be made to keep well above a year, if so long, so that for exportation or for long voyages washing cannot be dispensed with, and that, if properly done, the flavor is uninjured. Hard water, especially that containing lime, is undoubtedly injurious. It is also generally understood that butter cannot be made from red clover feed, by any process, to keep a great length of time. However good at first, it soon loses its good flavor, and is more liable to rancidity than when made from other feed. A good share of white clover is to be desired above any other single variety of forage plants.

The proper working of butter so as to remove thoroughly the buttermilk, is a point of the first importance. To do it properly requires the highest degree of practical dairy skill; over-working being very injurious, as it tends to destroy the grain of the butter and to give it a salvy consistence which is very objectionable. The aim should be to secure a firm, waxy texture, and so far as working affects this, it is best secured by pressing out the buttermilk, with the ladle and butter worker, by a sort of kneading motion. Drawing a ladle or spatula over it, as an apothecary prepares ointments, injures the grain, and induces salviness.

In working butter, much assistance to the complete removal of the milk may be gained by applying a slightly damp napkin to the surface, as in this way the very small globules of moisture standing on the surface but which will not run off, can be removed. A better way still is to use a damp sponge covered with a napkin for this purpose.

At the first working, when it comes from the churn, only a portion of the salt intended to be used (say about three-fourths) should be incorporated with it, but it should be well mixed throughout the mass. The action of salt remaining in butter for some hours enables us to extract a portion of the buttermilk which cannot be otherwise so well or so easily removed. After the first working let it remain several hours or perhaps until the next day, when the remainder of the salt may be worked in, and the damp sponge and napkin be again used. The salt last added will dissolve after it is packed, and instead of the butter sticking to the knife or tryer as it is introduced, a clean moisture alone adheres to it, leaving the knife nearly as bright as before.

Three very simple contrivances, easily made or obtained, but which I have rarely seen used in Maine dairies, will greatly facilitate the working of butter in a proper manner, and at the same time lessen the labor as well as improve the product. First the sponge and napkin already referred to. Next the butter ladle, in

the form universally in use in many dairy districts, which is much preferable to the flat ones commonly used here, inasmuch as drawing the flat ladle or spatula over the butter tends to destroy its grain, while the kneading, readily given with the other, answers a better purpose. The third to which I refer is the butter worker. This last named implement is made in various

forms, some complicated and expensive and some very simple and yet effective. A slab of marble or of apple-tree wood, fixed upon a table, with a roller attached to one side by a ring is a very good form. It is well to have the slab a little hollowed towards the point where the smaller end of the roller is attached, so as to allow

the buttermilk to run off more easily. The roller, acting as a lever, allows the application of considerable pressure upon the butter at a very slight outlay of strength, and thus very materially lessens the labor. Another application of the lever for the same purpose is seen in the next cut.

The quality of the salt used for butter deserves particular attention. What is commonly known as rock salt, made by solar evaporation, such as that from Turk's Island, is the only kind which should be used. This as bought is nearly pure, and what little deliquescent matter it has may be mostly removed by washing in pure water. A little loss of salt ensues, but if dexterously done, not much, and the improvement pays amply both for the loss and the trouble of washing.

The amount of salt to be used is mostly a matter of taste. More butter is salted too much than too little. Some use only half an ounce to the pound, some a whole ounce or even more. When more is used than is sufficient to give the proper relish, (which is oftentimes done under a mistaken notion that it assists the keeping of imperfectly worked butter,) it is neither so palatable nor so healthful or saleable.

Breeds of cows for the dairy.-The selection of cows for a dairy is a matter of the first importance. Probably one reason why dairy pursuits have attracted no more attention in Maine, is the great proportion of unprofitable cows. A good cow is a better investment at a hundred dollars than a poor one at ten. Very few farmers make the difference in price, either when they buy or sell, which actually exists in value. Very few have systematically sought improvements in dairy properties. Of those who have given their money, time and thought to the improvement of stock, probably ten have sought chiefly rapid growth, symmetry, working and fattening qualities where one has sought primarily the ability to con

vert herbage into the greatest amount and best quality of milk; and pet steers have often monopolized more than their due share of the good food and attention.

In working oxen, we desire sufficient size and weight, muscular strength and nervous power, combined with docility.

In beef-makers, we seek chiefly ability to lay on flesh and fat rapidly, and early maturity.

In dairy stock, what is wanted, is the ability to convert the largest amount of herbage into as much good milk as it is capable of making, and at the least possible expenditure of food for mere subsistence, while this manufacture of milk is going on.

The ability to convert food into milk is usually connected with readiness to lay on fat and flesh when dry; but flesh-making and fat-making qualities are not so uniformly connected with great production of milk. As early maturity is connected with early decay, it is not so desirable for milch cows as for meat-making cattle.

We need, in our stock, ability to' subsist on and to make the most of scant pastures. Hence we cannot use to advantage so large cattle as if our lands were richer, because they require more for subsistence than our pastures can supply, and at the same time afford a sufficient overplus to be converted into a profitable amount of meat or milk. Our climate is such, that hardiness, or ability to endure severe winters, is indispensable. We want also a vigorous constitution and a good appetite.

The object of the butter dairy is best subserved by cows which give rich milk. The difference in this regard is very great. Some which give only a moderate mess will produce more butter than some others giving twice as much. The object of the cheese dairy is best attained by cows yielding plentifully milk of fair quality. The proportion of butter in milk varies all the way from two to eight per cent., and in extreme cases possibly more; the average being between three and four per cent. The proportion of casein in milk is much more uniform, being only from three to five per cent. Consequently, as a general rule, the more milk a cow gives the greater the product of cheese; and if it contain three per cent. of butter, cheese of very good quality can be made from it, provided no loss is incurred in the manufacture. Yet it must be remembered that every one per cent., additional of butter which the milk contains adds ten per cent., more or less, to the amount of