afterwards obtained. The cream rising first to the surface, is richer in quality and greater in quantity than that which rises afterwards, and it continues declining in quality and in quantity so long as any rises.

Thick milk throws up a smaller proportion of the cream which it contains than milk that is thinner, but the cream is of a richer quality; and if water be added to thick milk, it will afford a greater quantity of cream, and consequently more butter, than it would have done if no water had been added. Where butter-making is an object, this should be attended to.

Milk which is carried a considerable distance after milking, so as to be shaken and cooled before it is put into the milk-pan, never throws up so much cream as when put warm into the pans directly it is milked. Hence it follows, that the cows should be milked as near the dairy as possible.

Butter.-In the large dairies, churning is now usually performed by machinery, worked by the steam-engine, or by horse or water power, or else by attaching the churn to the thrashing-machine. The most general mode, however, is by the hand-churn, of which there is a variety of kinds and sizes, the plunge and the barrel churn being the most common.

Some persons suppose, if the cream for churning is not taken off whilst the milk is sweet, that the butter cannot be good; but this is a wrong notion. Milk should stand as long as it is sound, before it is skimmed, to afford the most butter, and of the best kind.

In some parts of England, and very generally in Ireland and Scotland, it is the practice not to separate the cream from the milk, but to churn both together; by which means a large quantity of buttermilk is obtained, which is much used by the people, although in this way the milk is never churned until it has become sour. Whether the cream be separated from the milk, or that they are both mixed together, the process of churning is the same. In the latter case, however, more time is required, as much as two or three hours

M

being necessary for obtaining the butter; whilst, if the cream only is put into the churn, half an hour is generally sufficient.

When cheese is made, the milk must be skimmed whilst it is sweet; but with butter this is not necessary. Much depends on the weather. In cold weather, milk may stand three, four, five, or even six days, before it is skimmed; but in hot, close, or thundery weather, perhaps not above twenty-four hours. The cream will keep best on the milk, as long as the milk is sound; and the sooner cream is churned into butter, after it is taken off the milk, the better.

In summer the churn should be made as cold as possible, when the cream is put into it; and in cold weather the contrary, by putting hot water into the churn to make it warm. Place the churn in a tub of cold water, whilst working it in summer; and in winter, or cold weather, you may churn in a warm room, but not near the fire.

Butter should be put into fresh spring-water immediately after churning, that it may become firm; and at the end of the third or fourth washing, throw some salt into the water to raise the colour of the butter, and purge away any milk that may remain in it, and which, if left, would give it an unpleasant taste. It is then fit for market; but if intended to be cured, let it be put into the cask immediately, and properly salted.

Butter is best cured by a mixture of one part raw sugar, one part nitre, and two parts of the best common salt, well mixed together, and reduced to a fine powder, one ounce of which is enough for a pound of butter. When packed for sale, the butter cannot be pressed too firmly into the cask, nor too carefully covered up to exclude the air.

It is very wrong to keep a making of butter unsalted till the next churning, for the purpose of mixing the two makings together; for this injures the flavour, and renders the whole mass too soft ever afterwards to get firm.

Butter of the very best quality can be made most

advantageously in dairies where cheese is also made, because the inferior milk and cream may then be turned into cheese.

It is a complaint against the use of turnips as food for cows, that they give a bad taste to the butter; but this may in a great measure be obviated by care and attention. Turnip-fed milk will get rancid sooner than grass-fed milk, and this tendency is increased by placing the churn near the fire, as is sometimes done in winter. The churn itself should always be kept cool, and the churning should be done in a cool place, although as much boiling water as is necessary may be added to the milk. It is very important to churn often, at least twice a week; but when this cannot be done, add one-eighth part of boiling water to the milk as it comes from the cow, and cover it over with a double cloth, which will imbibe the steam, and carry off with it the peculiar flavour which the turnip is apt to communicate.

Cheese. In cheese-making, the first thing requiring attention is the rennet, which is used to convert the milk into curd. This is the stomach or maw of a young calf, which is sometimes prepared with, and sometimes without, the curd found in it; but in either case, it is the gastric juice of the stomach, which, when applied to milk, converts it into curd.

The rennet is prepared by first salting the stomach, and then hanging it up to dry for three or six months. Some people say it should be kept twelve months. When wanted for use, place it in a jar, and pour a couple of quarts of soft warm water on it, and allow it to stand in the jar two or three days; then strain it off, and keep it in a bottle, corked tight. A tablespoonful will be sufficient to coagulate thirty gallons of milk. This mode of preparing the rennet will be found as good as any, but there are various methods in use in different parts of the country, any of which will probably answer as well. The great object is to apply the gastric juice contained in the rennet, in such a way as that it shall communicate no unpleasant taste to the curd.

The following will be found a good receipt for cheesemaking

A sufficient quantity of milk being collected to make a cheese of the size required, let it, when skimmed, be warmed over the fire to blood-heat, and formed into curd by means of the rennet. Cream may then be added, according to the richness of the cheese desired; and the addition of a small quantity of buttermilk makes the cheese speedily become blue. Work the

curd slightly at first, by scoring it with a knife, and afterwards break it more minutely, but gently, so as to separate the whey from it completely-after which, add half an ounce of salt to every pound of curd, and put it under the press.

All these operations ought to be carried on with despatch, but at the same time without hurry, or precipitation. When the cheese has been two hours in the press, let it be taken out, turned, and replaced; and repeat this and change the cloth three or four times a day, for two or three days; after which it may stand for a week, turning it frequently. When it has become tolerably hard, it may be removed to the cheese-room, and turned till it is perfectly dry.

The cheese-room should be cool, and have a moderate current of air passing through it, which is always advantageous to the cheese.

BEES.

Bees, are to be valued, not only on account of their affording in their honey a most wholesome description of food, and in their wax a valuable article of household economy; but likewise in the useful lesson they teach us by their industrious habits, the contemplation of which will lead us to reflect more frequently on the wisdom and goodness of the Almighty, whose providence protects even the humblest insect, and guides it in the pursuit of objects suited to its condition and its wants.

Few things are more indicative of an industrious and

thriving family, than a row of bee-hives in the corner of a neatly kept garden; and although some persons may suppose that the management of bees requires much skill and time, this is far from being the case. It may be thought by some persons that our climate is too cold and wet for bees; and they may not, perhaps, thrive quite so well here as in warmer climates; but still they will thrive here, and that so well, that you may always reckon upon having as much honey as will be useful in your family, and be a luxury to your children, if you do not get enough to sell; and this at little more expense than purchasing the first swarm, and the cost of the hives.

The following brief rules for the management of bees, will, if attended to, be all that is requisite to ensure their thriving:

Weigh the hive before and after a swarm is placed in it, and keep a note of its weight: you will then be able to judge of the quantity of honey it contains in autumn.

Your hives must be sheltered by a wall, a hedge, or belt of trees, in order that the bees when coming home tired and heavily laden, may get to the door of the hive with ease. This they cannot do if there are gusts of wind sweeping round it, in which case numbers of them will fall to the ground about the hive, from which, perhaps, they will not be able to rise before the chill and damp of the evening come on and destroy them.

There must be water near your hives, as the working bees drink a great deal in spring; and they are very fond of walking along straws which float in the water, and sipping as much as they want.

The door of the hive should look toward the forenoon sun, and the hive should not be raised above eighteen inches from the ground.

We will now suppose that your bees have laid up their winter store, and that you wish to share it with them; we say share it, because we do not suppose you are so foolish as to kill your bees. To say nothing of