The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-03-17
CHEESE DAIRYING IN TENNESSEE.
Will II Pay I?

Indiana, Illinois and Missouri at 20 and
% cents, and fed profitably to hogs, it
requires small reflection to convince us
that we cannot compete successfully with
that region in pork and bacon. What,
then, is the agricultural product in
which Tennessee can compete with her
sister States with fair prospect of rea-
sonable profit Can it be in fat cattle for
New York consumption? We fear not /;
she is too far from market, and possibly
her summers are too long and warm. 1t
is law of nature that deer and other
wild animals are never found in South>
ern ATTITUDES covered with the load of fat
which prepares them to resist success
fully the rigors of Northern winters, and
experience confirms the lesson of nature,
and teaches us that cattle ard hogs-like
the wild animals of the Furthermore
readily take on fat in a cold than warm
climate, and can therefore be more easily
and cheaply brought into that condition
which commands the highest price
for beef and pork in Indiana, Illinois,
and KY, than here, but we think that in
Tennessee we can raise young cattle to
sell to Va, or KY, for fattening purpos-
es, as cheap or cheaper than it can be
done in any other State, provided we can
combine with the raising of calves, a
well regulated system of Dairy Farming.
To do this successfully we cannot ser
vilely copy any system pursued else
where, but must select from theindustry
of different localities that part adapted to
our own, and build up for ourselves an
Agricultural System which will enable
US to turn to best account the peculiar
advantages of our soil and climate. We
may be aided in this object by glance
4, cxvcf of n noi
nv Region of New York, of which Utica
may be considered the centre The face
OF. the country is rolling, not unlike that
of Middle Tennessee, but the compara-
tive absence Of fences (the law requiring
every man to confine his own stock and
rendering him liable for any damage
done by them) adds much to the beauty
of the neighborhood. Not many years
since the agriculture OF this region re-
sembled that of our State in being to a
great degree, unremunerative, and the
land, like our own, yearly diminishin :
in fertility, when the intelligence and
patriotism of Hon. Horatio Seymour, and
few others, introduced the system of
profits, while diminishing the labor of
making cheese, has rendered the coun-
try eminently prosperous. This is done
by combination among the farmers, who
usually build by subscription Factory
near cool, never-failing spring, and If
possible, in the centre of a district, COM
manding the milk of from 200 to 100
cows. "
A Factory for 800 or 400 cows can be
built and furnished with all the necessa-
nv apparatus for from $1,000 to Sl5OG. OF
course this would be plain frame build
ing; should be 100 feet long by 80 feet
wide, containing cheese room, press
room and drying room, with small
office for acct. books, &c. The owners of
the Factory employ cheesemaker,
whose pay is usually 500 a month during
the season, but for larger factories the
remuneration is higher In the smaller
factories of400, 500 or 600 cows it is not
unusual to find the cheesemaker wo-
man, and no better cheeses are reported
than those made under their direction.
The owners of the Factory receive as
profit one cent pound for all the cheese
made, or if they furnish rennet, salt and
bandages, they receive IL cents per
pound. The quantity of cheese made
yearly at Factory of 500 cows would be
100, 900 to 10000 pounds; giving at one
cent pound, a profit to the owners Of
from 81 300 to 81 500, as the extra half
cent a pound would pay hire of dairy
man as well as rennet, &c. But the profit
to the owners of the Factory is a very
small consideration except as necessary
to induce them to start the business.
The real advantage is to the neighbor-
ing farmers owning from three COWS and
upwards, who would send their milk
daily to the Factory and realize, accord
ing to the reports published by Cheese
Dairymen's Association, a profit of from
$40 to $50 per COW. They would require
cans in which to send the milk to the Fac
tory, and either send in light wagon OF
their own, or the Factory wagon would
go round each mOrnino and collect the
milk from the "Patrons of the Factory"
The names of the "Patrons" are regis
tered in a book kept at the Factory,
and the milk is weighed before being
empted into the cheese-vat, and each
man credited with the amount receiv-
ed from him. In addition to the FactO-
tory Scales a Lactometer is kept to test
the quality of the milk, and any found
mixed with water, or otherwise damag-
ed, is rejected At the end of 80 days
the cheese is ready for market. 1t is
weighed and sold and the proceeds di-
vided amongst the Patrons, in proper
ton to the milk sent by each. There
is some difference in the quantity OF
cheese from given amount of milk in
the different Factories; the average is
not far from pound Of fresh cheese from
. pounds of milk, when fresh; to Id.
cured cheese to 81 or 10 lbs milk; in
deed, most cheesemakers estimate that
a gallon of milk makes pound cured
cheese, but we think the estimate too
high, and that 6 gallons of milk to lbs.
of cheese would be about correct.
The season for cheese-making in New
York commences LIST of April and ends
LIST of November. Here it should begin
18th March, if not earlier, and not end
much before Christmas--the principle
being, that as long your cows can he
supported on pasture without extra feed,
cbeese-making is profitable.
Above we have endeavored to furnish
data from which your rea.ers can Judge
| whether by converting into cheese the
milk of the half dozen cows from which
they now make butter-selling slowly at
20 cents per pound, they cannot make at
once a very handsome addition to their
income. A cow giving gallon and a
half of milk day, for nine months, will
certainly yield 500 lbs. cheese, selling, i!
of best quality, in this market at 20 cents
per h., but at Is cents per h., yielding
S45, more than any cow in this State
gives as profit from butter. 4.