Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1871-06-06
agricultural,
MIX, Butter. Cheese or Beef.

After all. the question a To the profits
of making butter or cheese or selling
milk, like all other questions connected
with the different branches OF farming,
depends greatly upon the location, tact
and ability of the parties, markets. and
other circumstances which must all he
taken into account and properly con-
sidered in forming q iudicious opinion
upon the matter. Throughout our State.
except in the vicinity OF large places,
farmers are obliged tn put their milk
into butter or cheese, In the immediate
neighborhood OF cities and large places,
the greatest profit from cows come OF
selling milk. BY this course there Is
very little indoor work; although We
arc aware the man who carries on a
milk farm is obliged to work early and
late-but then he gets well paid for ii.
Again in most large villages in Maine
nearly halt the residents keep cows OF
their own, thus preventing many farmers
from engaging in the milk business who
are well situated tor carrying it on.
Somewhat further remote from the cir
cult of milk farmers, are those who
make butter-for while the milk farmers
must market his product every day, the
butter maker goes but once a week.
Formerly the practice with most dairy
men was to make butter spring and fall,
and make cheese during the hot summer
months. Now it is getting TO be the
general course for our best butter makers
10 make butter all summer. Their pro-
duet always finds a ready market ut
good prices. and 10y the use OF supple
mentary feeding crops, for keeping up
the How of milk through July and Au-
gust, greater profit are secured than 10y
changing from one product to the other.
But 10 look at the matter little more
in detail. Mr.. Willard estimates that
upon an average it will take four and
one-half quarts of milk to make pound
OF cheese. At three cents per quart this
amount Of milk would come 10 Is l.2
cents. Where cheese is made by the
factory system. the charge for making
and furnishing the same ready for
market is two cents per pound; which
would make it necessary to sell the
cheese at 10 - cents per pound in
order 10 realize the same amount for Il
that would be obtained by selling the
milk ut three cent per quart. Now
providing cheese could be sold at the
uniform price of IS l-2 cents per pound,
the only gain which cheese making
would have over the sale OF milk by the
quart. would be the whey lett from the
manufacture of cheese. And vet three
cents per quart for milk seems very
low price to city and village residents,
who pay eight cents per quart in winter
and from six TO seven in summer. More
over. cheese is more likely to be under
than over the price mentioned above,
for the year to come.
In the making of butter, the same au-
thority assumes that ii will require on an
average ten quarts OF milk for pound OF
butter. At the rate fixed above, this milk
if sold would bring 80 cents per pound,
the receipts from butter would be the
same as from the sale OF milk-the skim
med milk remaining in favor OF butter
making. Then in butter. making as
compared with the sale OF milk, there
is an additional item Of cost in the in.
door work of butter manufacture which
will more than offset the gain in skim
med milk. This latter. If ted TO pigs
would probably average AZ the rate Of
one hundred pounds of pork per COW,
to be credited against the item OF cost
just mentioned. Thirty cents per pound
for butter. the season through. is = good
average price, and good butter will not
go below this. In fact. 4 better average
than this can be safely counted on by
the best butter makers. who have theii
product all engaged before it is made.
There is great difference in the
manner in which farmers feed their cows.
Liberal feeding generally gives libelal
return in the product-be it milk. butter,
cheese or flesh. We know Of one man
who does small but safe and profitable
business in furnishing milk to city Gus
toners. His price Tor milk the past
winter was eight cents per quart; and
yet during the month of March the sale
of the milk of three cows produced him
but three dollars more than he paid for
hay and shortS-saying nothing OF the
very small amount OF milk consumed in
a family OF thee persons.
As compared with the making OF butter
and cheese, there i also the question oil
grazing, or the feeding and fattening
of neat stock, which has as yet received
but very little attention from our farmers.
1t is the practice of many of the best
farmers in England to purchase lean but
healthy young animals during the latter
part of winter. feed them straw. lurnipS
and little oil cake until spring. when
they have fairly begun to grow, and when
turned to grass they keep on gaining.
They are grazed through the summer. in
October put upon a course of turnips.
oil cake and straw, and sold in Deem
Der and January at prices returning a