The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-05-02
TOPICS FOR THE FARM.

Dairy Production the Year Round
E. w. Stewart writes, in the Rural Neto
Yorker: Our great dairy interest is rep
resented by 100000 of COWS, absorb
ing a capital of $500, 00O, 900 in this
stock, and the land Necessary to main
tain these COWS can not be less than
fifty millions of acres, which at even
twenty dollars per acre, represents a
value of 81, 900, DOC, 900. This great in
dustry is gradually being reduced to
order and system. The factory system
has revolutionized cheese-making and is
fast doing the same for butter-making.
Dairy butter has been undergoing a
fearful ordeal during the last few years,
in competition with creamery butter,
and it is now only a question Of time
when all our market butter will be made
in creameries or upon the creamery sys-
tenn. The old haphazard way employed
in private diaries could not stand against
any regular system; ever oleomargarine
(caul-fat butter) is preferred to it. The
time has already come when this miscel-
laneous class of dairy butter can be sold
only for grease or bakers shortening.
1t will not therefore be produced much
longer; the loss is so great that it can
not longer be borne. It has not for the
last year even paid for the labor of
production. This unanswerable argu-
ment will compel the patronage of
cheese factories or the establishment of
creameries for the improvement of this
large class of dairy product.
The art of keeping butter, which has
been made in good order and flavor, is
30 little understood that many millions
of pounds are spoiled every year, in en-
deavoring to hold for a better market.
In fact, the public taste is fast demand
ing fresh butter during the whole year.
The summer or fall made butter is
passed by for fresh-made winter butter
having a pleasing artificial color. The
act of co1oring has been SO much i'm
proved that city people, in looking al
these pleasing tints, a smell the clover
fields in January. They spread this
delicacy upon their bread with such alb
solute confidence in its flavor, thai
straw, bran and meal are transferred
into the nectar of the grasses.
The drift is now al toward fresh made
butter, and this is we'll for the dairy in
terest, because a much larger proportion
of butter is passable, even agreeable II
the taste if used fresh than if kept, eve1
for one month. There can be no doub
but the present state of the art of. but
ter-making requires the product to b.
used within ten or twelve days afte
making; and this system in full practic
would save a loss of thirty to fifty mil
lions per year to dairymen. :
To carry out this system, one-half o
the COWS must drop their calves in Octo
Der or November, and the other half il
spring. 1t is not necessary that eacl
herd should be thus divided, but differ
emit dairymen may follow the spring o
the fall system. Yet in large herds, j
would probably pay better to make but
ter throughout the year. and supply tn
same get of customers both summer an,
winter-There is much in arcultivate
or habitual taste for a particular max
of butter, and a dairyman has the &C
vantage of this taste when he supple
the same set Of customers constantly.
Winter dairying is generally suppose
dairying, but this opinion is not we
founded. It is based upon the suppos
ton that pasturing is cheaper than sta
feeding, yet the dairyman is able, gene
ally, to winter a cow upon n acre {
good, meadow, whilst he uses three {
more acres to pasture her in summe
Certainly, this labor of cutting an
storing the grass upon n acre and fee'
ing it out in winter, can not be wort
more than the use of two acres of Ian,