The Newtown bee., 1880-11-17
FARH, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD,
Testing Dairy Cows.

 and butter-makers are improbable. The most skeptical upon this subject never put the percentage of unprofitable cows below twenty-five. If the truth were known, we fear even fifty per cent. would not mark the high percentage that the worthless beasts in most herds would reach. But the great question is, How are we to get at the.factsP Nature seems to have neglected Ito brand he cows in such way that ordinary nor tals can tell the good ones from the bad, while the latter class seem to possess peculiar faculties for imposing them selves upon good-natured dairymen. When the merchant has been fooled for a reasonable length of time by the sale of some particular ware into the notion that he is making money with it, when, in fact, he is losing money, if his sus- 1 picions are aroused, he begins to keep an account of first cost, cost of carrying, i shrinkage, and list of sales, and he | figures it down until he knows to a moral certainty whether or not he is really making or losing money with it. 1 The fact is, no man can make money with store unless he does this. We | find this same practice in vogue where ever men buy and sell.
 | Upon what ground, then, is it that the dairyman is exempt from the require ments of the usages of all tradesP Can
 he alone afford to do an improbable
 businessP Is his trade so immensely remunerative that he can afford to make one half of the herd carry the other | half and yield all the profit too? Has he such an easy thing of it that he need pay no attention to the leaks and waste | ful points in his business; or does it be- come him to use as much judgment and | circumspection as his neighborsp In our opinion, he should leave no stone unturned to find out exactly where he | stands with each cow in the herd. He 1 should measure her feed and weigh her milk, day by day, until the truth was known to an absolute certainty not only which cows were and which were not profitable, but which were the most
 profitable, that he might know from which to raise the calves that will make up the future herd. The days of | pedigree alone and fancy colors are num-
 bered. Yield, performance and ability to reproduce the qualities are now the order of the day; and the dairyman who neglects these points and keeps on in the old way will surely be left be- hind
 We witnessed only the other day the sale of Jerseys in New York, where some prices reached SI, ,5O0 at public auction, and sold upon the extraordinary efforts of fine writer to tell the world
 what he knew about the milk and butter l yield of the animals he offered for sale. | Upon his unsupported word of fabulous | yields these cows were driven up to these
 unprecedented figures. This may be
 taken as mere straw to show in what
 direction the current is setting. An some extrao6rdinary a6d a butter makers for sale, and behold the rich breeders hasten
 to lay their ducats at his feet. He does
 not even ask the owners of the animals
 to indorse his demands upon the blankets
 of veracity. Every one is only too anx-
 ious to believe what he says and takes
 him at his word. If breeders of fancy
 milch cattle will only profit by this exam pie, they will proceed at once 10 test their
 cows not only with the eX parte evil
 dence of an aucLioneer who is interested | to the extent ot large commission on
 sales to get up these fabulous yields;
 but let them call in their neighbors to
 see the performance, or make affidavit,
 or furnish some other evidence of the facts. There is altogether too much
 foolish and ruinous jealousy between
 the advocates of methods of testing
 cows. Let any test, so 1t be test, have
 trial before it is hooted down, and
 after it has been given fair trial and
 found wanting will be sufficient time to
 oppose 1t. One of the Dutch or Holstein
 cattle associations has adopted a very
 good test for that breed. It unfortun-
 ately is too circumscribed for all breeds,
 and cannot, therefore, become universal
 in its application. The National Dairy Cattle club suggested method of test applicable to all breeds that is certainly we'll worth trying, until its evil, as well as it's good results, can be fully deter . | find hpttQr r,l a } than the oath test, let him speak out, and by all means let the dairy men try it. It is evident that something must be } done, or, like the goose that laid the golden eggs, COWS will soon be put un- ) der the hammer guaranteed to open their udders twice day, and produce numberless pounds of golden butter already printed and stamped for use , We hope the national association will go on with it's good work, at least until $ better method is discovered; and it cer- tainly is to the interest of all breeders 5 and dairymen to join hands in produc- f ing some test that will challenge public confidence. DdiTyn.an.
 9 Recipes.
 9 FRIED PUMPKIN.-This well-knowr vegetable yields good results wher g treated in new ways; to fry it, peel ant ? slice a young pumpkin in pieces two ol . three inches square and half an incl B thick; let 1t stand for an hour Tn q deel {: earthen dish with light sprinkling O
 salt between each layer; then wipe tn t slices, pepper them, roll them in flour l or in a batter made with flour, milk, on - egg and little salt and fry them browl ' in smoking hot fat enough to cove '' them; lay them for a moment on browl e paper to tree them from fat, and serv
 them hot.
 r APPLE JELLY.-Slice the apples,skins K cores and all; put tlem in stone Ja 1t with small quantity of water to kee \ them from sticking; then place the ja s in water and let them remain boilin e until perfectly soft; then strain and t e of a pound of loaf sugar; boil and clea e with the whites of two or three egg 1T beaten to froth. When it jellies pou 's into the glasses to cool and seal them. Q FEATHER CAKE.-Beat to 8 cream ont {" half cup of butter, add to 1t two ( le sugar and beat well together; one GU g of milk with one teaspoon of soda dii
 solved in it; beat well together; the
 add one cup of sifted flour with tw
 .easpoonfuls of cream tartar previousl , rubbed into it; add next the wei ~ ~ beaten yolk of three eggs, beat the whit, $ separately until stiff. add them and the
 two more cups of four; beat well b m tween each successive addition; butt.
 two middle-sized tins, put in the cal it and bake for twenty minutes or half 8
 hour in 8 moderate oven.
 le About Drying Fruit.
 The correct principle in drying fru ,- is to subject the fruit to a current of h
 air so as to dry the cut surface
 once, which prevents discoloration al dramatically seals the cells which %
 lain acid and starch, and which vie he glucose or fruit sugar. This is the pri r. ciple upon which the American frl be dryer operates. A current of dry, b
 air is made to pass over and under t a fruit, carrying all the moisture out yn the machine without interfering with