Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-02-27
THE EMPIRE STATE.
Chautauqna Dairy Farms-ScfentifiC
Butter Making Cheese Factories -
GeOrgia's Unreaped Advantages.

ter made some reference to the dairy inter-
| ests Of this region, and in this will try and
give you an idea of the magnitude of this in :
! dustry, the general details Of butter and cheese
making, and the management of dairy farm.
| These farms in ChRutauqua county range in
size from fifty to two hundred and fiftv acres
maintaining dairy of from ten to fifty cows
each. The buildings Of dairy farm. aside
from the substantial and generally renteel
| dwelling, consist of an immense barn or group
of barns for the storage of the vast quantity of
hay and grain necessary foR the sustenance of
the stock during a Northern winter. long
low COW stable, a horse and carriage barn. a
! large pig stye, dairy or milk house. with
! other minor structures.
The size and capacity of these barns for =
| thirty or nifty COW dairy, together with the
/ young stock that is growing up TO replace the
! OLD cows that are turned of yearly, may be
| judged from the fact that it is calculated to
/ require two tons of hay to the COW for winter
! feed, which is raised on the farm and harvest
/ ed and stored in the barn during the midsum-
mer months OF each year. Aside from this is
/ the straw from the production of several hum
! dred bushels of oats, the fOdder-stalks, and all
I fully housed.
The 'horse barn." which is a distinct insti-
tuition OF every well regulated rm, is gener-
/ ally about "a by 30 feet upon the ground.
/ two stories high and commonly constructed of
dressed lumber, well painted and provided
| with glazed windows. The most common
| form for cow stable or milking barn is a
! long, low structure about thirty feet wide
something like substantially enclosed cotton
| shed, and has heavy plank floor
Extending along down the length of either
side of the interior is a row of sfanchions in
which the COWS are securely fastened side nv
side, each row facing the outer wall This
leaves an open space or passagewav down
through the centre of the stable with row
OF COWS on either hand, tails toward YOU
In TINS region cattle have to be warmly
housed, and their entire supply of food fnr
nished them from the middle of October or
nrst OF November until after the first and
often until the middle of May, there being pc
rlods OF days and even weeks duration that
the severity of the weather will not admit of
the cattle being turned from the stable only
long enough for their daily drink, water being
generally provided for this purpose ill the yard
close to the stable.
The milking season, during which time only
these cows are source Of production or profit
Is limited, IN the main. to the period between
the lst OF April and the lst of November The
average production for the season is two hun-
dred pounds of butter per cow Occasional
extra good cows will, when grain fed pro-
duC;n ducG 1hFee rec hundred pounds and even more,
tanned by the producer has, during the mast
rev years, been about twenty -eight cents ner
pound. w mere cheese instead of butter is
made the same quantity of milk it is caIcu-
lated Will produce twice as many pounds of
the former as Of the latter, and maintains it.
self in the market at about half the price of
butter. The average Weld of milk nv the
regular stock cows of this region is not less
than hye or SIX gallons per day during the
best or the seasOn-say from the lst of
May until the ist OF August after which
the yield gradually falls of. There is proba-
bly not, however, regular dairy in this coun-
ty that does not contain one or more cows
that will average eight gallons of milk per
DAY during the period named. This | know
will seem incredible to the stockmen of the
wire grass region of Georgia. 1t is, everthe-
less, substantial fact.
The cows are secured in the stable night and
morning during the summer while being
MIXED.
The dairy house, or building wherein the va
ri0us manIpulations OF the milk in the process
OF butter making take place, is 4 long, narrow
airy structure with profusion of windows
and setting well up from the. ground to give
free ventilation. For the larger dairles these
feet, and one low story in height
About ten feet of the front end is
partitioned of as work room in
which to wash the mutitudinOus utensils
in daily use, and In which stands the i'm
mense power churn used in Transforming the
cream into butter.
Through the rear or milk room extends an
Intricate network of racks upon which rest
tier upon tier OF long rows of circular tin
pans, each containing about gallon of the
lacteal fluid. which is allowed 10 stand thus
until 1t has soured, when the thick laver of
rich cream is removed and placed in cans in
the cooling room preparatory to churning
The churns used IN these large dairies have
capacity OF from fifty to seventy If We pounds
to the churning. The power most commonly
used Is the endless tread, operated by a large
sheep or dog. For dairy of thirty cows,
hfty dozen tin pans are required.
These dairy houses and utensils are kent as
neat and clean as new pin, the wood work
and floors secured as white as pine and ash
can be made, and the hundreds of tin mans
made to shine like silver. In fact the most
absolute cleanliness is necessary in order to
produce an article of butter that will grade as
''1rst-class" in this market, for milk and
cream are very ready absorbents of foul
vapors or odors. a flavor once ACQUIRED re-
mains to the end, and in this region of gilt
edge butter every man is an epicure so far as
relates to that article, the regular dealers
acquiring specially sensitive taste. Butter
that has been properly manipulated comes
from the dairy firm and solid, and when cut
or spread upon pIece of cold bread has q
crisp well defined grain, clear golden color,
ana Is as sweet as the dew on red clover
blossom.
The purported Goshen butter of the Georgia
market that came under the writer's notice
while in that State, was about as much like
the genuine article of this region, as cotton
seed oil is like ice cream. 1t is probable how
ever, that the best New York butter would
not retain its good qualities in that climate,
exposed to the heated atmosphere of the mar
ket stalls and grocer shops. Great care has
70 be exercised in this climate in summer, or
the butter becomes frowy and salvy. Cold
well water and ice are used freely, besides
which every dwelling has deep cool cellar
or hagstone floor, where butter is stored dur
ing summer, and kept submerged in strong
brine. For marketing, butter is packed solid
ly in oaken tubs that will contain fifty pounds
or hrkins that will contain one hundred
pounds each.
The sour milk, after the cream has been re-
moved, goes into large storage tank con-
nected with the feed tr0ughs of the adjacent
pig-stye, and affords the occupants thereof
their sole feed during the summer, turning
out enormous hogs and very choice pork in the
tar.f olla L.
all of the time, their pens commonly having
plank floors, so that they never get to the
ground at all. They are fed three times a day
with all of the thick sour mik-teFmed
''swill'-they will drink, and they are very
fond of it, growing very rapidly and becoming
so heavy and fat toward fall, Oftentimes, that
their legs will not support their weight. They
are fed on corn for month or six weeks be-
fore killing, which makes their meat more
solid.
The Georgia planter will accept with a re-
seryatlon the statement that hogs thus fed are
made to dress from $50 to 450 pounds of clean
pork when from eight to eleven months old.
1t is, however, the case.
All hog meat is cured in brine or pickle in
this region, no bacon being made or used. In
fact, New York-raised mans stomach can
never be trained to contemplate a dish of
Georgia side "bacOn and greens" with any
degree of equanimity, as the writer knows
from several months of bitter experience.
AS it is impossible to make as good an arti-
Gle of butter during the hot weather of mid !
summer as during the spring and fan months,
bringing the price correspondingly lower, a
majority OF the dairymen send their milk to
the cheese factory during that period, many |
in fact doing so throughout the season.
These factories are in almost every neigh |
borhOod, and have patronage of from 800 to |
l,500 cows each. The dairymen deliver their |
milk at the factory every morning, where it is |
weighed and the amount credited to them,
and returns are made when the cheese is sold |
on the basis OF one pound of cheese for every |
ten and half pounds OF milk, the patron pay
ing about one cent pound for the making.
The difference in the economy and class of |
labor North and South is forcibly illustrated |
in the fact that on a farm of $50 acres, having |
a dairy of fifty cows that have to be MIXED, !
the milk and butter cared for, corn, oats |
and hay raised and bOused to feed all OF |
this stock during the winter, potatoes, |
fruit and garden truck, and often the wheat |
for the support of the family, the labor is gem
orally performed by the farmer and one hired |
man out of doors, and the wife and one hired
girl indoors, with perhaps an extra hand dur
ing haying time. FARMERS wives in thiSdairy |
country employ no nurses for their children, |
often having a half dozen youngsters to care |
for aside from her other heavy work. The |
milking OF fifty COWS night and morning,
where they will average two and a half gall
Ions each, is no trifiing task for four persons.
Two or three horses at the outside are made |
to perform the team labor of one of these
farms.
After the foregoing illustration of the
proportion Of labor performed to the number
of laborers employed, it is scarcely necessary |
to add that the colored man does not consti- |
.tute a factor in the labor system of this Sec
ton. As source of wealth to Chautauqua !
county the dairy interest preponderates all |
others: The exact statistics of the county are