Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-05-09
DAIRYiNo DOES PAY.

An Indian. Farmers wife Makes 1his
Claim, and Proves Il. Too.
Ecclesiastes, the preacher, said ages
ago, ''of the making of books there is
no end" and it almost seems as if the
remark would apply to tho commune
cations on dairy matters of the pres
emit day. 1t would be amusing to read
these articles were it not for the fact
that they are so often misleading and
the average farmer can not afford to
lose valuable time and often money as
well in his endeavors to put these
larry nothings" into practical shape.
What the farmers of to-day need are
solid, substantial facts. backed up by
the honest actual practice of the party
who advances them. With the present
depression in the prices of beef cattle,
with the scourge of ''hog cholera"
decimating the "porker" and drain
ing the country of one of its best-pay-
ing resources, with the standard of
grain crops gradually but certainly
lowering. the farmer must turn to
some other industry than these for re-
lief, cor 60 to the wall" In this
emergency two pursuits already over
done are open to him, viz: Dairying
and sheep raising, and it is of the
former would speak, and I wish that
could reach the ear of every farmer.
I would declare in no uncertain tones
-dairying does pay! Some captious
reader may query. will it pay if not
properly conducted? I answer. if not
properly conducted it isn't dairying,
but, like any other species of work.
must stand or fall on its merits. No
danger of its merits being overdone,
either. The inadequate butter pro-
duction of the United States is what
led to the manufacture of that most
prodigious of nineteenth century
frauds. oleomargarine; and not until
a widespread mischief has been done
have farmers been aroused to tho
magnitude of the injury it wrought to
their interests. an injury intellectually
greater than all the diseases that have
at sundry times swept away our do
nestle animals But, once awakened
to the fact, the inquiry is raised on
every hand: How shall we regain our
lost vantage ground? Simply by max
ing an article SO superior to the ''bo-
gus butter" that consumers will have
none of the latter, but demand the
pure-made dairy article and thus drive
the imitation out of the market. The
laws of demand and supply govern in
butter as well as wheat and corn.
There is always q market for first
class butter. Go into any little ham,
let or country town, even if there
is but one general purpose store
in it, and inquire. and you will find
that the butter made by certain
parties is always in demand in
preference to others Why? Be-
cause it is the best made that comes
to that market. Ask the '.hucksters'
that perambulate the length and
breadth of the land and they will tell
you that the butter of certain farmers
wives never needs any 'tdoctoring" to
make it sell. Well, if one woman in a
hundred, and that is nearly the pro-
portion, take the country over. can
make good, first-class butter; what is
to hinder the other ninety-nine doing
the same? Nothing, except lack of
knowledge or the want of proper APP
pliances. As there is no royal road
to learning. so there are no cast iron
rules or inflexible methods by which
to govern each step in the manufact-
ure of butter; still there are certain
Observances that must be strictly fol.
lowed if the best results are to be at
tanned. First and most essential is
thorough cleanliness. BY this mean
keeping all the milk utensils as well
as their surroundings sweet and clean.
Secondly. regularity in time of feeding
and milking, as well as kindly care for
the comfort of the COWS. Lastly, prop
er tempering and souring of the cream.
These essentials strictly observed.
minor details are of less Importance,
still they should by no means be neg
lected or carelessly slurred over, as
''of no consequence" There is never
a place in the whole process of butter
for dairy "Toots," and often
upon the veriest trifle hinges the fail
ure or success of the utter-maker.-
Indiana Farmer.
FANCY LAMP SHADES.