The record-union., 1891-10-07
FARM And ORCHARD.
Something About the Best Methods
of Making Butter.
Good Milk is q Prime Necessity-Night-
working Honey Bees-Fruit Boxes
Jersey Cattle = Poultry Points
Live Stock-Farm Notes.

The discussions on making butter have
been interesting to all readers of the agri-
cultural papers, which is plainly noticed
by the fact that large number OF persons
have participated in the friendly con-
troversies, but with all that has been
written and published the proper mode
of making butter is yet matter for fur
ther discussion. The ~. III. Mirror re-
Gently offered prizes for the best essays
on butter-making, there being III COM
petitors, and it is stated that every
method, from the simple style of former
days, to the newest invention of the pres
ent times, is represented and practiced, and
while in some cases the writers are antag-
onistic they agree on the main points. 1t
is accepted that the prime necessity in
production of choice butter is the use OF
good milk to secure which the cows must
be adapted for the purpose, and the food
suitable for the cows to fulfill the objects
desired This is the first lesson in but
ter-making, for upon it depends success,
no after preparation being sufficient to
make amends for inferior cows and un-
suitable food.
The stables, troughs, and all appliances
are to be kept clean, and the food varies
according to the climate and section in
which Inc lllllk is pTOuuCcu, grain, COI-
ton-seed meal, linseed meal, hay, ensll-
age and pasture being resorted to accord
ing to conditions, in some cases the COWS
being brushed and cleaned the same as
horses. All the preparations for success
recommended included cleanliness as abb
solutely essential before any attempt is
made TO skim the milk, but the ther-
mometer is an indispensable appliance.
The correct temperature for churning
seems to be fiXedIat 62o, and this temper
ature is maintained by the use Of cold OF
warm water as occasion demands. The
''best churn" seems to be the one to
which the dairyman is most accustomed,
and the handling of the cream largely
depends upon the cOnYenlenceS for so
doing Some wash the butter in the
churn, and some do not, and though all
admit the advantages of salt, the pre-
ferred brands of salt differ. Advocates OF
the different breeds, and of the pasturage
and soiling systems, give their methods
from the standpoint of their local advan-
tages to a certain extent, and the result
of the competition is that experience is
the most important factor of the whole.
While nothing new is really added to the
store of knowledge in butter-making, yet
the essays will be productive of benefit,
and the enterprise of the journal which
solicited them is creditable.
WOODWORKING BEES.
Bees work at night in the hive and
build comb as perfectly as If an electric
light shone there all the time. 1t has
often been asked, says the american
Bee Journal, why they prefer to work in
the dark. Every one knows that honey
is a liquid with no solid sugar in it.
After standing it gradually assumes q
crystalline appearance, or granulates and
ultimately becomes a solid mass. 1t has
been stated that this change is due to the
NEh a 1la1
arrangement of the iodine of silver on the
excited collodion plate and determines
the formation of camphor and iodine
crystals in a bottle. We are informed
that Professor Schieber inclosed honey il
well-corked TASKS, some of which he KEEP
In perfect darkness, while the other:
were exposed to the light. The result
was that the portion exposed to the ligh
soon crystallized, while that kept in the
dark remained unchanged. Hence we
see why the bees are so careful to obscure
the glass windows which are sometimes
placed in their hives. The existence O
the young depends on the liquidity of the
saccharine food presented to them, and i
light were allowed access to this il
would, in all probability, prove fatal to
the inmates of the hive.
GENERAL FARM NOTES.
Professor +. w. Stewart says thai
white oat has per cent. more nutriment
than the black.
drain, costing but small sum, may
convert worthless field into one tha
will be productive.
1t is important that corn be dry before
storing it in the crib, and it will loss
weight even after it has been stored.
1t should not require more than on
year to know which of the animals are
the most profitable under different con.
ditions.
Ground dried fish is a very cheap fer
tilizer compared with its advantages, ant
Is an excellent material for adding TO tn
compost heap.
1t is claimed that green apples fed t
hogs is a source of hog colera. Ripe ap
piles, however, ere fed TO all classes c
stock without danger.
4 bone slowly decays, and it is vast
to attempt to utilize bones unless the
are ground or reduced in some manner
as bones give off their particles yer.
slowly.
Potatoes should never be marketed un
less assorted. Uniformity of size and ap
pearance will benefit both the buyer am
seller. 1t is the small potatoes that injur
sales and return low prices.
The Michigdn Farmer says that car
Donate of copper is beginning to be adul
terated since il became so necessary
save the crops Of the garden. In som