The Dickinson press., 1896-02-15
Some Useful Information From One
of Experience,
home DAlRYlNa.

SOAAG oOSAuA mnuVIOn from Oue
of Experience.
One of the most satisfactory ways
OF making the home dairy pay is by
securing private customers. Ii the
dairy is simply an adjunct to other
farming operations this method of dis
posing Of ones dairy products often
makes 4 good market for poultry and
surplus fruit and vegetables; but one
must be careful to make the butter
making a first consideration. The
dairy work will not await your pleas
ure. Only the most pains,aking of
dairymen can retain q dainty private
trade. There Is no reason why the
farmers butter should not he a source
of soodly income. yet MS 1t is usually
made 1t hardly pays for making. Ten
years ago when we were trying to
make a start on the farm we thought
the cows might be made to help out,
but we We're without experience. We
were laughed at for relying wholly
upon books to teach us the art Of but
ter making. We desired a dairy room
and quickly made 1T Of sod. plastering
the dirt walls neatly and arranging
the north and south windows to fail
from the top. The south window was
shaded as was the door which opened
to the east. We now proceeded to i'm
provise the creamery we were too poor
to buy. We built a huge box with
double walls, the space between them
being filled with chaff. The box was
divided into three compartments, i
OF which opened from the top. the 9TH
er two from the front, with double
doors. In the compartment that open
ed from the top we set the milk Il neg
lected to say we lined each compart-
ment with galvanized from in ice wa
ter. We used the tall round cans and
the tank held four Of them, twenty
gallons Of milk. The central space in
that box was used as a refrigerator
for the butter, and the end opposite
h milk for Ice. SO that we need not
visit the ice house at each milking
time. Our milk was skinned at twelve
hours, allowed to sour slightly. and
then churned. We churned five times
a week, twenty pounds of butter at a
churning. The butter was washed in
a granular state. sailed one ounce to
the pound and set aside for a few
hours, when it was again worked,
printed into neat pound prints. wrap
ped in cheese cloths and placed in the
refrigerator until wanted for deliv-
cry. We carried it to town in a bed
of ice and it looked much more Tempt
ing on a hot July day than that which
some of the farmers ladled from their
jars with a spoon. We went from
house to house leaving sample pounds
of the golden product wherever there
was a likelihood of our securing GUS
tom. In a short time we could not
supply the demand for our butter at
% cents per pound for the winter
months, and 20 cents in summer.
There were occasions when butter
brought more in the market than we
had II butter contracted for, but
during the greater part Of the year
butter was not worth over 10 or 12
cents per pound. A few Of our cus-
toners awaited themselves Of the cheap
butter for cooking, but they were soon
made to understand that our winter
supply Of butter would not exceed that
Of the summer. Our ice house was
quite as homemade as our other ac-
%cessories, it being just a dugout. Our
ice kept we'll but we had to use the
greatest care in packing, keeping the
blocks square so that they might fit
neatly and leave no air spaces. We
also took care that different members
of the family did not go hacking about
when a piece of ice was wanted. We
gave a great deal Of attention to the
ventilation of our ice house. We we're
quite successful with our dairy for
eight years. Some Of our first GUS
toners We're with us until the pressure
Of other work, together with the aver
age hired mans distaste for milking,
caused us to give up our customers
and the butter business.-Retsey in