Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1912-04-04
CBy A. GALLAGHER. ohio.)

A great many people have trouble
with their cream and butter during |
the winter months; others have more
or less trouble all the time.
Why? Simply because there is
something wrong with their method of
caring for the cream or churning but
ter. Sometimes the butter will not
come" with a reasonable amount of
churning. One complains of white
specks in the butter; another says
the butter has a peculiar bitter taste,
and so it goes.
Some of the people use cream sepa-
rators, while others do not. However,
1t is safe to say that in either case
the cream is not in the proper condi-
ton to be churned.
Either the temperature is at fault
or else the cream has not been prop
erly "ripened" probably both COM
bined. Some people contend that the
food which a cow consumes has more
to do with the conditions of the cream
than the way in which 1t is ripened
and churned.
However this may be, there is no
denying the fact that a well-fed, we'll
cared-for COW will give richer milk
and more of it than one that is half
starved and otherwise neglected.
The word abused might be substi-
tuted for neglected. There should be
a law passed to punish thoughtless
people who drive their COWS with dogs.
We never have any trouble with
our cream or butter at any season of
the year.
We are not in the dairy business
and therefore have never tried any
improved methods so essential to sue
cess when the business is conducted
upon large scale.
One of our cows is family pet.
She is very old and not so very pro-
fitable, but she gets the same care
that the others do.
We have all the milk, cream and
butter that we can use the year
around and some butter to sell-quite
little more in proportion to the num-
Der of cows kept than most Of our
neighbors.
Last winter we MIXED two COWS all
winter and kept an account Of the
butter we sold.
During the coolest part of the win
ter, from December 20 to January 20,
we churned and sold &c pounds and 10
ounces.
or this amount PAN pounds was
the product Of ten days milk, minus
that which we kept for table use. This,
we think, is a pretty good showing
for two COWS such as ours; for, being
ordinary farmer folk, we keep ordi-
nary COWS; but they are we'll cared
for and in consequence they give good
returns.
During the fall and winter months
e they are kept in the stable every
h night; in the summer they have an
e open shed for shelter.
: They always have pasture in sea
t son and little ground grain twice q
e day. When pasture begins to gel
scarce late in the summer, we feed
green fodder or some other greer
roughage to take its place.
II In the winter they have plenty Of
J. good hay and fodder besides grair
d three times day; about two quart:
e of feed for each COW.
l. Corn and oat chop or equal part:
y corn mean bran with little oil mea
added is the usual grain ration in thu
winter. Two quarts of ground grair
added to about two gallons of Gu
IS clover makes a satisfying meal for {
k COW. The clover is always scalde'
t. before the grain is added.
le Now, for our method Of caring 70
d the milk: The COWS are MIXED regu
a. larly morning and night, always be
ing fed before the milking is begun
The stripping, or last part of eacl
milking, is kept separate and straine
N into the cream jar. Two jars are use
IS and whenever one is full the mex
" churning is started.
70 That is, all fresh cream is put int
rs the other jar About the time tn
second jar is full, the first is ready t
10 churned; sometimes little befor'
q. u It is too slow about ripening.