New York State allege of Agriculture At Gornell University Dthaca, N.Y. Library Farm dairying, wi FARM DAIRYING FARM DAIRYING BY LAURA ROSE DEMONSTRATOR AND LECTURER IN DAIRYING AT THE ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, GUELPH, CANADA WITH ILLUSTRATIONS SECOND EDITION: CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1911 Copyright A.C. McCLURG & CO 19it Published April, r911 Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London, England BW. FH. Hall Printing Company Chiragn To Annie Rose . Wy Sister, Friend, and Co-Worker NOTE i this book it has been my earnest desire and aim to present the dairy industry in a simple, practical manner, in the hope of benefiting those desirous of improving and succeeding in their chosen occupation. I have “ been a-gathering this for years, alittle at a time.” It would be impossi- ble for me to mention personally and to thank the many who have contributed to my store of knowl- edge. I am sincerely grateful to all. My happi- est thought is that the knowledge I have acquired I hereby have the opportunity to give to others, that they in turn may be inspired to better work, receive more remuneration, and find a broader field of happiness in their labor. GUELPH, CANADA, L.R. February, 1911. CHAPTER I II Ill IV Vv VI VII VII IX XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII CONTENTS PAGE Dairy AGRICULTURE . 5 a 15 THe Dairy Farm 7 ‘ ‘ 18 ‘THe Cow STasBLe fs , ‘ 21 SUGGESTIONS FOR BUILDING STABLES. 3 Z 3 z 30 Tue Dairy Breeps or Cows ‘ 34 Tue Cow. ‘ < . , 39 A STANDARD AND a RECORD NECESSARY : ‘i 7 ‘ 46 Catvinc TIME. 3 2 ‘i 50 CaRE OF THE CALF . 3 . . 55 THe HeireR. . . « . 64 Tue FEEDING oF Cows 3 is 67 Rations — THE NutRITIVE VALUE oF Common FoopsTuFFs . A 76 FoppEr Crops ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 80 SILOS AND SILAGE . a : ; 86 THe Farm Water Supply : 96 WATERING THE Cows ... - 100 Tue Cow's DicksTION. . . = 103 CoMPosITION oF MILK . ; - 108 [vii] CHAPTER XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIX XXX XXXI XXXII XXXII XXXIV XXXV XXXVI XXXVII CONTENTS Tue UpDER AND THE SECRETION oF Mik MILKING THE Cows Mitkinc MacHINES STRAINING THE MILK : MILK For THE CHEESE Factory CrEAMING MILK . SEPARATORS BACTERIA IN RELATION TO THE Dairy : ‘ : PASTEURIZATION OF CREAM . CREAM FOR CREAM GATHERED CREAMERIES e : js CULTURE oR STARTER FOR RIPEN- ING CREAM ‘ Datry-ROOM AND CHURN CarE OF THE CHURN AND WoopEn UTENSILS f Care AND RIPENING OF CREAM FOR CHURNING BUTTER-MAKING ‘ DIFFICULTIES IN CHURNING — CausEs AND REMEDIES Derects In BuTTER Packinc BuTTER . ButTtTEr FoR EXHIBITION [ viii ] PAGE 116 121 132 134 136 142 148 157 163 165 168 171 176 179 186 202 208 210 213 CHAPTER XXXVIII XXXIX XL XLI XLII XLII XLIV XLV XLVI XLVII XLVIII XLIX L LI LIT CONTENTS Tue Rerar Mitk TrapeE— THE PropUCERS’ AND CONSUMERS’ RESPONSIBILITIES : k Tue Reta CREAM TRADE — How To STANDARDIZE MILK AND CrEAM MILK PRESERVATIVES Mitkx DerFINniTIONS Farm CHEESE-MAKING . Sort-cHEESE-MAKING Dainty AND PopuLtarR MILK AND Cream DISHES . Foop VALUE OF SKIM-MILK AND BUTTERMILK PROFITABLE USE OF THE By-PrRop- ucTS OF THE Dalry . THE VALUE OF MANURE AND THE Use oF ABSORBENTS . THe Bascock Mik Test . AcIpIMETER — A TEST FoR ACID IN MILk THE Ick-HOUSE Fires — Fires oN CaTTLe DisEasEs ComMon To Cows — SYMPTOMS AND ‘TREATMENT [ix ] PAGE 217 222 225 224 230 239 245 252 254 257 260 272 274 276 280 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Portrait of the Author . .. ‘ Frontispiece Agricultural ladder . ‘ F j ‘i - 16 Barns with no provision for admitting light and air: such as these are breeding places for tuber- culosis . ‘ ‘ ‘ : ‘ ‘ 22 A humane and saneheepiore tat cow tie . 2 25 Dairy barns, Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph 26 Model barn plan ‘ s ‘ ‘ : a 27 The new ideal stall . . ‘ ‘ é F 31 The litter-carrier . - ' 32 Colantha Johanna Lad, ee fits Holstein bull 36 A champion Ayrshire bull . ‘ ‘ 36 Worthy to be head of the herd: Jersey bull, Ox. ford Wrangler, a great prize-winner, owned by Lord Rothschild . ‘ ; 5 : ‘i 38 A champion Guernsey bull : 3 38 Lady Viola, the unbeaten Jersey cow of Faglénd and Jersey . > : F . : ‘ 42 A herd of fine Guernseys . . 3 : : 42 De Kol Creamelle, Holstein . . « « 52 A model type of Ayrshire cow. F , 52 Dutch Belted cattle . ‘ ; - « « 68 [xi] ILLUSTRATIONS Kerry cow, Shamrock II, winner of many medals and prizes Alfalfa seedling six weeks old Peace and plenty ‘i : The thrift of the Danish fartiee esas veka at pasture Diagram showing sight aan wrong way to bait silo walls Plan of silo and feed room A silo in the field for summer cite Gathering the corn ‘ Contamination of well water fon soakeae from the barnyard and cesspool Setting of hydraulic ram Cow’s stomach Diagram showing composition of milk Fat globules in milk . ‘ Diagram showing proportions of the codiponeat parts of milk . Pontiac Rag Apples, the cow hat aia for $8, 000 The world’s prize cow, Missouri Chief Josephine Cross section of cow’s udder, showing the cells in which milk is secreted Aryshire heifer Well bred and well fed, the promise ai a nod cow ‘ i 4 : ; A typical head Head of prize Brown Swiss heifer: Rope hoop for preventing cow from switching tail during milking Clip for fastening cow’s tail raed 68 81 82 82 88 90 92 94 99 104 109 110 114 114 116 118 118 124 124 128 128 ILLUSTRATIONS Strainer dipper with sanitary handle and milk strainer with hoop for holding cheesecloth in position . . . . Chart showing the smlefalicatitn os a single germ, clearly indicating the necessity of quick cooling Tank for cooling milk in cans. ; é i Hoist for lifting milk cans ‘ : ; : Milking cows by machinery : ‘ - Funnel-shaped skimmer ‘i . . Types of cream separators: Simplex and Tubular Cream separator: Standard - , é Cream separator: De Laval : : - (Different types of bacteria . x ‘i ns Diagram showing the effect of temperature on thie keeping of milk aD le One hair from a cow planted in suitiient jelly The evening meal . : é F - é Barrel churn. ; 7 2 ‘i x Cream can, cream ladle, ai cream stirrer Copia Hengerveld 2d’s Buttercup, world’s best heifer, of any breed, under two and one-half years of age . 2 ‘ - 4 Deep cream can and dairy thennometer A dairy class at the Ontario Agricultural College Wooden fork for mixing in salt and removing but- ter from churn : 3 ‘ : és Butter-worker . , 5 : . - ‘ Butter spade. ‘ ‘* i Pound butter printer . ‘ . A ‘ Box for shipping print butter in warm weather, fitted with ice chamber and butter trays 3 [ xiii ] 134 137 138 139 140 145 150 152 154 158 159 160 166 172 179 180 184 188 194 196 197 198 200 ILLUSTRATIONS A splendid specimen in milking Shorthorn Inoquette, a French Canadian cow Butter and cheese tryer Styles of milking stools , The Rose Twins: for the dear Aiticen’s abe. milk should be pure Perpendicular Curd Knife . Horizontal Curd Knife . ‘ ‘i Curd from milk cooled but not aerated, saa eae from milk aerated and cooled Device employed by the author and her sister fae pressing first-prize home-made cheese Soft cheeses, finished and in process of making The power of pioneer days : Profitable consumers of the ae of ihe dairy ‘ 5 Glassware for the Babeodk fad test ‘ Handy weighing and sampling apparatus for test- ing cows 5 : Lactometer ‘ - The common house fy. the most dangerous sitios on earth ‘ Combined milk-stand and cei with tak on rails from stable [ xiv ] 204 204 215 218 218 232 232 232 236 240 240 255 261 266 270 278 282 FARM DAIRYING CHAPTER I DAIRY AGRICULTURE AC our agricultural pursuits dairying holds first place, from the standpoint of the necessity for a broad scientific agricultural educa- tion. It also ranks high as a remunerative industry when conducted on business principles and with the proper class of cows. Of the different branches of agriculture, dairy- ing is best calculated to keep up the fertility of the soil, to bring in the most continuous and least vari- able remuneration, to give steady employment the year round, and to stimulate and develop a deep intellectual and investigating interest in one’s work. To till the soil skilfully; to select carefully the best varieties of seed; to watch the growth of plants, of corn, oats, mangels, etc.; to harvest the same safely; to breed and rear the calves; to have these young animals develop into fine heifers, and later into splendid milking cows; to study their needs; to combine the home-grown fodder with the more concentrated bought feeds so as to ob- [15] FARM DAIRYING [16] tain the best results; to delve into the mys- tery of how the cow can take this food and manufacture the same into creamy white life- giving milk; scientifi- y cally to separate the cream and make the fat into golden bricks of fragrant butter; to get this butter to the best market and ob- tain for it the highest price; surely, to ac- complish all this de- mands a man of no small calibre. Is not then my con- tention true, that a man who successfully carries on a_ dairy farm is on the top rung of the ladder of agricultural achieve- ment ? The man who is a FARM DAIRYING lover of good stock, and studies the needs of his animals, is ever the man who succeeds. There is no use entering the dairy business unless there is a natural liking for the cow, and a keen desire to help her to do her best. After all, much depends on the man. [17] CHAPTER II THE DAIRY FARM «¢ The first farmer was the first man; and all historic nobility rests on possession and use of land.”’ I N the selection of land for a dairy farm some essential points must be considered. If a choice of goil is to be had, a rich clay loam, easily drained, is the most preferable. Rough, cheap land is often used to advantage for pasture pur- poses, but more and more is intensive farming be- coming popular — even to the extent of having a cow to each acre of land. There must be a plentiful supply of good water all the year, and it should be convenient. Another necessary consideration is a good mar- ket near at hand, or convenient transportation fa- cilities. The importance of good roads is no small consideration. To be a successful dairyman, a man must first be a successful farmer. He must understand soil conditions and the growing of crops. In other words he must have a good farm, well farmed, as well as a good herd, well cared for. A well-kept lawn with shade trees and flowers gives much pleasure and comfort to those living [18] FARM DAIRYING on the farm, and delights the eye of the passer- by. A nice lawn is a paying investment not only from the esthetic side, but from the market-value side as well. Every farm should have a suitable or distin- guishing name, as “ Meadowvale,” “ Poplar Lodge,” ‘Fintona Farm,” ‘‘ Adanac Dairy.” The name should be put up at the main entrance to the farm. A good way to advertise the farm’s specialities is to mention them on the same pla- card, as for example: GLENALPINE Registered Ayrshires: Berkshire Pigs C. L. HANNa. Every crop grown on the farm has a value as a fertilizer, and when sold, permanently removes that amount of fertilizing matter from the farm. Very often an intelligent, industrious man makes a profitable investment by buying a run-down farm at a low figure, and stocking it with dairy cattle. By returning the manure in good condi- tion to the land, he makes the exhausted soil become rich and raise good crops in a few years. [19] A study of the following table explains why poor run-out farms are built up by dairying. The figures show the amount of money received for the products sold, and the value of the fertilizing constituents removed from the farm, based on nitrogen being worth 12 cent per pound, phos- FARM DAIRYING phoric acid 4% cents, and potash 4% cents. I ton I ce mixed hay wheat @ $1.00 per bite ‘ Kiet “Baas live cattle @ 6c lb. 120.00 whole milk @ $1.25 per cwt. i . 25.00 butter @ 30c lb. —. 600.00 [ 20] Manurial value $ 12.00 $5.80 6.65 7.68 1.60 36 CHAPTER III THE COW STABLE HEARD an old Scotchman, who proved it true, say many times, there were only two things for which a farmer should mortgage his farm, —first, to drain the land properly, so as to raise good crops, for prosperity cannot rise from wet, cold soil — the land must be drained; second. to build good barns in which to house the stock and crop. These two conditions, rightly man- aged, will erect a fine home and make a comfort- able bank account. I wish space permitted a lengthy discussion on the construction of the cow stable. It does seem to me that the health of the cows and the purity of the milk depend greatly on the stable. Four things are of prime importance, — sunlight, pure air, tight dry floors, and the comfort of the animals, The first recorded utterance of God is, “ Let there be light,” and further it is stated, “God saw the light that it was good.” The Creator of all things knew that light was good. We know it is good. Then why shut it out of our cow stables? [ 21] FARM DAIRYING Did you ever see a stable without a window? I have seen many. Fifteen minutes of direct sunshine brings death to most of the disease germs. When we have such a powerful disinfectant free, let us use it abundantly. Have plenty of windows in the sta- ble. Let the sunlight get directly in on all sides if possible. Many have the windows hinged on the lower side and have them open inward from the top. This prevents a direct draught on the cows. Keep the windows free from cobwebs and wash them off occasionally. It is easier to regulate the light than it is to ventilate properly. If we wish animals to remain healthy they must have pure air to breathe. This means that the foul air from the lungs, and odors from food and excretions, must escape and be replaced by fresh air. Thousands of animals are yearly becoming affected with tuberculosis, due to unsanitary conditions. Effective ventilation is of infinitely greater value than tuberculin. The first prevents the disease; the other only reveals its presence. There should be at least 500 cubic feet of air space for each cow. In the stables of. long ago no thought. was taken of the air supply. It got in through the cracks and crevices. The better the stable is built, [ 22 ] BARNS WITH NO PROVISION FOR ADMITTING LIGHT AND AIR: SUCH AS THESE ARE BREEDING PLACES FOR TUBERCULOSIS FARM DAIRYING the more necessity for a good system of ventila- tion. Means of letting the air into the stable at or near the ceiling will usually prove best. The air taken in will, by reason of being cold, tend to fall to the floor and thus produce air movements which will keep the air within the stable stirred and uniform. The outlet flues or ventilators must extend to the top of the roof. Up to the present time the King system of ventilation, or a modifi- cation of it, is perhaps one of the best. Details of it may be had from any agricultural college. When the air in a stable is good a person can go in and out from it and not have his clothes saturated with stable odor. Much of the “ cowy- flavored” milk is directly due to milking in a badly ventilated stable. The air filled with offen- sive odors is carried into the milk pail, and the damage is done. Whether your stable is old or new, contrive some way of getting the foul air out and pure air in. Direct draught on the cows must be avoided. The muslin ventilation system is not keen enough, unless there is great window space. The muslin gets damp, dust settles on it and often, in a short time, very little air can pass through it. In cold weather the muslin becomes covered with frost and snow, and instead of hav- ing a stable with an even temperature and pure [ 23 ] FARM DAIRYING atmosphere, it is rather likely to be one subject to sudden changes of temperature and ill venti- lated. It is probably not advisable to allow the tem- perature of the stable to fall much below 40° in the coldest weather, but in no case should a high temperature be maintained at the expense of ventilation. If the air of the stable is dry, cattle can stand quite a low temperature without dis- comfort. Too warm and badly ventilated quar- ters are largely responsible for the prevalence of tuberculosis. On the other hand a low enough temperature to cause the cows to chill will quickly be shown in a decreased milk-flow. Cows exposed to extreme cold require more grain food and give a smaller yield of milk. The best floor is made of cement. It is sani- tary, durable, and easily kept clean. If bedding is scarce and the floor very cold it is advisable to have a plank platform for the cows to lie on, otherwise rheumatism may develop. This wooden floor must be taken up occasionally and the stalls well cleaned. Many a valuable cow is lost by allowing her to lie on a damp, cold floor with probably a draught on her hind quarters. Inflam- mation of the udder is the result. There are many contrivances for fastening the [ 24] FARM DAIRYING cows in the stall. Do not be cruel enough to have the rigid stanchion. The swinging stanchion is being installed in many stables, and is greatly liked. The upright iron bar with the sliding ring A HUMANE AND MUCH-APPROVED-OF COW TIE and chain, is, in the opinion of many, the easiest and best kind of tie. A later form of chain tie which is an improvement on the old style, calls for a bar on each side of the stall, and a ring on each bar with a chain on each ring. These two chains are joined in the centre by a ring to which is attached the chain which goes around the cow’s neck. The bars are short and should be placed [25] FARM DAIRYING with their lower end about eighteen inches from the floor. The side chains should be slack enough so that when not attached to the cow the centre will hang eight or ten inches from the floor. This tie gives more liberty than the stanchion, and does not interfere with the cow when rising. The basement stable is losing favor, as it is hard to build one and avoid dampness and dark- ness ——two enemies to health. The ideal cow stable is one without storage loft or cellar and where no other animals are housed. Such a building is expensive and involves more labor in caring for the stock. In building a new stable, every contrivance to save labor that can be afforded should be installed. Spend time and money in visiting new barns and studying plans. A wise planning means less hired help and more satisfaction in doing the work. Have doors and passages arranged to save steps — even if you find the need of them and have to put them in, after the stable is finished. A convenient way of bringing the water into the stable and watering the cows; a wide feed pas- sage; a good gutter; mangers easy to keep clean; modern litter-carriers; manure shed with cement floor; silo, feed bins, and root cellar handy, are points to note. [ 26] DAIRY BARNS, ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, GUELPH SILO HAS CAPACITY OF 250 TONS FARM DAIRYING If I were a Carnegie I would establish paint factories and furnish, free to all farmers, paint for their barns. Nothing adds so much to the <- Vy ag [GRAIN aa Dcnute BIN cHUTE CUT OATS MOW | tu i f Mow] 2 |MOW | Hay | > i "4 MOW! & ? GRANARY a Leo PCHute “a 110 FEET SILO us : ta at APPROACH Tall Oat Grass. : a 2 2 5 2 “ Timothy = Meadow Foxtail Alfalfa Clover Alsike s ‘ ‘ White ee ; : >. & making a total of 24 pounds of seed per acre. If [ 84 ] “ FARM DAIRYING the land is low-lying and inclined to be damp, sub- stitute 3 or 4 pounds of red-top for the alfalfa. SOILING CROPS The mixture of oats and peas already given may be sown and fed off as a soiling crop. It may be put in to advantage at three different dates, at intervals of ten or twelve days between the sowings. This crop, if not needed for green fod- der, may be cut and cured as hay. If not re- quired for hay, it may be left to ripen as grain. Alfalfa and red clover may be cut and fed green to the cows either in the stables or pasture field. Nothing will prove more profitable than a patch of sweet corn for fall feeding for the cows. Plant it early in a convenient place. Plant thinly so as to have good strong corn. Sugar cane or common field corn also make good autumn feed. [ 85] CHAPTER XIV SILOS AND SILAGE «But let the good old corn adorn The fields our fathers trod; And let us, for the golden corn Send up our thanks to God.’’ ‘Tes cement silo is growing steadily in favor. It is comparatively easy to construct and has a nice appearance ona farm. While costing more than a wooden one, the cement is so much more durable that in the end it is cheaper. When made with the hollow cement blocks, the danger of injury by frost to the silage next the wall is les- sened. The silage keeps perfectly if the corn goes in in good condition. At present the most popular kind of silo is the solid cement wall, usually 9 inches thick at the base and 6 inches at the top. Small field stones are imbedded in the cement as a filler, the inner. and outer surfaces of the wall being smoothly fin- ished with the cement. To make the silo air and water tight, after finishing, whitewash it with clear cement. A pointed roof gives the silo a much bet- ter appearance than a flat roof and is more con- venient. A cement or stone silo should receive [86] FARM DAIRYING a cement wash when the acid of the silage has af- fected the inside walls. I quote from the Ontario Farmers’ Institute Report, 1910: “My silo is built of cement from bottom to top. We dug a trench 234 feet wide and down to hard soil. We used cement mortar and large stones to make a founda- tion, having it level at top of ground so as to set our steel rings on level. The size of my silo is: 40 feet high and 14 feet across inside. The walls are 9 inches at bottom and 6 inches at top. The material required to build this silo was 50 barrels of cement and 50 yards of fine gravel, using no stones above the ground. It is reinforced every 15 inches with a wire rope made of four strands of No. 9 wire twisted together and placed in centre of cement. Eight bolts were placed in top of silo to bolt the rafters to, and thus save making a wooden circle for rafters. The cost of material is as follows: — 50 barrels of best cement, at $1.45 . - § 72.50 50 yards of clean gravel, at 15c é 7.50 400 lbs. wire ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 9.00 Labor charged for lsating 3 7 5.00 Labor charged for building . : Fs 77.00 Total . “ : ‘ . $171.00 The builder found all necessary scaffold and rope. It takes three men about nine days to complete a silo if the weather is fine. [87] FARM DAIRYING “Place your silo in the most convenient place possible both for filling and feeding. See to it that you have the drain a little deeper than bottom of trench to carry off any water that might collect. The bottom of the silo should be of earth shaped like a plate, and just before filling place a layer of straw thereon. A floor of this kind allows any extra juice in corn to escape and does not sour the silage in the bottom. “For filling we have a 13-horsepower engine and a blower box requiring only one good day to fill. “We have not had one forkful of spoiled silage so far. It does freeze some around the wall, but this does not spoil the silage if fed as soon as it thaws out. “A roof should always be put on a silo to keep the sparrows from eating all the corn and leaving the cobs for the cows.” 4 rE eg ¥Se > SCY a5 aus ST RANT igi rere grea 4 4 4 en a HP es re eI, FARM DAIRYING The primary principle in the making of silage is the exclusion of air in order to prevent decay; therefore not only the walls but the doors must be perfectly air-tight. The walls should not only be tight and rigid but they should also be smooth and straight on the inside to permit the silage to settle without forming pockets. (See diagram on page 88.) The majority of silos being built have a con- tinuous door which makes it very convenient for emptying the silo. Two-ply boards should be used for the door with tar paper or heavy build- ing paper between and on the edges. Doors on hinges are objectionable. . The deeper the silo the greater the pressure and the larger amount of corn can be stored per cubic foot. A silo should not be less than 30 feet deep or more than 12 or 14 feet in diameter. Steel silos are gaining in favor, and seemingly do not hold the frost any more or even as much as the cement ones. The steel, being thin and a good conductor of heat, readily transmits any warmth in the air. A cement silo costs from $1.75 to $2.00 per ton capacity; a round wooden silo from $1.25 to $1.50; and a stave silo from $0.75 to $1.00, prices [80] FARM DAIRYING varying with the quality of material used and the cheapness of labor. For a herd of twenty-five cows a round silo 15 feet inside diameter and 30 feet high would be about right, or it may be 12 by 40. This size will hold a little more than a hundred tons, which allows four tons of silage per cow, which is about right. Forty pounds is an average for one cubic foot of silage. Some prefer two small silos to one large one. If the herd is not large enough to keep the surface of the silage fed off con- ae Feeding Passage Silo 14 Ft. Feed Room 9 X72. PLAN OF SILO AND FEED ROOM stantly and uniformly, more or less of the sil- age will become injured by mould. A small silo to open up in the summer when the pasture becomes short is the cheapest and best [ 90 J FARM DAIRYING means of keeping up the milk-flow. Every fall more corn is being put into silos to furnish feed for the next summer. The kind of corn to grow for filling the silo will depend on the locality. To avoid frost, early maturing varieties should be selected. Corn is a sun crop and loves heat, so if planted in rows have them run north, and south. Keep the cultivator going till the horses no longer can get through the corn. When to cut is an important question. If cut too green, there is not the same feeding value in it: it cures with a strong acid flavor and when fed will be rather laxative, and the quantity in the ra- tion may have to be reduced. Better to have the corn a little over-ripe than on the green side. When in condition to cut the ears should be well filled out, and the grain hard. The corn harvester is largely used at the present time, but there are those who still think it pays to cut with a hoe made for the purpose, as it-can be cut closer to the ground. For hauling to the cutting machine, have low trucks and a long rack. A good strong, short- handled fork is best for loading. It is easier on the hands and back. Pile the corn straight on the wagon. It saves time when unloading. [or] FARM DAIRYING The best corn-cutting outfit for the average farmer is a portable engine with silage-cutter and blower attachment. Threshers usually have these in their outfit. If the corn has been badly touched with frost, the sooner it is in the silo the better. If it becomes too dry, it should be sprinkled with water to pre- vent white mould. A barrel of water may be placed so as to drain as desired on the cut corn in the elevator pipes. It is desirable to have the distribution of cob and leaf even. The best arrangement for this is to attach a chute from the point where the carrier or blower unloads into the silo, letting it come down to within two or three feet of where the silo is being filled. A boy inside the silo can easily do the distributing then, and there is no fear of his being hit on the head with a flying piece of corn cob. The chute may be of piping, which can be disjointed as the silo fills, or of heavy sacking. When filled, tramp the silage well around the sides and moisten the surface with water. Some put a good sprinkling of salt on top, others cover with chaff or cut straw, and some sow with oats. The oats grow, form a mat, and help to exclude the air. Perhaps the corn itself is as cheap as any covering. There will always be some waste [92] A SILO IN THE FIELD FOR SUMMER FEEDING FARM DAIRYING on top. The poor stuff should not be fed. To lessen the waste, some farmers strip the ears from the last load or two of corn, when finishing the filling of the silo. One may begin feeding as soon after the silo is filled as is desired. Good silage has a not un- pleasant acid smell, a slightly sweetish, fermented taste, and should be a brownish green color and free from rot or mould. If a portion of the silage around the silo be- comes frozen, it is more of an inconvenience than a loss. It should be mixed with that from the centre of the silo to allow it to thaw before be- ing fed. Uncover only as much of the silage as can be used up to the depth of from three to four inches each day, otherwise it is apt to mould and smell badly. A half or one-quarter of the surface may be uncovered at a time. It may be cut down with a hay knife and will mould but slightly. An acre of ground should produce from twelve to fifteen tons of silage in a good season. The cost, from the tilling of the soil for the seed, to the time the corn is in the silo, is estimated at from $2.00 to $2.50 per ton. The importance of silage as a succulent, coarse [93] FARM DAIRYING food for all kinds of cattle cannot be overesti- mated. CLOVER IN THE SILO Next to corn, clover is considered the best crop to use for silage. Being of the legume family, it is ‘rich in protein and makes an ideal milk pro- ducing food. When made into silage, it has a higher feeding value than when cured as hay. There is less crude fibre, it is more palatable, and all of the plant is saved;-while, in making it into hay, the leaves and tender stems, which contain nearly two-thirds of the protein, are broken off and lost in the handling. The hay should be cut when in full bloom. It is better to be put through a cutting machine. If put in whole it must be spread in layers, otherwise it will be most difficult to get it out of the silo. The clover should be well tramped or weighted, and it is best to have considerable depth to the silo. In British Columbia much of the hay is saved in this way, and I saw there many silos used for this crop. It is a safe way to harvest the crop when the weather is likely to be wet. Sometimes the farmers of British Columbia simply stack the green clover outside the barn, where it ferments and cures into a splendid feed. L 94] GATHERING THE CORN CORN STORED IN THE SILO MAKES THE CHEAPEST AND BEST FEED AND FILLS THE MILK PAIL FARM DAIRYING Alfalfa is being used for silage with equal suc- cess, being still richer than clover in protein. Cow-peas, soja-beans, sorghum, and various other plants are successfully used to fill the silo. Much less room is required for the storing of the same amount of food when placed in a silo. A ton of hay requires 400 cubic feet; a ton of silage, 50 cubic feet. Silaging the clover crop takes away the anxiety lest the weather should be wet, and where corn cannot be successfully grown, it provides the suc- culent food so necessary to good health and a heavy milk-flow. [95] CHAPTER XV THE FARM WATER SUPPLY Ape those who value the family’s health, who wish to have thrifty, strong animals, who de- sire pure milk and good butter, we would say that it is of primary importance that the water sup- ply be from a source beyond suspicion, and that this source be carefully guarded against pollution. Analyses of water, especially well water, show much of it to be unfit for use. CONTAMINATION OF WELL WATER FROM SOAKAGE FROM THE BARNYARD AND CESSPOOL The pollution is chiefly derived from the drain- age from farm buildings and barnyards and un- sanitary surroundings. [96] FARM DAIRYING When the pernicious practice of sinking the well in the stable or barnyard is followed, the amount of manure, the. rainfall, and the porosity of the soil will determine the extent of contamination. Only in very exceptional cases can such a well es- cape pollution. The well must be sunk at a safe distance from possible sources of pollution, and be properly con- structed to keep surface water, rats, frogs, etc., from getting in. One cannot say how far a well should be located from out-houses and like dan- gerous sources of harm. For a time the soil acts as a filter, but gradually it becomes saturated with the seepage, which will in time find its way to the well, and the water is sure to be more or less in- fected. The older the well the greater the danger. The household slops should not be thrown on the soil near the well, neither should the well be used as a cold-storage receptacle. Something is sure to be spilt into it at some time. It is better to have the watering trough some little distance from the well, otherwise the horses and cattle are apt to make a muddy pool be- side it. The farmer must have a concern beyond his own family interest, when studying his water sup- ply. The health of large communities is depend- [97] FARM DAIRYING ent to a great extent on the sanitary conditions of our farm homes. The cans holding milk are often rinsed with the water from a bad well and in this way the milk becomes the medium for’ carrying sickness into many homes. We should think of the thousands of infants whose only food is raw milk, and of the diseases which may come from bacteria in- troduced into the milk by impure water, chief of which are typhoid fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and cholera infantum. Many serious outbreaks of contagious diseases have been traced to the water supply on the farm. Clear, sparkling water may be just as deadly as that from the muddy brooklet. A well in which the water rises rapidly after a heavy rain should be regarded with grave suspicion. Unless the surroundings be most sani- tary for a great distance, the water from such a well is dangerous. Let the farm water supply re- ceive your serious, intelligent attention. Where at all possible, there should be some me- chanical means of conveying the water into the house and barn. There is perhaps no greater con- venience, and saving of labor, than having a constant supply of good water. It is hard work carrying all the water in and out of the house and pumping the water for the stock. { 98] FARM DAIRYING Sometimes, without much outlay, a spring on a hill or mountain side can be piped, or a hydraulic ram or a windmill and tank installed. Any one who has a spring within a reasonable distance can install a ram and force the water a long distance and also raise it a considerable height, depending on the fall at the spring. In many farm homes I have seen this system working admirably. SOs SSA y “Heed” SETTING OF HYDRAULIC RAM [99] CHAPTER XVI WATERING THE COWS I CANNOT see how cows can be healthy and the milk pure, when the former are allowed constantly to drink bad water. Yet a farmer will say, ‘‘ This water isn’t fit for house use, but it is all right for the cows”; or he may allow them to drink from stagnant pools covered with green slime, and in which the cattle stand. If such pools are in the pasture, they should be fenced around. Cattle standing in them get their legs and udders covered with slime and filth, which dries and is certain to find its way into the milk pail. Cows sometimes seemingly prefer such water to that from a spring or well. This is usually be- cause it is warmer. Cattle have an aversion to. taking a quantity of cold water into their stomachs. Again, they may crave mineral matter, and the dirty water contains more of that substance. Into every hundred pounds of milk the cow puts eighty-seven pounds of water. Dishonest milk-vendors might take note of this and not try °°" * to improve on the already generous work of the cow. This brings us to another point. A cow to keep [ 100 ] FARM DAIRYING up a heavy milk-flow must have all the water she can drink. Boutsje drank two hundred pounds, equal to two large clothes-boilersful, the day she gave ninety-six pounds of milk. The average milk- ing cow will take from eighty to one hundred pounds of water per day. We should induce the cow to drink plenty. Tests have proved that the milk-flow can be stimulated more by get- ting the cow to drink copiously than by tempting her to eat beyond her usual. The ideal way is to have water always before her. If this is not con- venient, she should get water twice a day. It is poor economy to have to drive the cows some distance, often down a slippery path, to drink from a frozen-over creek. They become so - chilled, and the water is so icy, that they take just as little as they can. Dairying will never prove .. profitable under such conditions. The water should, by some mechanical means, be conveyed into the stable, or to a trough in some convenient sheltered place. Some farmers have a large tank in the stable supplied by means of a windmill, with water from a well. The water from the tank is never so cold as that directly from the well, owing to its being in a warmer atmosphere before being used. There are objections to the trough before the [ ror ] FARM DAIRYING cows, or the individual open drinking-basins, on account of food getting in them, and the cows slopping the water on the floor. These troubles are largely overcome by having a basin half-way down the stall, so that the cow can turn her head and just nicely reach the basin. One basin does two cows. No matter what form of basin or trough, it must frequently be cleaned out. A less expensive way is to use galvanized pails, placed at the side of the stalls, so that they serve to water two animals. They may be filled by a hose from an elevated water tank. The pails can be easily removed for cleaning, and, when worn or rusted, may be replaced at little cost. It is out of the question to talk of tempering the water, but if the chill could be removed the cows would certainly drink more. If I kept but one family cow I would not deem it too much trouble to add a little hot water to her drink in very cold weather. Colantha fourth Johanna had lukewarm water within reach all the time of her record test — dur- ing which time she gave 32.86 pounds of butter _in one week. Salt convenient for the cows increases their thirst. Good water, and plenty of it, should be the motto. [ 102 ] CHAPTER XVII THE COW’S DIGESTION f hae have a cow do her best, under all varying and trying conditions, it is necessary to have some knowledge of her anatomy, especially of the digestive organs, and the construction and function of the udder. A cow has four stomachs; or she may be said to have one which is divided into four compartments. The first stomach, the paunch or rumen, is by far the largest and will hold thirty-six gallons or more. It is when this stomach becomes full of fresh green feed or a quantity of grain which ferments or swells, that suffocation from excessive bloating may cause death. The lining of the second stomach is full of cavities which give it the name, the “ honeycomb.” These cells are supposed to be there for the purpose of catching any foreign matter, such as small stones, nails, etc., which a cow might get in her food. In the third stomach the lining is thrown into folds or leaves, resem- bling the leaves of a book, which has given it the name, the “‘ many-plies.” Between these folds, the surface of which is corrugated, the food is rubbed to reduce it further. The fourth and last [ 103 ] FARM DAIRYING stomach is called the ‘“‘ rennet” or true stomach, and it is here the food is acted upon by the gastric juice. In a calf this is the only stomach which is cow’s STOMACH A, RUMEN (FIRST STOMACH): B. “HONEYCOMB” (SECOND STOMACH) : c. “MANY-PLIES’ (THIRD STOMACH): D. RENNET (FOURTH STOM- ACH) [ 104 ] FARM DAIRYING developed, and it is from this stomach that the commercial rennet is made. As the calf gets fibrous food, the other stomachs develop. You have watched the placid old “ cobossy”’ lying under a tree peacefully chewing her cud, and have thought what a good time she is having. But she is working diligently all the time. You notice a lump rising along the side of her neck. That lump is a portion of the softened food from the second stomach, which the muscles of the gullet are forcing upward to the mouth, where it is thoroughly masticated and then allowed to pass. down into the third stomach. In this stomach the food is rubbed between the many folds in the lin- ing already spoken of. When the cow gets a quan- tity of hard, indigestible food, such as dried grass, and little water to drink, the folds of this stomach become packed with this food and the cow is said to be “ fardel-bound.” From the third stomach the food enters the fourth and last stomach, where the digestion is further carried on. It then passes out into the smaller intestine, and along its course to the larger intestine. During this time the various digestive juices have been acting on the food and converting the available digestible portion into a fluid. A portion [ 105 ] FARM DAIRYING of this fluid is directly absorbed into the blood, but the greater part of it passes into the thoracic duct which empties the fluid into the blood circula- tion near the heart. The blood, as it rapidly courses through the body, carries this digested matter with it to the remotest parts, to nourish and replace waste of bone and muscle and nerve. Thus is food made available for the sustenance of the body. It will be noticed that the important consideration with regard to a cow’s ration is the digestibility of the food; for it is only that portion of the food which becomes dissolved and absorbed that is available for the maintenance of the cow and the production of milk. A strong circulation of healthy blood is essen- tial in the dairy cow, if she is to give a heavy flow of milk. A large artery carries the blood from the heart along the back and gives off a branch called the mammary artery, which supplies the udder. The blood-vessels form a fine network through the udder and emerge in large veins in front of it. These are known as milk veins; but it will be seen that they hold blood, not milk, and that they are emerging from the udder, not enter- ing it. When these veins are large and numerous and extend well forward, they are supposed to in- dicate a good milker. These veins show the [ 106 ] FARM DAIRYING amount of blood which passes through the udder, and there certainly is a relationship between it and the milk-flow. The tremendous flow of blood through the udder makes it extremely sensitive to sudden changes of heat and cold, and hence the danger of lying on cold, damp ground or ce- ment or stone floors. [ 107 J CHAPTER XVIII COMPOSITION OF MILK A percentage of constituents of milk: Fat y : é : 3.6 % Casein. : ; , 25" Albumen ‘ ‘ ‘ OF cc Sugar. ‘ 3 : 5.0 Ash or Mineral Matter . 0.7 Water. : ‘ 3 87.5 Total ° . . 100.00 ‘ Milk is a yellowish white fluid, opaque, slightly viscous, with a faint odor and a pleasant sweetish taste. It is composed of water, and certain other constituents, part of which are in suspension and part in solution. MILK-FAT The most variable constituent of milk is the fat. It is in the form of minute globules averaging the ten-thousandth part of an inch in diameter. A drop of milk can contain fifteen million of these tiny balls of fat, and yet these are what we gather together to make butter. The minute size of the [ 108 ] FARM DAIRYING globules is one of the reasons which make the fat of milk, cream, and butter so readily and easily digested. COMPOSITION OF MILK NUTRITIVE INGREDIENTS AND FUEL VALUE Nutrients ‘Non-nutrlenta_ Fuel value Protein Fats Carbo- Mineral Water Refuse Calories hydrates matters Protein compounds, e. g., casein (curd) of milk, lean of meat, white of egg, and gluten of wheat make muscle, blood, bone, etc. Fats, e.g., butter, fat of meat, and oil Carbohydrates, e. g., sugar and starch i serve as fuel to yield heat and muscular power. Whole milk. Buttermilk, 1 p. ct. fat.. Skim-milk, .3 p. ct. fat.. Cream, 18 p. ct. fat ...... Cheese, whole milk...... Oheese, skim-milk........ Butter..cccsececsseescanece Milk-fat is made up of a number of fats, the chief of which are olein about 42%, palmitin 46%, stearin 4%, butyrin 7%. Olein is a liquid fat having a melting point as low as 41°. Palmitin and stearin are hard fats, like tallow, and melt only when heated above 140° F. [ 109 ] FARM DAIRYING @. Skim milk. e982 é 0 e2 o 0°,” 9 ro. 2 ° °9 oO e.. ° e o area e ne 05°60 so 9" 6 n° Oe %"° QP «co oo" ° : 0° d. Colostrum, oo o a rh, SB, 5880 % ° ° 03 CS odo. a O24 e . Be c o kel x , FAT GLOBULES IN MILK MAGNIFIED 300 TIMES [ 110 ] FARM DAIRYING Conditions change the percentage of these fats, and this fact throws much light on the great dif- ference in the churnability of cream, and on the texture of butter. The more olein and the less palmitin and stearin, the lower the churning temperature may be, the quicker the butter will come, and the softer or oilier will be the butter. The fresher the cows in milk, the softer and larger the fat globules are. The longer in milk, the smaller and more tallowy the globules, result- ing in “strippers,” making very stubborn churn- ings and crumbly, tasteless butter. The food of the cow has a marked influence on the composition of the milk-fat. The more succulent the food, the more olein will be in the fat. Grass, corn silage, roots, linseed meal, and gluten meal increase the soft fats; while hay, cot- ton seed meal, and bran increase the hard fats. Butyrin is peculiar to milk-fat, and unfortun- ately readily decomposes, forming butyric acid, which gives butter its rancid taste and odor. Lactochrome (lac, milk; chroma, color), the color found in milk, is in the fat. It is influenced by the breed, the feed, the length of time milking, and the individuality of the cow. The Guernsey and Jersey are noted for the high color of their [111 ] FARM DAIRYING milk. White milk does not always indicate poor milk, neither is yellow milk necessarily very rich. I have noticed this to be true when testing samples. Grass, bright clover hay, carrots, pumpkins, and yellow corn meal, tend to deepen the color of milk. Total solids LO Water Sugar Fat Casein Ash PROPORTIONS OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF MILK (AFTER PEARSON) The percentage of fat in the milk cannot be sys- tematically and permanently influenced by the food given to the cow. Rich foods may stimulate the production of fat for a short time, but the cow will return to her normal percentage and perhaps — due to forcing — fall below it for a while. At the same time, the percentage of fat in milk is by no means constant. The length of time since freshen- ing, sudden changes in weather, sickness, excite- ment or fright, change of milkers, night’s and f 112 ] FARM DAIRYING morning’s milk, may be causes for a rise or fall in the percentage of fat. I have tested cows which have varied as much as two per cent in two days. Milk-fat, when taken as food, produces fat, heat, and energy. CASEIN AND ALBUMEN Casein and albumen are the nitrogenous, muscle or flesh-forming constituents of the milk, and are largely in suspension, though partly in solution. Casein is precipitated either by the formation of lactic acid or the adding of any other acid, or rennet, to the milk. It is often spoken of then as curd, and is the most important part of the milk in the manufacture of cheese. The albumen of milk is similar to that found in the white of an egg or in blood, and becomes hard and insoluble when heated over 180 degrees. This is why raw milk is more digestible and nutritious than cooked milk. The scum which forms on milk, when boiled, is largely albumen. MILK SUGAR Sugar is the most constant constituent found in milk. Five pounds in every hundred pounds of milk is a goodly proportion, when we consider there is but thirteen per cent of solids altogether. [ 113 ] FARM DAIRYING Milk sugar is not nearly so sweet as ordinary sugar, neither is it so subject to alcoholic fermenta- tion. It is prepared from whey, and is used com- mercially to sweeten patent medicines and baby foods. Sugar, like fat, produces fat, heat, and energy, in the body. It is the sugar in the whey which makes it valuable for feeding purposes. ASH OR MINERAL MATTER If we boil some milk till no water remains, then let it burn, we shall have as a residue in the dish a small quantity of light gray, fine ashes. This substance is the mineral part of the milk and is composed of potash, lime, soda, magnesia, phos- phates, etc., the bone-forming elements. WATER IN MILK In every hundred pounds of milk there are eighty-seven pounds of water, the same as from a spring. This seems a large percentage; but milk being the sole food of the young mammal, the water is necessary to supply the blood with the re- quired fluid to carry the building-up materials to all parts of the body, and also to fill out the tissues. Milk, by its composition and its functions in the economy of the body, may be seen to be a per- fect food; one able not only to sustain life but [114] PONTIAC RAG APPLES, THE COW THAT SOLD FoR $8,000 NOTE THE MAGNIFICENT UDDER AND PROMINENT MILK VEINS THE WORLD'S PRIZE COW, MISSOURI CHIEF JOSEPHINE GAVE IN SIX MONTHS 17,008.8 POUNDS MILK; IN ONE DAY, 110.2 POUNDS MILK; AVERAGE FOR 182 DAYS, 11.6 GALLONS FARM DAIRYING to furnish material to build and repair every part of the infant body. COLOSTRUM The fluid the cow yields directly after calving is known as colostrum, which differs essentially in composition from normal milk, and is usually con- sidered unfit for human food. Colostrum, or biestings, as it is sometimes called, contains so much albumen, sometimes as high as fifteen per cent, that when heated it becomes perfectly thick and looks like a rich custard, for this new milk is also high in color, and has a rather strong odor. The milk gradually loses its colostrum char- acter, and in from five to ten days after the cow has freshened, is generally normal. Average composition of colostrum: Water . ; ; : 74.7 % Fat ‘ ; ; ‘ a6 Casein . ‘ 4 ‘ Ae, Albumen , ; : ee Sugar. ‘ ; : og Ash ‘ : ‘ : a Total . ‘ ‘ - I00.0 [115 ] CHAPTER XIX THE UDDER AND THE SECRETION OF MILK HE udder, the glandular organ in which the cow secretes her milk, is made up of arteries, veins, nerves, tissue, and fat. When cut, it has a soft, spongy, pale grayish pink appearance. There is a partition running lengthwise through the udder dividing it into two distinct and unconnected parts. If a cow lose the use of one of her teats, the milk may be largely drawn from that quarter through the other teat on the same side; but if an accident GLAND-LO ~ ALVEOL! A j rin PTY JAN Gis aN res MLK-CISTERN He SOY © SY KES eccceame VEIN LN WF il E qeuweeee ARTERY i a KY MILK OUCT a ih CROSS SECTION OF CoW’S UDDER, SHOWING THE CELLS IN WHICH MILK IS SECRETED [ 116 ] FARM DAIRYING happen to both teats on the same side, half of her usefulness as a milker is gone. The birth of the young is the primary incentive to the secretion of milk by all animals which suckle their young. In the wild animals and in the scrub cow the udder is small and imperfectly developed, and secretes milk only for a few months. Intel- ligent feeding, selection, and breeding have re- sulted in an enormous development of udder, and an almost continuous milking period in the best cows. There are two general theories advanced in re- gard to the secretion of milk. The metamorphic (meaning change of form) claims that the milk is due to a breaking down of the cell structure of the udder. We can hardly accept this, for it would be almost impossible for a cow to build up and break down the cells to the extent of as high as from fifty to one hundred pounds of milk per day. The transudation, or filtering, theory. claims that the milk filters or oozes through the tissues from the blood as it courses through the udder. Neither can this explanation be wholly true, for constituents found in milk are almost lacking in blood — fat, for example. A combination of these two theories appears reasonable. As the blood courses through the [117] FARM DAIRYING udder, from it are taken substances to build up thousands and thousands of tiny cells stored with materials which afterwards form the greater por- tion of the solid constituents of the milk. All day long these cells keep developing, and the udder grows larger and larger. The blood is charged with an extra supply of water. The cow has now the materials in readiness to make the finished product, milk. We have pro- vided her with food and water. With these she has carried on the manufacturing process to a certain point, but she needs some outward assist- ance to finish the work thoroughly. She gets this assistance from the calf, when it presses the teat in its mouth, or from us when we likewise squeeze it in our hands. We place our hands on the teats thinking we do so in order merely to draw the milk, but we do much more than that. We are co-workers with the cow in helping her to make the milk, and the better we understand our part of the business the larger will be the returns. The materials for the milk are stored .in the cells of the udder and in the blood. Its final secre- tion is brought about by the action of the nerves; hence the great importance of the nervous con- stitution. If a cow were giving ten quarts of [118 ] AYRSHIRE HEIFER GOOD LOOKING AND GOOD WELL BRED AND WELL FED, THE PROMISE OF A GOOD COW FARM DAIRYING milk at a milking, and she were killed just before being milked, there would not be found in her ud- der or any other part of her body more than a quart of milk. Too much stress cannot be laid upon this fact that the making of the milk is largely completed just at the time of milking. Intelligence and kindness on the part of the milker at this time determines, to a great extent, not only the quantity, but also the quality of the milk. When we press the teats we excite the fine net- work of nerves in the udder. These nerves act on the cells, breaking them down. At the same time the water filters through the tissues, carrying with it the mineral matter from the blood. The mate- rials from the broken-down cells and the water unite to form milk, which finds its way through the minute channels to the milk cistern at the top of the teat, whence the milk is drawn by the down- ward pressure of the hand on the teat through the teat canal, and escapes. It takes the fat globules longer to get to the outlet, hence the reason for the richness of the last milk drawn. Milk is a product which is subject to remarkable changes while in the body of the animal secreting it. Intense pain, fright, anger, all leave their traces in the milk. In the human mother the [119] FARM DAIRYING first two of these have been known to infuse the milk with poison and to cause convulsions, and sometimes the death of the nursing baby. It is reasonable to suppose that what is true of the human family applies more or less to such a highly developed, sensitive animal as the dairy cow. Some cows leak their milk. This is due to the muscle at the teat-opening being too lax. It may be remedied by a rather risky operation. (See Medical Chapter.) Other cows are very hard to milk, the muscle being too tight. Remedies are given for this defect also. The flow of milk is usually greater in the morn- ing and the percentage of fat slightly lower than at the evening milking. [120] CHAPTER XX MILKING THE COWS ‘Gone or weak-handed persons should never milk good cows. They have not the strength in their hands to press the teats hard enough to excite the nerves sufficiently to get all the milk. Poor milkers are too often the cause of the cows not filling the pail as they should. Did you ever think why a calf or a lamb bunts its mother when getting its supper? The milk was not coming fast enough to suit the little ani- mal, and instinct taught it that by giving a bunt or two the milk came quicker — the nerves were thereby excited. Some milkers might take a les- son from the calf, and instead of trying to get the udder as well as the milk into the pail, let them press upward instead of pulling downward so hard. The udder is less likely to become injured or unshapely. Much might be said in favor of women as milk- ers. The withdrawal of women from the cow stable has been detrimental to the dairy industry. A woman has naturally greater patience and more innate kindness and a higher ideal of cleanliness than a man. The exercise of these virtues tells [121] FARM DAIRYING on the cows and on the milk-flow. Milking comes at such inconvenient hours for the housewife, and her duties are already so manifold, she should not be asked to go to the stable to milk. Moreover, many stables, I am sorry to say, are not fit for her, with her skirts, to enter. It is well for the women on the farm to learn how to milk, so that in case of sickness or absence of the men, they may attend to the cows. On the farm, very often the first chore in the morning is the milking. The man takes the pails and goes to the barn. He sits down to milk a cow and at the same time another man begins putting down hay and filling the manger and after that starts to clean out the stable. The air is laden with the night breath of the cows, the odor and gases from the lifted manure, and the bacteria- laden dust of the hay. The milk passing through such an atmosphere can and does absorb and carry with it impurities which seriously injure its quality and produce the “cowy” flavor, bitter flavor, etc., so often found in milk, especially in winter. Better to have a dirty floor than a dirty atmos- phere in a stable at milking time. The milk does not touch the floor but it passes directly through the atmosphere. If you want pure milk the air [ 122 ] FARM DAIRYING must be pure in which it is milked. Some of the best dairies have separate milking sheds into which the cows are taken to be milked. To secure clean milk the cows should be brushed down. The grooming is necessary, not only for the increased health and comfort of the cow, but for the good of the milk. The quantity of dirt which falls from the ungroomed cow’s body into the milk pail, accounts largely for the dirty sedi- ment at the bottom of the milk pitcher. The curry comb and brush are doubly necessary when the cows are stabled. The stables should be cleaned and ventilated, and a little land plaster or other absorbent sprinkled in the gutters. Just before milking begins, the udder should be wiped with a damp cloth, and if soiled, washed with warm water. The milker should have on a suit of washable material, which should be washed when dirty. I like the long linen dusters I saw dairymen wear in England. These coats are easy to slip over the other clothes. When milking, the tails are brought around over the knees to protect the trousers. The coats could be made of coarse factory cotton or colored duck. The milker’s hands should be clean and free of disease. Do not milk with wet hands. Some [ 123 ] FARM DAIRYING milkers have the bad habit of moistening the hands with the first streams of milk. The first streams should neither go on the hands nor into the pail. The milk in the udder proper is prac- tically free from germ life, but as the cow lies down on the never-too-clean floor, bacteria of the worst form find their way through the opening at the end of the teat, and in the milk in the teat canal they gloriously thrive and multiply. This is the milk that should go into a small tin for the barn kitty. While bad for the milk supply, I have never known it to kill a cat. Do not milk it on the barn floor, or in a few days you will have a most offensive smell arising. A good practice is to rub the hands with a little vaseline or lard. .This takes the place of wetting with milk, ar- rests any particles which might fall from the teats, and also keeps the teats from chapping. If either the fore or back portion of the udder is poorly developed, milk that part first in the hope of stimulating the nerves and overcoming to some extent the deficiency. Always milk the cows in the same order. If you milk Spotty first to-night, go to her first next morning. She may get cranky and hold up her milk if you pass her by and go to Blacky. Milk as nearly as you can at the same hour, hav- [ 124 ] A TYPICAL HEAD HEAD OF PRIZE BROWN SWISS HEIFER FARM DAIRYING ing equal distances of time between the milkings. Cows giving a very heavy flow of milk are often milked three or four times during the twenty-four hours. Milk in the same place; and there is no better place, summer or winter, than a clean stable. The manure-covered paddock or dusty barnyard or roadside is no fit milking-place. If one has a night pasture near the barn, the cows, after being milked in the evening, may be turned into it, and are handy to bring in in the morning. Cows get accustomed to a milker and it is better for the same person to milk the same cows. Some cows are so particular in this respect that they refuse to give their milk to a stranger. In some large dairies it is a practice for the milkers to milk the cows in succession. This is to avoid poor milkers spoiling certain cows and to prevent the cows forming a preference for certain milkers. HINTS FOR BEGINNERS To those just learning the art of milking, a few suggestions may be beneficial. A person before entering the stall or touching the cow, should speak to her in a gentle tone, calling her by name. The milker should sit close to the cow’s right [ 125 ] FARM DAIRYING side, and first rub the udder with the hands to stimulate the nerves. Many milkers milk the right back teat and the left front teat first, then the left back teat, and the right front teat. Milk- ing opposite quarters in this manner there is no full quarter in the way. Close the fingers gradually over the teat, begin- ning at the top, and press the teat more against the cushion of the thumb than into the hollow of the hand. If the teats are short, the milking has to be done at first with the thumb and two fingers until there is room for the whole hand. When stripping, press well up into the udder with the thumb, so as to bring the last milk out of the milk cistern at the top of the teat. Do not pull or press too hard on the teats, but be sure to get all the milk there is if you wish to keep up the milk- flow. Thorough milking develops the udder. If there be any lumps or soreness in the teats, or bloody, unnatural-colored milk, the milk from those quarters should not be mixed with the rest. Much udder trouble is caused by bad milkers bruising the teats or udder, thus causing inflam- mation and more danger of losing a teat than from garget. THE MILKING PAIL AND STOOL Never use a wooden milk pail, as the milk gets { 126 ] FARM DAIRYING into the pores of the wood and the pail soon be- comes foul. The flaring pail is justly condemned, for its wide diameter presents such a large area for al- lowing hairs, dust, etc., to fall into the milk during milking. Of all the inventions, the Freeman pail, with its hooded top and small opening, meets with the most approval. Samples of milk taken from the flaring pail and the hooded pail show a marked decrease in the bacterial content in favor of the latter. Dairymen who are striving to improve the purity of their milk, will.take a long step in that direction by getting the hooded pails. It is necessary to have handy milking stools. They should be washed, when dirty, and kept in a convenient, clean place. Many milkers prefer about a foot of 3” x 3” scantling, with a board nailed on as a seat; some knock the bottom out of a small strong box; many still adhere to the three-legged style; while others have the more elaborate kind with a rest on which to place the pail. The last-named protects the pail from becoming soiled and also prevents, to a con- siderable extent, the milk from spattering. To keep the cow from switching her tail during milking, nothing is so convenient as a hoop made from 5 or 6 feet of heavy rope. This thrown over [127] FARM DAIRYING the rump does away with the annoyance of having the tail strike you in the face. A piece of cord, with a small weight at the end, tied to the rope and twisted around the tail, makes the hoop more effective. The pinching device, shown in the other cut, is more sanitary. KIND TREATMENT AND EXHAUSTIVE MILKING To return to the milking. It should be done quietly and vigorously throughout the entire pro- cess. There is no more effective way of drying up a cow than leaving a little milk in her udder; be- sides, it pays to get it all, for the last-drawn milk contains as high as from 10 to 12 per cent of fat, while the first has only about 2 per cent. Do not return to the cows to strip them again. It does them no good, but rather an injury. Just here, lest I forget, do not save the strippings by themselves to add to the cream can. They lower the percentage of fat in the cream, and if added warm, injure the quality of both the cream and butter. No rough noise should be allowed in the dairy stable. I have known loud talking to affect the quality and quantity of milk from a sensitive cow. Cows like to be kindly talked to, and singing has a charm for them. In Switzerland dairymaids [ 128 ] ROPE HOOP FOR PREVENTING COW FROM SWITCHING TAIL DURING MILKING CLIP FOR FASTENING COW’S TAIL FARM DAIRYING who can sing sometimes receive higher wages than those who are not musical. The day has forever passed when the progres- sive dairyman allows his cows to be brought run- ning or excited into the barn by a dog, or. by a boy with a whip. Harsh treatment, chilly winds, cold rains, worrying flies, in fact anything that excites, irritates, or brings discomfort to the cow, decreases very materially her profitableness. A cow should soon learn that her keeper is her best friend — ever mindful of her comfort. Speak to her in a kind voice and pet her. If you are milk- ing her and she steps on your foot, do not give her a knock. She did not intend to be rude. She just could not see how large, or just where, your foot was. Learn to govern your temper; it will bring dollars to your pocketbook. If you abuse a cow she will get even with you. You say, “The ugly old thing is holding up her milk,” but how often is it the case you were the first to be meaningly ill-natured! If a cow gets frightened, nervous, or fretful, the nerves in the udder become tense and refuse to act on the cell structure, and the milk cannot come, for it is not being made. In such a case try to quiet the cow by diverting her attention. Rub her behind the ears. Talk to her. Get her mind back to her [ 129] FARM DAIRYING business by being kind to her. Blows or harsh words only increase the difficulty. Gentleness wins her over. Sometimes from no apparent cause a cow holds up her milk persistently. A heavy weight, such as a bag with sand in it, placed over the loins may relieve the tension. It is not well to form the habit in the cows of eating while being milked. If they become ac- customed to being fed at that time they will not let down their milk so freely if the food is with- held; but if from the first they are milked before feeding, they do as well, and it is better for the milk, as there is less food odor and less dust in the stable. SHELTER FOR COWS Exposure on cold days or nights results in a de- creased milk-flow, a general lack of thrift, shown by the staring coat, and a poorly nourished calf. Cows must be kept comfortable at all times. Lying on the cold, wet ground is certainly injurious to the highly developed mammary organs, which are very sensitive to climatic changes. KICKING COWS Kicking cows are usually made so by the per- sons who handle them. Impatience with the timid [130] FARM DAIRYING heifer often results in a kicker. The best device, perhaps, for a kicker, is to put a ring in the ceiling overhead and with a halter on the cow draw her head up pretty taut when milking her. She can- not very well kick in this position, and seemingly does not know the reason why. Other methods are to tie the hind legs together, or to draw the right-hand hind leg slightly back with a rope at- tached to the wall or a post. This leg rope is much used in New Zealand. CUT OFF THE SWITCH When the fly time is past, it is well to cut off the switch just below the tail-bone; also to shear the hind quarters with a pair of horse clippers and trim the long hairs from the udder. It will be much easier to keep the cows clean in the stable if this be attended to. [131] CHAPTER XXI MILKING MACHINES The outraged cow went forth and joined The herd among the greenery: ««What d’ye think they did just now? They milked me by machinery!’’ — The Khan. rPue ingenuity of man is such that the day will shortly come when there will be a milking machine that will do the work effectively, preserve the quality of the milk, and not be too complicated or expensive. Any machines we have seen tried have not proved entirely successful. It seemed impossible to keep the tubing perfectly clean, and the milk became contaminated. There was more or less trouble in the management of the machines. As for their milking qualities, heifers not accus- tomed to hand milking apparently did equally well when milked by a machine. The old cows de- creased in their milk-flow, and some objected to the method and would not let down their milk at all. When the machine is perfected it will be the ideal way of taking the milk; when passing through tubes into the covered pails the milk escapes con- tact with unclean hands and atmospheric im- [ 132] FARM DAIRYING purities. It will be getting closer to Nature’s way. The calf, when allowed to go with the cow, drinks the purest of milk — direct from the producer to the consumer. The principle is much the same in nearly all milking machines. There are four bell-shaped cups in which the teats are placed. A tube from these connects with a covered pail, and to the pail is attached another tube connected with a vacuum pump. As the air is drawn from the pail by the pump, the suction causes the rubber cups to press or squeeze the teats, and this pressure forces the milk from them. Then as air is admitted, the cups relax a little and the milk flows from the udder into the teats. A glass fixture on the pail-lid shows when the milk has ceased coming. Heavy milkers are after- wards stripped by hand. Where herds of fifty or more cows are kept, the milking machine is fast growing in favor, especially as it becomes harder each year to secure good milkers. I may not be sanguine enough, but to me the human hand, with its firm, yet gentle, sympathetic, adaptable touch, will ever remain the best and most reliable milking machine. [ 133 ] CHAPTER XXII STRAINING THE MILK ae keep the dirt out, not to strain it out, is the aim of the cleanly dairyman. Milk should never be left standing in the stable or in the kitchen. It is the unseen, dissolved dirt that is alarming and that does the damage. Every hair, straw, fly, and particle of dust, is laden with “ann iS v L yy A. STRAINER DIPPER WITH SANITARY HANDLE. BB. MILK STRAINER WITH HOOP FOR HOLDING CHEESE- CLOTH IN POSITION. bacteria. When these get into the milk, the bac- teria are washed off and we are able only to strain out the visible and least harmful part. The sooner these bacteria-carrying agents are removed the [ 134 ] FARM DAIRYING purer will be the milk and the better its keeping qualities. Therefore, strain the milk immediately. I would not have the strainer on the pail. Sev- eral thicknesses of five-cent cheesecloth make an excellent strainer. If a separator is used, fold the cloth and spread it over the receiving pan, fasten- ing it in place with clothes-pins. If deep creamer cans are used, place the cloth in a similar manner on the top of them. If large milk cans are used, it may be necessary to have a tin, like the illustra- tion, with a loose-fitting hoop to slip over the cloth to hold it in position. Wire strainers are little used. They do not prevent hairs and fine dust from getting through. The strainer cloth should receive special atten- tion. It must not be plunged into hot water. This cooks the albumen of the milk and the cloth becomes stiff and unsanitary. The cloth should first be rinsed in tepid or cold water to get out the milk, then washed in warm water with some wash- ing compound such as soda in it, and scalded well in clear water and hung outside to air and dry. It is a good plan to boil it frequently. [135 ]} CHAPTER XXIII MILK FOR THE CHEESE FACTORY HILE it is necessary for the patron supply- ing milk or cream for butter-making pur- poses to send a first-class quality, a still greater responsibility rests on the patron of the cheese factory. For butter-making, pasteurization may be and is resorted to, to check objectionable bac- terial growth and drive off food flavors; but this is impossible in cheese-making. The cheese-mak- ing process is one which lends itself to the mul- tiplication of evils, if. they have already a begin- ning in the milk. A can of bad milk will spoil all that of fifty other patrons, lower the price of the cheese, and injure the reputation of the maker. Special provision should be made on the farm for quickly cooling the milk to 65°, or lower, and keeping it at that temperature over-night, and for lowering it to 50°, and sustaining that tempera- ture when it is held over Sunday. Depend on nothing but a correct thermometer for ascertain- ing temperatures. Ice is almost a necessity in order to care properly for Saturday night’s and Sunday’s milk. Milk intended for cheese-making should not [ 136 ] FARM DAIRYING have over .20 per cent of acid when delivered at the factory. It usually does not smell or taste sour until it contains from .30 to .35 per cent, and then it is quite unfit for cheese-making pur- poses. Our senses of taste and smell are not accu- rate enough to determine the exact stage of acidity. The cheese-maker uses the acidimeter, and we © IN ML K COOLED wis, wi COLD WATER si. CHART SHOWING THE MULTIPLICATION OF A SINGLE GERM, CLEARLY INDICATING THE NECES- SITY OF QUICK COOLING should abide by his decision and not be offended if the milk be returned, but make an extra effort to keep it in better condition. The dairy farm should have a milk-house. It may be built of wood or of cement. In it should be a tank large and deep enough to hold cans containing at least two milkings and a six-inch [ 137 ] FARM DAIRYING space around them for water. There should be an outlet pipe near the top to allow the water, as it becomes warm, to be carried away, in order to keep down the temperature of the milk. An outlet at the bottom is necessary, that the tank may occasionally be emptied and cleaned. SEU NA ay FY BSS TANK FOR COOLING MILK IN CANS If there is a windmill at the well, a large tank should be provided, and from it piping should be laid to supply the smaller tank with water. If there is no windmill, the milk-house should be built near the well. Be sure to make a proper drain to carry away the surplus water. Endeavor to keep the farm buildings and yards dry and tidy. A windlass is convenient to raise and lower the cans into the tank. Also have some contrivance to do the lifting at the milk-stand. Have a track [ 138] FARM DAIRYING laid from the milk-house to the stand, and a car or truck for carrying the cans. If farmers would have a few of these little and easy-to-get conven- iences, the drudgery of the milk business would be greatly lessened. HOIST FOR LIFTING MILK CANS IN COMMON USE AT FACTORY WEIGH-STANDS [139 ] FARM DAIRYING Warm milk should not be mixed with that already cooled, if it can be avoided. If at all possible, it should be sent in separate cans. If it be necessary to mix night’s and morning’s milk, the best plan is to cool the morning’s milk also. If there be not time to do this, the evening’s milk should be cooled to at least 60 degrees. It is quite possible to have excellent milk delivered by this last method, where cleanliness is observed, and the night’s milk well cooled. The aeration of milk is something that is not recommended to be generally practised. Practi- cal experiments have revealed the fact that expos- ing the milk to the air by dipping, pouring, or running it over an aerator, even in apparently good surroundings, increases the number of unde- sirable bacteria, and is one of the causes of gassy curds. Cooling the milk immediately after or during milking, with as little exposure to the air as pos- sible, and putting the lids on the cans, is recom- mended by our Chief of the Dairy Division. Where ice or cold water cannot be obtained or where a can of milk has to be left in a place where water and ice cannot be conveniently used, a wet cloth — preferably flannel — wrapped around the can is an aid in keeping the milk cool. It is best [ 140 ] MILKING COWS BY MACHINERY FARM DAIRYING to have one end of the cloth immersed in a pail of water. A large amount of the sun’s rays falling on the wet cloth is consumed in evaporating moist- ure and is thus prevented from reaching and heat- ing the milk. Under no conditions should chemicals be used for preserving the milk. They completely upset the process of cheese-making. Whey should not be returned in the cans, unless it has been heated to 155 degrees in the factory tanks. The cans, going to and from the factory, should be covered with canvas to keep out the dust and heat. Needless to say the cans must be well washed and scalded. They should not be put under trees or in a bad-smelling place. Have a bench or stand in a sunny, clean place, on which the cans may be inverted to drain and sun and air. Rusty cans are the cause of much trouble and should never be used. Painting the cans on the outside greatly aids in their preservation. Remember, the better the milk is cared for on the farm, the less milk it takes at the factory to make a pound of cheese, and superior will be the quality of the cheese, [141] CHAPTER XXIV CREAMING MILK M" is composed of fat, solids-not-fat, and water. The solids-not-fat and the water are the skim-milk, or milk serum. The fat, which is the lightest constituent, rises to the surface when milk is left undisturbed. There is always more or less milk serum with the fat, and the two, so mingled, constitute cream. A vessel which would hold 1,000 pounds of water would hold approximately 1,032 pounds of whole milk, 1,038 pounds of skim-milk, 1,000 pounds of average cream, or 936 pounds of milk- fat. There are conditions which facilitate the cream- ing of milk: The larger the fat globules the more readily they separate from the milk serum; the less viscous or sticky the milk, and the lower the percentage of solids-not-fat, the less resistance to the fat globules in passing through the milk; the sooner after being drawn, and the longer the milk is subjected to the creaming force, the more com- plete will be the separation of the fat. There are two general methods of obtaining cream from milk—the gravity system, making [ 142] FARM DAIRYING use of the shallow pan or the deep can; and the centrifugal system, employing the cream separator. Shallow Pan: This method is the oldest, and is now little used. Where only one or two cows are kept; where ice cannot be secured, or the supply has become exhausted for the deep setting method; or where the separator is out of order, pans may be used. Where the creaming is carefully done, the skim- milk from pans will not contain over .3% butter fat, but usually it tests much higher. The cream may contain from 15% to 40% fat. Many farmhouses have no suitable room in which to set milk. It is often put in a cellar which is close and musty and serves as a storage place for roots, fruit, etc., or is kept in the pantry off the kitchen, and comes in contact with all kinds of cooking odors, which it readily absorbs. Pans should be set in a clean, well-ventilated room where the temperature ranges from 50° to 60°. Avoid having the milk close to the wall or in a strong draught, so as not to have a leathery coat form, due to rapid evaporation. The pans are better covered with heavy clean paper, if possible, after the milk has cooled. The milk should stand from twenty-four to [143] FARM DAIRYING forty-eight hours before being skimmed, but should not be coagulated. To skim, loosen the cream from the sides of the pan with a thin-bladed knife. Lift the pan to the edge of the cream can, tilt it to allow a little of the skim-milk to wet the edge of the pan, then with the aid of the knife, quickly glide the sheet of cream into the cream can. Do not use the old- fashioned perforated skimmer. It is wasteful of cream. Be careful not to take any more skim- milk with the cream than cannot be avoided. This system has many disadvantages: a great surface of the milk exposed to atmospheric con- tamination; the milk liable to become too acid for domestic and feeding purposes; the cream clotted and over-ripe; the creaming incomplete; a large space necessary for the pans, and much labor involved. Deep Cans: A water-tight box or barrel for holding the deep cans will do as effective work as an expensive cabinet creamer, but there should be room for plenty of ice. It is economy to have ice always in the water, and just as necessary to use it in winter as in summer. To do good cream- ing, the water should not be above 45” in summer, and it is better to have it still lower in winter. To maintain this temperature it is necessary to put in £144] FARM DAIRYING a good supply of ice, unless one is fortunate in having a very cold running spring handy. The warm milk should be immediately strained nto the cans, and the cans lowered into the water, which should reach as far up as the milk. The cans usually are eighteen to twenty inches high and eight inches in diameter. We prefer a slant-bottom can, with a tap to draw off the milk. The slant carries away any sediment and permits the removal of all the skim-milk. Cans without a tap —called the shotgun cans — should be skimmed with a funnel-shaped dipper, hav- ing a long, straight handle, and no wire around the rim. It is best to loosen the cream from the sides of the can with a knife, then wet the dipper in milk or water and lower it point first into the can, allowing the cream to flow evenly into the dipper. Repeat until all the cream is removed, being careful not to 5 take too much skim-milk with it. FUNNEL Milk should always set twenty- SHAPED four hours before the skim-milk °“’™™*® is drawn, and thirty-six hours in winter is bet- ter. Milk allowed to stand only twelve hours [ 145 ] FARM DAIRYING before skimming will yield a larger volume of cream, but it will test low, — from 15% to 20%, —while the skim-milk may test as high as from 6% to 1% and over, especially if the water has not been cold. In twelve hours the smallest of the fat globules have not had time to rise to the top and so pass off in the skim-milk and become, like the prodigal son of old, feeders of swine. When the milk is allowed to stand twenty-four hours the cream will test from 18% to 25% and the skim-milk from .2% to .4%; or in other words, we have in the case of the longer setting a richer cream, and less loss of fat in the skim-milk — two desirable results in creaming milk. Butter made from cream from the deep setting system is usually of good quality as the cream is always at a low temperature, which is unfavorable for the development of bad flavors. The disadvantages are: the heavy lifting of the cans, the storing and handling of ice, and the heating of the skim-milk for the young stock. THE DILUTION OR HYDROLACTIC METHOD Many devices have been put on the market for creaming milk by adding a certain percentage of cold water to the warm milk, usually 100%. We have tried a number, and recommend none. [ 146 ] FARM DAIRYING There is great danger of spoiling the cream by using impure water. It robs the cream of its flavor, giving it a flat taste. The loss of fat is greater than by the other gravity methods. The skim-milk is much diluted for household or feed- ing purposes. The only time water may be advantageously added to milk is when the cows have been a long time in milk and the milk is viscous, and rich in solids. Then a small amount of hot water will help. If the milk has a strong food flavor — such as turnips give —a pint of boiling water put in the shallow pan, as the milk is strained in, helps to some extent to drive off the flavor. [ 147] CHAPTER XXV SEPARATORS HE invention of the cream separator gave a great impetus to the butter industry and revo- lutionized the handling of milk and cream. It was only after many crude and frequently unsatis- factory attempts that our present efficient sepa- rator was evolved. The first machine had buckets or pails suspended on a wheel in such a manner that, when set in motion, they flew around in a cir- cle. The principle made use of at that time was precisely the same as that used by our present-day inventors. One of Nature’s laws is, that which is heaviest, when set in motion, flies farthest from the centre of motion. We have, in milk, the- heavier skim-milk and lighter cream, therefore, when milk is subjected to a strong centrifugal force created by the fast rotating separator bowl, the skim-milk is thrown as far from the centre as it can get and forces the cream as near the centre as possible. The machine is so constructed that the cream escapes from an outlet near the centre of the bowl, and the skim-milk is drawn from the inside wall [ 148 ] FARM DAIRYING of the bowl, where the force is greatest and the separation most complete. Nearly all makes of machines have a more or less complicated skimming device, in order to divide the milk into thin sheets, and so afford less resistance in the separation of the cream. Many ask the question, ‘‘ Which is the best make of separator?’’ All the standard makes have good points, and the question sifts down to a matter of small details, which appeal differently to different people. In buying a separator, select a good skimmer, one that turns easily, is well made of good wearing material, not too compli- cated in construction, easy to clean, convenient as to height of cream and skim-milk spouts, and sufficiently large for the size of the herd. It must be remembered there is a vast differ- ence between machines of the same make; and a purchaser should satisfy himself that his machine is a clean skimmer and a smooth, easy runner, before closing the bargain. Buying from an estab- lished reliable firm has advantages, and is to be recommended. The machine should not be set up in a stable. Occasionally one sees a separator in an empty cow stall. This is bad. It is convenient to have a small room fitted up for the machine, near to or in [ 149 ] FARM DAIRYING the stable. Such a room should be well ventilated and clean, and the floor tight. The foundation of the separator should be firm. Even a slight vibration injures such a finely con- structed piece of machinery. For. the same rea- son, the machine should stand perfectly level. A small piece of quarter-inch rubber packing, placed under the legs before fastening, improves the running of any separator. Keep all parts clean. Every week or two run a little kerosene through the oil channels to remove the black grease and accumulated dirt from the bearings, but do not fail to oil the machine well afterwards. Coal oil is not a lubricant, simply a cleanser. Use only the oil furnished for the machine, or one of equally fine quality. When starting the machine, get up speed grad- ually. Put the same pressure on the handle dur- ing the entire circle of it, and sustain an even speed. For close skimming, run the machine a few turns above the tabulated speed rather than below. Slow speed is the cause of much poor skimming. Before turning on the milk, put enough hot water through the machine to wet and warm the bowl thoroughly. This insures cleaner skimming and prevents the cream from sticking to the skim- [ 150] UVINGNL GNV XAIdWIS :SYOLVUVdAS WVAUO AO SAdAL FARM DAIRYING ming device. Do not allow the milk to get too low in the receiving can, or the cream outlet may clog. The inflow of milk into the bowl should be steady and should be approximate to the capac- ity of the machine. If for any reason the machine has to be left before the run is finished, shut off the flow of milk, and if convenient flush out the bowl with a little warm water to prevent the cream outlet from clogging. At the end of the run enough warm water should be put through the bowl to force the cream out. This water must be pure, for some of it of necessity gets into the cream; but allow only what is necessary to flush the cream from the bowl. Too hot water will scald the milk on the bowl and make it hard to clean. Skim-milk may be used for flushing out the bowl, but warm water is better. Milk should always be strained before sepa- rating. The sooner the dirt is removed the better; moreover, hairs, small pieces of straw, etc., are apt to close the outlets. Putting two thicknesses of cheesecloth over the receiving can and holding them in place with several clothes-pins is a con- venient method. . Milk is at its best for separating immediately after being drawn from the cows. Should it cool below 85 degrees it is better to warm it, although [151] FARM DAIRYING some-machines do good skimming at a lower tem- perature, but there is always a risk of losing cream when the temperature of the milk is low. Should the milk supply become so small that it seems hardly worth while starting up the ma- chine, the night’s milk may be held till the morn- ing; but, to preserve the quality, it should be quickly cooled, as soon as milked. This held-over milk should have the cream well stirred in and be heated to 100 degrees or over; for no harm, but really good, results from having the milk hot. Run it through after the morning’s milk has been separated. This practice has its disadvantages. The extra handling of the milk tends to an extra loss of the fat, and the quality of the cream may suffer. It is to be recommended only in case of a very small supply. There is one point that must be emphasized. The machine must be thoroughly cleaned after each time of using. First, rinse the parts which have come in contact with the milk in lukewarm water. Then wash in hot water in which some washing powder has been dissolved. Use the brushes provided by the manufacturers to clean the different parts. Rinse in scalding water, and place on a rack to drain and dry. Never use a drying cloth, the hot water.should be sufficient. [ 152] CREAM SEPARATOR: STANDARD FARM DAIRYING Do not subject the rubber ring to too hot water. Heat ruins rubber. The separator brushes should be frequently scalded in a strong soda solution to keep them sweet. Have a square of cloth to throw over the frame of the machine after it has been wiped. This prevents dust getting in the bearings. Study your machine. Become familiar with the sound it makes when running properly, then you will be able to tell when it is out of order. A machine should not leave over .o5 per cent fat in the skim-milk when properly managed. When the’ loss exceeds this, it is time to look for a cause. Real good skimming does not leave over -O2 per cent. It is a good plan occasionally to make a test of both the skim-milk and the cream. The fact that no cream rises on the skim-milk over night is no sign that a separator is doing good work. When making butter on the farm in the barrel churn, I would have the cream test from 24 to 28 per cent fat; but if it is to be sent to the creamery, have it from 30 to 35 per cent. It is our duty to help the creamery man all we possibly can. By sending him a rich cream we do much toward making the butter a better quality. Most of the [153 ] FARM DAIRYING separators, if rightly run, will skim a 30 to 35 per cent cream, and do good work. In another chapter the care of separator cream is taken up, but let me mention here the necessity of quickly cooling it immediately after it is separated. Where eight or ten cows are kept, get a machine with a capacity not less than 500 pounds per hour. All machines, except the smaller sizes, are so constructed that they may be connected with power. The most common power in use is tread-power. A small gasoline engine is gaining favor for this purpose and is a great help in many ways in lessening labor on the farm; namely, churning cream, washing clothes, running a vac- uum cleaner, sawing wood, chopping grain, pulp- ing.roots, etc. SEPARATOR TROUBLES The most frequent disorder of a separator is the vibrating of the bowl. This may be caused by: 1. The machine not being level. 2. The machine not firmly fastened, or the foundation not solid. 3. Neck bearing too loose, or too tight. 4. Bearing out of line with worm gear spindle. [ 154] CREAM SEPARATOR: DE LAVAL FARM DAIRYING 5. Bowl out of balance. 6. Spindle of bowl bent or iniured by careless handling. When the bowl leaks milk, the parts are not properly put together, or the rubber ring has been forgotten or is injured. The greatest cause of incomplete skimming is low speed. The separator bowl revolves at a speed of from six thousand to fifteen thousand times a minute, and a pressure equal to fifteen tons to the square inch is exerted on the milk. This is at full speed. When the speed falls but a few revolutions below the tabulated turns per minute, the force on the milk is greatly lessened, and more fat is left in the cream. CAUSES FOR VARIATIONS IN CREAM TEST Many people who sell cream cannot under- stand why their cream should vary so much in the per cent of fat, and are dissatisfied and grow suspicious that the testing is not properly done. There are many reasons why the fat content of cream may vary. They are: 1. Speed of the bowl. Slow turning gives a cream of low test, and a greater loss of fat in the skim-milk. 2. Amount of water or skim-milk used to [155] FARM DAIRYING flush the bowl in proportion to the amount of cream. 3- Amount of milk in the supply can: the less milk, the richer the cream. 4. Partial closing of the faucet of the supply can. 5. Clogging or imperfect cleaning of the cream and skim-milk outlets. 6. Temperature of the milk when separated. 7. Variations in the per cent of fat in the milk separated: the richer the milk in fat, the richer the cream. Very often when the cows freshen in the spring, and when the grass stimulates the milk-flow, no change is made in the adjustment of the cream screw. Usually, the fresher the cows in milk and the heavier the flow, the lower the percentage of fat; and so the necessity for turning in the screw, so as to have less skim-milk in the cream. [156] CHAPTER XXVI BACTERIA IN RELATION TO THE DAIRY «©O powerful bacillus, With wonder how you fill us, Every day! While medical detectives, With powerful objectives Watch your play.’”’ po play such an important part in milk and its products that we must know something of the life history of these minute organisms to be able to recognize and guard our friends, and wage death to our enemies, for we have both in their ranks. Bacteria belong to the vegetable kingdom, being single-celled plants, infinitely small, and vis- ible only with a powerful microscope. When grouped together in what are called colonies, they may be seen with the naked eye. A spot of mould on sour milk may be likened to a colony developed from one germ. To give an idea of their size: it takes about nine hundred thousand to measure an inch, and five billions may be in a teaspoon of sour milk, and still there may be room for more. Nature uses bacteria to keep the working mate- [157 ] FARM DAIRYING rial of the universe in circulation. When meat, milk, wood, etc., decay, it is largely the work of bacteria reducing them to gases, and dust, that these elements may again be built up into plants and trees for the use of animals. If it were not for bacteria, this world would soon become unin- habitable. Bacteria have three general forms — spherical, rod-shaped, and spiral. Their method of increas- ing is simply by dividing, one germ becoming two. This is the distinguishing mark which separates 00, hy & 60 : s : a '& 8, Bae ee *e eo 2 ® ep? oo 00 8 : VS ~~ SON VS ais Ret ay “ aN sit DIFFERENT TYPES OF BACTERIA MAGNIFIED 1,000 TIMES x bacteria from yeasts. The latter multiply by budding — the buds breaking off and forming new plants. [ 158 ] FARM DAIRYING So potent is the power of reproduction that one germ may become two in half an hour, and the progeny from just one bacterium may number : At a is represented a single Te, germ; at 5 is represented the SN progeny of this germ in 24 hours in milk kept at a temperature of 50° F.; at c is represented the ay progeny of the same germ in 24 nt hours if the milk were kept at ye 7o° F. At 50° the multipli- cation was five-fold, at 70° it was seven hundred and fifty fold. (After Conn.) DIAGRAM SHOWING THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE KEEPING OF MILK over sixteen million, five hundred thousand in twenty-four hours. However, they do not go on increasing forever at such a rapid rate; the food supply gives out, or they cannot thrive in an ex- cess of their own by-products — lactic acid, for example. Sometimes spores develop inside the germ cell and these have wonderful power of resistance against heat, some surviving even the boiling point, and many other adverse conditions. Freezing does not destroy bacteria. Three things are necessary for bacterial growth — food, moisture, heat. An absence-of any one of these renders the germs dormant. We cannot [159] FARM DAIRYING well withhold food, but we expel moisture from meat, fruit, etc., to preserve them. We cool milk and place perishable foods in refrigerators for no other reason than to hold in check the bacterial growth, and so retard the souring or decompos- ing process. The most favorable temperature for bacterial growth is between 80 and 100 degrees. The aim in caring for milk should be to lower the tempera- ture quickly and keep it low, if the desire is to have the milk remain sweet. At a temperature below 50 degrees, bacterial growth is practically at a standstill. A temperature of 160 degrees kills most of them if it be maintained for twenty min- utes. Instantaneously heating to 185 degrees destroys all but a few of the resistant spore formations. Some three thousand different species of bacteria have been identified. Most of them are helpful agents in the world’s economy. Some are unde- sirable, but not dangerous. Others are harmful and cause death when not checked. So many of these disease-producing germs find a perfect medium for their development in milk that too much care cannot be exercised to keep the milk pure. When any contagious disease breaks out in.a family, those who are recovering [ 160 ] ONE HAIR FROM A COW, PLANTED IN NU- TRIENT JELLY THE WHITE SPOTS ARE COLONIES OF BACTERIA, AND EACH COLONY IS THE PROGENY OF A SINGLE GERM ON THE HAIR. FARM DAIRYING or who wait on the patients should never milk the cows or care for the milk. If they do, the natural result will be an outbreak of the disease. We know that many of the cows in the coun- try are; to a more or less degree, affected with tuberculosis. The milk from such cows should be pasteurized even for the calves and pigs, or the disease will spread, especially if it is located in the cows’ udders. The tuberculous animals should be isolated from the herd. As the disease is not hereditary, healthy calves may be got from such cows, but the calves must never have their moth- ers’ raw milk. The study of bacteriology has revealed these and many other truths to us. The bacteria which are of greatest aid to the dairyman, and native to and most largely found in milk, are the lactic acid germs. A pure culture of these germs is used in butter and cheese mak- ing, and gives the fine flavor and aroma so much desired in these milk products. We have others which cause us trouble. There are bacteria which turn milk blue, red, and occa- sionally yellow. Others produce a curdling of the milk without souring. Some produce gas accom- panied by bad flavors; these latter cause much trouble to cheese-makers. Some make the milk very bitter, others give it a soapy taste, a fruity { 161] FARM DAIRYING taste, or a strong barnyard odor, and some make the milk slimy or ropy, so that it can be drawn out into long threads. Trouble from any of these is usually the result of carelessness or unsanitary conditions. The main precaution is to keep the entire surround- ings, cows, milk pails, separator, etc., just as clean as possible. These germs get into the milk at the time it is drawn from the cows, or afterwards. Milk in the udder is practically germ-free. It is our duty to war against the entrance of bacteria to milk. We need have no fear of bacteria in milk if we practise cleanliness and use the two safest and best means to check their growth — extreme heat and cold. [' 162 } CHAPTER XXVII PASTEURIZATION OF CREAM po EDN has become justly popu- lar. In Denmark, the great dairy country, over ninety-five per cent of all cream for butter- making is pasteurized. Pasteurization, while not removing all the ills which are apt to befall cream, to a great extent — 1. Drives off bad odors, especially those due to feed. 2. Destroys: most of the bacteria, leaving a clean seedbed for the added culture to work in. 3. Produces uniformity of flavor from day to day. 4. Makes the cream easier to churn. _ 5. Adds to the keeping qualities of the cream and butter. For creamery work the practice cannot be too highly recommended. On the farm, where conditions are under one’s special supervision ¥ad control, it is not necessary to pasteurize, nor do we advocate it. If from some unusual cause the cream is off in flavor, or difficult to churn, or the butter is to be packed and [ 163 ] FARM DAIRYING held for some time, then pasteurizing is the proper thing to do. Cream that is sour may be pasteurized, but it must be quickly heated and constantly stirred. To attempt to heat poor cream, just on the point of coagulating, turns it into a ropy or curdy mass. To pasteurize cream, place the can containing it in a vessel of hot water. Stir the cream occa- sionally and bring it to a temperature of 175°. Authorities give a range of temperatures from 160° to 185°. Leave it covered at that tempera- ture for twenty minutes. It will cool very little if just lifted out of the water. Then rapidly cool to 60° or below. Pasteurized cream remains sweet for several days. & FARM DAIRYING and frequently higher test is obtained, than when the cream is sour and lumpy. THE OVERRUN When cream is taken to a creamery there is usually quite a little talk about the “ overrun,” and frequently the term is not understood. The overrun consists of the pounds of butter made over the pounds of fat in the milk or cream. This difference between the fat and the butter is made up of water, salt, and casein or curd, and varies under different conditions. Exhaustive churning, carefulness regarding waste, skill in incorporating moisture (the law prohibits more than 16% water), are factors which tend toward _a large overrun. Under good conditions, 85 pounds of fat will make 100 pounds of butter. It is easy to find the percentage of overrun. If 85 lbs. fat make 100 lbs. butter 100 1 & “ ‘6 6 85 Ioo 5, fea X100=117.6 lbs. butter 2 85 Percentage of overrun is 117.6—100=17.6. The average overrun is about 15%, but many creameries do better than that. [ 167 ] CHAPTER XXIX CULTURE OR STARTER FOR RIPENING CREAM OR farm butter-making, unless carried on extensively, I do not think it necessary con- stantly to make and use a skim-milk culture. It entails much work and care. Sour cream of good flavor answers in its stead. It is, however, well to know what a culture is, and how to prepare it. A pure culture for the dairy is a propagation of lactic acid germs in a medium preferably of pasteurized skim-milk. Its use is: 1. To develop the desired flavor in cream for butter-making. 2. To keep the flavor uniform. 3. To have the ripening process regarding length of time and percentage of acidity, under one’s control. In propagating a culture it is advisable to start with a commercial pure culture. These are put up, either in liquid or powder form, in small bot- tles. Many of the bacteriological departments of agricultural colleges supply cultures at a nominal cost. The first culture is called a mother culture. The { 168 ] FARM DAIRYING powder or liquid is emptied into a quart of pas- teurized skim-milk and allowed to stand at a tem- perature of 75° until coagulated. The can in which the culture is made, and the stirring-ladle, must always be sterilized, otherwise the culture would soon become seeded with foreign germs. The can must be kept covered. The first two or three propagations may not have the desired flavor, as it takes time for it to develop from the commercial culture. In the ordinary making of a culture from time to time, select good-flavored skim-milk, heat it to a temperature of 185°, stirring it occasionally. Allow it to stand at that temperature for twenty minutes or longer, then quickly cool to a tempera- ture of from 60° to 70°, according to conditions. To this prepared milk add from one-half to two per cent of the culture on hand; the amount should depend on the vigor of the germs, the constancy of the temperature, and the length of time before the culture is required to be used. Before using, remove an inch or two from the surface to guard against contamination from out- side sources. Break up the remainder by stirring it well, and fill a small sterilized glass jar for propagating the next culture. With care, a cul- ture may be propagated almost indefinitely. The [ 169 ] FARM DAIRYING one we use at the Ontario Agricultural College dairy has been in constant daily use nearly ten years. A good culture should be firmly coagu- lated, with no liquid on top; be smooth and free from lumps when broken up, and have the smell, and the clean, mild acid flavor peculiar to good sour milk. It should have from .6 to .7 per cent lactic acid. A good mother culture may be made by filling a sterilized glass jar with the purest of milk pos- sible, from a cow not very long milking. Cover the jar with several thicknesses of cheesecloth and keep at a temperature of about 70°. When coagulated, skim off the top, and if the remainder has the same properties as those just ascribed to a good culture, it may be used in ripening the cream. This is a good way to do, when from any cause the cream has gone off flavor and is no longer safe for use as a culture. [170] CHAPTER XXX DAIRY-ROOM AND CHURN ON our American farms not enough attention is paid to having a proper dairy-room. But- ter is too often made in an overheated, poorly ven- tilated kitchen. If possible, a building, or at least a room, should be fitted up and used exclusively for dairy work. It should be well lighted, well ventilated, convenient, and easy to keep clean. It should be well supplied with pure, cold water, and should have a good drain. One great trouble around our farm homes is a lack of proper sewer- age system, causing very unsanitary conditions. This menace to the senses and health may be over- come by installing a septic tank and filter bed at a cost of about $50.00. An up-to-date hardware merchant can tell where to secure the necessary equipment and how to put it in. Provision should be made for heating the dairy in winter, and, by choice of location and shade trees, having it as cool as possible in summer. I have used many different kinds of churns, but so far have found none so satisfactory as the plain barrel style, revolving end over end and having no dashers or breakers inside. The earth- [171] FARM DAIRYING enware revolving churns have much to recommend them in being so easily kept clean, and are becom- ing quite popular. In buying a churn be sure to get a large size. If more than two cows are kept, buy nothing smaller BARREL CHURN than size No. 3. It has a churning capacity of from two to seven gallons, though I prefer not putting over five in it. Multiply the usual number of gallons of cream you have by three, and it will [172] FARM DAIRYING give you the capacity of the churn you should get. To do good work it is best to have the churn only one-third full. Get a churn with a strong stand and the upright bars well braced. It should be convenient to get a pail under to draw off the buttermilk, etc. The plug hole should be as nearly level with the bottom of the churn as possible. The lid should be large, the fastenings convenient and safe, and the sight- glass in the lid large. There should be two means of making the churn revolve, or rather it should be so that two persons may work at it together. I have a preference for the overhand bar. Some like the crank and foot- gear. Even though most of the churns run on ball bearings, a satisfactory method to make churn- ing easy is yet to be invented. Where much cream is made into butter on the farm, some power other than human muscle should be contrived and a combined churn and worker used. Endeavor to have proper dairy utensils, time and strength will be saved and more pleasure taken in doing the work. [173] FARM DAIRYING Farm Dairy EourpMENT FOR FROM FOUR TO E1cgHtT Cows Prices will vary in different localities, and according to quality. t No. 3 barrel churn ‘ , $ 7.00 1 Floating thermometer. g i25 1 Lever butter-worker ; é 4.50 2 Butter ladles or spades . ‘ .30 1 Butter printer for pound prints 25cto 2.50 1 Large strainer dipper. : .40 1 Large plain dipper : “ 125 1 Long-handled dairy brush ‘ ‘is 1 Small fibre brush. ; ‘ .20 1 Five-gallon covered cream can 5 1 Shotgun can s ‘ ; .60 1 Creamstirrer orladle . ; .20 2 Large pails (good uaa 14 qts.), each : 8 .60 2 Shallow tin pans. ; : .20 t Bottle butter color : ; 25 5 Yds. cheesecloth : ‘ 25 100 Lbs. dairy salt : : ‘ .50 1000 Parchment wrappers, printed . 2.50 240-lb Union scales : : 5 6.00 500-lb. Cream separator ‘ $55 to 75.00 [174] FARM DAIRYING Four-bottle tester, complete with glassware for testing milk : ; 5.00 Tester for testing milk and cream. 5.50 Acidimeter (not necessary) . 5 3.50 [175] CHAPTER XXXI CARE OF THE CHURN AND WOODEN UTENSILS Be ORE using, strain about one-third of a pail of hot water into the churn, to scald it and fill up the pores of the wood. Remove the plug after revolving the churn ‘once or twice, to allow the steam to escape, otherwise the steam may remove it without ceremony. After scalding, rinse with cold water, likewise strained. It is always advis- able to chill the churn and not put cream into a freshly scalded one. Chilling the churn closes the pores of the wood and prevents the cream from sticking; moreover, the varying heat of a warm churn makes the churning temperature uncertain. It is easier to keep specks out of a churn than to get them out; and water from the well or the kettle is likely to have specks or scale in it. By placing a piece of cheesecloth over the strainer dipper it is an easy matter to strain all water that goes into the churn. It is better and quicker to pour the water out of the churn than to let it run through the bunghole. Floating dust will not then cling to the sides of the churn. After using, the churn should be rinsed down [ 176] FARM DAIRYING with hot water, which should be allowed to run out as it is poured in; then thoroughly scalded with boiling water to which a little washing soda or other cleansing powder has been added. This should be followed by another rinsing of clear hot water. For the scald and last rinse the lid must be on and the churn revolved. Wipe well the outside, but do not touch the inside with a cloth. Rubbing the varnished part with an oiled cloth keeps it bright and new-looking. Never allow buttermilk or water to remain in the churn when not in use. Leave the plug out and the lid ajar, and keep in a cool place to prevent warping. The worker, spades, and butter printer may be prepared just before needed. With a fibre brush, a dipper of hot water, and a little salt, give them a good scouring and cool well with cold water. Using the brush and salt fills the pores of the wood more readily with water, and prevents the butter sticking to it. The brush and salt dimin- ish the need of a large quantity of hot and cold water. The salt also cleanses. After using the utensils remove any butter with hot water. Again scour with salt, rinse with hot water, and allow them to dry. Wipe only the var- nished part of the worker. It is nice to have [177] FARM DAIRYING squares of cotton to throw over the churn and worker when not in use. These keep the dust and flies from settling on them. Lime is used freely in Danish creameries and dairies to clean and sweeten wooden utensils, and is gaining favor in this country. After scrubbing the utensils with hot water, while the wood is yet warm, cover the surface with a thick lime-wash and let them stand for a while, then wash off well. It is not to be recommended every time of using, as it hardens the wood too much. Applied in the same way, lime has no superior for removing oil or grease from floors. If the churn be washed occasionally with lime water it will keep it from getting an offensive smell. Lime takes the place of washing soda. It cleanses better and is cheaper. Patrons of creameries are recommended to use it instead of soda in washing their milk vessels. [178] CHAPTER XXXII CARE AND RIPENING OF CREAM FOR CHURNING HILE collecting sufficient cream for a churning, it is best held in a good tin can, or for a small amount, a nice enamelled pail. A can is better than a crock. It is easier cleaned and scalded, and is lighter and handier to lift. A crock is liable to get broken or have the glazing CREAM CAN CREAM CREAM LADLE STIRRER chipped. It is very handy to have two cream cans. One may then be cleaned and well aired and the morning’s skimming put in it, while the other still holds the cream ready to be churned. [179] FARM DAIRYING The cream can should stand in the coolest place in the dairy or cellar, or in a tank of cold water in summer. In winter it may be kept in a room where the temperature ranges from 50° to 60°. The surrounding atmosphere should be clean and sweet. The can must always be covered, not nec- essarily air tight, though cream does not require ventilation. Have a long-handled ladle or tin stirrer which reaches to the bottom of the can, and stir the cream thoroughly, right from the bottom to the top each time fresh cream is added. The stirring motion should not be round and round, but up and down. A spoon or stick is a poor substitute for a proper stirrer or ladle. A cheap, convenient stirrer is made of a shallow tin saucer four inches across, with a heavy wire handle twenty inches long, well tinned and fastened in the centre of the saucer. WHAT THE RIPENING PROCESS IS The true souring of cream is caused by the lactic acid germs splitting up, or feeding on the milk sugar and forming lactic acid. This acid in turn acts on the lime which is associated with the casein in normal milk, and as a result we have the casein precipitated or coagulated, and we say the cream [ 180 } FARM DAIRYING is sour, for it has turned thick. The ripening process is one of decomposition, and if carried too far seriously injures the quality of the butter. The cream must be watched and the acid development checked, by lowering the temperature, if it is ripening too quickly. When cream is ripened at a high temperature, or held for too long a time, there is apt to be an excess of acid, giving an old cream flavor to the butter. Always err on having too little, rather than too much acid. SWEET versus SOUR CREAM I predict the time is not far distant when but little ripened-cream butter will be made for the high-class market. The better educated and more refined the consumer is, the more discriminating is the taste. The demand for good butter is con- stantly increasing, and the creamy, delicate flavor obtained from sweet cream is growing in favor and commanding the highest price. It is really less work to keep the cream sweet where ice is put up, than to ripen it. Some contend that the sweet cream does not churn as readily or as exhaustively. From years of careful experimenting with two portions of cream alike in every respect, save that one was sour { 181 ] FARM DAIRYING and the other sweet, I have found that five times out of six the sweet cream churned the quicker; but there was a slight difference in the weight of the butter — an average of not more than two ounces on seven pounds, in favor of the sour cream, which was due likely to less casein in the sweet-cream butter rather than to the slight in- crease in the loss of fat in the buttermilk. No fresh cream should be added within eight or ten hours of churning; and it is well to have the cream at churning temperature, preferably below it, for several hours previous to churning. This applies to sweet cream as well as to the sour. ADDING THE CULTURE When beginning to collect cream for a churn- ing, if it is to be ripened, add to your first skim- ming a culture which you know has a clean, pleas- ant acid flavor and smell. This culture may consist of a cup or two of the sour cream on hand for churning, or the same amount of good-flavored sour skim-milk. I do not advocate the use of buttermilk as a culture. It may be all right, or again it may not be. It has had several more chances of going wrong from being in the churn, pail, etc., so for these reasons I prefer the sour cream. The object in adding cul- [ 182 ] FARM DAIRYING ture is that the bacteria which you know produce a fine-flavored butter may take possession of the new cream, before other germs, which might prove objectionable, gain control of it. (See Chapter XXIX, Culture or Starter for Ripening Cream.) Another method of ripening cream is to hold it sweet, until twenty-four hours previous to churn- ing, then heat it to 65°, and add one pint of cul- ture to every gallon of cream; less culture may do. It is usual to add about ten per cent. When there is a slight acid on the cream, about .35 per cent, if it could be tested by the acidimeter, it should be cooled to churning temperature or lower, and held at that temperature over night. By morning it should be in right condition for churning. I prefer the first method outlined, as it is less labor, and if the cream be watched and the temperature low- ered if the acidity appears to be developing too rapidly, it should not become overripe. Cream from shallow pans usually has enough acid, without any culture being added. But but- ter made from it is not of such a uniform flavor. Cream from the deep setting cans, owing to its being held all the time at a low temperature and thus checking bacterial growth, produces butter of fine flavor and good texture. It may be neces- sary in winter to heat the cream from deep cans to [ 183 ] FARM DAIRYING 55° or 60° before adding it to the cream can in order to develop sufficient acid by the time a churning is collected. DEEP CREAM DAIRY THER- CAN MOMETER CARE OF SEPARATOR CREAM The advent of the separator into many farm homes has meant a lowering of the quality of the butter, due to deficient care of the machine and [ 184 ] FARM DAIRYING- the lack of proper cooling of the cream. Separator cream should have the foam well stirred in. If left on the top, it soon dries, is apt to take on a bad flavor and appears as white flakes when the butter is made. Separator cream must be quickly and thoroughly cooled. It is not sufficient that the vessel contain- ing it be put in a cool place. Cream parts slowly with its heat, and during the delayed cooling bacteria are rapidly multiplying. The cream should be placed in cold water and frequently stirred, so as to quickly bring it to 55” or 60° in winter, and from 50° to 55° in summer. Under no conditions should the warm separator cream be added to the cream can. To get the best results, rapid cooling of the cream is an absolute necessity, but as soon as cooled it may be added to the cream can AN IDEAL CREAM Cream ready for churning should have a clean, pleasant, slightly sour taste and smell; should: be of the consistency of molasses, and when poured: be free from lumps and have a smooth, glossy appearance. It should have from .5 to .55 per cent acid, and from 24 to 28 per cent fat, if churned in a barrel churn. Cream of this richness yields about three pounds of butter per gallon. [ 185 ] CHAPTER XXXIII BUTTER-MAKING «« Bread is the staff of life, but bread and butter isa gold- headed cane.’’ XAMINE the cream and take the tempera- ture. If too cold it must be heated. It is a bad plan to bring the cream into a warm place to stand over night. It may be already quite sour, and during the long, slow heating process it is de- veloping more acid and deteriorating in quality. Nor should it stand on or near the stove. One portion of the cream is sure to become overheated, the fat melts, and the curd toughens and appears later in the butter as white specks. The proper method of heating cream is to set the can in a vessel of warm water at a temperature of about 120 degrees. Stir the cream constantly, watching the thermometer, and when it is within one or two degrees of the required heat lift it from the water; the heat in the can will usually bring the cream to the desired temperature. This takes only a few minutes, and is the surest and best way. The necessity for the constant use of a reliable thermometer must be emphasized. The finger, [ 186 ] FARM DAIRYING as a thermometer, is not the least bit of good. I might say here, in buying a thermometer have sev- eral placed in a glass of water at about 60° and take one which gives a medium reading. Suppose they read 61°, 59°, 57°. I would prick the 59° as likely to be the most correct. Cheap thermo- meters are often quite inaccurate. TEMPERATURE FOR CHURNING No definite temperature for churning can be given. That is ascertained only by studying vary- ing conditions and noting the temperature and time of previous churnings. Many conditions influence the churning tempera- ture for cream: 1. The per cent of fat in the cream. 2. Quantity of cream in the churn. 3. The feed, breed, and individuality of the cows. 4. The length of time the cows have been milking. 5. The temperature of the room. 6. The make and speed of the churn. 7. Whether the cream be pasteurized or raw, ripe or sweet. Aim to make conditions under your control fav- orable to a low churning temperature. It insures [ 187 ] FARM DAIRYING better butter and a more exhaustive churning. With right conditions a temperature which brings butter in from twenty to thirty minutes is correct. A range of temperatures from 54° to 58° for summer, and from 56° to 64° for winter, meets usual conditions. The cream should always be strained into the churn through a fine wire sieve or a dipper with a perforated tin bottom. If the following dimen- sions were given to a good tinsmith he should make an extra nice strainer-dipper for fifty cents: 9 inches across the top; 7 inches across the bot- tom; 6 inches deep. The bottom should be of strong perforated tin (the perforations one- sixteenth of an inch across), and should have a rim around it. A strong flat handle 10 inches long, and a small piece of double tin, or strong wire loop, at the opposite side to act as a lip to keep the dipper from sliding into the churn, com- plete the dipper. A dipper of similar size, with a tin or copper bottom, is most useful in the dairy or the kitchen. Never have the churn over half full, and it is better to start with less in it. THE BUTTER COLOR When necessary add just sufficient butter color of a reliable brand to give the butter a clear yel- [ 188 ] A DAIRY CLASS AT THE ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AUTHOR AT LEFT SIDE FARM DAIRYING low tint. Pure coloring is made from the pulp enclosing the seeds of the arnotto tree, and is harmless. ‘The amount required will depend on the quantity and richness of the cream, the natural color of the milk-fat, the strength of the color, and the requirement of the market. Do not depend on pouring in the coloring, but for a small churning count the drops into a spoon previously wet with the cream to prevent the col- loring sticking to it. From two to four drops per pound of butter is sufficient. It is not neces- sary to stir the coloring in, just rinse off the spoon in the cream, and put on the lid. THE SPEED OF THE CHURN The revolutions of the churn depend on the amount and richness of the cream. The poorer the cream and the less of it, the greater the speed. Churn just as fast as you can so long as the cream drops. If the revolutions are too fast, the cream remains stationary in the churn and no concussion takes place. The greater the speed and the far- ther the drop of the cream inside the churn, the greater will be the force applied to the fat globules, and the more quickly they will mass together and form butter. Just before the separation of the fat from the milk serum, the cream thickens and [ 189 ] FARM DAIRYING takes longer to drop. The speed should be slackened at this point. After the butter breaks, keep up the speed and watch the sight glass, to see how the butter is gathering. If the gathering process is coming on quickly, add a couple of quarts of water several degrees lower than the cream. We often have the water very cold, if the churning has been too quick. This water retards the gathering, lessens the likelihood of over-churning, and gives a more exhaustive churning. If conditions are normal the water may be ad- ded just before the churning is completed, revolv- ing the churn rather rapidly after it has been added. The water thins the buttermilk. This gives the butter a better chance to float and the buttermilk runs off more freely. WHEN TO DRAW THE BUTTERMILK When the butter is the size of wheat grains it is sufficiently gathered. Look frequently at the inside of the churn lid. When no tiny specks of butter, and only a few large ones, are seen on it, the churning is usually finished. Other signs are: the butter standing out well on top of the butter- milk with foam bubbles over it, and when no particles of butter come with the first drawn [ 190 ] FARM DAIRYING buttermilk. These are noticed if the buttermilk is allowed to run through the strainer dipper placed over the pail for catching the buttermilk. Any butter which may escape with the last-drawn buttermilk, is caught in the dipper and returned to the churn. Make a drain through the butter to the bung hole, and rinse the butter with a little of the wash water. This makes the washing more effective, as it carries off a great deal of the buttermilk. An exhaustive churning should not leave over .2 per cent fat in the buttermilk. There are many good reasons for having the butter in granular form, rather than in large lumps, when finished churning. 1. There is no extra loss of fat. 2. The buttermilk can drain away better, and may be more thoroughly washed out, as so much of it is not encased in the butter. 3. All portions of the butter are equally chilled with the wash water. 4. The salt may be more evenly distributed. - WASHING THE BUTTER Temper the wash water in winter, having it from 50° to 56°, according to the condition of the butter and the temperature of the room. In [191 ] FARM DAIRYING hot weather the wash water may be as cold as possible. The water must be pure, or it will spoil the butter. Use as much water as there was cream, and strain it into the churn through two thicknesses of cheesecloth. Immediately revolve the churn rap- idly about a dozen times, then draw off the water, letting it run through the strainer dipper to arrest particles of butter. The more butter is washed the more it is robbed of its flavor. Good butter should be washed but once. If the butter has an objectionable flavor, or has come soft, or is to be packed for winter use, it should then get two washings. Should the only water available not be cold, a cup or two of salt added to it slightly lowers the temperature, and helps to draw the buttermilk from the butter. SALTING THE BUTTER Salt in butter is a personal taste and the amount to use should be determined by the consumer, rather than by the producer. Give the customer what he desires, only try to guide his taste toward light rather than heavy salting. It is a positive shame to hide completely the delightful, delicate [ 192 ] FARM DAIRYING flavor of fine butter by an excess of salt. Use nothing but the best dairy salt; buy it in quantities and keep it in a clean, dry place. Salt absorbs odors and can become unfit for use. Very cold salt is apt to remain undissolved in the butter and may also cause uneven color. If the butter is for immediate use and is salted on the worker, three-quarters of an ounce per pound of butter is usually sufficient. If you salt it in the churn, use an ounce, as not so much is in- corporated into the butter. For the high-class trade this would be too heavy salting. This trade calls for three things, light color, delicate flavor, little salt. I strongly recommend salting in the churn. By so doing butter free from streaks can be had with the least possible amount of. working. The only difficulty is in gauging the amount of butter in the churn. Where the supply of cream is from the same source the weight of butter may be estimated from the previous churning. If the weight of the cream and its percentage of fat are known, mul- tiply these two together and divide by 84. This will give the pounds of butter. Do not guess at the amount of salt. Weigh or measure it. A rounding tablespoonful equals an ounce. The butter should be in fine granular form, and [ 193 ], FARM DAIRYING salted immediately after the removal of the wash water. Often the butter is mottled and the salt undissolved on account of the butter being too dry from allowing it to drain too long before salting. Have the butter evenly spread over the bottom of the churn. Sift on part of the salt. Tilt the churn WOODEN FORK FOR MIXING IN SALT AND REMOVING BUTTER FROM CHURN forward to cause the butter to lap over; sift on more salt, then tilt the churn backward and put on the remainder of the salt. For a large churn a strong, large wooden fork is convenient to mix the salt in and also to take the butter from the churn. After salting, put on the lid and very slowly re- volve the churn, until the butter forms in several lumps. If too firm, it will be slow at gathering, and the lumps will be small. If too soft it will quickly gather into one large lump. The butter may now be taken out and immediately worked, [ 194] FARM DAIRYING but it is much better for it to stand for an hour or two in the covered churn, to allow the salt time to dissolve, then give it one good working. Do not allow it to become too hard or too soft during the waiting interval. If salting on the worker, take the butter from the churn, weigh it, and allow three-quarters of an ounce of salt per pound of butter. Spread the butter evenly over the wide end of the worker; sift the salt on evenly; fold the butter over the salt and begin working. WORKING THE BUTTER For the farm dairy there is nothing nicer than the V-shaped lever butter-worker. It is not ex- pensive and is a great saver of time and strength, besides preserving the grain of the butter. A person handy with tools can make a better butter- worker than is turned out from a factory. Begin working the butter in the centre of the worker and then work from side to side, slightly turning the pole over by a wrist movement. Work by pressure only, avoiding a sliding motion, as this makes a greasy, salvy butter. When the butter is levelled over the worker, with the spade toss a little of it back from the left side to get the pole down on the board. Revolve the pole from the [ 195 ] FARM DAIRYING butter, and it causes the butter to fold over and form a large roll. Press the pole well into the butter at the right-hand ledge and with a quick BUTTER-WORKER movement make the pole bring the butter from the side. Shift the roll of butter lengthwise across the worker and begin again in the centre. From seven to ten times working in this manner is suf- [ 196 ] FARM DAIRYING ficient. The butter receives but one working. When using the butter bowl and ladle, do not rub the butter, but rather press the ladle down into it. For a small amount of butter a clean bake-board and rolling pin may be used to work the butter, until something better is procured, but do not roll the butter, only press it. Butter should be worked just enough to expel the excessive moisture and thoroughly distribute the salt. Any portion not reached by salt will be light in color. Usually the butter is worked suf- ficiently when a piece being cut and pressed be- BUTTER SPADE tween the spade and the worker, the heads or drops of moisture come out very fine, not in large drops or running away from the butter in streams. Better too much working than not enough. If the butter is very soft or very hard, work it but slightly. Allow it to stand, and when at the ‘proper firmness give it a second working. Butter worked when very soft is apt to be streaky in color. Butter worked when very cold may de- velop mottles. [ 197 ] FARM DAIRYING PRINTING AND WRAPPING THE BUTTER The brick-shaped pound-printer is the most pop- ular form in which to market local butter. Make the surface of the butter level and press the printer POUND BUTTER PRINTER down into the butter until the mould is well filled. Cut with a butter spade the surplus butter from the bottom. In taking the butter from the printer, place the thumbs on top of the handle and the fingers under the ledge at the ends, and pull up, but do not press down hard. Pressing down bulges the print of butter at the sides. Wrap the print neatly in good parchment paper which has been previously wet in clear, cold water. Good paper should be clear in color, fairly heavy, [ 198 ] FARM DAIRYING and tougher when wet than dry. It is the right thing to have printed on the paper the name of the farm, or the maker; but it must be done with the proper ink, or it stains the butter. This trade mark is often the means of securing a choice trade. A little printer’s ink used in the right place brings in good interest. Have on hand some plain paper, in case a churning is below standard. Sell it for what it is worth, but risk not your reputation by putting inferior butter up in your printed wrap- pers. Be sure the print of butter weighs at least six- teen and a quarter ounces, when freshly wrapped in the wet paper. At each churning it is well to weigh a print. A slight allowance must always be made for evaporation. Keep the butter in a place where the atmos- phere is cool, clean, and not too dry. If the place is dry, the moisture rapidly evaporates, lessening the weight and bringing the salt to the surface, where it crystallizes and gives the butter a poor appearance. MARKETING Get the butter, after it has firmed, as soon as possible to the consumer. Butter quickly loses its delicate, fine flavor. It always pays to cater [ 199] FARM DAIRYING to the best trade. Such people are willing to give more for butter of extra quality, and when they become used to a certain choice flavor they will take no other brand. It is well to note that the s \ | | i FITTED WITH ICE CHAMBER AND BUTTER TRAYS memory of quality lasts long after the price is for- gotten. Endeavor to fill your orders, even at great inconvenience to yourself. [ 200 ] FARM DAIRYING In summer many town customers prefer getting their butter in five-pound stone jars or crocks, as they are handy to keep in a refrigerator, and the butter stands transportation from the farm to the customer better than when in prints, especially if it has to be taken a long distance in the heat. BRINE FOR KEEPING BUTTER If one has on hand quite an amount of butter in rolls or prints for home use, it will keep much better if put in a strong brine. Use a cup of salt to two quarts of boiling water. When the brine is cold put the butter in it in a crock, and put a plate on top to weight the butter down. AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF BUTTER Fat : , 84 per cent Casein. ; as Salt : j Oe Water. ; i ‘ Total ‘ : 100 “ & [ 201 ] CHAPTER XXXIV DIFFICULTIES IN CHURNING — CAUSES AND REMEDIES ¢« Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.’’ LMOST all the difficulties met with in the dairy can be avoided by wisdom and care; but as they do come, it is expedient to know how to meet them. The causes of cream not churning within a reasonable time are various: 1. Too much cream in the churn. If it swells and nearly fills the churn, concussion practically ceases. Remedy: Take out half the cream and make two churnings. It will save time, butter, and patience. A person is almost a saint who can be good-natured at the end of three hours’ hard churning. Never fill the churn over half full. 2. Cream too poor in fat. Where there is a large amount of skim-milk in the cream, the fat globules do not have the same concussion or chance of coming in contact and massing together. Such cream requires a high churning temperature to soften the globules, so that with the lessened force and contact they may adhere to each other. Rem- edy: If the temperature has been low at starting, [ 202 ] FARM DAIRYING and if after churning over half an hour there is no sign of butter, pour the greater portion of the cream out into a can or pail, and set it in a vessel of warm water, stir constantly and raise the tem- perature of the cream eight or ten degrees and return it to the churn. This takes but a few min- utes. Never add hot water directly to the cream. It melts the fat, curdles the casein, and produces a pale-colored, weak-bodied butter with white specks of curd through it. If this poor cream comes from pans or deep cans, allow the milk to stand longer before skim- ming and remove the cream more carefully. If from a separator, adjust the screw to take a richer cream, and be careful no water or skim-milk runs into the cream can. Remember that cream poor in fat always means a serious loss of butter in the buttermilk. 3. Sometimes:the butter breaks, but will not gather. It remains like fine hay seed or rounds up like small shot. This is due to one or more of four causes: cream poor in fat; cream cold; cows getting nothing but dry food; cows milking a long time. The fat globules in strippers’ milk are small and of a hard tallowy nature, making a high churn- ing temperature necessary. Sometimes there is [ 203 ] FARM DAIRYING present in such milk, a viscous substance which prevents the massing of the globules. I have known many people to lose churning after churn- ing from this cause. To scald such cream while it is sweet (heat it to 185°), and then cool, is a wonderful help in churning it. A fresh cow coming into the herd has a marked effect in improving the churnability of the rest of the cream. The dry condensed feed of winter produces but- ter fat which has a melting point several degrees higher than the fat produced from the succulent green food of summer. This accounts for the nec- essarily higher churning temperature in winter. A judicious selection of foods materially helps the churning. Cotton-seed cake, hay, and straw, tend to harden butter. Linseed cake, silage, and roots have the opposite effect, and make churning easier. Remedy: If there is no sign of the butter gather- ing after breaking, when you have churned for five minutes slowly, or when, on looking at the lid, the granules appear to be rounding up, to churn longer, without doing something, is useless. Add two or three quarts of water several degrees warmer than the cream. The water dilutes the buttermilk and causes a better separation of the butter. Revolve the churn a few times, let stand [ 204] INOQUETTE, A FRENCH CANADIAN COW FARM DAIRYING a little while, then draw off about half of the but- termilk, straining it through a fine sieve or strainer to catch any particles of butter. The liquid thus reduced, and the churning continued, the butter should soon gather into the required-sized gran- ules. In cases of very poor cream, it may be necessary to reduce the buttermilk further. 4. Churning in a cold room will lower the tem- perature sufficiently to retard the coming of the butter. Remedy: Warm the cream as before de- scribed. Start with the cream warmer than usual under such conditions. 5. Very rich cream will thicken, or “go to sleep”’ in the churn, and concussion ceases, or nearly so. Remedy: All that is necessary is to add water or skim-milk at churning temperature or a little lower to thin the cream, so that it can again fall in the churn. 6. The very slow revolving of the churn causes unnecessary delay in having the butter come. Remedy: Churn as fast as you can, so long as you allow time for the cream to drop. The greater the speed, the greater the force exerted on the fat globules. 7. Occasionally cream foams badly, almost filling the churn. Such cream is usually poor, cold, and has present a gas-producing ferment. Rem- [ 205 ] FARM DAIRYING edy: Sometimes a handful or two of salt and a little water at 70° or 80°, settles the foam. If this does not do, remove part of the cream and raise the temperature about ten degrees. In very stubborn cases, as a last resort I have added al- most as much water at about 70° as I had cream, revolved the churn a few times, let stand several minutes, then drew off most of the liquid and after churning a short time have succeeded in getting butter. I have known cream to run over the cream crock like yeast. A yeast germ or some other gas- producing organism was at work. In such a case, pasteurize the sweet cream, and thoroughly dis- infect everything which comes in contact with the milk or cream. 8. In rare cases in summer I have had churn- ings where the butter would not come, and on ex- amining the lid of the churn, I could see minute, shiny specks of oil, as if the butter fat were in a liquid form. Remedy: Adding several quarts of ice-cold water has brought the butter in nice granu- lar form. This difficulty is more likely to occur when the cows are on very soft, watery pasture. Rank green clover often makes difficult churnings for the same reason—lack of “body” in the milk-fat. g. When the butter color has been forgotten, [ 206 } FARM DAIRYING I have heard ‘“‘ Oh, my! I did n’t put in the butter color.” The mistake can be rectified, but it means more work. Weigh the salt required for the butter, and drop over it the same amount of color as should have been added to the cream. With a thin-bladed knife thoroughly mix the color into the salt and sift it over the butter. Pro- ceed with the working as usual. The butter will seem in a hopeless condition. Allow it to stand for a while, then carefully work it until all the streaks of color disappear. I have added the butter color in this way and the butter scored full for color. [ 207 ] CHAPTER XXXV : DEFECTS IN BUTTER pees streaks or waves are due to the pres- ence of buttermilk and an uneven distribution of the salt. Salt brightens the color, and where it does not reach, the butter is paler. This defect often results when the butter is soft and the work- ing stopped before the salt is well distributed. It is better to overwork the butter than have the color uneven. Mottles are usually caused by washing the but- ter with too cold water and chilling the outside surface of the granules, or working it when very firm. There are portions of the butter in such cases that are not reached by the salt, and this causes the mottled appearance. Undissolved salt results from not enough mois- ture in the butter to dissolve it, or using very coarse salt, or having it very cold, and the butter firm. Greasy, poor texture comes from churning at a high temperature, washing with too warm water, over-working, or working with a sliding motion. White specks are particles of hardened curd, caused by having the cream too warm, too sour, or not frequently and thoroughly stirred while [ 208 J FARM DAIRYING ripening. Scrapings of dried cream, or the crust on unstirred cream, due to evaporation, may cause white flakes in the butter. Leaky, water-logged butter is over-charged with moisture from high temperature in churning and washing, gathering the butter into lumps in the wash water, and giving it but the minimum amount of working. The maximum amount of water allowed by law is 16 per cent. Butter usually has from 12 to 15 per cent. Off flavors in butter may be traced to decayed or muddy food, — weeds, turnips, etc., over-ripe cream, impure water, absorption of odors from the atmosphere in the stable or cellar or kitchen, contamination by dirt, sick cows, cows long in milk, or keeping butter at too high a temperature or in unsanitary surroundings. [ 209 ] CHAPTER XXXVI PACKING BUTTER N@ much butter, at the present time, is put down for winter use. When the price gets low in summer and the milk supply in winter is scarce, it is using foresight to pack a crock or two of butter. June and September are the best months for making butter for winter use. I prefer September, when the cows are on the aftermath and the extreme heat is past. -Extra care should be taken in handling the milk and ripening the cream, so as to have a good clean flavor to begin with. Pasteurizing the cream adds to the keeping qualities of the butter. Wash the butter twice and salt one ounce to the pound if salting on the worker; or one and a quarter ounces in the churn. It is better to either give it two workings, or al- low it to stand in the churn, after salting, for two hours, and then give it a good working. Pack a clean, well-glazed crock, which has been scalded two or three times with boiling salt water. If a new or old wooden firkin be used, be sure to treat it in the same manner. A firkin should not leak. Put the butter in in small pieces, pounding [ 210 ] FARM DAIRYING from the centre toward the outside so as to have no holes or air spaces. A wooden potato-masher answers as a pounder. Fill to within half an inch of the top. Level off neatly. Cover with parchment paper or cotton, then a layer of salt moistened with water to form a paste. Put on the cover and tie down with several thicknesses of clean paper. Keep in a cool, clean place, where the tempera- ture does not vary. The great secret of keeping butter is to have it good at first and keep it cold. When the weather gets to freezing point, take the butter from the cellar, and put it where it will freeze. The crock will not crack. When using the butter, take out a pound or two at a time, leaving the crock in the cold. PRESERVATIVES IN BUTTER The commercial and the more common kinds of preservatives for butter, have been extensively experimented with at our agricultural colleges and creameries, and the conclusion reached is that pure powdered common borax gives as good results as the more expensive commercial preservatives. The quantity to use should not be more than from one-quarter to one-half of one per cent. That would be from one to two ounces of borax to [ 211 ] FARM DAIRYING twenty-five pounds of butter. Mix it thoroughly with the salt, and sift the salt on the butter as usual. Borax in such small quantities is quite harmless, and adds to the keeping qualities of the butter. However, its use is to be recommended only where butter is to be kept for several months, and where the temperature is not under control. [212] CHAPTER XXXVII BUTTER FOR EXHIBITION HE exhibitor, if possible, should see person- ally to the care of the cows and the food they get. Fresh grass, sweet green corn, bran, oats, and a little cotton-seed cake would make a good ration to secure sweet-flavored, good-textured butter. Pasteurize at 160° if there be any fear of off flavors. : If the cream is ripened, have the acid in it mild, not more than .5 per cent acid. Churn at a rather lower temperature than usual to ensure a firm granule. Avoid high coloring.. Salt at the rate of not more than three-quarters of an ounce per pound, weighing the butter and salting on the worker to ensure careful work. Work slightly, and allow it to stand two or three hours where the butter will neither get too hard nor too soft, then give it another working. This should give an even color, which cannot be guaranteed with one working. Judges score down heavily for streaks or mottles. Save out a print and examine it yourself. Have the prints without hole or blemish. Let - [213] FARM DAIRYING them stand to firm for a while, before wrapping neatly in the wet parchment paper. Place them in a refrigerator, or in a box surrounded by ice, and let them get chilled through and through, and see that they reach the exhibition in the same condition. These little points observed or neglected often win or lose a valuable prize, to say nothing of the honor. Many times there are not over one or two points difference between the first and third prizes, but there may be many dollars’ difference in the awards. Butter in crocks may have slightly more salt, but not necessarily so. Never fill the crock more than within half. an inch of the top. Cover with a circle of cotton or parchment paper, and omit the layer of salt. Make exhibition butter at least two days before it is to be judged. This gives time for a develop- ing of flavor, an evening of color, and a firming of texture. After doing your very best to secure first place, graciously abide by the decision of the judge, if you fail. Judges try to work by an established standard, putting personal taste aside, and en- deavor to do their work conscientiously. It is no easy task, as I know from a long experience, to [ 214] FARM DAIRYING place score cards on numberless entries of butter, nearly all of excellent quality. QUALITIES OF GOOD BUTTER: HOW IT IS JUDGED It is well to know what a judge looks for in a No. 1 butter, and work up to his requirements. Judges now almost universally use a score card, and the marks are approximately as follows: Flavor ‘ j ‘ 50 Texture or Grain . ‘ 20 Color . ; ‘ i 15 Salt ; ‘ 5 é 10 Package ‘ 4 z 5 Total . i ‘ é 100 In judging, to get a representative sample of the butter, a trier is used, which when inserted into the butter, and given a half turn round and then BUTTER AND CHEESE TRYER withdrawn, brings with it a plug of butter half an inch thick and about four inches long. Still longer triers may be used for tubs and boxes. This plug reveals defects in aroma, flavor, color, [215] FARM DAIRYING moisture, and grain, which might escape the notice of the judge if he merely cut a piece from the surface of the butter with a penknife. The paramount consideration, both of the judge and the purchaser of the butter, is flavor. Of the five qualities considered, one-half of the 100 points are given to flavor. Fine workmanship is at a discount if the good taste be lacking. Butter of delicate, pure creamy aroma and flavor, the re- sult of little acid in well cared for, good cream, is growing in favor and scoring highest. The grain, body, or texture of butter should be waxy, breaking off like steel — firm, yet easily spread, not having a greasy, oily feel and taste, nor melting too readily on the tongue. The mois- ture should be free from buttermilk, finely dis- tributed, and not excessive. The color, a clear, bright, straw yellow, pale rather than high, free from streaks or mottles or specks. Evenness, more than shade, of color is considered. Salt moderate and all dissolved. The package neat and pleasing to the eye. [ 216] CHAPTER XXXVIII THE RETAIL MILK TRADE — THE PRODUCERS’ AND CONSUMERS’ RESPONSIBILITIES HERE is no more remunerative method of dis- posing of milk and cream from the farm than supplying the retail trade. At the present time there are few businesses which, if viewed in the proper light, present such a serious aspect. Milk is almost the sole food of the infant man the first year or two of his life. He depends en- tirely on it during his frailest and most helpless period. A great number of babies have to de- pend solely on cows’ milk for their nourishment. The purity of the milk has a marked influence on the health of the child. Milk laden with bacteria is always more or less unwholesome, and may to infants be actually and actively poisonous, giving rise to vomiting, diarrhoea, and gastro-intestinal disturbances. I would not unduly alarm, but to read statistics of the mortality of infants, and to see the great number of deaths said to be directly attributed to bad milk, makes one shudder at what is going on. It appears like murder without in- tent. These conditions exist most in large cities [217] FARM DAIRYING where the milk is shipped from all quarters for great distances. When a farmer sends off a can of milk, he has no idea into what homes it finds its way. Some is likely to go to feed a tiny baby; some, the very sick; and some, the enfeebled aged; all with weak digestion and low vitality, all depending on the milk to strengthen and build them up. The man who supplies a city or town milk trade should think of these things, should think of the lives he really holds in his keeping. Dirty, bad milk causes death; clean, good milk is the life giv- ing fluid which brings health and strength. The cow has little to answer for personally in regard to bad milk. There are but two things necessary to keep the milk pure and sweet. Keep the milk clean, then the bacterial content will be low. Quickly cool the milk and keep it cold and the bacteria which are in it will cease to develop. Pasteurization is rec- ommended, but where the other two requirements are rigidly enforced, it is not necessary; besides, pasteurized milk does not agree with every one. In some Provinces and States there is legislation regarding the percentage of fat and total solids in milk. Vastly more important is it that a cer- tain standard of purity be enforced. There is no [ 218 ] STYLES OF MILKING STOOLS THE ROSE TWINS FOR THE DEAR CHILDREN’S SAKE MILK SHOULD BE PURE FARM DAIRYING more vital food problem than that of the milk supply. Some go so far as to say that dairy farms should be under municipal management just the same as the water system. Every detail of the milk trade would then be under special inspection, which should result in supplying purer milk and lowering the death rate among infants. The ideal method for preparing milk for retail is, first, to have the milk of best quality. Take it to the milk-room separate from the stable, and immediately cool it to 45°. Then bottle in steril- ized bottles and seal the tops with paraffined paper caps. It should be shipped as soon as pos- sible, either packed in ice or in refrigerator cars. Milk should reach the consumer not later than twenty-four hours after it is drawn. When we see oysters, ice cream, etc., carried in paper pails, the paper milk bottle may come into use in the near future. It certainly would do away with the dread of badly washed glass bottles. . As bacteria lurk in the crevices of imperfectly cleaned vessels, all pails and cans in which milk is placed should be thoroughly cleaned and scalded. It is most important that there be no hidden nooks and corners in the tinware. Blind seams and crevices are breeding-places for the worst forms [219] FARM DAIRYING of germ life. A liberal use of solder renders the inside of pails, cans, dippers, and strainers per- fectly smooth and cleanable. Not until we get the consumers roused to the importance of clean milk, will conditions greatly improve. To most of them milk is milk, and that is the beginning and end of it. They should be concerned about its source. Are the cows healthy? Is the milking done in a cleanly manner? Is there any contagious disease among the attendants? These are questions about which the housewife should concern herself. When milk is guaranteed pure, it usually commands a higher price: extra precaution entails extra expense. The milk often becomes bad after it is received from the milkman, because it is not properly cared for in the home. Too frequently the milk is put into a jug or pail which has only been rinsed since being emptied of milk. All milk vessels must be scalded. Another bad practice is allowing the milk to stand on the kitchen table or in some other warm place. The milk should be covered and kept in a cool, clean place. It is a good plan to place a square of clean, wet cotton over the milk pitcher. In warm weather, when souring is feared, it is a Wise precaution to heat it to 185° and quickly [ 220 ] FARM DAIRYING coolit. Danger from disease germs also is averted by doing this. The souring of milk during a thunderstorm is due, not to the thunder, but to the warm, sultry weather preceding the storm, making conditions favorable to the rapid growth of bacteria. Do not place a bowl or jug on the door-step for the milkman to fill. The dust falling into it may be sufficient to spoil the milk, [ 221] CHAPTER XXXIX THE RETAIL CREAM TRADE— HOW TO STANDARDIZE MILK AND CREAM REAM for retail should receive the same care as has been already described for milk. Cream is generally sold by the quart or gallon, and should be of a stipulated per cent of fat. Com- mercial or single cream usually contains from 20 to 25 per cent fat. Double cream 40 per cent. It takes three and one-third pints of 20 per cent cream to make a pound of butter. By comparing the price obtained for cream with that for but- ter, one can ascertain which is the better way of disposing of the cream. Practically speaking, 100 pounds of 4 per cent milk will make 20 pounds (2 gallons) of 20 per cent cream. Prof. R. A. Pearson’s simple method for bring- ing cream or milk of any percentage of fat to a desired percentage of fat may be useful: Draw a square and join the corners with two cross lines. Put the desired per cent fat in the centre, and the per cent already in the cream at the upper left-hand corner, and the per cent of fat in the milk or cream (or it may be skim-milk with no fat) in the lower corner. Subtract the smaller { 222 ] FARM DAIRYING numbers from the larger, and put the difference in the opposite corners, and the mixing will have to be in that proportion. Example: What proportion of 4 per cent milk would you add to 35 per cent cream to reduce it to a 20 per cent cream? 35% 16 pounds of 35 per cent cream 204 added to 4% 1§ pounds of 4 per cent—zo per cent mixture. Therefore the two are mixed in the proportion of 16 parts cream to 15 parts milk; or to every pound of 35 per cent cream you would add fifteen- sixteenths of a pound of 4 per cent milk. This works true with any percentage. VISCOGEN, SUCRATE OF LIME, OR CREAM THICKENER The purpose of viscogen is to restore to pas- teurized cream its normal consistency. The pas- [ 223 ] FARM DAIRYING teurizing process makes rich cream very thin in appearance. This thinness is apt to deceive the consumer as to the richness of the cream, and its natural thickness may be restored by adding a small quantity of viscogen. This substance is per- fectly harmless, and does not change the taste of the cream if too much be not added. Viscogen may be made as follows: Take one pint of sugar to two pints of water; boil into a syrup. Make a separate mixture of one pint of clean fresh lime and three pints of water. Mix the syrup and the lime solution thoroughly together by shaking well in a bottle. Give an occasional shake. The next day pour off the clear liquid and store in clean bottles. Keep well corked. Use one ounce, or two tablespoonfuls, to one gallon of cream. A teaspoonful of viscogen added to the cream pitcher improves the cream for strawberries, etc. [ 224 ] CHAPTER XL MILK PRESERVATIVES T is a crime to add to the milk or cream any preservative. There are few, if any, that are not injurious, and many are really poisonous. Agents will sell a powder or solution which, if used to rinse the cans, will prevent the milk from souring. Surely such an argument should arouse suspicion. These so-called remedies have been known to contain enough formaldehyde (a poison) to be dangerously harmful. The farmer may add a little preservative say-. ing, ‘This pinch cannot do any harm.” The wholesale man, not knowing what has already been done, adds his small portion; and the re- tail dealer, who runs the greatest risk of the milk souring, puts in an extra dose. No one is able to sum up the sad results. When ordinary milk does not sour under usual conditions within a reasonable time, there is some- thing wrong. More attention is each year being given to the retail milk trade. Legislative sanitary inspection of the milk, cows, and stables, and the establish- [225] FARM DAIRYING ing of pure-milk depots to supply milk for infants especially, are lessening the evils. Milk produced under the best of conditions, cooled immediately, and bottled, has been kept sweet for eighteen days in the heat of summer. The milk was not pasteurized. Cleanliness and prompt cooling were the only preservatives. We can recommend no others. [ 226 ]' CHAPTER XLI MILK DEFINITIONS TANDARD Milk is milk which conforms to certain requirements which usually specify the minimum per cent of fat, and solids-not-fat, and sometimes the maximum number of bacteria per cubic centimetre allowable in milk offered for sale. The amounts required or permitted differ in dif- ferent countries. Sanitary Milk, Guaranteed Milk, are terms ap- plied to milk produced under conditions necessary to secure a pure, wholesome product. Certified Milk is milk produced under ideal con- ditions,— healthy cows, especially adapted sani- tary stables, healthy clean milkers. The milk is: bottled, sealed, and shipped in refrigerator cars, and certified to by a. commission. Modified Milk, or Humanized Milk, is milk containing definite proportions of fat, sugar, casein, etc., put up usually according to the prescription of a physician, who indicates how much of these different constituents is required. Clarified Milk is milk which has been run through a separator to remove some of the im- [ 227 ] FARM DAIRYING purities. The skim-milk and cream are after- wards mixed. Pasteurized Milk or Cream is milk or cream which has been heated below the boiling point, but sufficiently to kill most of the active organisms present, and immediately cooled to 50° or below. Pasteurizing temperatures range from 140° to 185°. Sterilized Milk is milk that has been heated to the temperature of boiling water (212°) or higher for a length of time sufficient to kill all organisms present. Condensed or Evaporated Milk is milk from which a considerable portion of water has been evaporated. The sweetened brands contain a high percentage of cane sugar. Peptonized Milk is milk to which some pepsin has been added in order to make the milk more easily digested. Electrified Milk is treated by a current of electricity for the purpose of destroying bacteria. Malted Milk is milk that has been pasteurized to destroy the bacteria, then partly condensed, and a small quantity of malt added. Milk Powder is obtained by evaporating the moisture from whole milk, partly skimmed milk, or skim-milk. The powder is used by confection- [ 228 ] FARM DAIRYING ers, certain manufacturers, surveying parties, and in such countries as the basin of the Yukon. Koumiss is the product made by the alcoholic fermentation of milk caused by adding yeast and sugar to it, CHAPTER XLII FARM CHEESE-MAKING « European countries there are many varieties of soft cheese made. These cheeses are gain- ing favor on this continent. Some of the varieties are easily made at home, and make a pleasant’ change. COTTAGE OR DUTCH CHEESE Let fresh milk stand in a warm clean place (100°) until the milk sours and the curd separates from the whey. Turn the curd into a coarse cot- ton bag or towel and hang to drain in a mod- erately cool place for twenty-four hours or until the curd is free from whey. Add salt and cream to suit the taste and mould with the hands into small balls, or press into a dish. Thick sour milk may be set over warm water until the whey separates. The water must not be too hot, or the curds will be hard and dry. Drain and prepare as already described. _ Cottage cheese may be eaten as it is, or with cream and sugar; with cream, pepper, and salt; or with stewed fruits. A good cottage cheese should have a soft, smooth texture, being neither [ 239 ] FARM DAIRYING mushy nor dry. The flavor should be that of mildly sour milk, with an entire absence of a bitter taste or objectionable flavors. DOUBLE-CREAM CHEESE This cheese is exceptionally rich in fat; is of a very smooth texture; and is delicious, spread on _crackers or eaten with bread. The cream may be sweet or very slightly sour. Heat to a temperature of 60° to 65°. To 20 pounds (2 gallons) of cream add one dram of rennet (a teaspoonful) diluted in a little water. Stir well. In about four hours the cream will have coagulated. Pour it into dry cloths placed over bowls. Then hang up to drain in a cool, draughty place. The cloths should be of close duck and should be dry. It is advisable not to put very much curd in one cloth, as it is liable to develop too much acid before draining is complete. In two or three hours open the cloth and scrape down the sides. Hang up again. Repeat the scraping at intervals of about three hours, till the cheese is firm enough to mould. The drain- ing may be hastened by scraping down more frequently. When the cheese is ready to mould it should be of a stiff, putty consistency, but not sticky. Salt [ 240 ] an 2 Wittit OZ, SOFT CHEESES, FINISHED AND IN PROCESS OF MAKING THE POWER OF PIONEER DAYS FARM DAIRYING is now added at the rate of one ounce of salt to four pounds of cheese. Work the salt in with a knife or spatula, and the cheese is ready to mould. The tin or mould for cream cheese is usually oblong in shape — 344 x134x2 inches. Line the mould with waxed butter-paper and press the cheese in with a knife or spatula. When full, fold over the ends of the paper and shake out the mould of cheese. The cheeses when moulded are ready for imme- diate use. If kept in a cool place they remain good for a week or two. Cream cheese contains about 31 per cent water, 63 per cent fat, 5 per cent proteids, 1 per cent ash. GERVAIS* This cheese resembles soft double-cream cheese but not so rich—similar to rich, smooth cottage cheese. Take 3 pints of fresh morning’s milk and 114 pints of cream of about .20 per cent fat. Heat it to 65°. Take eight drops of rennet, and if you have it, two drops of cheese color. Dilute these in a little cold water and stir very thoroughly into the milk. Cover over the dish and keep at as near 65° as possible. * Pronounced ger-va’. [ 241] FARM DAIRYING In about four hours, or when a nice, firm coagu- lation has taken place, wet a heavy linen hucka- back towel, place it over a dish, and carefully ladle out the curd. Gather up the four corners of the towel and tie rather loosely. Hang to drain. Two or three times during the day untie the towel and scrape down the curd to hasten the drainage. Next morning scrape down again and mix in a little salt. After a little while fill into a small mould, which has been lined with white blotting paper or writing paper. Use a thin-bladed knife to press the cheese inthe mould. After it is filled, slip out the cheese and use the mould again until all the curd is moulded. The usual-sized mould is 2 inches in diameter by 2% inches high. A round spice or baking-powder tin answers. The cheeses are fit for eating as soon as finished. They will keep for a week or more in a cool place. CAMBRIDGE CHEESE Heat 1 gallon of new milk in an enamelled pail or dish to 95°. Add to it 3 drops of cheese color and 15 drops of rennet mixed in a little cold water. Stir for five minutes. Let stand for five minutes. Then stir the surface a little to prevent the cream from rising; cover the pail with a cloth and leave it undisturbed. At the end of an hour or an hour [ 242 ] FARM DAIRYING BONDON CHEESE This cheese is made from a mixture of two- thirds sweet skim-milk and one-third good butter- milk. Mix together and keep at a temperature of about 80° until it thickens, then ladle into a huckaback towel. When well drained, open out and scrape down the curd. Tie up again and repeat the scraping occasionally until the curd is firm, then slightly salt and press into a bowl, or mould into small balls. A very cheap, highly nutritious food. [ 244 ] CHAPTER XLIV DAINTY AND POPULAR MILK, AND CREAM DISHES DEVONSHIRE CREAM, OR CLOTTED CREAM HIS cream is considered a rare treat with apple pie or any kind of cooked fruit. It is recommended by physicians as an excellent fatty food and might be freely used, in place of cod- liver oil, by many invalids. It contains from 50 to 60 per cent of fat in a finely emulsified condi- tion, rendering it easy of digestion. To make this cream, strain new milk into a large shallow pan to the depth of four or five inches. Let stand in a cool place undisturbed twelve hours in summer and twenty-four in winter. Then carefully place the pan over a pot of hot water, or on the back of the stove. When the cream forms a ring around the pan, and is wrinkled on the top, it is done. The heating should take at least half an hour and the temperature should be up to 180° in order to develop the desired scalded flavor. It is usual to let it stand twelve hours before skimming. Devonshire cream should be sold by the pound. [ 245 ] FARM DAIRYING A gallon and a half of good milk makes one pound of cream. WHIPPED CREAM Many complain that they cannot get cream to whip well. Three things are necessary: 1. Have the cream rich—25 per cent fat or over. 2. Have the cream at least a day old. Sepa- rator cream will not whip if just fresh. Hold it sweet for a day or two and it will whip beautifully. 3. The cream must be cold, otherwise it is apt to churn into butter. Set the vessel in which you are whipping the cream, in a dish of ice or snow, or cold water, and beat the cream in a cool air. There are few things a little whipped cream will not improve, and it does not take much cream to make a large dish of whipped cream. JUNKET (CURDS AND WHEY) Junket is an old-fashioned, wholesome milk dish. In one farm home I visited, it was their regular Sunday dessert, made from the fresh morning’s milk and set in a cool place till needed for dinner. 1 quart of rich milk. % cup white sugar. [ 246] FARM DAIRYING 1 teaspoonful vanilla. 1 junket tablet, or a few drops of rennet. A little powdered sugar and cinnamon. Crush the junket tablet and dissolve in one table- spoonful of cold water. Heat the milk and sugar, stirring constantly until it reaches 100°, or blood heat. Add the flavoring and dissolved tablet. Stir well and pour into a serving dish or sherbet cups. Let stand in a warm place until the milk sets. Then remove without jarring to a cool place. Just before serving sprinkle the top with pow- dered sugar and cinnamon mixed, and eat with cream. It is nice covered with Devonshire cream, or piled high with whipped cream. Sufficient cara- mel to make a delicate brown color, or an ounce of melted chocolate, stirred into the milk before adding the rennet, makes a pleasing change. ICE CREAM People on the farms are not much given to mak- ing ice cream, yet it is an inexpensive, delightful, easily made treat for a hot day, or to serve either in summer or winter to company. General rules for freezing follow: Crush the ice by pounding it in a sack. Have the ice fine. Wet snow may be used in winter. Use plenty of coarse salt in freezing, one measure of salt to [ 247] FARM DAIRYING three measures of ice. Do not run off the brire as it is that which is the coldest and does the freezing. Keep adding ice and salt when neces- sary. Have the cream thoroughly chilled before start- ing to turn the freezer, otherwise the cream may partially churn. Turn slowly for a while at first. When the cream begins to freeze, turn more rap- idly. This causes it to swell and increase in bulk. Never stop the freezer after it is once started until the cream is frozen. Cream a day or two old swells more than fresh cream. If cream freezes too quickly it is apt to be icy and less velvety and fine-grained. The following is a standard recipe for ice cream: I quart of thin cream, 20 to 23 per cent fat. I cup of white sugar. 2 teaspoonfuls of flavoring. I egg. The cream should not be too rich. Cream with 20 per cent fat makes a good quality. It may be scalded or not—preferably scalded. Dissolve the sugar in the hot cream. When cold, add the flavoring and beaten egg, then freeze. The freezer should not be more than half full at start- ing. Stop freezing when the cream falls from the [ 248 ] FARM DAIRYING spoon like a stiff batter. To continue after this stage spoils it. The dasher should be removed, a cork put in the top of the lid, part of the brine drawn off, the freezer filled with ice and salt and the same put over the top of the can, and then well covered with paper and old carpet, till needed. If more than one freezerful of cream be desired, turn the frozen cream out into a pail or tin which has a tight cover, place this in a larger pail, and pack with ice and salt. A large quantity may be made in this way with one freezer. Be most care- ful not to get any of the brine in the cream. A little hot water thrown around the freezer can allows the cream to empty more freely into the packing can. Ice cream is eaten in perfection only when pre- pared and left to ripen for some hours before being served. In making fruit cream of strawberries, raspber- ries, peaches, bananas, etc., mash the fruit and add sufficient sugar and let stand. When the stand- ard ice cream is almost frozen add the sweetened fruit to it, and continue the freezing. Chopped nuts, candied fruits, preserved ginger, or melted chocolate, may be used to give variety from time to time. [249] FARM DAIRYING MOUSSE To make mousse does not take as much time as to make ice cream, and does not require a freezer. Whip good rich cream until it is stiff. Sweeten and flavor it to suit the taste. Turn into a mould or pail and pack with chopped ice and salt, using as much salt as ice. Be sure not to let the brine get into the cream. A strip of cotton dipped in hot suet or melted butter and placed around the lid after it is on prevents brine from entering. Cover well with a blanket and let stand from two to four hours. Chopped walnuts or candied fruits, figs, or dates, may be added to the cream. A tin baking-powder or coffee can is splendid to freeze mousse in, and makes a pretty mould if dipped for a moment in hot water before the mousse is turned out on a fancy plate. Mousse is so easy to make, is so delicious, and so much like ice cream, I should like some of the girls in the farm homes to try it. Use plenty of salt, or it will not freeze. I know this from experience. WHITE, OR ANGEL, PARFAIT I pint of very rich cream. I cup sugar. 1/3 cup of boiling water. [ 250] FARM DAIRYING Whites of two eggs. 2 teaspoonfuls vanilla. Boil the sugar and water till the syrup threads, and pour it in a fine stream on the stiffly beaten egg whites, beating constantly. When cold, fold in the cream beaten solid. Add flavoring, turn into a mould, and let stand four hours packed in equal parts of ice and salt. Same directions as for freezing mousse. LEMON MILK SHERBET (VERY NICE AND CHEAP) 4 cups of good milk. 1¥% cups of white sugar. Juice of 3 lemons. Mix juice and sugar, add chilled milk slowly, stir- ring constantly. Freeze the same as ordinary ice cream. [asrl CHAPTER XLV FOOD VALUE OF SKIM-MILK AND BUTTERMILK HOLE milk is recognized by all to be a good’ nourishing food — one quart equal to twelve ounces of beefsteak or one quart of oysters in food value; but too many people place little or no value on skim-milk, especially that from the sepa- rator. This is a very erroneous idea. In the process of skimming, the fat, the heat and fat producing constituent only, has been removed. The muscle and bone forming elements and the sugar still remain. Skim-milk is more valuable as a food than cream. A child would have good chances of liv- ing if fed on skim-milk, but if limited to cream alone, would probably die. The use of skim-milk in the household should be greatly extended. More milk puddings, soups, and custards should be made from it. Skim-milk, thoroughly chilled in summer and heated in winter, should take the place of tea and coffee for the young people at meal times. Hot bread-and-milk, and buttered toast covered with hot milk, are excellent supper dishes, but are rarely found on the farm table. Hot skim-milk, [ 252] FARM DAIRYING sweetened, with a little good coffee poured into it, makes a delicious breakfast beverage. It should be made possible in all our towns and cities to buy skim-milk, and the housewife should not stint herself in its use. Usually skim-milk sells for half the price of whole milk. It is a very cheap, very nutritious food. Skim-milk furnishes protein, the muscle- forming element in our food, about four times as cheaply as beef. BUTTERMILK Buttermilk is a beverage of deserving and growing popularity. It is rich in protein and is very easily digested, owing to the casein being in a finely flocculent condition. Doctors are prescrib- ing a free use of buttermilk as a corrective for many forms of disease. The lactic acid germ is said to be antagonistic to the death germ, conse- quently people who use sour milk or buttermilk freely may reasonably hope to lengthen their lives. The time is just at hand when there will be such a demand for good buttermilk that it will prove a most profitable by-product of the dairy. In fact,. already sour skim-milk is churned to supplement the deficiency in the supply of buttermilk. This wholesome beverage is largely taking the place of beer in hotels and restaurants. [ 253 ] CHAPTER XLVI PROFITABLE USE OF THE BY-PRODUCTS OF THE DAIRY «'T is well in every case, you know, To have two strings unto your bow; Some clucking hens and a brooding sow Increase the profits from the dairy cow.”” SKIM-MILK FOR PIGS fy eee increase in profits may be derived from the dairy by putting to the best use the skim-milk, buttermilk, and whey. Every dairy farm should have a pen of good pigs and a flock of pure-bred chickens to utilize these by-products. Skim-milk is considered one of the best of foods for pigs of all ages. It is not only valuable in itself, but it helps to digest other foods, and so makes them more valuable. It makes a firm, fine quality of bacon. About a gallon and a half a day for a one-hundred-pound pig will bring eco- nomical results, or feeding at the ratio of three pounds of milk to one of meal. The ratio may be broadened if skim-milk is plentiful, but to give pigs all the skim-milk they can drink is extravagant and wasteful. Buttermilk, when not diluted with water, has [ 254] PROFITABLE CONSUMERS OF THE BY-PRODUCTS OF THE DAIRY FARM DAIRYING practically the same food value as skim-milk for pigs. Whey, while not good for young pigs, when mixed with meal for pigs of three months or older, gives good results. SKIM-MILK FOR COWS Skim-milk is said to be excellent for cows if they can be induced to drink it, or it may be mixed with their food. It is said to be worth from thirty to forty cents per hundred pounds in food value when so used. SKIM-MILK FOR CHICKENS Many chickens on the farm do not know the taste of skim-milk, and yet it is one of the very best foods for both young and old fowl. The casein, or curdy part of the milk, largely supplies the protein necessary for laying hens, while for table fowl there is nothing superior to milk for making white, juicy, delicate flesh. The milk may be either sour or sweet, and may be given as a drink or mixed with the meal, or both. Sour skim-milk or buttermilk, fed to fowls con- fined to limited range, keeps them in health. The acid of the milk supplies the lack of vegetable acid they would get if running at large, and moreover, it aids digestion. [ 255 ] FARM DAIRYING Poultry-men keep a cow or two to have milk for their chickens. Why should not dairymen keep good hens to use profitably some of the skim- milk from their cows? [ 256 ] CHAPTER XLVII THE VALUE OF MANURE AND THE USE OF ABSORBENTS N O other fertilizer exerts such a powerful chem- ical and mechanical effect, and no other can be applied to all sorts of land with such positive certainty of good results, as stable manure. Its power is also peculiarly lasting. These merits are quite sufficient to account for the high esteem in which it is held by the farmer, and yet there is reason to doubt if he does realize its value, when one sees the careless way in which much of it is handled. Five-eighths of the plant food in the manure from cows is in the liquid part. Every care should be taken to save the urine. A few dollars spent in absorbents will bring back many dollars in increased crops. A great loss is sustained by having the manure in an open barnyard, exposed to snow and rain. There are only two ways manure can lose in value, namely, by fermentation and by washing. The best way to conserve its fertility is to dis- tribute it daily on the land. Getting it out in this way in the winter is a great saving of labor in the [ 257] FARM DAIRYING busy season. If this be not possible, it should be stored in a covered manure shed with a sunk cement floor. The bulk of the manure should be applied to the corn and root land. Keep it near the surface and work it with the top soil into a fine seed bed. A year’s manure from a well fed cow has in it from thirty to thirty-five dollars’ worth of fer- tilizing material, depending on the richness of her ration. The cow should be credited with this. Manure from milking cows and young growing animals contains from 50 to 75 per cent of the fer- tilizing constituents contained in the food. As far as possible all the crops raised should be consumed on the farm, and the manure properly cared for and returned to the soil. Dairying is particularly adapted to the building up and the sustaining of soil fertility. When selecting absorbents to use for bedding in the stable, it is well to consider the manurial value of the materials. Sawdust is a clean and good absorbent and considerably used in stables, but carries in itself very little fertilizing material. On the other hand, oat and wheat straw quickly rot, and are worth to the land about two dollars and fifty cents per ton; if the straw is cut it is a still better absorbent and the manure is much eas- [ 258 | FARM DAIRYING ier worked into the soil. Forest leaves are often used as bedding, and go to enrich the land. Land plaster is one of the best absorbents. It fixes the ammonia and is a good fertilizer. [2591 CHAPTER XLVIII THE BABCOCK MILK’ TEST “put Babcock Tester is like a mighty search- light thrown on the dairy industry. With impartial accuracy it reveals the profitable and unprofitable cows. It condemns or praises the work of the separator. It reveals the loss of fat in whey and buttermilk, and it puts a check on dis- honesty by having milk and cream sold on the value of their fat content. No dairyman should feel his equipment complete without one. A four-bottle Babcock tester, complete, can be had for five or six dollars. The work of the Cow-Testing Association is so rapidly extending that a dairyman of any pre- tensions will soon be ashamed to admit that he does not know the individual productiveness of his herd. Milk-testing is not a complicated or tedious thing to do. A careful boy or girl fourteen or fif- teen years old can soon learn to make correct tests. There is no better way of getting the children interested in the cows. The Babcock Test is a simple, quick, cheap, and [ 260 ] FARM DAIRYING = GLASSWARE FOR THE BABCOCK FAT TEST [ 261] FARM DAIRYING reliable test for determining the percentage of fat in milk, cream, etc. GENERAL RULES FOR MAKING THE TEST All the glassware must be perfectly clean. Wash it in a strong solution of soda and rinse it well afterwards. Have a representative sample of the milk or cream to be tested. People have brought me a little milk from one teat to be tested. It must be from the entire milk, well mixed. Samples of cream, skim-milk, buttermilk, and whey, must be taken from the bulk after being well stirred from the bottom to the top. At the time of making the test, the sample should be poured from one vessel to another, so as to obtain a thorough and even mixture. It should be at a temperature of between 60° and 70°. A 17.6-cubic-centimetre (c.c.) pipette is used to take the measure of milk required. Insert the small end in the milk, and the other end in the mouth, draw up the air and the milk rises in the tube. When the pipette is filled with milk, quickly place the index finger of the right hand over the top of the pipette. Hold the pipette on a level with the eye and slowly allow a little air to get in by slightly easing the pressure of the finger. The [ 262 ] FARM DAIRYING milk will run out in proportion to the air admitted. When the milk exactly reaches the line indicating the proper amount for a test, quickly press down the finger. A test is of little or no value unless it is in every Way accurate. Place the point of the pipette in the neck of the bottle, but do not shove it in tightly; remove the finger from the end, and the milk runs into the bottle. Blow, to get the last drop. Pour into the acid measure 17.5 c.c. of com- mercial sulphuric acid with a specific gravity of 1.82. When adding it to the milk, hold the test bottle on a slant so as to allow the acid to run down the neck and under the milk, and not fall directly on top of it. By giving the bottle a gentle rotary motion, thor- oughly mix the acid and the milk. Never point the neck of the bottle toward your own face or in the direction of any one else, as a violent or care- less shaking may cause the contents to spurt from the bottle. The contents of the bottle get very hot by the action of the acid. The acid dissolves all the constituents of the milk, except the fat, which it heats and liberates. Sulphuric acid is danger- ous. It eats holes in cloth and burns the skin. When it is handled with care there is no cause for [ 263 ] FARM DAIRYING alarm. If it get on the hands or clothes, imme- diately wash with water. Ammonia checks its action on cloth or leather and restores the color. The acid must be kept in glass or stone jars or bottles, and always kept corked, as it weakens in strength if exposed to the air. When each sample to be tested is taken as described, put the bottles in the machine, placing them so as to maintain the balance, and whirl for four or five minutes, Stop the machine and add sufficient hot water at a temperature of 140° to float the fat into the marked scale space, on the neck of the bottle. Rotate the machine again for two minutes, then place the bottles in water at about 140°, having the water reach as high as the top of the fat in the neck, and read the fat column, when at that temperature. It is well to use a pair of dividers or compasses for measuring the fat. The points of the dividers should be placed at the extreme upper and lower limits of the fat column. Then carefully place the one point of the dividers at the zero mark of the scale; the division at which the other point touches will show the percentage of fat in the sample tested. The small divisions of the scale read two-tenths of one per cent, the large divisions equal one per [ 264 ] FARM DAIRYING cent, on the whole-milk bottles. Therefore, if the fat covers three large spaces and four small ones, the milk tested contains three and eight-tenths pounds of fat per hundred pounds of milk, or is said to have 3.8 per cent fat. TESTING CREAM Cream test-bottles are graduated to read as high as 30, 40, or 50 per cent fat, and are made with a large neck. Use an 18 c.c. pipette for measuring the cream. Rinse the pipette with a little water to get out the full complement of cream. After mixing the cream and acid, add the hot water before whirl- ing, and whirl for five minutes. Place the bottles in hot water before reading. Fach division of the scale reads one-half or one per cent, according to the marking. The proper amount of cream, or milk, etc., for atest is 18 grams. The pipette is fairly accurate in delivering this weight, but in case of very rich or gassy cream it is impossible to be sure that the vol- ume measured will weigh 18 grams. For this rea- son in many creameries the test samples are weighed on scales manufactured for this purpose. TESTING SKIM-MILK, BUTTERMILK, WHEY Owing to the small percentage of fat in these [ 265 ] FARM DAIRYING products, to get accurate tests, double-necked test bottles should be used. The amount is taken in a 17.6 c.c. pipette and tested in the usual way. The milk has to be delivered slowly into the larger neck or it bubbles out. The scale on the neck reads to one-hundredth of one per cent. One large division reads five- hundredths, or .o5 per cent fat. COMPOSITE SAMPLES; TESTING A HERD It is not always convenient, nor is it necessary, to test daily when a yearly record is being kept of a herd, or when milk or cream is delivered at a factory. We will suppose a herd test is to be kept. There should be a pint bottle with a long tight fitting cork, for each cow. The cow’s name or number should be plainly written on a label which is gummed well on the bottle, then given two coats of shellac so as not to have the label come off when the bottle is washed. The bottles should be placed on a convenient shelf in the milk-room separated from the stable. Hanging near should be a pair of spring scales set to record the net weight of milk. (The milk pails should be all the same weight.) [ 266 ] HANDY WEIGHING AND SAMPLING APPARATUS FOR TESTING COWS NOTE THE DROP SHELF ON WHICH THE RECORD SHEET IS TACKED FARM DAIRYING On a board by the shelf should be tacked a rec- ord sheet to mark the pounds of milk at each milking. To keep the milk from curdling in the test bot- tles, a preservative is necessary. The one com- monly used is seven parts bichromate of potash to one part of corrosive sublimate, but three parts of the former to one of the latter give better results. This is poisonous, but as it turns the milk a decided yellow no one is apt to drink it. Put about as much of this powder as can be lifted on a ten cent piece into each bottle. This amount of preservative will keep the sample good from two to four weeks, according to the heat of the weather. If very warm use more. Avoid too much, as it spoils the test, giving burnt readings. Preservative tablets may be procured and are more conven- ient than the powder. The sample is taken night and morning by means of a long-handled one-ounce dipper, and precaution must be taken to pour the milk so meas- ured into the proper bottle. When the test is only made fortnightly or monthly, the samples must be taken for two or three days, as the fat content may vary from day to day, as well as in the morning’s and evening’s milk. [ 267 ] FARM DAIRYING To prepare composite samples for testing, set the bottles in water at 110 degrees to melt any cream on the sides of the bottles. Mix well by pouring from one vessel to another. Take the samples as usual but cool to about 60 degrees before adding the acid. Use slightly less acid than for ordinary testing. To find the pounds of fat produced during the period the test has covered, multiply the test by the pounds of milk given during that time and divide by one hundred. To find the approximate number of pounds of butter, divide the total pounds of fat by six, and add the result to the pounds of fat, and it will equal the pounds of butter. Total lbs. milk given during month . 90 Average milk test 9 | 900 x 3.8 —+—_——= 34.2 lbs. fat. during month 3.8% nie Total Ibs. fat. : : - 34.2 34-2 1-6 of total Ibs. fat Z _— = 5.7 6 Calculated yield of butter .. ‘ 39.9 lbs. [ 268 ] FARM DAIRYING BURNT OR CLOUDY READINGS The cause may be — 1. The use of too much or too strong acid. Lessen the amount. 2. Milk or acid too hot. The higher the tem- perature of the milk or the acid, the less acid required. 3- Allowing the acid to drop directly on the milk. 4. Allowing the sample to stand too long after adding the acid, before mixing. LIGHT COLORED READINGS OR FLOATING PARTICLES OF CURD The cause may be — 1. The use of too little or too weak acid. 2. Milk or acid too cold. 3. Insufficient mixing of acid and milk. 4. Lack of required speed or time in whirling. Foam on top of the fat column is usually due to hard water being added. It is better to use soft water, or add a little sulphuric acid to the hard water. If the sample of milk has curdled, put a little concentrated lye in it and mix till the curd has dissolved. Should the sample become churned, set it in water at 110 degrees and when the fat is melted, [ 269 J FARM DAIRYING pour from one vessel to another and immediately put the required amount in the test bottle; but do not add the acid till the temperature is reduced. The test is never as reliable. THE LACTOMETER The lactometer is an instrument to determine the specific gravity of milk. The Quevenne lactom- eter is in most general use. It consists of a hol- low glass cylinder weighted by means of mercury or fine shot, so that when floated in milk it takes an upright po- sition. From the upper end of the cylinder there is a narrow stem con- taining a graduated-scale to show the specific gravity, and also a thermom- eter column. The term specific gravity means the weight of a solid or liquid compared with an equal volume of water at 39.2° F. Average whole milk has a specific gravity of 1.032, which indi- cates that milk is .032 heavier than water. When the lactometer is placed in milk it displaces a portion of the liquid and the scale on the stem of LACTOMETER [ 270 ] FARM DAIRYING the lactometer shows the specific gravity of that milk at the temperature indicated by the ther- mometer. The lighter the milk the farther the lactometer sinks, therefore when water is added to milk its presence is soon detected because it makes the lactometer sink lower, owing to the water making the milk lighter in weight. When cream is removed, the opposite effect is produced. By using the lactometer in conjunction with the Babcock Tester, the percentage of solids-not-fat and the percentage of water in milk may be determined. Milk inspectors rely on the lactometer to detect whether milk has been watered or skimmed, or both, and to what extent. [271] CHAPTER XLIX ACIDIMETER — A TEST FOR ACID IN MILK N butter, and even to a greater extent in cheese making, the necessity for knowing the exact amount of acid at the different stages of manufac- ture, has introduced the simple, quick, cheap method known as the alkaline test, which gives the percentage of acid present in the sample tested. The principle of the test is based on the fact that a certain amount of an alkaline solution of a known standard strength (.111 normal) will neu- tralize a certain amount of acid; therefore, if it takes so much of the solution to neutralize the acid in a given quantity of milk, cream, or whey, it is , easy to find the percentage of acid present. But the method and scale are so arranged as to give the percentage without any calculating. The solution is made from caustic soda. The outfit and solution can be bought from any dairy supply company. The outfit and a gallon of the solution costs about $4.00. This test has made the work of cheese-making very much more accurate, and the product more uniform. It is used in creameries with equal suc- [ 272 ] FARM DAIRYING cess. The acid test could be made valuable for the retail milk trade. THE HART CASEIN TESTER This tester is used for determining the casein content of milk, and when it is more generally known and used is likely to prove valuable to the cheese branch of the dairy industry. It is not a difficult test to make, does not take long, nor does it require much milk. It determines quite accurately the percentage of casein in the milk, as comparisons with chemical analysis have proved. Without casein it is impossible to make cheese. It seems but right that the amount of its presence in the milk should be recognized as well as that of the milk-fat, and where milk is sold for cheese- making purposes these two constituents taken together should determine its value. [273] CHAPTER L THE ICE-HOUSE N°? dairy farm should be without an ice-house, if it is at all possible to secure ice. No matter how the milk is to be disposed of, ice is at some time likely to be required. For the retail trade, ice means quickly cooled milk, which remains sweet much longer. For the cheese factory, ice means no over-ripe milk to be returned. For the creamery, ice means sweet cream delivered. For the farm-home people, ice provides a means of preserving perishable food- stuffs. Why should not the farmer’s wife have a large, handy refrigerator, as well as the town lady, and not have to constantly run up and down the cellar stairs? A well-built ice-house is desirable, but I have seen ice kept just under a big pile of sawdust with- out further protection. A cheap ice-house is quickly constructed. ‘Rough lumber nailed on studding strongly secured, answers. The roof must be so arranged as to allow for ventilation, otherwise the heat would melt the ice. [ 274] FARM DAIRYING A small room at the south end for storing saw- dust is convenient. It also protects the ice at that end from the heat. Whitewashing the ice-house is also a protection from the sun’s rays, as the white reflects the heat. Avoid opening the ice-house in the heat of the day. Do not leave the door open longer than necessary. There must be some means of drainage, a layer of old rails does—— anything to prevent the accu- mulation of water under the ice. There should be from 15 to 20 inches of saw- dust between the ice and the outside wall, and the same over the top of the ice. If there be no water near from which to get ice, you can make ice blocks on your own farm, by putting the water in pans and letting it freeze. Ten blocks of ice 18 x 36 x 10 weigh a ton. About two tons of ice per cow should be stored. [275] CHAPTER LI FLIES — FLIES ON CATTLE LIES are a terrible torment at times and have much to do with the lessening of the milk- flow. The cows are so worried and kept so busy fighting the flies that they lose much of the time they should be feeding, and it is their semi-starved condition that largely causes the shrinkage in flesh and milk. Something should be done to rid the cows of this fly pest. The following mixture has been found as effec- tive as, and less expensive than, many of the fly remedies on the market. 1 gallon fish or seal oil or old grease of any kind. I pint coal oil (kerosene). 2 ounces (4 tablespoonfuls) crude carbolic acid. Mix well together and apply with a cloth or spray to all parts except the udder. Always put it on after milking to avoid the strong odor getting into the milk. In dry weather one application a week is usually sufficient. If the cows are out in a heavy rain, it will be necessary to go over them again. [ 276] FARM DAIRYING Another fly remedy is: — 10 parts of lard, or other grease, to one part of pine tar. Mix well and apply with a brush or cloth once or twice a week to the parts most attacked. This is splendid as a relief from the horn fly. If the flies make the cows restless during milk- ing, so that they will not stand, a cotton blanket thrown over them at that time is a great help. It is a good plan to darken the stable during the day, and to have the windows screened. To prevent the flies that are on the cows from going into the stable with them, arrange some evergreen boughs, brush, brooms, or sacking at the entrance. As the cows pass through this, many flies are brushed off and remain outside. THE HOUSE FLY The house fly has always been a troublesome nuisance, but now it is looked upon as a very potent agent in spreading such dangerous diseases as typhoid fever, cholera infantum, summer com- plaint, etc. Flies are such indiscriminating scavengers; in their migrations they visit everything both hidden and revealed. When we consider this, the thought of them walking over our food or taking a sail in the milk pitcher is far from pleasant, and when [ 277] FARM DAIRYING bacteriologists inform us that the average fly car- ries around on its body 1% million germs, surely we should feel a just cause for grave alarm. THE COMMON HOUSE FLY, THE MOST DANGEROUS ANIMAL ON EARTH Flies breed profusely in filth. They reproduce themselves in countless thousands in the open manure pile, in the dirty pig pen or yard, in places where the household slops are regularly deposited, in the vault of the outhouse, in vegetable garbage, any place where there is decomposing material. . By storing the manure in a dark shed, or by spreading it on the fields, keeping calf pens and pig yards, etc., as clean as possible, and by pro- viding better sanitary conditions, the troublesome fly can be greatly reduced. To sprinkle all possible breeding places with kerosene or cover with lime, every few days, is strongly recommended. [ 278] FARM DAIRYING Dr. Howard, entomologist of the United States Department of Agriculture, has found that each female lays about 120 eggs, which hatch in eight hours, the larva period lasting five days and the pupa five days, making the total time needed for the development of a generation just ten days. A big fly has always been a big fly, and a little fly can never grow to be a big fly—and just as soon as they have emerged from the pupa stage they can begin laying eggs. Under favorable conditions a single pair of flies are capable of breeding 74, 473,- 197,068,800,000,000,000 of their kind in a single season. Thanks to the birds and other agencies, flies are kept somewhat in check. It is almost impossible to keep flies out of the kitchen, milk-room, and cow-stable, but we can greatly lessen their entrance by having the win- dows and doors screened. Do not feed the flies, by leaving dirty dishes and pails around. ‘We must learn to regard them as one of our most deadly enemies. The fly, with the mosquito, is doomed to exter- mination on the common ground that both are dangerous to human life. [ 279] CHAPTER LII DISEASES COMMON TO COWS — SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT I F a cow shows symptoms of being ill, do not de- lay doing something for her; begin at once to check the trouble. Every dairy stable should have in it a medicine chest or shelf provided with such drugs as are com- monly used in cases of sickness among the ani- mals. A short list is given below. Each bottle or package should be distinctly labelled, and the supply renewed as soon as exhausted. Spirits of turpentine. | Epsom salts. Raw linseed oil. Ground ginger. Sulphur. Vaseline. Saltpetre. Camphorated oil. Carbolic acid. Laudanum. Nuxvomica. Boracic acid. There should be on hand a common bicycle pump, a few feet of rubber hose, and a milk syphon or tube to insert in the teat. Immerse the tube in boiling water to disinfect it, and oil before gently inserting it into the teat opening. HOW TO EXAMINE A SICK COW First, take the temperature of the animal by [ 280 ] FARM DAIRYING placing a self-registering veterinary fever ther- mometer in the rectum, allowing it to remain there from 3 to 5 minutes. The normal tempera- ture of a cow is from 98° to 100° F.— but in some cows may be higher. It is usually so in young animals. Second, take the pulse, which can be found at the angle of the lower jaw bone. The normal beat of a cow’s pulse is from 50 to 60 per minute. Third, count the respirations of the animal or number of times it breathes, by watching the sides of the flanks, or by pressing your ear to her side. The normal respiration of a cow is from 15 to 20 per minute. If the temperature, pulse, or respiration is found to vary much from the normal, you will know the animal is ailing. Dull, glazy eyes; cold ears; dry, hot nose; harsh, staring coat; lack of appetite; rumination ceased; sudden shrinkage of milk, are outward indications that something is wrong with the cow. Milk from sick cows is unwholesome, and in some cases positively dangerous. Sick animals should be removed from the herd, and especially if there be any suspicion of a con- tagious disease. { 281 ] FARM DAIRYING PARTURIENT APOPLEXY— COMMONLY CALLED MILK FEVER Cause: — Milking the cow out too thoroughly after calving. Better not to draw any milk the first 24 hours, but just leave the calf with the cow. If for any reason it is not desirable to leave the calf with her, draw only a little milk at frequent intervals the first three days, if trouble be feared. If this rule is followed, milk fever is not likely to occur. Symptoms : — These develop from 4 to 36 hours after calving. Rumination ceases; sudden de- crease in milk-flow; dulness of the eyes; unsteady gait; stamping with the hind legs; at length falls helpless to the ground, turns head to one side and eyes close, or lies flat with extremities extended. Treatment: —It is usually a fatal mistake to dose for milk fever. In many cases, the muscles of the throat are paralyzed and the cow having no power to swallow, the medicine given goes into the lungs and often causes death. The treatment giving prompt relief in the se- verest cases, and one to be relied on, is filling the udder with pure oxygen or with common air by means of a bicycle pump, or a rubber bulb syringe, and a common milk syphon or similar tube. Pump [ 282 ] COMBINED MILK-STAND AND ICE-HOUSE WITH TRUCK ON RAILS FROM STABLE FARM DAIRYING the udder as full as possible and put a rubber band around the teats, or tie with tape to keep in the air. Massage the udder so as to force the air to all parts. It may be necessary to repeat the inflation. This treatment usually effects a cure in a few hours. Do not give any medicine. MAMMITIS — CAKED UDDER——- INFLAMMATION OF UDDER — GARGET Symptoms : — Usually at first the milk is watery and sometimes discolored with blood, and may contain clotted curdy matter, and the part affected is swollen and painful. In severe cases the cow will have a chill and the limbs, ears, and horns be- come cold, then fever will follow and the udder becomes hot, swollen, and hard. The:milk-flow decreases or stops. The cow eats little and does not chew her cud. Treatment: —Give oxygen treatment as de- scribed for milk fever, and a good dose of salts. If the udder remains hard, rub well with goose grease or camphorated oil. When the entire ud- der is caked, take a piece of heavy cloth and put it under the udder, making incisions for the teats, and fasten it on top, placing straw or a pad on the back so as not to chafe the cow. This re- lieves the udder by easing the weight. [ 283 } FARM DAIRYING FOR INFLAMED UDDER Rub well, after milking, with liniment made from 4 ounces sweet oil, 4 ounces laudanum, 3 ounces of extract of belladonna. BLOODY MILK Cause: — Rupture of small blood vessels in the udder, sometimes caused by being hurt, sometimes an inherited weakness. Treatment: — Bathe the udder well and often with cold water and wipe dry. Give the cow one ounce tincture of iron in a pint of water twice a day until cured. SLIMY OR ROPY MILK (NOT A DISEASE) Milk which becomes stringy, slimy, or ropy, after standing a while, is not due to the cow’s con- dition, but is caused by a large number of bacteria which develop in the milk and change the milk sugar into a slimy or ropy mass. The bacteria usually come from dust or bad water and get into the milk at milking time or afterwards. Thoroughly clean and disinfect the stable and scald.all milk pails, strainers, cans, etc. LUMPS IN TEATS If the lump or tumor be near the point, or half way up the teat, a veterinarian may operate suc- [ 284 ] FARM DAIRYING cessfully; otherwise it is well to beef the cow, as she will not improve, and her offspring may be similarly affected. COW POX Symptoms:—Teats very sore, break out in pimples and form scabby sores. A troublesome contagious disease and the cow should be isolated. A milker can take it from one cow to another on his hands or clothes. Remedy: — Dress the sores three times a day with an ointment made by mixing 4 drams boracic acid, 20 drops of carbolic acid, with 2 ounces of vaseline. If the teats are very sore, it may be well to use a teat syphon to draw the milk. LEAKY TEATS Cause: — Teat opening too large, or the muscle weak. Treatment: — Throw and tie the cow. Insert a milking tube in the teat to preserve the milk duct. With a sharp knife remove the skin from the end of the opening, making a good fresh wound. Draw the edges of the hole together with a few stitches, tying each stitch separately. Dress with a healing ointment. [ 285 ] FARM DAIRYING This should be done when the cow is dry and is better to be done only by a veterinarian. If the leak be through a hole on the side of the teat, scarifying the edges of the opening with a sharp pen-knife, when the cow is dry, may cause the edges to unite. HARD MILKERS —~ TIGHT MUSCLE AT TEAT OPENING This can be remedied to some extent by inserting into the teats, and leaving between milkings, plugs made of gutta-percha or hardwood made very smooth, with a bulb on each end to prevent the plug working up or dropping out of the teat. Some recommend a slight incision through the muscle at the opening. This should be done when the cow is dry and the teat must be plugged dur- ing the healing. Some have done it with success when the cow is milking. TO CURE A SUCKING HEIFER, OR PREVENT SELF- SUCKING Insert in the heifer’s or cow’s nose an ordinary bull ring. Just before inserting the ring, slip on it a harness ring the same size, which hangs loosely after the bull ring has been inserted. This is a sure remedy. [ 286 ] FARM DAIRYING CHOKING Pass the hand along the neck and try to locate the obstruction. If it can be felt, try to bring it upwards or downward by gentle manipulation. Should this not be possible, the head must be ele- vated and held out straight and a probang, or piece of rubber hose, put down the throat until the obstruction is felt, when by steady pressure. it may be pushed downward. Great care must be taken not to lacerate or rupture the gullet, as this might cause death. If the cow be much bloated, to prevent suffoca- tion during the operation of forcing the obstruc- tion down, it may be necessary to puncture her paunch, as described in bloating. IMPACTION OF THE RUMEN OR PAUNCH Cause: —The paunch becomes overfilled with solid food and its walls so paralyzed as to lose the power of contraction. Symptoms: Enlargement of abdomen, the drum-like sound is absent and when the part is pressed the indenture remains for some time. The animal is dull, her breathing heavy; grunts and grinds her teeth. Treatment: —Give a strong purgative—1%4 to 2 pounds of salts and 2 ounces of ground ginger [ 287 | FARM DAIRYING in 2 quarts of warm water. Follow up with 2 drams of nuxvomica, every 6 or 8 hours, until the bowels move freely. If the bowels do not move in 18 to 24 hours, give more salts. A little walking exercise helps the expulsion of the food. In bad cases, the cow is opened and the food removed by hand. This should be the work of a veterinarian. TYMPANITIS OR BLOATING Cause: — Eating fermented grains, rank clover, especially when wet, or with-the dew on it, raw juicy potatoes, etc., may cause fermentation and the accumulation of gases. Symptoms:—-The abdomen distended, espe- cially over the left flank; the walls of the belly elastic to the pressure of the hand and when tapped giving a hollow drum-like tone; breathing labored. Treatment: —If much distressed, prompt re- lief is afforded by puncturing deep on the left side into the flank 4 or 5 inches from the spine and midway between the last rib and the hip bone. This is best done with a trocar and canula. If one is not at hand, use a knife and insert a large goose quill, or something of the kind, to keep the wound open to allow the gases to escape. [ 288 ] FARM DAIRYING Give from one to two pounds of Epsom salts and an ounce of powdered ginger. Further fermentation may be prevented by a tablespoonful of chloride of lime in a pint of water. ‘In slight cases a dose of 2 ounces of oil of tur- pentine in a pint of raw linseed oil will generally dissipate the gases. No food should be given for twelve hours, and feed lightly for a day or two. IMPACTION OF THE THIRD STOMACH, OR FARDEL- BOUND Cause: —A diet of coarse, indigestible food and insufficient water to drink. Eating dried grass or leaves, etc. Symptoms: — Refuses to eat; ceases to chew cud; in some cases slight diarrhea followed by constipation; head carried low, dull painful ex- pression; stands still, or lies down with head extended; gives a short grunt during expiration; advanced stages, staggering gait, impaired sight, and sometimes symptoms of frenzy. Treatment:—Same as for Impaction of Rumen. (See p. 287.) Assist the purgation by copious injections of warm, soapy water, three or [ 289] FARM DAIRYING four times a day. If the brain be affected, douche the head with cold water or apply ice. TUBERCULOSIS Symptoms: —A dry cough, without other con- stitutional disturbances, indicates tuberculosis of the lungs. A cow losing flesh gradually and be- coming generally unthrifty-looking, may have the disease in any organ. The only safe way to know if the herd be free from this very contagious dis- ease is by having the animals tested with tuber- culin. If any react, they should be put in a stable by themselves, and the building where they have been kept disinfected. If only slightly affected, the animals may be fattened and sold to the butcher, for the meat is said to be wholesome. The milk, especially if the udder be suspected of being diseased, should be scalded for the use of either man or beast. There is no known cure. The only way is to test the cows, and keep those free of disease rigidly apart from the others. Drinking from the same trough, eating from the same stall, are easy means of spreading the dis- ease. If the cow be a valuable one, and the disease is [ 290] FARM DAIRYING not deeply seated, she may be kept for breeding purposes, but the calf must not be allowed to suck any of its mother’s milk. If the cow’s milk be thoroughly pasteurized, it is then safe to feed. RHEUMATISM Cause: — Exposure to cold and wet, especially when heated by driving. Lying on cold floors, or standing in a draught. Symptoms :—If acute rheumatism sets in, there will be loss of appetite, roughness of coat and dry- ness of muzzle, bowels constipated, urine high col- ored, joints swollen. The symptoms of chronic rheumatism are similar but less severe. Treatment: — Give 2 pounds of Epsom salts and one ounce of ground ginger. Follow up with 2- dram doses of salicylic acid three times a day. Rub the joints well three times daily with cam- phorated liniment. Keep the animal warm and dry. WOUNDS OR CUTS —LACERATED UDDER First stop the bleeding by tying a bandage of clean muslin directly over the wound or above it. Often a bleeding artery will protrude. A thread can be run under it with a needle and the artery tied. After the bleeding stops, cut off the ragged edges of muscle with scissors which have been [ 291] FARM DAIRYING dipped in an antiseptic solution. Then bathe the wound with an antiseptic wash made from corro- sive sublimate tablets, formalin, boracic acid, or creolin. Let nature do the healing. Keep the -wound clean and free from germs by frequently bathing it with the antiseptic wash. Sometimes a cow’s udder is badly torn on barbed wire or brush. Thoroughly cleanse the wound with an antiseptic wash, using a syringe if one is at hand. Trim the rough edges and draw the cuts together with white silk thread, tying each stitch separately. Leave an opening of an inch at the lowest point of the wound. Insert in this opening ‘a small piece of cotton wadding to help carry away any discharge. Bathe the wound if necessary with a boracic, or weak carbolic acid: wash and renew the wadding. When healed re- move the stitches. WARTS ON UDDER Tie the warts tightly with silk thread or horse hair. In about three days the warts will drop off. If the warts have a slender attachment they may be clipped off with scissors. To prevent the warts growing again, touch the spots with caustic. Some people burn the warts off with caustic. [ 292 ] FARM DAIRYING COWS CHEWING BONES The cows need food rich in nitrogenous and mineral matter, such as wheat, bran, chopped oats, clover or alfalfa hay. Have salt always be- fore them, and once or twice a week put a small handful of hardwood ashes or bone ash mixed with salt, in their meal. The cows evidently crave more mineral matter and this supplies it to them. The trouble is usually due to the absence of phosphate in the soil. RING WORM A vegetable parasite easily communicated. Burn all litter, clean and whitewash stalls, etc. Wash the affected parts of the animal with warm water and soap. Cut the hair around the sores. Paint with tincture of iodine for several days and rub on zinc ointment if sore. CONTAGIOUS ABORTION Abortion being a contagious disease, the germs will lurk about the stables and infested animals for years. Use some good disinfectant freely around the stalls, gutters, etc. Give each animal that has aborted, 40 drops of pure carbolic acid in one pint of water in its food three times a day, until all vaginal discharge ceases. [ 293 ] FARM DAIRYING As a preventive, give the other cows the same dose twice a day for the same length of time. Some dairymen dose their cows in this way with carbolic acid every two or three months, just in case this dreaded disease might break out. Another simpler method, which can be used when cows are in pasture, is to mix thoroughly 100 pounds of barrel salt pounded fine, and one pound of crude undiluted carbolic acid, or 4 ounces of the acid to 12 quarts of salt. Give to the bulls and cows as one would ordinary salt. RETENTION OF THE AFTER BIRTH In case the after birth does not come away, give a few doses of carbolic acid (40 drops) and no other assistance will be necessary. DIARRHCEA OR SCOURS IN CALVES Cause: — Over-feeding; sudden changes in feed; filthy, wet stalls; dirty feed pails, etc. Treatment: — A cup of strong black tea is said to be good. Others give from one to two ounces of castor oil and one teaspoonful of laudanum. Feed new milk and keep everything clean. Four or five hours after the oil is given, a teaspoonful of a mixture of one part salol and two parts sub- nitrate of bismuth may be given in half a pint of milk, or the powder placed on the tongue and [ 294] FARM DAIRYING washed down with a little milk. A simple remedy is to add to the milk one-fifth of its bulk of lime water. WHITE SCOURS A contagious disease resembling navel ill in foals. Tie the navel cord, two inches below the navel, and wash the navel with a 15 per cent solu- tion of formalin ora § per cent solution of carbolic acid. If this is done promptly after the birth of the calf, it will in most cases prevent the disease. If it does develop, take 1534 ounces of water and add ¥% ounce of formalin. Add a tablespoon- ful of this solution to a pint of warm milk and give in a bottle to the calf three or four times a day. UNTHRIFTY CALVES -—— INDIGESTION Symptoms:—Grind their teeth, chew sticks, lose flesh. Treatment: — Make the following up into 50 powders: 2 ounces each of gentian, ginger, nux- vomica, and bicarbonate of soda. First give each calf 4 ounces of raw linseed oil. Afterwards a powder in a pint of new milk three times a day. Put a little lime water in the milk they get. [ 295 ] FARM DAIRYING UNTHRIFTY HEIFERS First give dose of salts (34 pound). Take equal parts of sulphate of iron, gentian, ginger, nuxvomica, and carbonate of soda. Mix and give a heaping tablespoonful three times daily in one pint of cold water. FOR LICE ON CATTLE Mix one part of hellebore or insect powder with three parts of cement, and dust along the backs of the cattle. This makes a good insecticide. Slaked lime sprinkled on the cattle is also good. RED WATER Cause: — Pasturing on low swampy land, and another form, called parturient red water, may appear about the time of calving. Symptoms: — Urine reddish color, and a gen- eral unthriftiness. “a Treatment: — Feed well and give one ounce tincture of iron and 4 drams chlorate of potash in a pint of cold water as a drench three times daily as long as necessary. BURYING DISEASED ANIMALS When burying an animal which has died of any contagious disease, put half a barrel of fresh lime over it. Crystals of copper sulphate may be used. [ 296 ] FARM DAIRYING Burn all bedding, litter, etc., and whitewash the walls, stalls, etc., having some disinfectant in the wash. SPLENDID LINIMENT FOR BOTH MAN AND BEAST FOR SPRAINS, BRUISES, RHEUMATISM, ETC. I pint of strong vinegar. y pint of turpentine. I ounce gum camphor. 2 eggs. Soak the eggs in the vinegar until the shells are quite soft. Rub the lime from the shells in the vinegar. Break the eggs into the vinegar, remov- ing the tough lining. Add the turpentine and the shaved camphor. Pour into a bottle and shake until of a creamy thick consistency. It is then ready for use and will keep indefinitely. STOCK FOODS — TONICS Much money is yearly spent in “stock foods.” When the cattle are well there is no more need of stock food than for a healthy person to take medicine. If the cattle are not thrifty and need toning up, to buy the ingredients and mix your own medicine is better and vastly cheaper. [ 297 ] FARM DAIRYING No. 1 1 lb. ground gentian. ¥% |b. ground ginger. ¥% |b. powdered saltpetre. ¥ lb. powdered iron sulphate. | Mix and give one tablespoonful in feed once daily for ten days, omit for three days and feed as above for ten days more. Cost, about twenty cents per pound. No. 2 2 lbs. Fenugreek. 2 lbs. ground ginger. 2 lbs. powdered gentian. 2 lbs. powdered sulphur. 2 lbs, potassium nitrate. 2 Ibs. resin. 1 Ib. cayenne pepper. 11 Ibs. flaxseed meal. 5 lbs. powdered charcoal. 5 lbs. common salt. 25 lbs. wheat bran. Cost, about $4.50 per 100 pounds. Mix well and feed the same as No. 1. This tonic is almost iden- tical with the commercial mixtures. THE END [ 298 ] hree books which should be in the library of every pro- gressive farmer. The Practical Country Gentleman By EDWARD K. PARKINSON Author of “A GUIDE TO THE COUNTRY HOME” A Complete and Useful Handbook for the Owner of a Country Estate, Large or Small HE author has written for the farmer who wishes to use the best methods but who cannot attend an agricultural college, and for the city man who wishes to take up farm- ing and who has no previous experience. The planning of buildings, the storing of water, care of stock, crop rotation, and innumerable lesser but important details are very thor- oughly discussed. The author’s reputation is sufficient guarantee that the book is authorita- The Practical Country Gentleman tive, and the amateur agriculturist will find it written in a way eminently adapted to his needs. CONTENTS I. Introductory II. Water Supply and Pumps III. Farm Buildings IV. The Kind of Stock to Buy V. Hints on Beef and Winter Lamb Raising on Country Estates VI. Feeds and Feeding VII. Crops, Fertilizers — How To Use Them, and the Wood Lot VIII. Directions as to Tools IX. Ways in Which Farm Products May Be Marketed X. Winter Work Within the Glass Houses XI. The Cultivation of High Priced Specialties Fully Illustrated. Cloth. 12mo. $1.25 By mail, $1.35 A. C. McCLURG & CO. PUBLIS H ERS NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO PRACTICAL FARMING By W. F. MASSEY A Plain Book on Treatment of the Soil and Crop Production. Especially Designed for the Everyday Use of Farmers and Agricultural Students “PRACTICAL FARMING” has been designed ° by the author to fulfill a mission that many so-called “books for farmers” do not:—to explain to the farmer and student, in the plain language of the farm, many of the things which the investigations of scientists have proven in regard to the treatment of soil and the production of crops. To his effort to explain scientific matters in plain language, Mr. Massey has drawn in addition from successful experience of a long life spent in the practical work of cultivating the soil, and he has made “ Practical Farming” a farmer’s book on farm- ing, nothing more, nothing less. To the farmer anxious to get the most out of his land, and to the student interested in the ‘“why’s” and the “wherefore’s” of agriculture will this book appeal, anda thoughtful, painstaking study of its PRACTICAL FARMING pages cannot but result in the accumulation of much practical and profitable knowledge. A number of useful tables for constant reference in the back of the book add greatly to the value of the work, I, Il. Il. IV. Vv. VI. VII. VII. IX. X. XI. XI. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX, XX, XXI. XXII. Cloth. CONTENTS Preface The Soil The Physical Character of Soils The Relation of Soils to Moisture and Air The Anatomy and Physiology of Plants Plant Food in the Soil Manures and Commercial Fertilizers Life in the Soil Tillage and Its Purposes The Washing of Soils and Methods of Pre- venting this Loss Crop Rotation — Its Purpose and Practice Crops and Cropping The Indian Corn Crop The Wheat Crop The Oats Crop The Cotton Crop The Tobacco Crop The Irish Potato Crop The Hay Crop How the Legumes Aid Us The Grasses The Commercial Fertilizers for Various Crops Useful Tables for Constant Reference 12mo. $1.50 net; by mail, $1.62 AMERICAN POULTRY CULTURE By R. B. SANDO A Complete Handbook of Practical and Profitable Poultry Keeping for the Great Army of Beginners and Small Breeders HE object of this volume is to furnish reliable and practical information on the profitable care and management of poultry. The author has en- deavored to take the reader into the field of practica! poultry work, telling him what to do, and how and when to do it. Mr. Sando has catered especially to those who desire to keep only a small flock of fowls for pleasure or profit, but most of the matter in his book will also apply to poultry keeping on an extensive scale. In order to make “American Poultry Culture” as brief and yet as comprehensive as possible, every- thing of a theoretical or imaginative nature has been omitted, as well as all unnecessary things. Mr. Sando has made use of only valuable and practical American Poultry Culture facts, which are the result of his personal experience in the handling of fowls on both a large and a small scale. His book is essentially a business book for busy people. All interested in the reduction of the living ex- penses of their family or who would like to make a few dollars at a pleasant occupation, should read “American Poultry Culture.” CONTENTS I. Poultry Keeping and Poultry Keepers II. Poultry House Construction III. Plans and Specifications of Modern Poultry Houses IV. Poultry Yarding and Fencing V. Poultry Fixtures VI. Incubators and Brooders VII. Breeds Described VIII. Selecting a Breed — Getting a Start IX. Foods and Feeding X. Hatching and Rearing Chicks XI. Rearing Chicks After Brooding Age XII. The Fancy XIII. General Information XIV. The Seasons Affecting Poultry Keeping XV. Parasites and Diseases of Poultry Illustrated. Cloth. 12mo. $1.50 net By mail, $1.62 A. C. McCLURG & CO., Publishers New York CHICAGO San Francisco NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES rien Hieati