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النشر الإلكتروني

sith. 3-20-33

27976

19.

SEPTEMBER 1800.

RECREATIONS

IN

AGRICULTURE, NATURAL-HISTORY,

ARTS, & MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE.

N° 1. VOL. IV.

AGRICULTURE.

PRACTICAL REMARKS ON THE MANAGEMENT
OF THE DAIRY, PARTICULARLY IN RESPECT
TO THE OBTAINING OF BUTTER.

[Continued from Vol. III. page 419.}

Part 7th. On the Utensils for the Dairy.

IN giving practical directions for rural operations, the writer ought always to be understood to be addrefsing himself to persons who are unacquainted with the particulars investigated, and desirous of being informed; and, as much of the success of these operations depends upon minutiæ which might not at first occur to a novice, and thus occasion unnecessary em

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barrassment, and casual want of success, that experience has discovered to be of importance, and practice taught how to simplify, it becomes necefsary not to overlook details that the supercilious pride of genius might reckon puerile. Of this nature are the objects which at present demand our attention.

The utensils of the dairy must, in general, from the nature of the businefs, be made of wood. But of late, many persons who affect a superior degree of elegance and neatness, have fallen into the practice of employing vessels for various purposes in the dairy, made of lead, or common earthen-ware, both of which ought to be carefully excluded; for, as the acid of milk very readily dissolves lead, brass, and copper, and with these metals forms a compound that is of a poisonous nature, such vessels must ever be highly pernicious when employed for these purposes, and therefore cannot be too cautiously guarded against. I have not myself a doubt, that the frequency of paralytic complaints of late years is in a great measure to be attributed to the common use of such vefsels for the purpose of preserving milk, butter, pickles, and various other kinds of food every where common at our tables; for, as all the common kinds of earthen-ware are glazed with the glass of lead, which is soluble in every acid, and with all of them forms compounds of a nature highly deleterious, there can be no doubt but the very general use of earthen jars for containing articles of this nature, must be the means of introducing, almost at every meal, draughts of poison; in such small doses indeed, that they are not sufficient to produce a sensible effect at the moment; but, by being so often re

peated, they must at length impair the constitution, and produce those humiliating diseases which render life, to so many persons in the evening of their timė, burthensome to themselves and others. I therefore recommend this particular to every well disposed mistrefs of a family as an object of very serious attention: nor let them consider it as a light affair. It is not many years since the inhabitants of the cider counties were frequently distressed by a most excruciating disease, known by the name of the Devonshire colick, which it exceeded the power of the physicians to remove, and baffled their skill to account for, till at length some person of sagacity observed, that the vefsels commonly employed in that county for containing the cider after it was drawn from the cask, as well as the mugs for drinking out of, were made of such earthen-ware, which immediately explained the paradox.

Fashion, however, having once introduced among fine folks a dislike to wooden utensils for the dairy, an ingenious gentleman, a Mr. Hayes, with a view to humour the whim of the day, proposed to substitute vefsels made of cast iron instead of those of lead or earthen-ware; but this also is objectionable; for iron likewise is easily soluble in acids; and though this solution be not so hurtful as the others, yet it still communicates a taste that might be disagreeable; and might also, under certain circumstances, greatly affect the colour of the products of the dairy; so that these also should be avoided. In short, I know of no kind of material but wood of which dishes for the dairy could be made, with any reasonable prospect of safety to the

health and propriety in other respects, except the purest porcelaine from China, or glass and both these are too expensive ever to come into general use among sensible dairy-owners: nor will the judicious husbandman ever think of employing any other than wooden utensils. This fact is, in general, so universally admitted; as to render wooden dairy utensils common in most parts of the country; so that they can be readily procured every where, of a proper quality and form of construction: it becomes unnecefsary, therefore, to enlarge on these particulars.

The creaming dishes (so I call the vefsels in which the milk is set to throw up the cream) when properly cleaned, sweet, and cool, are to be filled with the milk as soon after it is drawn from the cow as pofsible; having been first strained carefully through a close strainer, usually formed of a large wooden bowl (in some places a deep-edged sieve) with a hole at the bottom, covered at times with a very close sieve of fine wire (silver wire is best) sometimes with fine gauze, or close hair web woven for that purpose, so as to keep back hairs, &c. that may have accidentally fallen into it from the cow. The creaming dishes should never exceed three inches in depth, whatever be their other dimensions; for, by exposing such a large surface to the air, the milk will be quickly cooled, which is attended with many advantages; and the cream will be more quickly separated than would otherwise happen. If the plan before recommended, of separating the milk into two parts, and of keeping each cow's milk by itself, be adopted, it will be convenient to have them made of such dimensions as to contain about one and a half,

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