OUR FIRST DIFFICULTY.
Once fairly settled in our new habitation, and all the important
affairs attending the necessary alterations of carpets, curtains,
etc., being nearly finished, we began to wonder what we were to do
with "Our Farm of Four Acres." That we must keep a cow was
acknowledged by both; and the first step to be taken was to buy one.
The small town in which our house was situated boasted of a market
weekly, and there we resolved to make the important purchase.
Accordingly, we sent our man-of-all-work to inspect those offered for
sale. Shortly he returned, accompanied by a small black cow, with a
calf a week old. We purchase these animals for $50; and it was very
amusing to see all the half-dozen children running into the
stable-yards, with their little cups to enjoy the first-fruits of
their country life. But what proved far more of a treat than the new
milk was the trouble of procuring it, for the cow proved a very
spiteful one, and knocked the unfortunate milker, with his pail,
"heels-over-head." AS he was not in the least hurt, the juveniles were
allowed to laugh as long as they pleased; but H. and myself looked
rather grave at the idea having the milk knocked down as soon as there
was about a quart in the pail. We were, therefore, greatly reassured
when told that "Madam Sukey" would be quiet and tractable as soon as
her calf was taken away. "Then why not take it at one?" said I; but
was informed that we must not deprive her of it for a week. However, I
am bound to confess that our first week's farming turned out badly,
for the cow would not be milked, quietly, and every morning we were
informed that two men were obliged to be called in to hold her while
she was milked. At the end of the week we sold the calf for five
dollars, and after a month the cow became on quite friendly terms with
her milker, and has proved ever since very profitable to our small
diary.
We did not contemplate making butter with one cow, as we thought so
large a household would consume all the milk. Very soon, however,
"nurse" complained that "the milk was 'too rich' for the children; it
was not in the least like London milk; it must either be watered or
skimmed for the little ones: but she would rather have it skimmed."
That was done, and for a whole fortnight H. and myself used nothing
but cream in our tea and coffee. At first this was a great luxury, and
we said continually to each other, how delightful it was to have such
a dainty in profusion. Soon, like the children, we began to discover
it was "too good for us," and found that we liked plenty of new milk
much better for general use; besides, consume as much as we would, we
had still more than was wanted: so we invested fifteen dollars in a
churn and other requisites, and thought with great satisfaction of the
saving we should effect in our expenses by making our own butter. But
now arose a difficulty which had not previously occurred to us: Who
was to make it? Our domestic servants both declared that they could
not do so; and the elder one, who had been many years in the family,
was born and bred in London, and detested the country and everything
connected with it, gave her opinion in the most decided manner, that
there was quite enough "muck" in the house already, without making
more work with butter-making, which she said confidently, would only
be fit for the pig when it was made. Here was a pretty state of
things! What were we to do? must we give up all hope of eating our own
butter, and regard the money as lost which we had just expended for
the churn, etc.? After a few minutes' bewilderment, the idea occurred
to both of us at the same moment: "Cannot we make the butter, and be
independent of these household rebels?"
"But," said I, dolefully, "we don't in the least know how to set about
it."
"What of that?" replied H.: "where was the use of expending so much
money in books relative to a country life as you did before we left
town, if they are not to enlighten our ignorance on country matters?
But one thing is certain, we cannot make butter till we have learnt
_how_; so let us endeavor to obtain the requisite knowledge to do so
to-morrow."
We accordingly devoted the remainder of the day to consulting the
various books on domestic and rural economy we had collected together
previous to leaving London. Greatly puzzled we were by them. On
referring to the subject ob butter-making, one authority said, "you
must never was the butter, but only knock it on a board, in order to
get the buttermilk from it." Another only told us to "well cleanse the
buttermilk from it," without giving us an idea how the process was to
be accomplished; while the far-famed Mrs. Rundle, in an article headed
"Dairy," tells the dairy-maid to "keep a book in which to enter the
amount of butter she makes," and gives butt little idea how the said
butter is to be procured. Another authority said, "after the butter is
come, cut it in pieces to take out cow-hairs;" this appeared to us the
oddest direction of all, for surely it was possible to remove them
from the cream before it was put into the churn. We were very much
dissatisfied with the amount of practical knowledge we gleaned from
our books; they seemed to us written for the benefit of those who
already were well acquainted with the management of a dairy, and
consequently of very little service to those who wished to acquire the
rudiments of the art of butter-making.
The next morning we proceeded to make a trial, and the first thing we
did was to strain the cream through a loose fine cloth into the churn,
then taking the handle we began to turn it vigorously;* [Ninety times
in a minute is the proper speed with which the handle should be
turned.] the weather was hot, and after churning for more than an
hour, there seemed as little prospect of butter as when we commenced.
We stared at each other in blank amazement. Must we give it up? No;
that was not to be thought of. H. suddenly remembered, that somewhere
she had heard that in warm weather you should put the churn in cold
water. As ours was a box one, we did not see how we could manage this;
but the bright idea entered her head, that if we could not put the
water outside the churn we might _in_: so we pumped a quart of
spring-water into it and churned away with fresh hopes: nor were we
disappointed; in about a quarter of an hour we heard quite a different
sound as we turned the handle, which assured us that the cream had
undergone a change, and taking off the lid--(how many times had we
taken it off before!)--we saw what at that moment appeared the most
welcome sight in the world--some lumps of rich yellow butter. It was
but a small quantity, but there it was: the difficulty was overcome so
far. But now there arose the question of what we were to do with it in
order to clean if from the butter milk, for all our authorities
insisted on the necessity of this being done, though they did not
agree in the mode of doing it. One said, that "if it was washed, it
would not keep good, because water soon became putrid, and so would
the butter." We were told by another book, "that if it was _not_
washed it would be of two colors, and dreadfully rank." We thought
that it would be easier not to wash it, and it was bad enough to
justify the term "muck," which was applied to it by the kitchen
oracles, who rejoiced exceedingly in our discomfiture. We left the
dairy half inclined to abjure butter-making for the future. In a day
or two we began to reflect, that as we had a "Farm of Four Acres," we
must mange to do something with it, and what so profitable to a large
family as making butter? So, when we had collected sufficient cream,
we tried again, and this time with great success. We commenced as
before, by straining the cream, and then taking the handle of the
churn we turned it more equally than we had done before; in half an
our we heard the welcome sound which proclaimed that the "butter was
come." This time we washed it well; it was placed in a pan under the
pump, and the water suffered to run on it till not the least milkiness
appeared in it; we then removed it to a board that had been soaking
for some time in cold water, salted it to our taste, and afterwards,
with two flat boards, such as butter-men use in London shops, made it
up into rolls. It was as good as it could be, and we were delighted to
think that we had conquered all the difficulties attending its
manufacture: but we had yet to discover the truth of the proverb, that
"one swallow does not make a summer."