BUTTER-MAKING.--SEEDS AND THE DEVIL.
There is one advantage about the country that gives it a great
superiority over the town. In it you have every thing so fresh--fresh
vegetables, fresh milk, fresh eggs, fresh poultry, and fresh butter. You
always feel sure that nothing is old or stale. We had not yet tried
making butter, but the other articles we had enjoyed in their pristine
excellence, although some ignorant visitors from the city pretended that
all of those which were sold in the Flushing stores were brought from
the New York markets. I had been accustomed to buying butter in the
village, but the Flushing farmers do not seem to have the knack of
making fresh butter. My purchases had not been altogether satisfactory,
and occasionally I obtained a rancid conglomeration of fatty matter that
was far from inviting. When more than ordinarily disgusted, I had
brought a supply home from Fulton Market, where it was to be had both
better and cheaper; but as my friends, who met me in the cars,
invariably inquired what I had in my tin kettle, and wanted to know
whether I had gone out for a day’s work and taken my dinner-pail along,
I grew ashamed, and determined thereafter to make my own butter.
To say that I was utterly unacquainted with butter-making was simply to
admit that I had been born and reared in the city; and, except for some
early reminiscences of an enthusiastic youth passing his summer amid
rural pleasures, and helping the tired and rosy-cheeked dairy-maid, 1
knew nothing whatever on the subject, and did not even know in what
scientific work to look for the needful instruction, as nothing
satisfactory was to be found in “Bridgeman” or “Ten Acres Enough.” A
churn was to be used, that was clear; but whether the milk was churned
or the cream, or how long it required, or what other mysteries were
involved, I could not tell.
The first necessity, therefore, was to have a churn, and to obtain this
I stopped in at one of the numerous stores in and near Fulton Street,
where agricultural implements are sold. I inquired falteringly if they
had churns for sale, not being certain that these came under that
designation, and a good deal confused at the mass of curious implements
and wonderful pieces of mechanism which were scattered about.
“Certainly,” said the polite clerk; “we might say that we have the only
churn, properly so called, for it alone does the work as it should be
done. You probably know,” he continued, as he led the way up stairs
toward the fourth story, “the scientific principles which govern the
rapid production of butter. The oxygen of the air is brought in
immediate contact with the oleaginous particles of the milk, the lactic
acid is developed, the curd and whey are separated, and the butter is
crystallized, so to speak. Here,” he said at last, when we had reached
the highest floor, and, after conducting me between a hundred strange
and complex machines, stopped before one that more nearly resembled a
modern ice-cream freezer than any thing else, with the addition of a
crank and a few extra cog-wheels, “here is the Patent Duplex Elliptic
Milk Converter, the only true and perfect churn. You pour the milk
in”--[ah! thought I to myself, it is the milk that is churned, after
all]--“you turn this handle; by a simple arrangement of multiplying
cogs, the dasher is revolved at great speed, the air is distributed
through every part of the mass, and brought in contact with every
molecule composing it. The lactic acid is generated--but I need not
explain further to one who evidently understands the subject so
thoroughly as yourself.”
“Is there no danger of the machine’s getting out of order?” I inquired
mildly, not, however, disclaiming the compliment, and much impressed by
this display of thorough scientific attainment on the part of my
informant.
“None whatever. Observe the dasher.”
With that he jerked off the cover and lifted out the part referred to.
“It is armed with flanges, which revolve between the projecting knives,
or plates, fastened to the sides of the tub. They thoroughly agitate the
milk, which is thrown from one to the other, and never allowed to rest.
The effects are truly wonderful. The exertion is the minimum; the
results are the maximum. No more sour cream; no more rancid butter. A
child can produce a pound of butter from a quart of milk in the short
space of a minute and a half.”
By this time, between the revolving of the wheels and the man’s
incomprehensible conversation, I was in a dazed state, and may not
remember accurately his statements. I was only clear on one point, and
that was that the Duplex Elliptic Milk Converter, although evidently the
perfection of science, was too grand for my wants.
“Have you nothing simpler?” I inquired, faintly.
“Nothing can be simpler,” was the decided response; “here you have a
crank; there, a few iron wheels; inside, the dasher. The price is
moderate; one that would do the work of a dairy would be only fifty
dollars. That amount could be saved in a summer.”
“I should like to inquire farther,” I hastily answered; and, hurrying
down stairs, in spite of remarks about acids and oxygen, nitrogen,
caseine, and a dozen other scientific compounds, I escaped from the
store. There is always a dreadful feeling of shame connected with not
purchasing when one enters a store and asks for an article. It seems as
though you were getting credit and making a display on false pretenses.
The manner of the attendant suggests a doubt of your honesty, and any
little compliments he may have paid you are manifestly taken back at
once, and contempt usurps the place of esteem.
After pausing to recover my breath and my courage, I entered the nearest
place of a similar character and made the same inquiry.
“Yes, sir; we have a churn of a most approved and successful
description. There,” he continued, as the clerk brought me face to face
with a still stranger-looking machine, more like the walking-beam of a
steam-engine than my early recollections of a churn, “there you have
simplicity itself. In it you go back to first principles. You wind up a
spring--”
“A spring!” I exclaimed.
“Undoubtedly. No one thinks of using manual power in these times. The
dashers are secured to each end of this bar, and as one rises while the
other falls, there is no loss from the attraction of gravitation. We
call this the Hippo-opticon.”
“The Hippo-opticon, did you say?” I inquired, wonderingly.
“Yes; the name is derived from two Greek words, _hippo_, a horse, and
_opticon_, sight; because it has the strength of a horse and the eye of
intelligence. It works without care or superintendence. When once
started it runs of itself. The cream--”
“The cream!” I muttered to myself, having supposed that I had just
discovered that milk was churned.
“The cream is placed in these two receptacles; the dashers fall
regularly and slowly.”
“Slowly!” I exclaimed, still more surprised, remembering the praises I
had heard of excessive speed.
“Churning must be done slowly; that is the best established law. There
must be deliberation and regularity.”
“What is your opinion,” I inquired, “of the Patent Duplex Elliptic Milk
Converter?”
“Then you have seen that worthless contrivance! It could not have
deceived an experienced farmer like yourself. Why, that whirligig is the
most utterly useless affair conceivable. It is forever out of order; the
flanges bend, the cogs break. Whatever you do, don’t buy that. In ours
you have primitive simplicity and perfect security.”
At this point a brilliant idea entered my mind, and, taking my departure
without even waiting to ask the price of this wonderful invention, I
hurried back to the first store. Thrusting my head in at the door, and
not daring to advance farther lest I should be overwhelmed by a second
avalanche of learned terms, I inquired of the smiling clerk, who
evidently saw the certainty of a customer in my return, what he thought
of the Hippo-opticon.
“The Hippo-opticon!” he laughed; “that old fogy concern that winds up
with a spring? My opinion simply is that it will never make butter at
all. It never has yet, and it never will. They could not humbug a
gentleman of your discernment with that attempt to return to the
antiquated days of our forefathers. The Patent Duplex--”
“Thank you!” I shouted, as I slammed to the door, and fled without
waiting to hear farther. The selection of a churn was evidently an
intricate matter. It was a practical affair, in which intellectual
research would not help me, and recourse must be had to Weeville. As
soon as I returned to the country I sent for him, and inquired which was
the proper churn to use, and what was the proper thing to put in it.
“Well,” he said, deliberately, “the art of making butter is yet in its
infancy; the principles that control it are not fully understood. Great
cleanliness is a prime requisite; the dairy must be well ventilated;
electricity is very injurious. In Switzerland they do not allow women to
take part in any of the operations, even in milking the cows, on account
of their possessing more electricity than men.”
“Oh!” I broke forth in despair, “I give it up; it is altogether too
complicated a matter--”
“Nonsense,” said Weeville, suddenly recovering himself; “the
old-fashioned ordinary churn is the best; I will send you one. You must
use cream, and there is no difficulty so long as proper regard is paid
to cleanliness.”
With that he left me. His suggestions about electricity were alarming. I
had often felt the electrical power of the female sex. I had received
many dangerous shocks from them; the touch even of their hands had
often produced palpitations and electrical phenomena of the strangest
kind. There could be no anticipating what might be the result if the
cream was affected by their presence. While I was hesitating what to do,
I suddenly thought of Patrick. There was nothing electrical about him.
He might be dirty--his hands and face usually were--but there was no
other danger. He was called at once, and told to milk the cow himself in
future, and be sure to wash his hands and face first; to which
directions he gave a surprised assent, wondering, no doubt, at the
sudden interest his master evinced in his personal appearance. I took
charge of the dairy myself, to exclude all possibility of electrical
phenomena, and skimmed the cream carefully. Cushy had been falling off
lately for some incomprehensible reason, having done so well for
eighteen months; and when, at the end of a week, the churn arrived, it
seemed ludicrously large for the small bowlful of cream that had been
collected--not much more than a pint in all. Patrick, when I called upon
him to wash his hands and set to work, burst forth with the astonished
inquiry,
“Sure yer honor does not want me to churn that little speck ov crame in
this big tub. It would get lost intirely.”
[Illustration]
“But, Patrick,” I replied, “this cream must be churned at once.” This
conclusion was not any deduction of science, although it was announced
in an authoritative tone, intended to impress Patrick with my vast
experience and thorough knowledge of the subject. To state how I arrived
at my opinion, it is sufficient to say that my nose assured me of it.
The weather was warm, and the dairy was merely a closet in the cellar,
springs and brooks not being numerous in my territory.
“Well, then, yer honor, let me make a nate little churn out ov a
ginger-pot there is in the cellar, with the lid ov a salt-box for
dasher, and the piece ov a broom for handle. That will be the doin’ ov
it.”
“Just as you please, Patrick,” I answered, entirely convinced of the
inadequacy of the cream to the occasion; “only be sure and make me a
good article.”
“Indade and I will do that same, and I’m sure yer honor will be mightily
plased. Let me aloon for that.”
Shortly after, Patrick produced a queer-looking extemporized churn that,
although odd enough in appearance, was manifestly better adapted to the
emergency than the enormous affair that Weeville had sent me, apparently
supposing that I was about to set up a public dairy. I expected a friend
to dinner that day, and gave especial directions that the results of the
churning were to come on the table as a surprise to my guest.
When the dinner was served, I was delighted with the whiteness of the
fresh butter, that spoke so well for its purity. Without saying a word,
I helped my friend liberally, and then awaited the result. How I
enjoyed, by anticipation, his enjoyment of so rare a delicacy! I could
scarcely wait for him to taste it before explaining how it was obtained.
He looked at it curiously, then spread some on his bread and tried it,
then ate the bread without. Hastily taking a piece and tasting it, I no
longer wondered at his conduct, but, turning to the maid, sternly
demanded how she dare put such stuff on the table.
“Oh, never mind,” said my friend; “these things will happen in the
country, where you do not have any markets to go to. I often taste bad
butter when I am out of town, although not often so bad as this; but I
can do without very well.”
When dinner was over, I visited my man, and inquired of him, rather
reproachfully than angrily,
“Patrick, what was that you made? Was it cheese, or was it butter? It
was very bad as either; but which was it?”
“Sure, yer honor,” he replied, scratching his head, “I don’t rightly
know meself; but the crame was spoilt intirely, and I did the best I
could.”
“Patrick,” I answered, “I am afraid you are electrical, after all.”
This attempt was but a sort of interlude, and I kept my mind mainly on
the various productions of the earth.
“Weeville,” I said one day, in early fall, when the first cold snap had
thrown a tinge of brown over much of my garden, “how do you manage to
collect the flower-seeds for use next spring?”
“Why, my dear boy,” he replied, gayly, “that is easy enough: dry them a
little, put them in bags labeled, and set them aside in a dry place,
where the mice can not get at them to make a daily meal at your
expense.”
“I do not refer to that part; the books on gardening speak of that, but
they give no directions for gathering the seed. I have studied
Bridgeman, Rand, and the rest of them, but they nowhere tell you when or
how to collect the seed.”
“My dear fellow, you surely would not expect Bridgeman to tell you how
to save seeds; that is his occupation, and a pretty fool he would be to
let out all the secrets of his trade.”
“Then he had no business to write on gardening,” I added, earnestly; for
I have an immense idea of duty, and a high standard for the obligations
of authorship; “a man who publishes a book, and retains any knowledge on
the subject of which he treats for his own purposes, is a scoundrel and
a cheat; he is false--”
“Now, now,” interrupted Weeville, soothingly, “don’t get on your high
horse; remember human nature. A pretty notion it would have been if
Bridgeman had enabled all his customers to do without him, and perhaps
set up in the seed-business themselves.”
“I can only say, then, that he had no right to take upon himself the
honors of authorship; there is no justification for his assuming the
place of instructor when he was merely a self-seeker. His book, then, is
simply an advertisement.”
“Call it what you please, but do not get excited. Borrow his catalogues,
which contain much useful information, and for which he charges nothing,
but do not abuse a hard-working man, striving to get ahead in the
world.”
“Very well, then. To come back to my difficulties--I want to know when I
am to gather the seeds; they only ripen in small quantities, and, if
left, are scattered and lost.”
“Oh, you must watch your chance; stick to it; ‘here a little, and there
a little;’ do not be impatient.”
“The pods of phlox burst the moment they turn yellow, and, ere I notice
them among the mass of those still green, they have spilled their
contents; the gilia are so small that I can not find them at all; the
mignonnette really does not seem to bear seed; and the capsules of the
portulaca have to be picked one at a time, and are so low that it almost
breaks my back to bend down to them. How is it that you manage?”
“I never have any trouble; I go through my garden daily.”
“To come to a point--what do you do about the phlox?”
“You must be on the alert, and save all you can.”
“Now, Weeville,” I said, sternly, for he was in the act of buttoning up
his coat to go, as though the discussion were over, “I do not believe
you know any thing about it.”
“What--what--what’s that you say?”
“I do not believe you are any better acquainted with the right mode of
gathering seeds than I am.”
“Well,” he replied, as he went out of the door, with a pleasant smile,
“the fact is, I do generally get a new supply every year from Thorburn.”
Before I had fully recovered from my surprise at this discovery, and
when I was remembering how, every year, the oldest farmers and gardeners
were to be seen running into the seed-stores to buy what they should
have saved if they had known how, Patrick thrust his head in at the
door.
“Can I spake to yer honor a moment?”
“Certainly, Patrick.”
“And is it thrue, what Mr. Weeville says, that the devil’s been seen on
the earth?”
“It is so alleged in the papers,” I replied, “and you know whatever is
stated there must be true.”
“Yes, yer honor,” he answered, evidently referring in his own mind to a
temporary connection of mine with that palladium of freedom. “And sure,”
he continued, as he approached cautiously, “and what is he like?”
“He is described as being forty feet high, spitting fire from his mouth
and nostrils, and with huge horns over his eyes.”
“That’s awful intirely; but there’s prophecies in the Good Book that he
should be let loose on the earth, but I didn’t think it was to be quite
yet. Was it far from here that he was?”
“Yes, more than a thousand miles.”
“Sure and that’s pleasant, for it ain’t likely he’ll get this far.”
“That is not so certain,” I replied, to lead him on. “He has a habit of
going up and down on the earth.”
“But it would take him a long time to travel that distance.”
“The devil, if it really was he, could go a thousand miles in an
instant.”
“Could he, now? Well, I suppose he don’t go by rail, more especially
like the one that runs from New York to Flushing. Perhaps he travels on
the telegraph wires, that, they say, takes a letter along so fast you
can’t see it. Well, well, if he comes this way, all I have to say is,
he’ll get great gatherins in Flushing.”
[Illustration]