Part 2 (2/2)

At last a faint glow appears in the eastern sky, which grows brighter and brighter until the s.h.i.+ning face of the sun is pushed above the horizon. Do you not think such a ride would be more enjoyable than a street car ride?

In the cities there are market places where produce from the country is taken. In Chicago there is a very busy street where much of the buying and selling is done. Study the picture carefully. Here the buyers from hotels, restaurants, and stores, as well as the men who wish to peddle the produce from house to house, go for their daily supplies. There are also commission merchants whose stores are on this street. They sell the produce for those who s.h.i.+p it to the city by train.

We go to the stores and get what we want each day, or the peddlers bring it to the door. You see how necessary it is to have special workers to supply us with the different kinds of food. We consider it very important that we should have vegetables and fruits fresh daily. The work of supplying us with this food is very important. Remember that those who till the soil are ent.i.tled to as great respect as are those who do not work with their hands. Contact with nature makes men and women better, and many of the n.o.blest souls that the world has known have lived in the country and plowed, planted, and harvested the products of the soil.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Market Scene. Chicago.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Market Scene. New York.]

DAIRY PRODUCTS

Uncle Ben lives on a dairy farm in the western part of New York State.

It is a beautiful _rolling_ country with cultivated fields, woodland, and pastures, and here and there a sparkling stream winding its way through the lowlands. The farmhouses are large and well built, and are surrounded by grand old maple, beech, and elm trees. Most of the barns are painted red with white tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs.

There are many dairy farms in the neighborhood. Some of the farmers send their milk to the towns to be used directly, some sell it to creameries, and some to cheese factories.

Last summer I spent my vacation on Uncle Ben's farm, and Cousin Frank and I had happy times, you may be sure.

Every day, just before sundown, we went to the pasture for the cows.

There were about twenty-five of them, and they always seemed perfectly contented after the long day of feasting on rich gra.s.s and clover.

After we drove them into the barnyard Uncle Ben helped us fasten them in their _stanchions_ in the barn. Then the men brought the bright pails and cans to begin milking. Cousin Frank and I always helped, although he can milk much faster than I. Some of the cows gave but two or three quarts, while others gave as many gallons.

We strained the milk into cans holding eight gallons each, and put them into tanks of water to cool. After milking was finished we turned the cattle into the barnyard for the night.

In the morning we commenced milking about sunrise. After breakfast the cans were loaded into a spring wagon and Uncle Ben drove to the depot.

Here they were put on the ”milk train,” which took them to the city.

Many other people sent milk on this same train. It was sent to bakeries, to hotels and restaurants, and to milkmen, who delivered it from house to house. Usually the milkmen put the milk into pint or quart bottles for people who like to have it in that form. Uncle Ben told us that much of the milk that is sent to New York City is bottled before it is sent. The bottling is done by machinery. He also told us that, because of the great importance of having pure milk, there are, in all cities, inspectors who carefully examine the milk and report to the Board of Health. The cows also are inspected, and if any are sick, they are usually killed.

Each evening some one drove to the depot again to get empty cans which the milk train had brought home. These were always carefully washed in hot water before being used again.

b.u.t.tER MAKING

One day, after I had been on the farm about a week, Uncle Ben took Frank and me to the _creamery_. A creamery is a place where the milk and cream are separated and b.u.t.ter is made.

We found several wagonloads of milk being unloaded. The milk was weighed as it was received, for it is sold by weight.

The milk was then strained into a large galvanized iron tub, from which a pipe carried it into a circular machine called the _separator_. The separator revolves rapidly, throwing the milk, which is heavier than the cream, to the outer edge, where it pa.s.ses through small holes into a compartment by itself. The cream rises along the center and pa.s.ses through another set of openings into a special compartment. A pipe carries it to a large vat, while another pipe conveys the milk to large tanks.

Uncle Ben told me that when people make their own b.u.t.ter, they must wait for the cream to _rise_ on the milk. The cream is then skimmed off, and the milk is called _skimmed milk_. Although the milk in the creamery is not skimmed, the same name is used for it.

<script>