A pound of this solidified milk, it is said, will make five pints when dissolved in water.

Another favorite form in which milk is used is that known as ice-cream, a cheap and healthy luxury during the summer months. It is frozen in a simple machine made for the purpose, in the best form of which the time of the operation is from six to ten minutes. The richest quality of ice-cream is made from cream, in the following manner: To one quart of cream use the yolks of three eggs. Put the cream over the fire till it boils, during which time the eggs are beaten up with half a pound of white sugar, powdered fine; and when the cream boils stir it upon the eggs and sugar, then let it stand till quite cold, then add the juice of three or four lemons. It is then ready to put into the freezer. The heat of the cream partially cooks the eggs, and the stirring must be continued to prevent their cooking too much.

A somewhat simpler receipt, given by the confectioners, is the following: To half a pound of powdered sugar add the juice of three lemons. Mix the sugar and lemon together, and then add one quart of cream. This is less rich and delicate than the preceding, but is quite rich enough for common use, and some trouble is saved.

The following receipt makes a very good ice-cream.

Two quarts of good rich milk; four fresh eggs; three quarters of a pound of white sugar; six teaspoons of Bermuda arrow-root. Rub the arrow-root smooth in a little cold milk, beat the eggs and sugar together, bring the milk to the boiling point, then stir in the arrow-root; remove it then from the fire, and immediately add the eggs and sugar, stirring briskly, to keep the eggs from cooking, then set aside to cool. If flavored with extracts, let it be done just before putting it in the freezer. If the vanilla bean is used, it must be boiled in the milk. The preparation must be thoroughly cooled before the freezing is proceeded with.

The ice-cream by this receipt may be produced at a cost not exceeding twenty-five cents a quart, calling the milk five cents a quart, and the eggs a cent apiece, and including the cost of labor. It is quite equal to that commonly furnished by the confectioners at seventy-five cents a quart. The arrow-root may be dispensed with. The freezer is a cheap and simple machine.

After the cream has frozen in the machine, it should stand an hour or two to harden before it is used.

To secure a more uniform flow and a richer quality of milk, cows are sometimes spayed, or castrated. The milk of spayed cows is pretty uniform in quantity, and this quantity will be, on an average, a little more than before the operation was performed. But few instances have come under my observation, and those few have resulted satisfactorily, the quality of the milk having been greatly improved, the yield becoming regular for some years, and varying only by the difference in the succulence of the food. The proper time for spaying is about five or six weeks after calving, or at the time when the largest quantity of milk is given. There seem to be some advantages in spaying for milk and butter dairies, where the raising of stock is not attended to. The cows are more quiet, never being liable to returns of seasons of heat, which always more or less affect the milk both in quantity and quality. They give milk nearly uniform in these respects, for several years, provided the food is uniformly succulent and nutritious. Their milk is influenced like that of other cows, though to less extent, by the quality and quantity of food; so that in winter, unless the animal is properly attended to, the yield will decrease somewhat, but will rise again as good feed returns. This uniformity for the milk-dairy is of immense advantage. Besides, the cow, when old, and inclined to dry up, takes on fat with greater rapidity, and produces a juicy and tender beef, superior, at the same age, to that of the ox. The operation of spaying is simple, and may be performed by any veterinary surgeon, without much risk of injury.

The milk of the cow has often been analyzed. It was found by Haidlen to consist of

Water,873.  
Butter,30.  
Caseine,48.2 
Sugar of milk,43.9 
Phosphate of lime,2.31
Magnesia,.42
Iron,.47
Chloride of Potassium,1.44
Sodium and Soda,.66
1000.