THE QUEEN'S BUTTER AND EGGS.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7771, 27 January 1891, Page 2

THE QUEEN'S BUTTER AND EGGS.

(Abridged from Harper's Bazaar.)

"That's where the Queen's butter is made," said the policeman who was pointing out from tbe top of the great round tower afr Windsor Castle, Stoke-Pogis. Eton, and other places of interest. And then he remarked confldentally: "You ought to see the gold pantry; nine tons of gold plate, gold spoons set with rubies, &c., &c. You never- saw such a sight in your life." To which his listener had meekly replied, "Probably not." The simple remark concerning the batter led not only to a desire to see wnere it was made, but also to a series of circumstances through which I left the train at Windsor on a day in early P une, en route not only for the royal dairy and aviary, but with tickets of admission, " with compliments of Sir Henry Ponsonby," to the royal gardens, the kennels, and the late Prince Consort's show farm.

. All these are in the southern part of the Home Park, which lies to the north and east ol Windsor Castle, and contains 500 acres.

The Stock PEtfs. , The buildings of the show farm stand nearest the carriage entrance, and consist of a snug and pretty btone house for the farmer, and stone buildings for the accommodation of the Shorthorn cattle. These buildings are grouped irregularly, much after the fashion of the ordinary English village. In certain of these stone barns the prize cattle are kept, and are taken. out ,'lor exercise once a day only. They are so enormously fat that exercise must be a thing' to be avoided by them rather than desired. They were lying down on clean Straw in roomy pens, but-at the word of command straggled laboriously to their feet. } git goes without saying that their clean- and glossy coats testified to the perfect care taken of them. There were steers, fat but nameless, These will In due time be turned into beef of tbe primeafe quality. From each the Choicest cut will be reserved for the royal table, and the remainder, sold from the butchers' shops, will fetch an extra price. The Christmas sale of Queen's cattle comes as surely as the great festival itself, and the prices paid average high. The heifers seemed absolutely perfect, at least to an amateur's eye. Alix 11th is a pure White beauty, and comes, as her name Indicates, from a long lihe of highbred ancestry, among which are numbered not only a "Royal Benedict" and "Waterloo Duke" but also a "Grey Friar."

Upon fresh straw, in a house devoted to his. special use, reclined the monarch of the herd, a truly royal beast in his own right. He was ringed, but not chained; and taking him by the ring, the keeper commanded him to rise, andf led him. towards mc.

. i '?Whatis.hiSinamef"Tasked, v- - "The Field Marshall" replied the keeper proudly. The "Field Marshal" has taken many prizes in competition with others of his kind, exhibited not only by - her Majesty's subjects but <alsb by the Prince of Wales, between whom and his royal mother there is a friendly' rivalry in the raising of cattle. Members of the black breed of swine alone are kept in the piggeries. The pens are of stone and are cleansed daily, and it Would be an imputation, cast not only upon the tenants but upon the keepers -. to call them "sties." J A lew draught horses stood in their stalls, the remaiuder being at work; these were perfect *p«eimens of their, kind, broad-flanked, big-fopted, with long curling fetlocks. ..- * Every part of this stone village is exquisitely kept, and is absolutely free froih impure odours. Even the long high building witbin which the cows and calves are nightly housed was as sweet as 'the daintiest parlour. With its open timber roof, it reminded mc curiously of certain old baronial halls I have seen—lacking the minstrels' gallery. The cows are not tied, but have the great open space to move' about in, with plenty of fresh straw upon which to lie. t In the daytime they graze In an enclosed portion of the park, knee-deep in succulent grasses and among golden buttercups, under the shade, ol the magnificent trees: planted by Queen Anne,

The Rotai. Gardens. ' A brief walk through the open park leads to the Royal Gardens. - Here areacres of forcing-houses containing strawberry plants in every stage of fruition from the flower to the fragrant berry. Her Majesty never fails of her strawberries whatever the time of the year; though in its season the English strawberry requires no forcing. It ripens well out-of-doors, and la of a most delicious flavour.

The great "blue bubbles "hung temptingly in clusters from the roofs of tho graperies, and peaches too Were being forced, as well as tomatoes, cucumberjMLnd melons. The last were kept from falling when ripe by little wooden shelves swung' under them. • . We have the authority of Matthew Arnold for the 'superiority of the English hot-house poach over the out-of-door, pro* duct of sunnier lands, and I must confess that never have I tasted melons compari able in flavour to those grown in a forclhkhouse on a certain old Highland estate in Scotland.

While in the large conservatory, to my auestfon if the-Queen often visited there, ie gardener replied that she occasionally came and sat for a while at the end of a long alley—a lovely vista banked with blossoming plants. I recall, however, nothing rare. Profusion of flowers for cutting is the end sought.

The Daisy. The dairy is of stone, erected, as tha fa fkaiption on the frie*e tells as, in the twenty-first year of Victoria's reign. It is attached to the dwelling-house of the dairywoman, or rather the dwelling-house IS attached to it. The room is 37ft. long by SBftL wide. It is lined throughout— floor, walls, and high roof—with tOes in

©00l tones; bass-reliefs ©a some of these tiles represent the seasons, and kindred subjects. Medallion busts of the royal family are Inserted in the walls. The dairy was built before the marriage of the Prince of Wales, and of those Who have married Into the royal family the only medallion is that of tho late Emperor Frederick. On small brackets at one end stand marble busts of victoria and Albert. By way of added decoration bits of precious old china are ranged on shelves in shallow recesses. Under the table* the Soar ia gonk a few inches, and this cavity ia kept filled with water, while a. fountain in the centre oi tho room is constantly playing. The receptacles for milk are of wait© china rimmed with gilt, and the ere&m, to tho eye. was delectable. The butter, of which numerous pats lay upon the cool marble, was truly goldea, though not more so than I have seen ih,

New England kitchens. The dairy woman, whowa* Scotch, said it was the buttercups which the cows ate that gave to it its goFdealltte. _ r "Doyou think soTlsaid. " Certainly," waa the reply. Butter Is always yellower after butt«rcuß» come. £nd*-triumphantly~" that's why they are called buttercups, because they make the butter yellow 1 In an enclosure hard by the dairy were feeding Myrrh, Dewdrop, and Totsle, and the rest of the herd oj high-bred Jerseys.

The Aviary and. Poultry-yard. Across the way from the dairy stands the aviary, a long low pavilion, In the upper story of which the poultry-keeper, a woman, lives. Within its handsome wellkept precincts are pencilled and black Hamburgs, Dorkings, game fowL and Plymouth Rocks. Plymouth Rocks in a royal aviary 1 Shade of George III.! They are excellent layers, the poultry woman told mc. 'The royal table is supplied with fresh eggs from the aviary, but not the royal kitchen. One solitary golden pheasant—gorgeous creature I—had his house and run to himself, his mate having died. There were only two varieties of doves in the pretty dove-cot, the ring and carrier doves. A superb white peacock, who was preening his feathers, and in the operation of spreading wide his tail in a complete circle, was let out that I might see him in all his glory. Broods of small white turkeys not many days from the shell were sunning themselves on the green lawn, secured by wire nettings from the depredations of the jackdaw, which, notwithstanding the fact that he is a "great frequenter of the church," is an- arrant thief and chickenkiller. Here, at Windsor* he is housed royally in open spaces of the masonry near the summit of the great round tower, left for that purpose by the architect. An artificial lake with a small island, shaded by a weeping willow, serves as a swimming-pondfor theducks. The aviary stands in a sunny dell, and never had fowls a more charming roostlng-plaoe. The woman unlocked a door to show what she said she did not show to everyone, '* but you have come so far "—namely, the rooms fitted up for the Queen when she drives around to see her. poultry. There are two of these rooms carpeted and cosily furnished. In glass eases against the wall are stuffed fowl—pheasants, Seabrigbc bantams, a pigeon once tossed into her carriage as a token of goodwill when she was in Ireland, a curious Japanese pair, and even a fluffy white duckling—favourites or gifts.