Vol,. XVIII. No. 451. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



•251 



PRODUCTION OF SANITARY MILK. 



Volume XVII, No. 428 of the Agricultural News 

 contained an article dealing with experiments under- 

 taken b}' the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture with the object of investigating and determining 

 the four essential factors in the production of milk of 

 low bacterial content. In this connexion Farmers' Bull- 

 etin, No. 1,019 of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture entitled 'Straining Milk' contains the 

 following suggestions which if followed by dairy keep- 

 ers would ensure the production of sanitary milk. 



The milking barn should be clean, and well lighted and 

 ventilated. The stalls should be built with regard to the 

 size of the cows. Droppings should fall in the manure 

 gutter and the cows should have a clean, dry well-bedded 

 place on which to lie. 



Keep the cows groomed to remove loose hair and 

 manure. 



Before milking wash the cows' udders and flanks and 

 wipe with a damp cloth. 



Milk with clean, dry hands into a clean, sterilized, small- 

 top pail. 



Remove the milk immediately to the milk house, where 

 it should be strained and cooled at once. 



Keep milk tightly cnvered at all times. 



Protect clean utensils from flies and dust. 



The same bulletin publishes the following sum- 

 ary dealing with sediment in milk : 



Sediment in milk indicates carelessness in its production 

 or handling. 



Sediment contaminates milk and make it less saleable. 



Most of the sediment in milk comes from the bodies of 

 the cows and consists of hairs, manure, bedding, etc. 



Straining removes only the coarse particles of dirt and 

 removes neither the bacteria nor the fine dirt. 



Straining improves the commercial quality of milk, 

 but does not appre< iably improve its healthf ulness. 



The best system is to prevent, so far as possible, the 

 entrance of dirt into milk. This can be done best by having 

 clean cows in clean stables, milked with clean hands, into 

 clean, small top pails. 



Filter cloth and absorbent cotton are efiicient materials 

 for strainers. Cheese cloth and wire gauze are less ellective. 



Straining cloths should be changed whenever tbey be- 

 come soiled. They should be thoroughly washed and steri- 

 lized after each using- EtEcient steriUzation is accomplished 

 by boiling or exposure to steam for at least five minutes. 



THE BOTANIC GARDEN AT HAVANA. 

 Probably the oldest Botanic Garden in the West 

 Indies is the one at St Vincent which was established 

 in 176.5— over 150 years ago. According to the Keiv 

 Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (^os. 1 and 2 

 of 1919) a botanic garden was founded at Havana in 

 1817. In reviewing a recent publication — El Jardin 

 Botanico del Instituo de Sugunda Ensenanza de la 

 Habana — the Bulletin says : — 



A Botanic Garden was founded at Havana on May 30 

 1817, under the auspices of the 'Sociedad Patriotica de 

 Amig'os del Pais', and an interesting account of the present 

 garden, which is now attached to ttie Institute of Secondary 



Education, has recently been published by Dr. Felipe Garcia 

 Canizares. The volume is well illustrated with views and 

 plans of the garden, and contains numerous plates and 

 figures of the more interesting plant-", that are in cultivation. 

 A general catalogue of the indigenous and exotic plants 

 grown forms a valuable portion of the work as the native 

 names of the plant.s are given with their scientific names, 

 and the whole catalogue is arranged under the natural 

 families. A special account, with figures, is given of the 

 Ocuje (Calophyllum Cahxha, .Tacquin) and there is a com- 

 plete alphabetical index. 



From the historical account of the garden, which 

 occupies the opening pages, we learn that the suggestion 

 of establishing a Botanic Garden at Havana was first made 

 in 1793 by Nicholas Calvo and Mariano Espinosa, but 

 despite the efforts of these originators of the scheme, and 

 the interest displayed by Martin Sese, the project was not 

 fulfilled until the year 1817, when the garden was 

 commenced on land granted by Sr. Alejandro Ramirez. 



The first Director of the Garden was Sr. .Jose Antonio 

 de la Ossa, the author of the ' Flora havanensis'. 



In the year 1824 the Chair of Botany was established, 

 and Sr. rtam('in de la Sagra was appointed the first Professor 

 and in 1827 became exclusive Director of the Garden. He 

 enlarged tlie garden considerably and also did much for the 

 encouragement of Cuban agriculture. 



The garden at a later date was united with the 

 In.stitucion Agronoma in the Escuela Bot;inica Agricola, 

 and was finally placed under the Real Hacieuda as a State 

 Institute. 



The third Di'ector was Dr. Pedro Alejandro Auber, 

 the distinguished naturalist. From 1864-97, the second 

 epoch in the history of the garden, there is little to record, 

 as its scientific and administrative work was sadly neglected, 

 except that in the year 1866 the garden became a 

 dependency of the University. In 1897 the Director of the 

 Institute of Secondary Edu^ation.obtained a portion of the 

 garden for his school, and it is with this part of the original 

 garden that the present account is concerned. The garden 

 has been restored lo its proper functions under the direction 

 of Dr. Fernando Reynoso, and to his enthusiasm and 

 energy the present prosperous condition of the Havana 

 Garden of the Institute of Secondary Education appears 

 largely to be due. 



Those interested in the spraying of crops will find the 

 methods of testing copper spray coatings in the field, as 

 described in Bulletin No. 78j, United States Department of 

 Agriculture, of great assistance. The objects of the methods 

 are to find out the persistence of sprays, to secure prompt 

 correction of faulty spraying practices, and similar matters 

 bearing upon the same subject. 



A valuable series of researches into the treatment of 

 malaria is dealt with in the Annals of Tropical Medicine 

 and Parasitology (University of Liverpool), Vol. XIII, No, I. 

 The injection of quinine bi-hydrochloride was found to 

 cause the disappearance of the milarial germs from the 

 blood, but the action was only temporary. . . As a palliative, 

 quinine sulphate suflices to keep the blood free and to 

 prevent relapses in the majority of cases. A combination 

 of arsenic with quinine in the doses used is not more 

 effective than quinine alone. 



