Vol. VII. No. 161. 



THK AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



199 



FRUIT PRESERVED IN BRINE. 



The latest Report of the British Consul at Naples 

 contains the following note on the export trade in 

 cherries preserved in brine : — i /- 



A new agricultural produi-t, which ha.s reached vciy 

 important proportions as an export, consists of cherries 

 preserved in the following manner. They arp first placed in 

 the fumes of sulphur and then packed in casks with very 

 strong brine. The chief place of export is to the Ignited 

 States where, as they pay no duty, they coin[)ete with the 

 home-grown fruit. On arrival the fruit is : .sorted out, the 

 best being sold for the purpose of flavouring some of the 

 various stimulants which, under ditiereut names, form the 

 specialty of American bars, the second best arc preserved in 

 brandy in the usual' way, and the remainder are used for the 

 general purposes of confectionery. The extraordinary expan- 

 sion of the trade may be judged by the following figures : 

 1904, £2,783 ; 190G, £14,584 ; 1907, £:iO,12.5. The figures 

 for 1905 are not available, as the export of cherries was in 

 that year not placed under a separate head in the returns, 

 but it will be observed that the increase in 1907 over 190G 

 was more than 100 per cent. 



A brief article appeared in the Aiir'irnltuml Ncirn 

 {Vol. VI, p. 1(S()) on a somewhat similar n-.ethod of 

 preserving citrons, which is adopted in Greece. 



QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF GOATS' 

 MILK. 



A chapter in a recently published book 'The Case 

 for the Goat' (a brief review of which appears on page 

 205 of the present issue) deals with the quantity and 

 quality lif the milU that goat; keepers may expect from 

 their stock. In regaid to the qiiesiion of qiiaiitit\', the 

 following partieidars as to r,he yields given by one or 

 two indivithial animals may be of interest: — 



'flie Secretary of the Goat Society has himself su])ervised 

 the weighi)ig and measuiing of the yield of a Swiss goat at 

 Great Waltham. He found the tiaily average, from Septem- 

 ber 1 to September 4 inclusive, to be 10 lb. 5 oz., (u- niore 

 than a gallon per day. This animal had l>een in njilk tor 

 more than five month.s. Its yield is, of cour.se, more than 

 customary, but there are iilenly of goats in Great Ijritaiii 

 which give 5 gallons a week, and thon.sands yielding a quan- 

 tity only slightly smaller, fndoubtedlj-, the average milk 

 yields in England have risen largely during the pa.st few years. 

 As far back as 1899, however, a herd of five goats, kept by 

 Mr. C. A. Gates, of Guildford, produced in a year over 3 tons 

 of milk. The daily average per goat for ninejnionths was over 

 5 pints. It may be mentioned, too, that the American Jlilch 

 (Joat Association will m>t admit tn its register a goat giving 

 less than a quart per day. As an especially noteworthv in- 

 .stance of the milk-yielding capacity of tlie 'poor mans cow ' 

 the author of ' La Ghevre ' states that he knew of an Alfiine 

 goat which, when newly kidded and as a result of a ivmarkable 

 appetite and special feeding, gave 8 litres [about 7 ijuartsl 

 daily for three weeks. 



In composition the milk of the goat is lieher than 

 that of the cow. A statement of analysis, taken from 

 a standai-d book, shows that an average s.ample of 

 goat's milk contains 4'2!) per cent, albuminoids, 4-7(S 

 per cent. fat. and 4.'4(j milk sugar, as against .':{'55 per 

 cent, albuminoids, 3 ()9 per cent, of fat, and 4)S8per 

 <'ent. ot milk sn^ar contained in cow's milk. 



CORN CULTURE IN THE UNITED 

 STATES. 

 The United States Department of Agriculture has 

 inaugurated a method of assisting farmers in the South- 

 ern States by what is known as the Farmers' Co-opera- 

 tive Demonstration Work. This system is one by 

 which the established j)rinciples of successful agri- 

 cidture are demonstrated directly to the farmers on 

 their own farms by trained and practical officers of the 

 Department. The co-operating farmers undertake to 

 Work a portion (A their land strictly in accordance with 

 the instructions of one of those officers, the latter 

 visiting the farm at periodic intervals to see that the 

 instructions are carried out, and to give any necessary 

 advice or help. Funncrs Bulletin -llf). which gives 

 an account of this work, states that up to February 1908, 

 no less than 12,000 of these 'demonstration farms' 

 were under supervision. 



Improved methods of cultivation of the maize crop 

 form one of the lines of work taken up by the organi- 

 zation, as the following extracts from the pamphlet will 

 show : — 



Corn is the main grain food grown for farm stock, and 

 can be .successfully raised in most portions of the South. Any 

 considerable increase in its annual production would have 

 a marked ettect upon the value of the unused lands for graz- 

 ing purpo.ses and would perceptibly incre.ise the income of the 

 farms. Notwithstanding this, its cultivation has been singu- 

 larly neglected until the average yield per acie has fallen 

 below the profit line in many States. Even at the high 

 value per bu.shel allowed, the corn crop in many of tlie 

 Southern States does not [lay a living wage or a fair rent 

 value for the land. 



There is abundant poof that large and pi'ofitable crop.s^ 

 of corn can be produced in the South by the use of the best 

 seed and improved methods. The planting of low-grade 

 .seed in a shallow and impoverished seed bed is responsible 

 in the main for deficient yields and quality. However, to 

 secure the best results other reforms must be made, such as 

 better drainage, adjustment of distances between the 

 lows, and between the stalks in the rows, to meet the require- 

 ments of soil and climate, intensive cultivation of the crop,, 

 and the u.se of cowpeas in the corn. 



The Farmers' Co-operative Demonstration Work include.s 

 instruction along all of these lines, and the results have been 

 most encouraging. Our investigations show that not even 

 1 per cent, of the lands in the South jilanted to corn are 

 l)loughed deeply enough at breaking, that they ha.ve not 

 sufficient humus, and that they are not given the proper til- 

 lage to produce the best cro[>. Seed is .so generally defective 

 that onlj' al)out one-third of .so-called good seed is suitable for 

 planting if maximum yields are expected. Along these 

 practical lines we are conducting co-operative (lemonstration.«, 

 with the object of increasing the corn crop in the South Atlan- 

 tic andGulf States at least threefold per acre without adiliti(mal 

 c(.ist. A .sy.stem qf seed selection for inqiroving the ipiality, 

 an<l increasing the .yield, and methods of storage for the 

 preservation of vitality, is (jutlined, detailed instructions 

 being given on application. 



The object of the average fai'nier in plantiii.g corn is to 

 .secure the largest crop of good corn possible under the condi- 

 tions. The selection of the seed is very inqiortant. 



For the best results corn should be selected in tlie field 

 in the same way as the .lapanc!-e select their rice seed before 

 the harvest. 



