lo June, 191 i.] Candied Honey. 421 



Fodder Crops. 



All the fodder for the herd is grown on the farm. The Messrs. Douglas 

 -are quite satisfied that silage, when the right mixtures are grown, wdll 

 take the place of the lirewers" grains and bran which are at present pur- 

 chased. This alone will mean a saving of ;^200 yearly. 



The cultivation methods are carried out on scientific principles. The 

 land is w^orked to a fine tilth and fallowing is extensively practised. 



Silage is so highly valued that it is intended to build a second silo 

 of 100 tons capacity. The present one is filled twice each season. A crop 

 of barley, rye, peas or tares and beans is .sown in the autumn for summer 

 silage. This .season, 5 acres of black oats, in addition, have been sown 

 and are well advanced in growth. There are 20 acres of maize on the farm. 

 At the time of writing some of this crop was 1 1 feet high and promised 

 to yield about 20 tons to the acre. A .splendid sample of cereal silage was 

 then being fed to the herd, the balanced ration being made up by the addi- 

 tion of good oaten hay chaff, bran, and brew^ers' grains. The cows are 

 fed twice a day for ten months out of the twelve. \\'hen an extra supply 

 of milk is required, it has been found necessary to increase the amount 

 •of concentrated food supplied to the cows. 



Water Supply. 



This is practically artesian. The w'ater rises to the top of the bore and 

 is pumped by windmill to a re.servoir which has a capacitv of 10.000 gals. 

 From this .source it is distributed to cement troughs automatically filled. 

 There are also several large dams for supplying water to the dry stock. 



CANDIED HONEY. 



F . R. Beulme, Bee Expert. 



All liquid honey is liable, .sooner or later, to candy, or granulate; that 

 is to say, it becomes first cloudy and. gradually, partially or wholly solid. 



Honey consists princi])ally of two sugars — dextrose and levulose. The 

 former assumes a crystalline form much more readily than the latter; and 

 it is therefore chiefly the relative proportions of those sugars upon which 

 the rapidity and degree of granulation depend. 



'J'he prejMjnderance of the one or the other is due to the flora from which 

 the nectar was obtainerl by the bees. There are, however, some otheir 

 factors in addition which hasten or retard granulation. These are tempera- 

 ture, amount of water, pollen grains, and air bubbles. 



Generally speaking, honev does not granulate until the approach of cool 

 weather ; and honev gathered during cool weather candies .sooner and 

 firmer than that which is produced in midsummer. Anv honey, however, 

 will granulate .sooner when sulijected to freciuent changes of temperature, 

 than when kej)t at a uniform degree — high or low. 



The amount of water naturally present in honey varies according to the 

 .sourc(^ of the nectar, the humiilitv of the atmosphere at time of gathering, 

 and the length of time it n-mained in the hives. In Victorian honey it ranges 

 from 12 to 25 per cent. As water is necessary to crystalli/ation, the thinner 

 honevs nale.r div granulate more readilv ; while some of the dense honeys 

 produced in the drv parts of \"ietoria lemain clear and licpiid for one or 

 two vears. 



