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method secures a perfect record of the number of head of cattle kept, 
and the number of days of each head. 
The butter and cheese, except the Camembert cheese, is sold at Saint 
Pierre on the Dive. The Camembert cheese was originated at Camem- 
bert, in the department of Orne, by the great-grandmother of M. Paynel, 
and its fabrication has ever been maintained in his family. On three 
or four of his farms the milk, as soon as drawn, is brought carefully in 
’ a spring-wagon to the principal farm. The morning and noon milk is 
immediately subjected to the action of rennet and heated in proportion 
to the external temperature. Four or five liters of hot milk are gener- 
ally sufficient to give 100 liters the required temperature. The evening 
milk is kept during the night and mingled with the milk of the following 
day. After about four hours the curd is placed by spoonfuls in the molds, 
an operation which is renewed about five times in seven or eight hours 
for the same cheese. As the milk drips through the molds, causing 
- the surface to sink, the vacuum must be filled up at regular intervals by 
fresh supplies of curdled milk. The next day the cheese is turned over 
in the mold, and on the following day removed from it and salted. On 
the fifth day it is transported to the drying-room and placed on the 
hurdles or sieves before mentioned. They are kept here from twelve 
to thirty-six days, according to the dryness or humidity of the atmos- 
phere, and are then deposited in the cellar for six to twenty days in 
addition. The Camembert cheese thus requires from twenty-five to 
_ sixty days, according to temperature, for its completion. The cheeses 
are then packed in rouleaux of six, in paper marked with the regular 
brand, and then surrounded by straw. 
GERMAN AGRICULTURE.—In Germany, and especially in Eastern 
Prussia, the agricultural interest is suffering from the overproduction 
of alcohol and its consequent depreciation in the market. At the close 
of 1874 there was a surplus of 13,208,900 gallons, which continually 
augmented during 1875. To maintain this branch of production, the 
cultivation of potatoes during a few years past has been greatly en- 
larged, at the expense of grain-culture. This was followed by an 
enhanced import and a diminished export of rye, barley, oats, Sc. 
Brandy distillation increased throughout the country, exceeding the 
wants of the community, while the foreign export trade afforded but a 
narrow margin of profit on account of high freight-charges, custom and 
excise duties, and foreign competition. A reaction has taken place in 
the minds of the German farmers in favor of grain production. The 
import of rye exceeded the export 7,000,000 quintals in 1872, 8,000,000 
in 1873, and 12,000,000 in 1874. The excess of barley imports rose in 
three years from 1,700,000 quintals to 2,700,000; that of oats, from 
670,000 to 2,900,000. A quintal (new measure) is equal to 2204 pounds. 
HORSE-BREEDING IN GERMANY.—The late embargo upon the export- 
ation of horses by the Prussian government has been rescinded under 
the growing pressure of complaints from horse-breeders, especially those 
of Hanover, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Silesia. In these provinces the 
business has been stimulated to such an extent that the home-market 
of Germany is not sufficient to absorb the annual production. Depots 
of stallions have been multiplied of later years, and also numerous depots 
for the purchase of army-horses have been established, in order to secure 
the choice of animals suited to the different arms of the service. These 
have generally been purchased at the age of three or four years, thus 
enabling the breeders to realize more speedily the returns for their care 
and labor in raising. The general demand is for horses of greater age. 
