as half a pound of butter at a time. 



1187 



supplement. AGRICULTURE AS PRACTISED IN BRITAIN. 136 , 



8471. Altwood's newly invented churn {fig. 1186.), " being made entirely of block tin the necessary 



1 1 SR f r 6 u f ' em P« ratu, ;e <?" be given to the cream, by placing it in a pan of 

 1 tab cold or hot water, which onenroc n,„ k„« :_J •_'." '"-'".fe ,v , '" a I 1 -'" oi 



the heat of summer, the placing the churn in cold water will "be't'ho m 

 0f a ^, rden i? l f„ th ! bUtter - (J"l'nson S Agr. Imp. for 1843, p. 8.) 

 . , /rL no - . A stone "-" re churn, of which ^g-. 1187. is a perspective view 

 has lately been invented, or brought into notice? by Mr. Daniel Chamber of 

 Carey Street, London In form, and in the manner of using, it is taererv 

 respect the same as the patent box-chum, figured in page 1040. ; but the 

 great advantage of the present invention is, that, being made of earthenware it 

 is much easier kept clean and sweet than when made of wood. Thesizo'of 

 that of which we have given a figure is the smallest that is made, and it will churn so small a quantity 



As this churn, from being made of earthenware, is rather too heavy 

 for being lifted up and emptied, there is a small hole 

 on one side near the bottom (indicated in the figure), 

 to let off the butter-milk ; which hole is easily 

 stopped with a common cork. The lid has a rebate 

 as shown at a in the figure, for the purpose of pre- 

 venting the milk from splashing over during the ope- 

 ration of churning. We have much pleasure in no- 

 ticing this invention, because it will not only greatly 

 contribute to cleanliness, and to the sweetness of the 

 butter produced, but also to lessening the labour of 

 the dairy maid in scalding and scouring. (Gard. 

 Mag. 1839, p. 144.) 



8473. — 708G. New Stilton cheeses may be made to 

 acquire the flavour and appearance of old ones, by 

 inoculating them with portions of the old, containing 

 blue mould. The little scoop which is used in taking 

 samples of cheese, affords a ready means of perform- 

 ing the operation, by interchanging ten or a dozen of 

 the rolls which it extracts, and placing them so as to 

 disseminate the germ of the blue mould all over the 

 cheese. A new Stilton cheese treated in this way, 

 and well covered up from the air for a few weeks, 

 becomes thoroughly impregnated with the mould! 

 and generally with a flavour hardly to be distin- 

 guished from the old one. (Highland Soc. Trans. 

 vol. xi. p. 233.) 



8474. — 7033. Sc/iabziguer cheese is flavoured with 

 the bruised seed of il/clil6tus schabziguer, or blue 

 melilot, which smells exactly like a pigsty. (G. C. 1842, p. 381.) 



8475. — 7115. The varieties of the sheep described by Professor Low, arc: — 1. The Zetland and Orkney 

 breeds ; 2. The breed of the higher Welsh mountains ; 3. The soft-wooled sheep of Wales ; 4. The breed 

 of the Wicklow mountains ; 5. The Kerrv ; 6. The forest breeds of England ; 7. The black-faced heath 

 breed ; 8. The Cheviot ; 9. The old Norfolk ; 10. The old Wiltshire ; 11. The Dorset ; 12. The Merino ; 

 13. The Ryeland ; 14. The South Down ; 15. The old Lincoln ; 16. The Romney Marsh ; 17. The older 

 long-wooled breeds of the inland districts ; 18. The Cotswold ; 19. The new Leicester. (Low's 

 Domestic Animals, vol.ii.) 



8476 — 7184. Management of the fleece in Australia. In order to assimilate the Australian wool as 

 much as possible with the German, in preparing it for market, the fleeces should not be broken, but 

 merely divested of the breech and stained locks, and so assorted or arranged that each package may con- 

 tain fleeces of the same character as to colour, length of staple, fineness oi hair, and general quality. 



8477. If the washing has been performed at the same time and place, and with an equal degree of care, 

 the colour is likely to be uniform, and it will then only be necessary to attend to the separation of the 

 fleeces as to length, fineness, and general quality ; but if a large grower has flocks of different breeds, 

 and fed on different soils, care should be taken that the fleeces be separated, first, as to colour, and then, 

 again, as to length, fineness, &c. 



8478. Packing. The fleeces, being assorted as already suggested, should be spread one upon another, 

 the neck of the second fleece being laid upon the tail of the first, and so on alternately to the extent of 

 eight to ten fleeces, according to their size and weight. When so spread, the two sides should be folded 

 towards the middle, then rolled together, beginning at each end, and meeting in the centre; and the roll 

 or bundle, so formed, should be held together by a slight packthread. 



8479. The bagging should be of a close, firm, and tough nature. The material hitherto most generally 

 used has been sail canvass, which very ill resists bad weather on a long voyage, and, when received here, 

 even in favourable condition, is so dry and crisp, that it will tear like paper. A thicker, twilled, more 

 flexible, and tough material would be preferable. The size and form of the package may be in length 

 about nine feet, and in width four feet, sewed up on the two long sides, and at one end ; the other end 

 being suspended with the open end upwards to receive the bundles made upas before directed, which are 

 to be put in one at a time, one of the flat sides of the roll or bundle being put downwards, and so on in 

 succession ; and the whole being well trodden down, until sufficiently filled for the mouth to be closed. 

 This is the German mode of packing, but it is doubtful whether packages of the dimensions that have 

 been hitherto sent from the two colonies may not be more convenient for so long a voyage. 



8480. The operation of screwing should be discontinued where it has been practised; as the pressure 

 by the screw, and the remaining compressed during the voyage, occasions the wool to be caked and 

 matted together in a manner that is highly prejudicial to its appearance on arrival. The practice, also, 

 of winding up each fleece separately, a.id twisting a portion into a band, is productive, in a minor degree, 

 of the same prejudicial effect ; and it is to avoid this that the making German bundles of eight or ten 

 fleeces is suggested. (Hobart Town Courier, Jan. 8. 1834.) 



8481. — 7219. Feeding sheep. It is well known, from the discoveries of the first chemists, that turnips 

 are deficient in nitrogen, and that all animals require a portion of it for their healthy nourishment- 

 Clover and meal contain, besides other nourishing substances, a sufficiency of nitrogen for the supply of 

 animal flesh, and their addition greatly increases the fattening qualities of turnips ; much of the juice of 

 the turnips remains undigested, and is voided without any change, when they are the only food of the 

 sheep, which more nitrogenous food would enable the stomach to decompose : at least such is the pre- 

 vailing theory ; and it is very plausible. Experiments and accurate observations alone can substantiate 

 it, or refute its truth. (G. C. 1843, p. 132.) 



8482. Feeding sheep in a shed, though they consume nearly one fifth less food, made above one third 

 greater progress. (J. H'. Childers, Esq., in Journ. A. E., vol.i. p. 169.) Subsequent experiments ex- 

 hibit still greater advantages, particularly during the winter months. By giving the sheep cake, and ft 



4 S 



