NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



165 



those who have purchased southern trees -will find to 

 their sorrow that they have been deceived. But 

 there is a vast difference in northern trees ; some are 

 far better worth fifty cents each tlian others arc 

 twenty. Be careful, then, and select good trees ; but 

 select young, tluiity, if quite small, for they are far 

 better than old, stouter ones. 



These things are facts, as far as our knowledge 

 extends ; but we should be glad to have the views of 

 others who have had experience in this matter. — 

 Exeter (jV. H.) News-Letter. 



*■ 



THE COMPOSITION OF MILK. 



Modern chemistry has thrown much light upon 

 this very important branch of rural economy. Of 

 all agricultural products, none is more valuable, 

 more widely diffused, or more difficult to dispense 

 with, than milk, and the butter and cheese, manufac- 

 tured from it. Many elaborate and careful experi- 

 ments have been made by Boussingault in France, 

 Prof. Thompson and others in England, with the 

 view to test the quantity and quality of milk pro- 

 duced by animals fed upon different kinds of food. 

 These experiments have elicited many important facts 

 of great value to the dairy farmer ; but much re- 

 mains j'ct to be done before this subject can be fully 

 cleared up. The economical production of milk by 

 means of the machinery which Nature has provided, 

 must be carefully studied, and reduced to a science. 

 This article, which constitutes so large a proportion 

 of human food, vvUl then be regarded as a legitimate 

 manufacture, and improvements in the machineri/, or 

 the animals w^hich elaborate it, will add millions to 

 the agricultural wealth of the country. 



The component parts of milk in all animals, both 

 herbivorous and carnivorous, is the same. It differs 

 only in the proportion of its principal ingredients. 

 Substances are, however, occasionally found in milk, 

 arising from the peculiar food of the animal, which 

 render it medicinal, or even poisonous. The follow- 

 ing table exhibits the composition of the milk of 

 different animals, in its ordinary state, as found by 

 Profk. Ilcnry and Chevallier : — 



Woman. Cow. Ass. Goat. 

 Casein, (cheese,) . . 1.52 4.48 1.82 4.08 



Butter, 3.5.5 3.13 0.11 3.32 



Milk sugar, 6.50 4.77 6.08 5.28 



Saline matter, 0.45 0.60 0.34 0.58 



Water, 87.98 87.02 91.65 86.80 



100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 



From the above it will be seen that asses' milk 

 contains much less butter and cheesey matter than 

 that of the cow. It is probably this circumstance, 

 and its similarity to that of the human species, which, 

 from the most remote times, have recommended it to 

 invalids as a light and easily digested drink. 



The richness, or proportion of butter and cheese, 

 contained in cows' milk is well known to depend 

 upon the food of the animal, the period of gestation, 

 and the time of her giving the milk. That taken 

 last froni the cow during the same milking usually 

 contains much the larger proportion of butter. Its 

 temperature is from 65^ to 75°. To the naked eye 

 it seems a pure, white liquid; but when viewed 

 through the microscope, an infinite number of minute 

 globules appear, which contain the oily part, or the 

 butter. When the milk is set away in the dairy, 

 these oily particles, being the lightest, gradually rise 

 to the surface and form the cream. But Avhen milk 

 18 exposed to the atmosphere, the sugar it contains 

 slowly changes into an acid called lactic acid. Tiiis 

 causes the casein, or curd, to coagulate, prevents the 

 separation of the cream, and the milk becomes sour. 



As this acid is usually formed before all the buttery 

 globules have risen to the si:rfacc, the curd always 

 contains more or less butter ; sometimes as much as 

 two per cent., or one half the whole quantity con- 

 tained in the milk. Hence, the longer we can keep 

 the milk sweet, the more cream we can obtain. Now, 

 it is impossible to prevent the change of the sugar 

 into lactic acid ; but we can in some measure coun- 

 teract its effects by adding to the milk a substance 

 that will absorb the acid as it is formed. Curbonatt 

 of soda, or the common soda of the shops, is the 

 substance which experience has proved best for this 

 purpose. Less than a teaspoonful of soda dissolved 

 in water, and well mixed with four qiiarts of milk, 

 will often keep it sweet for four or five days ;. thus 

 allowing all the buttery particles to rise, and doubling 

 the quantity of cream. In very warm weather, more 

 than the above proportion of soda is required. — 

 Another advantage from this process is, that it mat- 

 ters little what kind of vessels are used to contain 

 the milk, whether of stone-ware, wood, or metal. In 

 France large wooden tubs arc often used, with a 

 faucet at the bottom, though which the liquid can 

 be drawn off from beneath the cream. In this way 

 the labor of the dairy is made much more simple and 

 easy. 



In order that the butter may have no bad taste, the 

 soda must be pure, and especially free from sulphaf^e 

 of sodium, (glauber salts,) which it often contains. 

 To test its purity, dissolve a little in water, and then 

 add suiRcient vinegar to make it effervesce. Now 

 put into this a piece of silver, as a teaspoon, for 

 instance, and if, after remaining a short time, it retains 

 its bright appearance, you may depend upon the soda 

 as pure ; for if it contains the least particle of sul- 

 phur, the silver will become tarnished. After the 

 soda has been dissolved in water, it should be strained 

 through a piece of linen before mixing it with the 

 milk. 



From forty- eight to seventy-two hours are required 

 completely to sepai-ate the cream. When this has 

 been done, the liquid loses its white color, and 

 acquires that bluish appearance well known to be 

 the characteristic of skimmed milk. 



The souring of the cream is caiised by the acid 

 formed in that portion of the milli that adheres to 

 the oily particles, and can be prevented, or rather 

 retarded, by the process above described. The car- 

 bonate of mar/nesia, or twenty drops of ammonia, will 

 be found to answer the same purpose as soda. F. 



Wasuin(;ton, Feb,, 1S50. 

 — Genesee Fai'mer. 



THE WOOL PROSPECT. 



The prospect of the wool business, in JIaine, 16 

 not very flattering, even if wool should rise in price ; 

 because there have been so many flocks wholly ex- 

 terminated, and all of them thinned off', that it can- 

 not compare with what it once was, put it in the 

 best shape you please. Still there are many who 

 feel much interest and anxiety in the biisincss. A 

 writer in the Wool- Grower does not agree with us 

 in the causes of this depression. Wo think experi- 

 ence says to us, that we are right in the reasons 

 which we give, why this business is not so good 

 with us as formerly, viz. : The operations and 

 changes in the taritt". There is no mistake about 

 this, and every man who ever had any experience in 

 wool-growing, knows full well that the fate of the 

 business is to a greater or less extent held in the 

 hands of certain men who are found a part of every 

 year at Washington. Let that pass now. What are 

 the prospects of the next clip ? We must refer to 

 friend Peters, of the Wool-Grower, as the most re- 

 liable source of information on this subject. After 



