VOL. X»I. -VO. 13. 



AND H R T I C U L T [J R A L REGISTER. 



93 



peculiar t) some cattle, as it is from tho loose and 

 flabby leel of others." 



9. Carding the animal tiirice daily with appro- 

 priate cards, is an all-esaential part of the process. 

 The operation is highly gratofnl to tho animals, 

 and its elTi'cts eminently salutary. It promotes the 

 action of the small vessels on the surface, and the 

 muscular fibre*, which sympathize and act indirect- 

 ly upon the stomach. Medical men are well ac- 

 tjuainteil with the intimate connexion subsisting be- 

 tween the state of the human corporeal surface, and 

 the stomach and viscera connected with digestion, 

 itnd the same connexion is observed in the o.\ when 

 Feeding. 



10. Regularity in the hours of feeding and wa- 

 tering, is essential. 



11. Cut straw, free from mould or smell, may he 

 given once a day, by way of a change, slightly 

 sprinkled with corn meal and salt. It will be eat- 

 in freely. The stable should be well ventilated, 

 if possible — for the more pure the air, the more 

 leenly will the animals eat. The utmost attention 

 nust also be paid to cleanliness. The animals 

 Tiust not be permitted, when leaving the stall to 

 irink, to walk through a yard covered with wet 

 nannre, and to return to their stall with the clefts 

 >f their feet filled therewith — for, owing to the ac- 

 imony of the liquid, a soro therein will be the al- 

 nost certain effect, with a consequent loss of appe- 

 ite. This cleft must be occasionally examined in 

 loth o.xen and sheep, and if found sore, should be 

 vashed with soap and water, when the application 

 )f a dossil of tow, dipped in spirits of turpentine, 

 norning and evening, for three or four days, will 

 emove it. 



12. Clean bedding is a point obvious to all. — 

 Philaclelphia Sat. Cow: 



CHARACTERISTICS OF MILK. 



Milk is a well known, white, opaque fluid, secre- 

 ed in peculiar vessels by females of the mammi- 

 erous class, which, of course, includes those of the 

 luman species, of quadrupeds, and of cetaceous 

 inimals. Its principles, so far as they have been 

 •-hemically examined, are essentially alike by what- 

 !ver animal produced ; yet these are so modified 

 )y the diflierent proportions in which they e.xist, as 

 constitute a peculiarity that distinguishes the 

 nilk of one animal from that of every other. The 

 nilk of animals was, doubtless, designed by the 

 Author of nature for the nourishment of their off- 

 pring. But man has extensively appropriated 

 his admirably adapted nutriment to his own use ; 

 md in this, as in numberless other instances, has 

 isserted that superiority over the brute creation 

 '»hich was originally conferred by the Sovereign 

 Ilroator, who in giving him dominion over every 

 iving thing that moveth upon the earth, appointed 

 lim lord of this lower world. 



The milk of the cow (^lac vicinum,) forms a very 

 Jssential part of human sustenance, and for several 

 •easons is deserving of special consideration. It 

 8 the best and most palatable aliment for the 

 /oung ; it is suited to nearly every variety of tem- 

 jerament; and is adapted to the nourishment of 

 he body in every age and condition. In order to 

 irrive at a competent knowledge of its nature and 

 oroperties, we propose to confine our observations 

 ind analysis chiefly to the milk of the cow. Pre- 

 vious, however, to a chetnical investigation, there 

 ire a few particulars appreciable to the senses, 

 which deserve a passing notice. 



.1 Color. — Milk fresh drawn from the cow, 

 should be of a bennliful white color, slightly tinged 

 with yellow. It has the deepest lolor at the com- 

 mencement of the perioil of lactation ; but this is 

 often varied by the seasons and by food without 

 materially afl'ecting the nutrient and healthy pro- 

 perties of the milk. The juicy herbage of the 

 pastures in the spring brightens the yellow tint, 

 which gradually fades as the fields become arid 

 and the season advances ; and the dry fodder of 

 winter produces milk comparatively white. The 

 ranunculus, or butter-cup, with which some pas- 

 tures abound, imparts not only an unusually deep 

 color to the milk, but also an acrid property, which 

 is e.xtremely pernicious. The milk of cows which 

 are fed on distillery slo|)s, brewers' grains, the re- 

 fuse of kitchens, and similar food, owing to a defi- 

 ciency of the oily and albuminous principles, is 

 generally of a pale bluish color, and comparatively 

 innutritious ; as is also the milk of cows confined 

 in pens, although supplied with proper herbaceous 

 aliment. The white, opaque appearance of milk, 

 is obviously owing to the curd or albumen which 

 it contains ; for when this substance is perfectly 

 separated from the milk, the serous residuum be- 

 comes colorless and transparent as water. 



II. Smell. — Although taste and smell are diffe- 

 rent senses, and employ different organs, they are 

 so closely connected, that the impression made on 

 the one, in many instances produces a correspond- 

 ing excitement in the other. It is thus with milk, 

 which may be said to smell as it tastes. Good 

 milk has a peculiar animalized aroma, which is 

 very pleasant, especially when new. By exposure 

 to the atmosphere, it loses this odor in some de- 

 gree, but the application of heat will restore it. 

 The grateful and savory smell of milk is often de- 

 stroyed by certain kjnds of food. In the case of 

 cows confined in stables, and fed with the refuse 

 of the distilleries, the milk is generally rank and 

 nauseating. 



III. Taste. — The taste of milk is peculiar, slight- 

 ly saccharine, and of a rich agreeable flavor. But 

 this, of course, is aiTected by particular descrip- 

 tions of food. Rank grass, noxious weeds, acid 

 apples, sorrel, a plant of the genus rumex, which is 

 found in many pastures, turnips, cabbage, wild- 

 garlic, distillery slush, fetid water, &c., will, when 

 taken by the cows, iuipart their peculiar flavor to 

 the milk ; as will also impure utensils and the at- 

 mosphere of filthy rooms or pens where it is milked 

 and allowed to stand. Milk of inferior quality is 

 insipid, often somewhat acid or bitter, and unplea- 

 sant to the palate. In autumn the decayed leaves, 

 particularly of the ash tree, communicate a rank 

 and bitter taste to milk. The poisonous quality of 

 the leaves of the yew tree, should prevent its 

 growth in or even near to such grounds as are used 

 for pastures. 



IV. Good milk is slightly alkaline. This is too 

 important a characteristic to pass unnoticed, and 

 we are not aware that it has been observed by any 

 previous writer. This quality is not perceptible to 

 the taste, but is readily discovered by litimus pa- 

 per, or any other vegetable blue which will detect 

 acesency. Ifthe color of the paper remains un- 

 changed when dipped into fresh drawn milk, it has 

 alkaline properties: hut if the paper becomes red, 

 the milk has a predominance of acidity. We 

 would not hastily deduce conclusions frAm, per- 

 haps, too limited a range of experiments. But per- 

 sonal observations have induced the conviction that 

 the alkaline property, in some degree, is essential 



to healthy milk, and is the unfailing characteristic 

 of tho fluid secreted by animals that are in healthy 

 condition and properly kept. On the contrary, 

 where the natural conditions of tho cattle have 

 been reversed, the milk, as shown by appropriate 

 tests, was as uniformly acid. We have not known 

 an exception to this rule. It would appear, there- 

 fore, that these results could scarcely become gene- 

 ral, except on the supposition that they happen in 

 accordance with established laws. 



The characteristics of good milk are thus sum- 

 marily described in a valuable English work re- 

 cently published: Good milk should be quite liquid 

 and homogeneous ; not viscid ; and should contain 

 only spherical transparet globules, voluble in alka- 

 lies and ether; should not become thick when mix- 

 ed with ammonia ; and should form a llocculent 

 precipitate with acetic acid, but not be coagulated 

 with heat. — Hartley's Essay on Milk. 



COMPOST. 



But there is still another form in which this ar- 

 tificial manure (peat) may be prepared — that is by 

 the addition of aminonia, the real Simon Pure of 

 cow-dung. Take 



.3 cords of peat, 

 61 lbs. sal ammoniac, 

 1-4 cask, or about Gl lbs. lime. 

 Slack the lime, dissolve the sal ammoniac, and wet 

 the peat well with the solution through every part. 

 Then shovel over, mixing in the lime accurately. 

 We have here then, 3 cords of manure, at a price 

 as follows : 



3 cords peat, $4 50 



61 lbs. sal ammoDiaoj-at Is., 10 17 



61 lbs. lime, 27 



3)$] 4 94($4 98 

 It will be observeii* that three cords are used in 

 these calculations, because the quantity of salts 

 used are equivalent to the ammonia in a cord of 

 dung, and that is supposed to be composted with 2 

 cords of loam, or meadow mud. Whether the esti- 

 mates are correct, each one will determine by the 

 value he may place on his peat and manure, and 

 can apply his own estimates. When a cord of sta- 

 ble or barn-yard manure is usually estimated worth 

 $4, the price of a cord of clear pure cow dung will 

 not be thought high at $17. In fact, it probably, 

 when mixed with the usual proportion of litter, 

 straw, stalks, and the usual loss by waste of its 

 value, would become worth only about $5. But 

 these questions do not affect the principle, that 

 from alkali and peat as cheap a manure may be 

 prepared, and as good, as from stable dung; for 

 let that be called $5 00 — tlien adding two cords 

 of peat, 3 00 



3)$8 00 



$2 66 per cord. 

 — Dr. Dana's Muck Manual. 



Bells for Sheep. — We happened to be in a 

 hardware store the other day, when a farmer came 

 in and inquired for sheep hells. He stated that the 

 only way in which he could protect his lambs 

 against the depredations of the foxes, was by put- 

 ting bells on a few of the sheep in his flock; when 

 this was done, the lambs were safe. We thought 

 the hint worth remembering, and have put it 

 down here for the benefit of our readers. — Far. Gaz. 



