ECONOMIZING THE WHEY. 193 



superior quality of pork was made by feeding whey mingled 

 with barley meal ; that, in fact, no bacon was equal to it in 

 delicacy of flavor, and that it sold for most money in the 

 market. 



Of the solid constituents of whey, the sugar of milk is in the 

 largest proportion, being very much in the same ratio that it is 

 in the milk. Some effort, it would seem, ought to be made 

 with a view of extracting, this material for commerce. The 

 milk sugar that we find at the shops is imported from Switzer- 

 land, and is retailed at one dollar per pound. An estimate has 

 been made of the annual yield of sugar from thirty factories, 

 averaging 400 cows each, and it amounts to the enormous quan- 

 tity of two millions of pounds, or 10,000 barrels ; but, suppose 

 the price is only ten cents per pound, then a factory of a thou- 

 sand cows, on the above estimate, would yield 800 pounds of 

 sugar per day, which would amount to $80, or $2,400 per 

 month. 



When in London, I had some conversation with Prof. 

 Voelcker, the great chemist of the Royal Agricultural Society, 

 on this subject, and he was surprised that no effort had been 

 made by the American factories to turn this constituent of the 

 whey to account, since the large quantities of milk received at one 

 point made it more feasible than where the milk was scattered 

 over the country and worked up in family dairies. Good milk 

 contains from 8 to 9 per cent, of butter and caseine, and 5 per 

 cent, of milk sugar. The analysis of whey shows that it yields 

 4^ per cent, of milk sugar, or half as much weight as the 

 butter and caseine of the milk combined. 



In Switzerland, milk sugar is made by allowing the whey to 

 trickle down the sides of the mountains in wooden gutters or 

 troughs. Treads are placed in the gutters, upon which the 

 sugar adheres, as the watery portions pass off in evaporation. 



It must be evident that the source of income from the dairy 

 would be very much increased could some practical and inex- 

 pensive method be invented to take this article from the whey. 

 Whether evaporating pans could be constructed, and heat used 

 profitably in securing this object is a question for investigation ; 

 and it seems to me that agricultural societies might profitably 

 employ some chemist to make the proper experiments. 



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