1883.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



183 



story more complete, " CornwaU-on-the-Hud- 

 son," or some other fruit-growing locality ? 



As was stated above, a name is but a 

 handle by means of which the fruit is men- 

 tally tossed about, and there is every good 

 reason why it should be short, and many bad 

 reasons for its being drawn out through an 

 unreasonable number of syllables. Short 

 names will improve the morals of entry clerks, 

 shippers and book-keepers of all nursery and 

 fruit men, and let us hope that all peesons 

 who may be hereafter called upon to fasten a 

 name to a fruit will make it short and to the 

 point — call a si)ade a spade. — Philmlclphia 

 Press. 



OUR WOOL PRODUCTION. 



About 25 per cent, of the entire production 

 of domestic wool daring the census year of 1S80 

 came from the two States Ohio and California, 

 the former with 125,000,000 pounds, the latter 

 17,000,000; in 1S70 the product of the former 

 was 20,000,000 and the latter 11,000,000 

 pounds. The next State in order of import- 

 ance as wool growers in ISSO were Michigan 

 with 12,000,000, New York with 9,000,000, 

 Pennsylvania with 8,000,000, Missouri with 

 7,000,000, and Wisconsin with 7,000,000. 

 Texas produces nearly as much as the latter 

 State. In 1870 it produced only 1,125,000 

 pounds. The total product of the Union in 

 1880 was 155,000,000 pounds, clipped from 

 35,000,000 sheep. — Ih-adesrmn. 



SOME STATISTICS OF THE MILK SUP- 

 PLY OF BOSTON. 



The City Inspector of Milk has issued his 

 20th annual report, which is always of more 

 or less public interest. Since 1859 the milk 

 trade of Boston has doubled, besides having 

 been changed in other respects. The in- 

 spector claims "'an increased show of pure 

 milk at the doors of consumers." "The 

 temptation to remove a portion of the cream 

 or to add water seems too great for the aver- 

 age milkman to withstand unless intimidated 

 by the law," says the inspector. Does he 

 suppose that the law prevents the topping of 

 milk cans ? 



The production of milk for the supply of 

 cities and towns he reports has greatly in- 

 creased within the past few years. Most of 

 the Boston supply is brought in by rail. Con- 

 tractors to supply the city engage the milk of 

 the farmers, arranging the prices twice a 

 year, to be paid monthly ; so of the city ped- 

 dlers, they collect and pay monthly. 



The transportation of milk by rail has, 

 owing to the contractors' transportation 

 monopoly, been a source of serious complaint 

 with producers. What the milk producers 

 want is that the railways shall carry their 

 milk independent ot milk contractors. The 

 inspector says " any arrangement that shall 

 bring milk producers and consumers near- 

 er together will be an advantage to both." 

 He adds that "the local supply trade gives 

 better satisfaction to families than railroad 

 milk, as it is termed." 



The number of cows kept within the city of 

 Boston is 1,805. The registered number of 

 wholesale dealers is 1,839 ; number in busi- 

 ness, 800. The number of samples inspected 

 since the last report, 1,213 ; number adul- 

 terated, 351. The number of gallons of milk 



for daily supply of the city of Boston, 28,250 

 (or 113,024 quarts, or for the year, 41,253,760 

 quarts), at a cost of $2,268,9.5(5.80 an average 

 of about 5i cents a quart to con-^uraers, a low 

 estimate, we would say, as milk is sold to 

 consumers in some streets at 7 cents a quart. 

 What proportion of the citizens are thus sup- 

 plied we are unable to say, but we suppose 

 that many are supplied at this price. This 

 would greatly increase the aggregate cost of 

 milk as estimated by the inspector. 



Would it not be well for the inspector to 

 find out and report how many gallons of milk 

 are brought into Boston annually to supply 

 the market, and then find out how many gal- 

 lons are sold to consumers, and see how these 

 two quantities compare V Also find out how 

 many gallons of cream are sold to custonnu's, 

 and whence the cream supply is obtained V 

 These, as it seems to us, are legitimate sub- 

 jects of inquiry for the inspector to take into 

 account, and for him to report upon. It has 

 long been a matter of inquiry with some, 

 whence the large amount of cream sold to 

 consiuuers in Boston, if whole milk be sold 

 by peddlers on their routes ? If cans be 

 "topped," as some intimate, and then re- 

 filled from " topi)ed" cans, the milk m.ay not, 

 tedinkally speakina;, have been adulterated, 

 yet, as all can readily see, sach is not ^rhole 

 milk. It really seems to us that the line of 

 inspection hereby suggested is quite as im- 

 portant, and even more so, than that hitherto 

 pursued by the inspector for the purpose of 

 detecting fraud in the milk supply in the city 

 of Boston. 



Paris, as seen by a late issue of the Traveller, 

 is accomplishing much, having in three years, 

 by the watchfulness of the authorities, re- 

 duced the supply of "sophisticated" milk de- 

 livered by the railways from 44 to 10 per 

 cent. ; and in the retail from 53 to 33 per cent., 

 showing that much remains to be done to en- 

 sure pure milk to consumers in Paris. 



Let the inspector in Boston do what the 

 watchful authorities are domg iu Paris, and 

 report from year to year in percentages as in 

 Palis. More thorough, systematic work needs 

 to be done here, as is doing elsewhere, to en- 

 sure consumers a supply of good milk. There 

 are three to one against the consumer's being 

 supplied with pure milk iu cities, to wit, the 

 producer, the contractor, and the peddler, all 

 of whom have been severally accused of tak- 

 ing a hand in the art of " sophisticating" 

 milk on its way to the -tables of the con- 

 sumers. "The temptation to do this," says 

 the inspector, "is too great for the average 

 milkman to withstand." Let the authorities 

 be watchful everywhere, and, to quote the in- 

 spector again, "intimidate by the rigors of 

 the law." — Boston Iravellcr. 



BARBED-WIRE FENCES. 



Steel wire in some of its many forms is be- 

 coming, in certain quarters, the fencing ma- 

 terial for farms and railroads, and even for 

 garden and lawn. Some of the points claimed 

 in favor of this new fence are : cheapness, 

 durability, ease of shipment of the material, 

 and indestructibility by ordinary fires, like 

 those arising from sparks of a passing locomo- 

 tive. The barb should be short, with a keen 

 point, standing at right angles to the wire. 

 Some have advocated a dull point as more 



humane, but the success of turning stock re- 

 sides in its sharp ytoint. (Jften animals have 

 been injured and even killed by wire fences, 

 and all need to be introduced to this form of 

 barrier. A colt, or cow, tliat has once been 

 pricked by the barbs will keep <at a safe dis- 

 tance from the fence. Most of the damage 

 has V)een done by the animals running upon 

 the wires without seeing them. A strip of 

 board may be nailed from post to post, near 

 the top, to make the fence more conspicuous. 

 The ribbon wire is more easily seen than the 

 round form, but experience has taught that 

 it is le.ss durable. Now, during the winter, 

 is a good time to look into this important 

 matter of barbed-wire fences. — American Ag- 

 ricuUurist. 



AGRICULTURE IN COMMON SCHOOLS. 

 One great difiiculty in the way of the suc- 

 cess of agricultural schools in the United 

 States, lies in the fact that our people do not 

 make use of the primary schools as au.vili- 

 aries — as feeders to them. Instruction in the 

 elements of agricultural education should 

 begin in the common schools of the country, 

 especially in those where farmers' sons and 

 daughters make up the bulk of attendance. 

 This is being done in France and other Euro- 

 pean countries. The result is entirely satis- 

 factory. Youth of both sexes can, in these 

 schools, bo instructed in botany, in the prac- 

 tical culture of trees, shrubs and tlowers ; in 

 grafting, budding, hybridizing and selecting, 

 and a score of other things that will amuse 

 and instruct, and at the Siime time beget a 

 love for rural pursuits, and a desire "for higher 

 instruction iu the science and art of agricul- 

 ture, horticulture, stock breeding, etc. Public 

 •sentiment needs arousing in this direction. — 

 Chicago Herald. 



ENGLISH CHEESE INTEREST. 

 Cheddar cheese, or made from the whole 

 milk, is the best known and most popular in 

 England, and since it is now largely made 

 both in Great Britain as well as in America, 

 on the most approved scientific method, it ap- 

 pears destined to supersede most other local 

 systems of manufacture. It was first made 

 only in the small locality of Cheddar, in 

 Somersetshire. The mean composition of 

 Cheddar cheese is 34.0 per cent, water, 30 

 butter, 27.4 casein, 3.2 milk sugar, lactic acid 

 and extraction, and 3.8 per cent, mineral 

 matter (containing common salt.) Gloucester 

 cheese is either single or double, and is made 

 from whole milk, or from mixing with the 

 fresh morning milk that of the previous even- 

 ing, after it has been skimmed. The Derby- 

 shire is also a half-skimmed cheese. The 

 cheese of Cheshire, Somerset, and Wills are 

 principally of whole milk, made in ways 

 slightly varying from (Jloucester, and the 

 same may be said of the Duulap cheese of 

 Scotland. Stilton cheese in uncolored and ex- 

 tremely rich in quality, as it is manufactured 

 out of the morning's milk, with the addition 

 of the cream of the previous evening's milking. 

 The curd when separated from the whey is 

 not broken as in making other kinds, but is 

 drained and dried in a sieve. It is then 

 placed in a wooden hoop on a dry board, fre- 

 quently turned and wrapped in bandages. 



