Notes on the Society's Work in 1897-1918. xix. 



Local Dairy-Farming in 1897. 

 In 1897 the colony possessed in the dairy at Nonpareil an excellent 

 example of dairy-farming, butter-making and swine-production. I cannot 

 do better than read the late Harry Garnett's description of his ven- 

 ture :— (page 348 of " Timehri " for 1895.; 



"The plant consists of a powerful Separator with engine and gear- 

 " ing, Butter worker, Churn and Pasteurizer. The milk is bought from 

 "coolies in a room situated over the dairy, it is measured and a ticket 

 " given with a number. The milk is then poured into a receiver which 

 " delivers into a feed tank of the Separator, in this the milk comes out 

 " of one spout and the cream out of another, the skimmed milk is then 

 " taken by a small centrifugal pump and pumped over the Pasteurizer. This 

 "consists of a long column, the top half being filled with steam and heated 

 "to 180' Fah., and the bottom half is a refrigerator, through which cold 

 " water passes, carrying the milk down to a normal temperature. The 

 " advantage of this is, that if there happen to be any germs in the 

 " milk they are destroyed and milk treated in this way keeps much loDger. 



" The churning is done with cream that has been ripening for 24 hours. 



"The business in Georgetown is about 150 pints of fresh milk 

 "which is also pasteurized before it comes down, and 100 pints of 

 " skimmed milk, and 20 lbs. of butter per day, with a varying quantity 

 " of cream. The Diary is capable of turning out one ton per week. We 

 " have also a cheese-making plant, and a press for cream cheese. 



" The plant was started in 1891, and has worked steadily every day 

 " up to the present, including Sundays without a stoppage. We deal on 

 " the average with about 36,500 gallons of milk per annum. As you will 

 " see a very small proportion of this is sold, the balance we make into 

 " salt butter and use it on the estate, and the skimmed milk is given to 

 " pigs of which I have a herd of nearly 100, imported from Saunders 

 " Spencer, who is the best breeder of Yorkshire pigs in England. The 

 " pigs fed on skimmed milk put on 20 lbs. per month, and this is the 

 " only thing which prevents the actual Dairy work proving a loss.'' 



Dr. F. G. W. Deane criticised the above account and spoke of 

 milk as being not altogether such a nutritious food as was generally 

 supposed on account of its not containing any iron. I well remember 

 Dr. Deane's criticism because it enabled me to point out a hitherto un- 

 recognized redeeming feature in the action of the East Indian milk-seller 

 in adulterating milk with trench water, — that the latter supplied the 

 missing iron and so converted the naturally defective milk into a mixture 

 having a well-balanced nutritive ratio. 



Tropical Soils. 

 During the past twenty years much attention has been devoted by 

 agricultural chemists and geologists to the problems involved in the 

 formation of soils in situ from igneous rocks in the tropics. 



