THE AGRICULl 



'.'URAL JOURNAL. 



13 



The storag(> of butfer is also curried on 

 with the same liapi)y results, the practise 

 of freezing this product being said to be 

 more successful than that of cooling it, 

 and immense quantities which went into 

 cold storage in Chicago in June last at 

 9',d. Ih. are now readily marketed at 

 lOJ,d. We are furtlier told that experi- 

 ments have shown that cheese will keep 

 one year in cold storage, if it is in ripe 

 condition previously, and dampness is 

 excluded from the room. Successful 

 results have also been achieved in the 

 storing of all kinds of meats, at tempera- 

 tures varying from 30 to 40 degrees, whilst 

 the correct temperature at which fish 

 should be kept after first being frozen, is 

 said to be 25 degrees. It is asserted that 

 fish can be preserved for an indefinite 

 period, though six or eight months is 

 generally considered long enough ; and 

 the process includes glazing, which is 

 done to prevent shrinkage. 



The average temperature for iipples is 

 32 degrees. They are kept in barrels or 

 boxes, and will, if good fruit, keep for one 

 year. In this way, fruit stored in October 

 at two to three shillings per barrel of 

 iSOlbs. wall sell in May, in Chicago, for 

 nine shillings. Crapes, bananas, lemons, 

 oranges, peaches, and pears have been 

 treated in like manner, and it is recom- 

 mended that all soft fruits be placed in 

 cold storage when ripe. In the same way 

 the storage of vegetables has been carried 



on with capital results, cabbage, carrots, 

 potatoes, and onions being kept (juite 

 sound for months after being packed. 



An interesting feature of the Chicago 

 refrigerating installations is that of pos' 

 session by one of the companies of a street 

 pipe-line system, whereby the liquid 

 ammonia is carried five miles from the 

 factory, thus supplying with refrigeration 

 the produce and commission men along 

 the route. This plant is not peculiar to 

 Chicago, since there are other cities in the 

 United States where refrigeration is sup- 

 l)lied in the same manner to hotels, 

 grocers, butchers, restaurants, and private 

 houses. The people of the United States, 

 owing, no doubt, to climatic reasons, have 

 been thoroughly educated in the use of 

 ice. and therefore companies which lay 

 themselves out for ice-making and pur- 

 suits connected therewith have a far more 

 numerous body of customers than in this 

 country. Nevertheless, the need for pre- 

 serving fruit, meat, and vegetables is even 

 more pressing in a little North Sea island 

 like ours than it is in a great world-extend- 

 ing continent like America, and whether 

 the preservation of the harvests is con- 

 ducted in England or the United States, 

 the consumers of this country are bound 

 eventuiUy to obtain their share, a result 

 which, it is gratifying to remember, can 

 only be reached by the participation of 

 the mercantile marine in the extra distri- 

 bution my oUed.— Liverpool Journal of 

 Commerce. 



Agriculture in America and Europe. 



IN the issue of October 2C)th, under the 

 title "Around the World with an 

 Agricultural Expert," we published an 

 interview with Dr. N. A. Cobb, Vegetable 

 Pathologist to the New South Wales 

 Department of Agriculture, concerning 

 the tour which he had vuidertaken upon 

 behalf of his Department. The Sydney 

 Morning Herald, N.S.W., for .January 

 I2th, gives soma further details, from 

 which we take the following : — 



Dr. Cobb, of the New South Wales 

 Agricultural Department, who returned 

 here by the American mail steamer Sierra 



on Wednesday, has resumed his duties at 

 the Department of Agriculture. About 

 three and a half years ago Dr. Cobb left 

 Sydney on a tour with the object of 

 studying agricultural matters in America 

 and Europe. He has gained a great 

 amount of information, much of which 

 will be embodied in reports to the Minister 

 of Agriculture. During his absence Dr. 

 Cobb has travelled the following distan- 

 ces :— Total, about 60,000 miles ; United 

 States, Canada, and Mexico, about 30,000 

 miles ; Europe, about 10,000. The matters 

 investigated by Dr. Cobb were as follows : 



