THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



53 



husbandry ; and one that not one flock-master 

 in a thousand can answer. 



If the object be to form fat in sheep, then the 

 remark that beans are worth more than corn is 

 not true. For corn contains more of the fat 

 forming elements than beans. But if the object 

 be to form muscle and wool then the remark is 

 true. Beans contain more of the elements of 

 wool, than any other cultivated plant. Hence 

 nature, ever true to herself, has endowed the 

 sheep with a taste for this plant which is denied 

 to the pig. 



Peas, oats, barley and wheat also abound in 

 the elements of wool ; but in a less proportion. 



The liquid excretions of all animals furnish the 

 largest, as well as the cheapest supply of the 

 elements of cheese, wool, wheat, beans, &c; 

 and yet in consequence of our profound igno- 

 rance of the science of organic chemistry, the 

 indispensable elements of our food and raiment 

 are wastefully thrown away. Through inex- 

 cusable ignorance, our cultivators of the soil 

 break the laws of nature, and that harmonious 

 circle of cause and effect — composition and de- 

 composition — which enables us "to reap our 

 daily bread from human mould" as Young so 

 truthfully expresses our dependent condition. 



Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, 



LACTOMETER 



A very common, but a very fallacious test of 

 a milch cow, is the quantity of milk she gives. 

 Our own experience teaches us that the most 

 valuable cows are by no means the largest 

 milkers, and by the bye, the best milkers are not 

 those that give the greatest quantity at a par- 

 ticular time. The greatest quantity we ever 

 obtained in a year was from a cow that gave 

 about twelve quarts a day, although we have 

 had those that gave a great deal more for a 

 short time. Therefore, when quantity is spoken 

 of, we should always like to know, not how 

 many quarts a cow has given at a milking, but 

 how much she has given between calf and 

 calf. But this is not all : in our estimate, we 

 should like to ascertain the quality of the milk ; 

 a quart of rich, yellow, creamy milk, not only 

 for dairy purposes but for table use, would, in 

 our estimation, outmeasure a bushel of the thin 

 blue stuff that some cows have the assurance 

 to palm upon us for milk. In judging of these 

 differences, taste will do something, and although 

 we are not exactly like the man who could not 



tell whether he was hot or cold without looking 

 at the thermometer, we confess ourselves very 

 much pleased with the description of a little im- 

 plement intended to assist the taste in comparing 

 the milk of different cows. This instrument is 

 represented above. It consists of a mahogany 

 frame, 10 inches long, 4 wide, and 8 high, in 

 which stand six glass tubes, in a manner resem- 

 bling candle-moulds. These tubes are about 11 

 inches long, and half an inch in diameter inside. 

 Just 1 inches from the bottom, a fine line is marked 

 round the tubes with the point of a diamond, 

 and from this mark three inches downwards is 

 graduated into inches and tenths of inches. At 

 milking, these tubes are filled exactly to the 

 upper line, (one from each cow,) and after stand- 

 ing twelve hours, the quantity of cream which 

 has risen to the surface is shown by the degrees 

 of the scale ; each degree representing one per 

 cent, of the whole. Thus, if there should ap- 

 pear one inch and two-tenths, it would be twelve 

 degrees ; or the milk would give twelve per 

 cent, of cream. 



