io6 
Labourers' Cottages. 
[MAY, 
The ears of a sensible buyer of molasses feeds should also 
be closed to the fanciful statements which are often made, 
particularly as regards peat molasses, as to the secondary 
actions of this mixture, e.g., the improvement which it causes 
in the digestion of the food, the neutralisation of the alkaline 
salts of the molasses by the acids of the peat, the effect upon 
worms in the body, &c. They may or may not have some 
foundation in fact, but healthy animals have no need of such 
secondary actions, and from the feeding point of view they 
are not worth consideration. Feeding treacle can be bought 
at the present time for about 95s. per ton ; it contains, as the 
analyses already quoted show, from 50 to 60 per cent, of 
sugars of various kinds, so it is possible to compare the prices 
and feeding values of molasses feeds with these figures. 
Lastly, it may be mentioned that molasses is used to a 
considerable amount in the manufacture of compound cakes. 
It there serves to bind together the dry materials, and allows 
them to be pressed into a cake. At the same time it imparts 
a sweet taste to the whole, so that such cakes are generally 
very palatable to stock, and readily eaten by them. That it 
may also serve to disguise some unpalatable constituents of 
the cake must also not be forgotten. 
LABOURERS' COTTAGES. 
William J. Jolly. 
It will be readily admitted that many farms have not been 
adequately equipped with suitable and sanitary housing for 
the workers on the land, and during the last three or four 
decades the agricultural depression has not improved con- 
ditions in this respect. Consequently, it is no uncommon 
thing to find that the upkeep of cottages, farmhouses, and 
buildings has been much neglected, frequently to such an 
extent that they have either fallen into disuse or been allowed 
to get into a state beyond repair. 
The difficulties connected with the labour question on 
large farms and the provision of suitable cottages seem to 
become more acute every year, though in order to ensure 
proper cultivation and management, and to maintain the 
rental value, it is necessary to provide sufficient cottages, 
