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, 



