496 



Absorption of Odours by Milk. 



Live Stock in the United States. 



According to the returns collected by the Department of 

 Agriculture at Washington, the number of live stock on 

 farms in the United States on Jan. i, 1899, comprised 

 13,665,307 horses; 2,134,213 mules; 15,990,115 milch cows ; 

 27.994,225 oxen and other cattle; 39,114,453 sheep; and 

 38,651,631 swine. Compared with the numbers returned for 

 the corresponding period of 1898, this year's figures show a 

 decline of 295,604 in horses; 56,069 in mules; 1,269,972 in 

 oxen and other cattle ; and 1,108,362 in swine. On the other 

 hand, there is an increase of 149,229 milch cows, and ot 

 1,457.493 sheep. 



Absorption of Odours by Milk. 



The question of the relative absorption of odours by warm 

 and cold milk has recently been the subject of some experi- 

 ments at the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, and 

 the conclusions arrived at by Dr. Russell, the Bacteriologist 

 at that station, are given in the Fifteenth Annual Report 

 which has recently been issued. This investigation was 

 undertaken as it had been incidentally observed in the 

 course of some experimental work in another direction 

 that warm milk seemed to absorb odours more rapidly 

 than cold milk. As this observation was contrary to the belief 

 commonly held that milk would not absorb odours when it was 

 wa3"mer than the surrounding air, it was thought worth 

 while to make som_e experiments on the subject. 



In the first set of experiments silage and manure were 

 used, as being the substances that are most likely to cause 

 trouble in the barns, and it was found, almost without excep- 

 tion, that the samples of warm milk were more strongly 

 impregnated with the odour of these substances than milk 

 which was at a lower temperature than the air. In these 

 experiments the milk used was from the general creamery 

 supply, and it was thought possible that an objection might 

 be urged that the conditions did not conform to those of 

 practice, inasmuch as the warm milk direct from the animal 



