.June 1895.] 



GENERAL AGRICULTURAL NOTES. 



51 



Tndian corn as fodder. Fed either as weather-dried stover or as 

 ensilage, it is reported to be a juicy, wholesome, cheap feed for 

 milking cows, sud the possibility of growing heavy crops of it 

 nearly everywhere in Canada, puts the farmers in the Dominion 

 on an equal oi- better footing in regard to the cost of production 

 than their competitors in other countries Vvhere cows can be fed 

 on pastures for a longer part of the year. In some places, horse 

 beans have been grown with satisfactory results as a fodder 

 crop. On the Central Experimental Farm at Ottawa, as much 

 as 1 2 tons per acre of green fodder of this valuable plant has 

 been obtained. 



The comparatively new departure in dairying, in the fitting - 

 up of cheese factories for manufacturing butter from October 

 until May, is reported to have made good progress. Two Manter 

 dairying stations were established in Ontario in 1891, under 

 the charge of the Dairy Commissioner. During the winter of 

 1893-94, seven of these butter-making stations were conducted 

 by the dairying service of the Department, and preparations 

 have been made for conducting 10 during the winter of ] 894-95, 

 including the dairy schools at St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, and 

 Kingston, Ontario. A large number of cheese factories were 

 fitted up by the proprietors for the manufacture of butter during 

 the winter. This new industry is now considered to be fairly 

 well established in the province in Ontario, and well introduced 

 into the other provinces. Attention is called to the fact that 

 the direct revenue from the sales of butter is not the only 

 advantage which results to the farming interests from an exten- 

 sion of winter dairying. By its means the number and quality 

 of the cows which can be reared and kept upon farms are 

 respectively increased and improved ; and by the use of the skim 

 milk and butter milk large numbers of swine can be reared 

 and fattened. 



Dairying in Finland. 



According to a statement published in the Tidslcrift for 

 Landokonomi, it appears there are 856 dairies in Finland, of 

 which a large number are so small that they are chiefly worked 

 by means of hand -separators, but, in addition to these, there 

 are in many butter-exporting districts numerous peasants who 

 keep cows, and who produce what is known as " peasants' 

 butter." The exports of butter from Finland have grown 

 from 1,984,400 lbs. in 1856-60 to an average annual export of 

 17,600,000 lbs. in 1891. Fifty years ago, the butter exported 

 from Finland was exclusively peasants' butter, which was chiefly 

 sent to Germany, and partly to Russia and Sweden. After 1860, 

 dairies were introduced upon the Holstein principle, and better 

 butter began to be exported to St. Petersburg. About 1885, a 

 large number of dairy factories were established in West Finland, 



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