170 
Dairying  in  Denmark. 
fugal  separators  are  things  almost  of  yesterday  ; and  that  a 
sufficient  time  has  not  yet  elapsed  to  enable  dairymen  to  find 
out  exactly  how  best  to  treat  skim-milk  which  is  so  entirely 
deprived  of  its  cream  as  that  which  has  passed  through  a well- 
managed  separator. 
A multiplication  of  descriptions  of  dairy-factories  would 
serve  no  practical  purpose,  therefore  I will  now  give  a sketch  of 
an  establishment  where  milk  is  bought  on  a large  scale,  in 
addition  to  that  given  by  a large  herd  kept  on  the  farm.  There 
are  a very  large  number  of  home-farms  where  this  system  is 
pursued,  both  landlord  and  tenant,  or,  more  correctly,  both  pro- 
prietor and  peasant,  finding  the  system  mutually  profitable. 
At  Auno,  one  of  the  home-farms  on  the  picturesque  estate  of 
Hofjaegermester  von  Oxholm,  near  Vordingborg,  in  the  south  of 
Sealand,  about  160  cows  are  kept,  and  milk  is  bought  from  the 
surrounding  farmers.  A new  dairy  has  recently  been  built  on 
the  slope  of  a hill,  advantage  having  thus  been  taken  of  geo- 
graphical contour  to  save  labour.  The  receiving  room  for  the 
milk  is  on  the  highest  level ; after  each  can  has  been  weighed, 
tested,  and  the  result  entered,  the  milk  is  turned  into  a huge 
vat,  where  it  can  be  warmed  to  the  required  temperature  by  a 
coil  of  steam-pipes  in  the  space  between  the  true  and  false 
bottom.  This  vat  is  divided  into  two  portions,  simply  as  a 
matter  of  convenience,  because  when  milk  is  scarce,  the  whole 
of  it  would  be  inconveniently  large,  and  it  is  fitted  with  a gauze 
cover  to  keep  out  the  flies.  A pipe  at  the  bottom,  furnished 
with  a tap,  leads  to  a small  cistern  in  the  next  room,  the  floor 
of  which  is  at  a lower  level  than  that  to  the  receiving-room. 
In  this  room  are  three  Lefeldt  * separators  of  the  new  type,  and 
they  receive  the  milk  from  the  cistern  by  means  of  pipes  fur- 
nished with  taps,  which  radiate  from  the  small  cistern  just 
mentioned.  These  pipes  are  movable,  and  can  be  taken  to 
pieces  to  enable  them  to  be  cleaned,  and,  as  a matter  of  fact, 
this  is  done  immediately  after  the  cream  has  been  separated 
from  each  delivery  or  “ meal  ” of  milk.  The  cream  from  the 
separators  is  received  into  the  ordinary  deep  cans,  and  the  skim- 
milk  flows  through  conduits  into  a cheese-vat  or  vats  in  a third 
chamber  at  a still  lower  level  than  that  of  the  separator-room. 
Before  following  the  skim-milk,  it  may  be  as  well  to  state 
that  Mr.  von  Oxholm  is  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  Lefeldt 
machines,  cumbrous  though  some  may  consider  them,  and  not- 
withstanding that  they  cost  altogether  when  in  position  and  fit 
for  working  about  100/.  each.  In  the  two  previous  cases  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  factories  were  equally  well  satisfied  with  their 
* For  a description  and  figure  of  (his  machine,  are  ‘ Journal  of  the  Koyal  Agri- 
cultural Society  of  England,’  2nd  scries,  vol.  xvii.,  l’art  II. 
