Report of the Steward of Dairying and Poultry at Nottingham. 639 
and samples taken for the purpose of ascertaining tlie percentage amount of 
butter-fat contained tlierein. 
49. The cows will he weighed on Monday morning, July 9, 1888, after 
being milked, and again before the last milking on the next day (Tuesday). 
The mean between these two weights will be held to be the weight of the 
animal for the purposes of the competition. 
50. The Prizes in these Classes will be awarded on the certificate of the 
Steward [of Cattle], and will be given to those animals which, in proportion 
to their Aveight, yield the largest amount of butter-fat in their milk. 
Dr. Voelcker, ably assisted by Mr. Arthur Beck, tlie assis- 
tant Steward of Cattle, superintended the milking of the cows, 
weighed the milk, and took samples, which he analysed in a 
room reserved for him in the Working Dairy. 
The awards were made upon his report by Mr. Wakefield, 
the Stewai'd of Cattle, on Thursday, July 12. 
Taking into consideration the fact that the conditions were 
new, and not very well understood, the classes filled remarkably 
well, and though another year improvements may be made in 
the regulations with regard to the weights of the animals and 
the minimum yield of milk, yet on the whole we can claim the 
classes to have been successful, and to have afforded some useful 
information, which may be gathered from the following report 
of Dr, Voelcker. 
Jiepo7't of the Consulting Chemist on the A jialijses of Milk from the 
Coius compethuj in Classes 100 and 101. 
In obedience to the instructions of the Council, I attended with my 
assistant in the Nottingham Show-yard, in order to carry out the analyses 
of the samples of milk yielded by the dauy cows entered for competition 
in Classes 100 and 101. A temporary laboratory had been erected for my 
use at the back of the Working Dairy ; and the samples when drawn were 
taken there immediately and subjected to analysis. 
Soxhlefs Areometric Method was employed, as being the most suitable 
one for the estimation of butter-fat under such circumstances as existed. 
The method was found to work satisfactorily on the whole, though a sudden 
frost and consequent lowering of temperature during one night caused some 
inconvenience. The chief difficulty experienced arose, however, from the 
fact of there being no provision made in Soxhlet's tables for milks of such rich 
quality as some which had to be dealt with here, the tables not being 
carried on further than for milks with 5T2 per cent, of butter-fat. This is 
a manifest defect, and the tables require to be carried out for richer milks. 
Dilution of some of the richer milks with water had accordingly to be re- 
sorted to, but investigation is necessary to see to whatextent dilution affects 
the accuracy of the tabular results.' 
The cows arrived in the Show-yard on Saturday July 7, and were all 
milked dry on the evening of July 8. Experience havingshown that results 
obtained from a single milking may frequently prove fallacious from several 
' Subsequently to the date of the analyses, Dr. Vieth suggested to me 
that dilution with skim milk of known composition might be more satisfactory. 
Dilution of the separated ethereal fat solution with ether gave, I found, dis- 
cordant results. — J. A. V. 
