Oct. 1, 1894.] Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist:' 
285 
" Hot water for cows " is the maxim of the 
French dairy farmers in the department of Finis- 
tere. They claim to have proved by experiments 
that when cows drink hot water they yield one- 
third more milk than when they are refreshed 
with cold water only. Caution must, of course, 
be observed in adopting the new system. Avari- 
cious dairymen must beware of scalding the 
throats of their cows in their haste to avail 
themselves of this discovery, which is vouched 
for by our consul at Brest. The proportion, we 
are told, are half a pail of boiling water and 
half a pail of cold. 
A method has been recently described by which 
butter adulteration can be detected by means of a 
thermometer and some sulphuric acid. It appears 
that when strong sulphuric acid is mixed with 
pure butter the temperature of the mixture rises 
to about 79 deg. Fahr. If, on the other hand, 
margarine is mixed with sulphuric acid the tem- 
perature of the mixture rises to 88 deg. Fahr., or 
from that up to 104 deg. Fahr. If, then, on adding 
common sulphuric acid to a sample of butter the 
temperature rises to, say, 84 deg. Fahr., there 
is reason to suspect adulteration. If the thermo- 
meter marks 86 cleg. Fahr., one part of marga- 
rine has been added to every 13 parts of butter ; 
if it goes up to 90 deg. Fahr., the mixture half 
consists of butter and half of margarine. 
Professor J. Forster, of Amsterdam, finds that 
to made sure of killing the tubercle bacteria in 
milk by means of heat (Pasteurisation) it must 
be exposed in one of the following ways : — 131 
cleg. Fahr. for four hours, 140 deg. Fahr. for 
one hour, 149 deg. Fahr. for fifteen minutes, 158 
deg. Fahr. for ten minutes, 176 cleg. Fahr. for 
five minutes, 194 deg. Fahr. for two minutes, 
203 cleg. Fahr. for one minute. 
A correspondent to the Scottish Farmer 
writes : — No one has as yet mentioned Schering's 
Formalin Solution. I claim from practical expe- 
rience that it is the best article of the kind in 
the market. A quantity of it was procured for 
me from the Soru Dairy Supply, Glasgow — the 
sole agents for Scotland — and I find it of the 
greatest value in all kinds of weather. During 
the recent thunderstorms I never had a drop 
of sour milk. That is something to boast of. 
Formalin solution is a clear liquid, and it neither 
affects the taste, character, or flavour of the 
milk or cream. 
♦ 
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE 
SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE FOR 1893. 
I have the honour to submit the following 
Report on the working of the Government Dairy 
during 1893:— 
The dairy herd consists of 47 cows, of which 
21 were imported from the Bombay Presidency, 
and the remaining 26 were procured locally. 
Among tht: locally-procured animals are five pure 
Sinhalese cattle, the rest being natives of South 
India, and commonly known as "Coast cows." 
TheBembaiy animals are a well-selected lot, and 
they may all be said to have turned out satisfac- 
tory milkers, except one which has gone completely 
off her milk owing to injuries sustained during the 
voyage to Ceylon. The " Coast cows " do not of 
course come up to the Bombay cattle as milkers, 
though a few of them are exceptionally good 
specimens. The Sinhalese animals are kept chiefly 
with a view to see what can be done with our 
indigenous breed under proper management and 
with good feeding and housing. 
I think that the unsatisfactory cows should 
be sold, the amount realized by such sale, together 
with the balance left after completely stocking the 
dairy, being invested in the purchase of animals 
of a better type. It will be remembered that the 
first batch of 45 cows was estimated to cost 
R4,500, at R100 each. They have, however, 
averaged a fraction below the estimated cost. 
The average dairy yield of the whole herd for 
the first half year, during the milking periods 
of the cows, was eight pints nearly. 
The average of the best cows fSindh animals) 
during their period of milking was for the first 
half year 12^ pints per day. 
The ordinary charge for the milk supplied was 
at the rate of 18 cents a bottle. In the case of the 
Leper Asylum, a distance of 26 miles to and from 
the dairy, the cost of transport raised the price of 
milk supplied to that institution to 20 cents a bottle. 
During the month of June the dairy stock 
consisted mainly of the Bombay cattle which 
arrived on the 30th of May. Only a few of these 
had calved on the journey to Ceylon, and a large 
number of non-milking animals had to be fed 
and tended for various periods at considerable 
expense, with no return. This could not have 
been avoided, as the cattle from Bombay were, 
as far as possible, timed to calve within a month 
of their arrival. The greater part of the milk 
produced during June was taken by a milk con- 
tractor, and the rest was disposed of in the shape 
of butter. The opportunity afforded of making 
use of the "separator" and manufacturing the 
cream into butter — at a time when there was no 
regular demand from the hospitals to meet— 
was after all a welcome one. 
Though it was expected that the dairy would 
be in a position to undertake the milk supply 
of all the medical institutions in Colombo from the 
1st of July, the idea had eventually to be aban- 
doned owing to the insufficiency of the output 
of milk to meet the large demand. And this is 
attributable to two causes : (1) some of the cows 
which were calculated to come into milk bv 
1st July were late in calving; (2) (and this the 
chief cause) only a few animals could be purchased 
during June, owing, to some extent, to a scarcity 
of milk cattle as the result of a severe drought in 
South India, but also and chiefly owing to a 
clique having been formed among the Tamil cattle- 
dealers, who tried their utmost to " swamp" the 
Government Dairy by refusing to have any dealings 
with it. 
In this crisis the Principal Civil Medical Officer 
very kindly came to our assistance, requi.-ing 
us to meet only the demand of the General Hospital 
for 126 bottles of milk a day during July. This 
gave us more time to look about: In the course 
of that month further purchases were successfully 
made after much manceuvering, the prices paid 
being slightly higher than the ordinary rates. 
Thus the milk supply was gradually increased, 
during July, the surplus milk (which "was nlwa. 
