546 
THr? TROPJCAL AQiR!CULtUR!ST. [February i, 1892. 
In Bond.— According to the B Bill of Entry, tha 
quantity of tei remaining in the Customs aad Excise 
warehouses of the United Kingdom on Nov. 30 was 
100,685,155 lb., against 91,642,845 lb. a year ago, and 
105,894,016 lb. at end of November, 1889 ; the stock 
of coffee being 104,247 cwt,, against 163,850 aed 
291,715 owt.; of cocoa, 11,625,889 lb., against 10,146 099 
at>d 10,923,709 lb.— IT. and C. Mail, Deo. 11th. 
CATTLE KEEPING AND DAIRYING 
IN INDIA. 
" Cow-keeping in India "* is truthfully deecribed 
on the title-page as a simple and practical book. 
The author of the work is Isa Tweed, who having 
undertaken the management of miloh cows for 
no less than eighteen years, and the medical treat- 
ment of cattle for a considerable period, embodies the 
results of the experience thus obtained in a 
volume which is a valuable contribution to agri- 
cultural literature of the East. 
In a preface to the book the author states that 
personal care and supervision, and the strictest 
attention to details are absolutely essential in the 
Buooessful management of cattle ; and it cannot 
be denied that whatever the excellencies of the 
natives of Ceylon they can as little be trusted to 
faithfully carrying out the details of a system 
based on sound sanitary and economic principles 
as their brethren on th.e neighbouring continent. 
The following are the \headingB of the chapters 
into which Book 1 is divided: — Advantages of 
Keeping Cows; Breeds of Cattle; Buying Cowa; Points 
in a Good Cow ; Food ; House and Utensils ; Atten- 
dants ; Washing, Grooming, and Exercise; Breeding; 
Bulls ; Bullocks ; Dry Cows ; Management of Cows 
when Calving ; Calves, their Value, Management 
and House; Points in a Good Calf; Castrating Calves; 
Taking the Bull ; Barren Cows ; Age of Cattle ; 
Price of Cattle ; Milk ; Cream ; Butter ; Ghae ; 
Curd and Tyer ; Lice, Ticks, Flies &o, ; the Sea- 
sons of the Year; Cattle-dung; and Grass-lands. 
Oow-keeping is called " a profitable pastime," the 
profits arising from the sale not only of milk, 
butter and ghee, but also of oalves and dung. At 
the outset we are advised to select good speci- 
mens from good breeds, as being more satisfactory 
and more profitable to keep. The breeds given 
as the five principal ones in India are the Hansi 
or Hissar, Nagouri, Nellore, Guzerati and Googaira, 
but other less distinct and important families are 
also referred to, Though English cattle do fairly 
well in cool climates in the East, they are as a 
whole put down as " troublesome and costly 
business." It is recommended that for milk 
thoroughbred Hissar, Nellore, Guzerati or Goozaira 
oowB should be kept, or else good orossbreds of 
the eecond crossing between the cows of the country 
and the bulls of pure blood. 
On the subject of improving the breed of cattle 
of a district the author thinks that the Govern- 
ment should take up the matter, and import good 
Hissar bulls into every district. Every village or 
group of villages should be induced to purchase 
and keep a bull, and the people should be 
encouraged to improve their cattle by the offer of 
prisses for the best specimens, bred by them and 
by the holding of cattle shows. It is also suggested 
that the villagers should be made to pay some- 
thing towards the purchase and keep of the bull, 
as they will then take a greater interest in 
the animal, and will take care of it. 
The bull ehould be put in the care of the 
headman of the village, and he should be 
* rublished by Mesars. Tbacker Spink & Co, 
Calcutta, 
responsible to the magistrate for its proper 
treatment. "It this plan be adopted throughout 
Bengal," says the writer, " in five years there would 
be very marked improvement in the cattle." This 
is a scheme which with very few alterations might 
well be adopted in Ceylon ; and to judge from the 
steps taken by the School of Agriculture, and the 
utterances of His Exoelleney the Governor in 
November last, it is not improbable that the Gov- 
ernment contemplates taking active measures for 
the improvement of our native breed of cattle. 
Our author classes milk under three headings • — 
(1) Yellow creamy milk which contains a large 
proportion of fatty substance neoesfary for butter ; 
(2) Thick heavy white milk whiah contains a great 
deal of case in suitable for cheese, junkets, curds, 
&o.; (3) Thin bluish milk which is sweet and nice 
but does not produce much butter, cream or curd. 
The last, which is the most common kind of milk 
produced by Indian cows, is said to be the 
best for children and invalids. The lactometer is 
justly condemned as unreliable since it does 
not furnish any absolute standard of purity. The 
solids of milk are heavier than water, but the fat 
(butter) is lighter, and very rich milk may rank 
lower, as shown by the lactometer test, than milk; 
that is really poor in quality. If sugar is added to 
watered milk the lactometer will show it as pure milk; 
and again the pure thin bluish milk will by the 
same test rank as watered milk. It will be well 
for housewives and stewards of hospitals, asylums 
and such institutions to ponder over this explana- 
tion, as milkmen even in Ceylon are up to the 
trick of doctoring milk for the lactometer test. 
In Colombo buffalo milk, coconut " milk," sugar 
and water are all used to bring up milk (supplied 
to Government institutions forsooth) to the required 
standard. For keeping milk good the best kind of 
vessels are said to be well tinned copper pans and 
vessels made of zinc, bell metal, or wood. China 
crockery is objected to as retaining heat, and 
silver or metal vessels and spoons are also to be 
avoided. Vanilla is said to have a wonderful effect 
in keeping milk sweet; a drop of its essence being 
of great help in keeping it good. 
With regard to foods we are told that kullai, 
gram, barley and wheat are the only grains that 
should be given to miloh cows — rice not being 
particularly nutritious and Indian corn tending to 
fatten but not to increase the milk yield ; green 
grass is very essential and gives colour and rich- 
ness to the milk and butter ; cotton seed produces 
rich milk but should be given in moderation ; oil 
cake (gingelly, linseed and coconut) helps to pro- 
duce milk and butter ; bran helps digestion 
and produces milk. Different mixtures of these 
ingredients are given as guides to feeding 
and to each mixture is added a small quantity 
of salt and sulphur, which are said to be purifiers, 
peeping the bowels in proper condition and acting 
as preventatives against many diseases. It will 
be remembered that the cattle commission ap- 
pointed some years ago also recommended salt and 
sulphur as preventatives. 
With regard to the amount of land needed for 
cattle the author comes to the oonoliision that 
good cows cannot thrive on less than one acre. 
Of this extant four-sevenths should be left in 
grass, and kullai, gram, or wheat, grown on the 
remaining three-sevenths. It is insisted that every 
five years this grass land should be thoroughly 
ploughed up and cleaned, while manuring should 
be done at short intervals. The subjects of hous- 
ing and utensils are carefully explained by the 
aid of diagrams, and the plans for cattle sheda 
might well be adopted by those who go in for 
dairying in Ceylon. The greatest oleanlinees is ol 
