290 
Sjipplemenl  In  the  “ Tropical  Agricullurist.” 
[Of'T.  1,  189G. 
that  is  if  tbe  sides  are  to  be  nailed  to  the  ends — 
blit  If  the  ends  are  to  be  nailed  to  the  sides  an 
allowance  must  be  made  for  the  thickness  of  the 
sides.  The  sides  must  be  20  in  outside  measure- 
ment. Therefore  a piece  of  timber  6 ft  x 10  in 
is  sufficient  to  make  a brood  chamber  or  a full 
size  super.  From  such  a piece  of  timber,  first  cut 
off  281  in  (if  the  sides  are  to  be  nailed  to  the  ends, 
and  it  is  always  better  so  to  do)  and  work  a 
rebate  (sabbet)  f in  plus  the  thickness  of  the  top 
bar  oi  the  moveable  frame,  and  the  top  bar  of  such 
a frame  should  be  at  least  5 in  thick,  afterwards 
cutting  into  two  eipial  parts.  Each  one  will  thus 
be  111  X 10  in. 
An  easier  and  simpler  way  of  making  the  rebate, 
although  not  so  workmanlike,  is  to  plant  a strip 
along  the  end  piece  of  the  frame  and  fasten  it 
with  tine  nails. 
A full-siz.ed  super  is  the  same  measurement  as 
the  brood  chamber.  It  will  be  noticed  that  if  a 
moveable  bottom  board  be  used  the  depth  of  the 
bar-frame  will  be  9;|  in,  thus  coming  flush  with 
the  base  of  the  end  piece  of  the  framt,  and  show- 
ing no  bee-space — a cleat  to  form  the  bee-space  is 
fa^tened  on  the  bottom  board.  Half-sized  supers 
for  shallow  frames  are  the  same  measurements  in 
all  e.xcept  in  depth. 
Since  the  above  was  written  we  have  had  an 
opportunity  of  conferring  with  a gentleman  who 
has  had  much  experience  in  bee-keejiing,  and 
carried  on  apiculture  in  Ceylon  with  much  success. 
He  places  groat  importance  on  the  structure  of  the 
hive  best  suited  for  Ceylon  bees,  and  though  the 
hives  adopted  by  him  were  constructed  after  the 
modern  type  of  frame  hives  there  are  some  im- 
portant alterations  which  have  been  made  to  suit 
local  conditions.  This  gentleman  is  having  a hive 
built  for  u.s  according  to  his  own  plan,  and 
we  hope  to  be  able  to  induce  him  to  describe 
its  construction,  and,  if  possible,  also  to  detail 
his  experience  in  bee-keeping,  in  a future  issue. 
MILK  AND  MILK  PRODUCTS. 
(By  Mr.  Ja.mk.s  lUor.i.i.sox), 
Superin fe/ident,  (ioventmeuf  Farms,  Bumtiay. 
The  food  given  to  milch  cattle  inllnences  the 
quality  of  the  milk  to  a considerable  extent.  Suc- 
culent food  undoubtedly  causes  increased  .secretion, 
but  at  the  same  time  it  lowers  the  percentage  of 
total  solids.  The  morning’s  milk  is  usually  not  so 
concentrated  as  the  evening’s  milk,  but  on  the 
ot-her  hand  the  morning  yield  is  greater.  It  is  not 
clear  why  this  increased  yield  should  be  associated 
with  a diminution  in  the  percentage  of  solids,  un- 
less we  presume  that  the  longer  {joriod  which 
generally  elap.^es,  between  the  evening  and  morn- 
ing milking  permits  of  fuller  and  freer  secretion 
than  the  shorter  interval  between  morning  and 
eveninc^.  The  observations  taken  at  the  Poona 
Government  Farm  show  about  one  imrcent.  differ- 
ence of  total  solids  in  favour  of  the  evening’s  milk 
which,  is  however,  more  than  counterbalanced  by 
the  increased  yield  in  the  morning. 
The  butter  fat  exi-^ts  in  milk  as  butter  glolinles 
of  various  size.s  eadly  di.scernible  ut  der  the  micros- 
cope. The  butter  globule.s  are  of  lower  sped lie 
gravity  than  the  ol  her  constituents  of  milk.  Con- 
eequeiitly  if  the  milk  is  .set  in  a vessel,  the  butter 
fat  rises  to  the  surface  to  form  cream  which  can 
be  se|)araled  by  .skimming.  In  the  milk  the  casein 
also  exi.sts  in  suspension  in  minute  globules.  In 
fresh  milk  the  casein  umther  tends  to  rise  nor  sink 
because  it  has  absorbed  part  of  the  ivater  of  milk 
and  i.s  thereby  softened  and  swollen,  so  that  it  is 
more  evenly  diffused  through  the  water  of  milk. 
The  sugar  of  milk  is  in  .solution  ; the  mineral  mat- 
ter is  jiartly  in  solution  and  partly  heh!  in  su.sjien- 
sion.  it  consists  mostly  of  iihosjihate.s  and  com- 
mon salt.  The  ash  constituents  are  oxides  of 
iron  and  alumina,  magnesia,  potash,  soda,  lime 
and  phosphoric  acid. 
l\Iilk  rapidly  undergoes  cliange,  iiarticnlarly  if 
the  day  temperature  is  high.  T'he  changes  are 
induced  by  bacterial  ferments  which  thrive  in  the 
milk  because  it  is  almost  a perfect  food.  The  most 
common  change  which  occurs  in  the  souring  of 
milk  is  brought  about  by  the  conversion  of  sugar 
of  milk  (lactose)  into  lactic  acid.  The  curdling 
of  milk  is  an  accompaniment  of  the  lactic  fermen- 
tation. This  curdling  can  be  accomplished  artifi- 
cially by  means  of  an  organic  or  mineral  acid,  or,  as 
in  cheesemaking,  liy  jirecijiitating  the  casein  by  the 
use  of  rennet.  The  active  principle  in  rennet  is 
the  digestive  agent  found  in  the  fourth  stomach  of 
a calf.  It  not  only  curdles  the  casein  but  also 
induces  other  changes  which  lactic  acid  cannot 
induce.  The  change  of  lactose  into  lactic  acid  is 
merely  a molecular  one  and  is  duo  to  growth  of 
the  betcferdmi  lactisf  sui  organism  plentiful  in  the 
air  of  a dairy  but  jiarticularly  where  a daily  is  not 
kept  scrupulously  clean.  Immediately  milk  is 
drawn  from  the  udder  it  is  subject  to  contamina- 
tion. The  chemical  changes  which  then  take  |)laco 
are  directly  caused  by  ferments  induced  by  con- 
tamination. The  temperature  of  the  milk  ns  it  is 
drawn  from  the  udder  i.s  just  the  temjieratnre  at 
which  the  reproduction  of  microbes  takes  place 
most  rapidly. 
If  milk  is  cooled  immediately  bacterial  growth 
is  checked  and  will  not  again  become  active  until 
the  milk  slowly  warm-q  which  it  wTl  do  if  the  tern 
perature  of  t he  dairy  is  higher  than  that  of  cooled 
milk.  If  the  temiieiatnie  is  high,  the  milk  will 
notkeeii  long;  if  it  i.s  low  the  n.iik  will  remain 
sweet  a considerable  period.  Milk  which  has  been 
boiled  and  t hen  rnjiidly  cooled  and  afterwards  kept 
in  a cool  clean  jilace  will  keeji  longer  than  milk 
not  so  heated  ; but  if  the  surroundings  of  the  dairy 
are  unsanitary,  and  the  dairy  is  within  range  of 
any  unwholesome  smell  or  otlier  unhealthy  in- 
llnence,  the  milk  is  bound  to  become  tainted  in  a 
manner  which  jirobably  will  make  it  dangerous  for 
human  food.  Alilk  sours  quickly  in  India  during 
the  hot  season  and  also  during  the  first  jiart  of  the 
monsoon.  During  the  early  rains  the  atmos])here 
ii- close  and  sultry,  and  though  the  heat  is  not 
excejitiounlly  oppressive,  there  i.s  “thunder  in  tlie 
air,’’  and  any  atmospheric  electrical  disturbance 
has  a material  effect  in  causing  milk  to  sour 
quickly. 
iMilk  as  it  is  secrete. 1 may  be  contaminated  b.C 
deleterious  substances  iu  the  food  ; morover  a dis- 
eased cow  may  yield  milk  which  may  be  impreg- 
nated with  disea.se  germs  and  may  therefore  be 
the  means  of  causing  contagion,  but  as  it  leave.s 
the  ndder  it  contains  no  fermentative  bacetria.  A 
few  hours  after  milking  the  number  of  bacterial 
germs  found  in  a cubic  inch  of  milk  is  almost  in- 
credible, particularly  if  the  temperature  favours 
