208 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
salt bearing this brand, and it can be used only 
■with extreme caution. Pure salt must be per¬ 
fectly white, odorless, and free from bitterness; 
it must dissolve in cold water without leaving 
any sediment or making a froth or scum, and 
the brine should be as limpid as pure spring wa¬ 
ter, and possess no taste but that of saltness. A 
little dry salt laid upon paper should remain ap¬ 
parently dry in the ordinary living rooms of a 
family. The best Liverpool Salt will stand these 
tests, of which “ Ashton’s Factory Filled ” has 
the highest fame and price, but is probably no 
better than other good brands. Butter ought 
never to be made in a hurry. Deliberation 
enough to have every thing just right is the sal¬ 
vation of many a churning. Taking the tem¬ 
perature of the cream by a thermometer is 
poohed at by many good butter makers, but it 
is best for most people to have no guess-work, 
and to see that the cream has a temperature of 
62°, or a little higher, but not 65°. The heat 
increases during churning, and b 3 r the time the 
butler comes is usually high enough (between 
C6° and 70°) to promote the gathering of the 
butter; otherwise,—that is, if the butter is hard 
and granular,—the addition of a little warm Ava- 
ter dashed in Avliile churning will effect the object. 
Risk attends the common practice of half work¬ 
ing butter, oversalting, and setting it aside to be 
thoroughly worked the next da 3 r . Parts of the 
butter are likely to whiten, and no amount of 
Avorking Avill then prevent a streaky, marbled 
look before the butter is spoiled by being over- 
Avorked. The buttermilk ought to be almost all 
Avorked out, the butter salted, and, after stand¬ 
ing a short time, worked again. This secures 
a uniform salting, and though the butter Avill 
need working the next day, it will never be 
found streaked. Buttermilk contains some 
cream and casein in solution. Simple working 
causes the removal of these substances with the 
buttermilk. Washing removes all very com¬ 
plete^, but also abstracts a notable part of the 
flavor. Salt aids greatly in the removal of the 
buttermilk, that is, Avater; but the most import¬ 
ant part of the buttermilk, the casein, is chiefly 
left behind. Therefore, to make butter which 
will be of fine flavor, and Avill keep, it is usually 
necessary to Avash it after working out most of 
the buttermilk,—the butter-maker realizing that 
the use of Avater is an undesirable necessity. 
After this, it may be salted, and after standing, 
worked. Most of the Avater being removed, it 
is re-salted if necessaiy, and left Avith only salt 
enough to make a strong brine with the little 
Avater that remains. There is always room for 
the exercise of great discretion in xvorking just 
enough, in washing, and salting, and stopping. 
Fine butter is truly a Avork of consummate art. 
■-"«-•- - » » - - 
Experiments in Feeding Cotswold-Merino 
Sheep. 
Dr. M. Miles, Professor of Agriculture in the 
Mich. Agricultural College, has made some ex¬ 
periments in feeding sheep Avith clover and 
Timothy hay, Swede turnips, and Indian corn. 
On the 2d of November, 1807, eight grade 
Cotswold lambs, the produce of a thoroughbred 
Cotswold ram and common Merino ewe, Avere 
placed in four pens, two in each pen. The 
sheep in all the pens Avere alloAved all the 
clover-Timothy hay they Avould eat. It was 
cut into chaff, Aveighed out to the sheep, and 
any that they did not cat Avas taken out of the 
troughs, weighed, and deducted. In addition 
to this food, Pens 1 and 2 had sliced Swede 
turnips and corn, Pen 3 had nothing but com 
and hay, and Pen 4,sliced Swede turnips and lmn 
When the experiment commenced, (Nov. 2) 
the sheep Avere from 5 1 ! 2 to G : | 2 months old, and 
averaged 86 pounds each. This in itself is an 
interesting fact. It shows how easily we can 
supply any demand that may exist for good 
lambs or good mutton. All Ave have to do is 
to use a thoroughbred ram of some of the mut¬ 
ton breeds of sheep. The experiment lasted 
thirty weeks. The average weight of the sheep 
at the commencement of the experiment and at 
the conclusion was as follows : 
Average 
Average 
Gain of 
weight 
of Slieep 
weight 
each 
Description 
of Sheep 
May 20. 
Sheep in 
Gain 
of food. 
Nov. 2. 
30 weeks. 
per week. 
Pen 1. 
5 Corn, Hay, 
} and Roots. 
87% lbs. 
93 lbs. 
7% lbs. 
0.2-1 
Pen 2. 
5 Corn, Hay, 
^ and Roots. 
84 “ 
118% “ 
S4% “ 
1.15 
Pen 3. 
j Corn and 
\ Hav. 
86% “ 
135% “ 
49% “ 
1.64 
Pen 4. 
\ Roots and 
( Hay. 
84% “ 
99% “ 
143, “ 
0.49 
One of the objects of the experiment doubt¬ 
less was to ascertain the feeding value of roots 
as compared Avith corn. Taking the results as 
the 3 r stand above, there would seem to be little 
advantage in feeding roots in this climate. The 
sheep Avith corn and hay alone gained half a 
pound a week more than those Avith corn, hay, 
and roots. The explanation of this fact is sim¬ 
ply this. The sheep in Pen 2 were restricted to 
a quantity of roots and corn supposed to be 
equal in nutriment to the amount of corn fed to 
Pen 3. The result sIioavs that the value of roots 
was not equal to the estimate. So far, so good. 
It remains to ascertain the value of roots Avhen 
fed in addition to a full alloAvance of grain. If 
Pen 2 had received as much corn as Pen 3, and 
all the roots and hay they Avould eat in addi¬ 
tion, avc should probably have had different 
results. The point in feeding is, to get animals 
to eat and digest as mqcli food as possible. 
The sheep Avere weighed eacli week, and avc 
can therefore compare the results at different 
periods. Dividing the experiment into three 
periods, of ten weeks each, Ave have the folloAv- 
ing interesting results: 
Food consumed per Mad per week during the 1st 10 weeks. 
£ 
Roots. 
Corn 
Hay. 
Total 
food 
cons'd. 
Average 
weight of 
Sheep at 
com. esrp't. 
' Weight 
at end 
of 
10 wks. 
Gain. 
4 
1 
13 lbs. 
2 lbs. 
9 Tbs. 
24 lbs. 
87% lbs. 
84 lbs. 
3% 
2 
13% “ 
2 “ 
9% “ 
25 “ 
84 % “ 
86k “ 
lKIbs. 
3 
4%“ 
1D-X “ 
|19 % “ 
86 X “ 
95 “ 
s% “ 
4 
23% “ 
9% “ 
35 “ 
S4% “ 
SOX “ 
4 
Hd 10 weeks. 
1 
19%lbs. 
2 3 5 
(JX Tbs 
■>S lbs. 
84X lbs. 
89% ns 
5 lbs. 
2 
19 “ 
2 3-5 
14% “ 
sox “ 
86% “ 
105% “ 
19 “ 
3 
6% 
10 “ 
22% “ 
95 
114% “ 
19% “ 
4 
36% “ 
12% “ 
■18% “ 
80% “ 
97 “ 
10% “ 
3rZ 10 weeks. 
1 
26X1DS. 
3% lbs 
5% lbs 
36%lbs. 
89% lbs. 
93 lbs. 
5% Tbs 
2 
20% “ 
3% “ 
13% “ 
43% “ 
105% “ 
118% “ 
13% “ 
3 
8 “ 
15 “ 
23 “ 
114% “ 
135% " 
21% “ 
4 
47% “ 
u% “ 
48% “ 
9? 
99% “ 
2% “ 
During the first ten weeks, the ohly sheep 
that did Avell Avere those in Pen 3, which were 
allowed 2 1 1 2 lbs. of corn a week extra instead 
of 13 lbs. of roots. They also ate a little more 
ha 3 r . Years ago, John Johnston gave it as his 
opinion that, in wintering sheep on straAV and 
corn, or oil-cake, the sheep Avould eat as much 
or more straiv Avhen allowed grain than when fed 
on straw alone. During the first ten Aveeks, it 
is evident that, Avith the exception of Pen 3, the 
sheep scarcely ate food enough to sustain the 
vital functions, and consequently gained little 
or nothing, Avhile some actually lost Aveight. 
During the next ten Aveeks, Pen 3 was alloAved 
more corn, and the sheep also ate more hay, 
and consequently gained rapidly—nearly 2 lbs. 
per head per iveek. In Pen 2 the sheep also 
ate more than they did during the first ten 
Aveeks, and they also gained rapidly. In Pen 1 
the sheep ate little and gained little—only l’| 2 
lbs. in tAventy Aveeks. 
During the next ten weeks Ave have the same 
general result. Pen 3 had over 1 lb. of corn to 
each sheep a day, and probably this was all 
that they could digest, as the consumption of 
hay fell off a little. A few roots might have 
aided digestion, and given a greater gain. But, 
as it is, the gain is large—over 2 lbs. per week. 
In explanation of the fact that Pen 1 did not 
gain as much as Pen 2, though both had the 
same alloAvance of food, Professor Miles states 
that one of the sheep did not do well, and ac¬ 
tually lost 20 lbs. in weight during the experi¬ 
ment. Even this fact is not Avitliout interest. 
It sIioavs that farmers should not only provide 
their fattening animals Avith abundance of food, 
but that they should also secure animals that 
will eat it, and the best Avay to secure this is to 
breed from stock that has never been starved. 
- - ■ ■ •* »—* wa ^ ta- » » » ■■■■■" 
Working Bulls. 
As we keep our bulls in this country, there is 
a vast amount of power that runs to Avaste 
Avhich would be very Avillingly laid out. We 
might severel 3 r .tax the strength and endurance 
of any bull, not othenvise ovenvorked, and he 
would be the better for it—a surer stock-getter, 
and asire of finer animals; and besides, Avhich is 
after all the greatest advantage, Ave should thus 
be able to keep bulls until they are really aged. 
We need hardly argue the question, if a rea¬ 
sonable amount of labor is an advantage to 
the bull. It is a recognized fact, that a due 
amount of exercise is essential to the highest 
Avellbeing of all animals, and especially those 
used for breeding. If this exercise be taken in 
hard labor, provided it be not excessive, the ex¬ 
perience of thousands of horse oAvners, and of 
many bull OAvners, in this and other lands, 
sIioavs it to be entirely beneficial. The farmer, 
then, is doubly the gainer. He has the labor of 
the animal, and the bull is better for it. Few 
farmers keep more than one bull, and hence it is 
that they are not more in the habit of Avorking 
them. A bull may be Avorked alone with a 
suitable harness in a cart or Avagon, and before 
the ploAV, harrow, or stone-boat. He is deliber¬ 
ate in his movements, but powerful, and a sin¬ 
gle bull will often do as much ploAving as a pair 
of cattle. We have seen a bull turn a 12-inch 
furroAV eight inches deep in sod with perfect 
ease, and walk as quickly as a “ smart ” pair of 
oxen. He must'be put early in training, taught 
to be guided by lines attached to the nose ring, 
and put early at such labor as he can do. We 
do not place the bull or any of his kindred 
high in the scale of intelligence, but very high 
in a scale of animals Avith Avhich habit becomes 
second nature. Cattle are not very easily taught, 
but when taught, may be relied upon. Bulls 
are usually dangerous, because so little exer¬ 
cised, and never fairly subjugated. To sub-jugate 
a bull, he must emphatically be brought under 
the yoke. There is a great difference in the dis¬ 
position of bulls, and while Ave advise no one 
under any circumstances to trust a bull beyond 
immediate control, Ave full3 r belie\ r e that nine- 
tenths of the young bulls in the country, if put 
to Avork, would be docile and useful, and might 
be kept for ten or fifteen years, greatly to the 
improvement of our stock. The animals in the 
engraving on our cover are from a photograph 
of a pair of tAvins of Mr. J. P. Swain’s liigh- 
blooded Jerseys, broken and driven Avith reins 
by his son. They are tAvo-year-olds, very docile, 
and so near alike that feAv can tell them apart. 
