1895 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
823 
heads were removed. The bagasse or refuse product, 
was thrown out to dry in the open air, and, in favor¬ 
able seasons, it became so dry that it could be stored 
in stacks in perfect safety. This bagasse, which I at 
first regarded as of but little use except for fuel, be¬ 
came one of my most valued stores for my cattle. 
One year, they had little else than this, alternated 
with corn stalks, and a sleeker herd one need not 
wish to see. I was not doing much winter dairying 
then, so I do not remember the special effects on milch 
cows. Probably unpressed cane would contain too 
much moisture for the silo. It might heat too much ; 
but could bagasse be obtained from cane pressed with 
the leaves on, I feel sure that it would make excel¬ 
lent ensilage. There are many seasons when cane 
Vi ill not ripen seed in this climate ; but when it does, 
the grain is valuable. I do not know its feeding 
value, but animals like it, when they learn what it 
is, and it produces good results. I have attained 
the best results from the Minnesota Early Amber 
cane. It is earlier than the other varieties which 
I have tried, and gives better satisfaction. 
Seneca County, N. Y. mai.com i.ittle. 
Not Desirable for New England. 
1. No, not in Massachusetts, if one of the larger 
varieties of corn is grown. 2. It would not make a 
desirable food cured as dry fodder, owing to the hard 
character of the stalk. It would be decidedly inferior 
to Indian corn. As ensilage, I also count it inferior 
to Indian corn. This is on the basis of its chemical 
composition, as well as some practical experience in 
feeding it. 3. I have never fed it to stock, dry or 
cured. I have fed it green with no detrimental re¬ 
sults. Many farmers in the West claim that sorghum 
suckers kill farm stock, but how true this is, I cannot 
say. 4. Prepare the land as for corn, and plant at 
about the same time. If sown in the drill, have the 
seed about six inches apart. If in the hill, for New 
England, about three plants to a hill. 
Sixteen years ago, I worked at a sorghum mill in 
Massachusetts. The canes were grown on the farm 
on which the mill was situated, and a good crop was 
secured. Yet I doubt the desirability of growing 
sorghum as a crop in New England. As already 
stated, it is not as good a food as Indian corn, and 
while syrup is made from the crushed cane, even this 
is not popular with the masses. In the region in 
which I live, are occasional small sorghum patches, 
but only for the purpose of furnishing syrup for the 
owner, who boils the extracted juice in open, shallow 
pans, and makes a common grade 
of sorghum syrup, c. s. plumb. 
Indiana Experiment Station. 
A Fair Statement of the Matter. 
1. No, not under a similar rule 
as to selection of varieties. A 
late, larger-growing variety of 
sorghum may give more pounds 
of green fodder than an early, 
small-growing variety of corn ; 
but the converse is equally true. 
With varieties, both of corn and 
sorghum which will reach matur¬ 
ity, the advantage in yield will 
usually be on the side of the 
corn. 2. If cut and stacked as 
corn is usually put up, it would 
cure as well as corn, or better. 
The stalk is stiffer, though hardly 
as large, and the stacks would 
stand well. 3. There is no dan¬ 
ger in feeding sorghum, either 
green or dry ; but it is not so 
well suited for feeding purposes 
as corn. It is of the same botan¬ 
ical species as broom corn, and 
resembles that plant much more 
closely in structure and texture than it does corn. 
The stem is highly silicious. and when dry 
would not be relished by cattle, unless crushed or 
shredded and moistened. If fed dry as corn fodder 
usually is, there would be a very large percentage of 
waste to sorghum. The leaf, too, is less agreeable in 
texture than the corn leaf. In careful comparative 
trials in some of the Western States, sorghum has not 
shown itself capable of surpassing corn in production 
of food per acre. It has been thought that it can 
better endure heat and drought than corn ; and in 
some localities where these are likely to be severe 
and protracted, it may pay to raise it. In Massachu¬ 
setts, soil and climatic conditions almost invariably 
suit corn, and it is the better fodder crop for us. 
Sorghum fed green would be eaten much better than 
when dry; but even green, it has no advantage as 
compared with corn. Sorghum has been put into the 
silo,- but the resulting ensilage is inferior to corn 
ensilage as a rule; so that it is not safe to advise New 
England farmers-to leave corn, which is a sure crop. 
Averages for corn ensilage and sorghum ensilage 
are as follows : Muscle- Fat- Pure 
Water, makers, formers. fat. 
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. 
Average corn ensilage. 79.10 1.67 11.07 0.79 
Average sorglium ensilage... 76.07 1.05 15.38 0.30 
It will be noticed that the corn ensilage contains 
much more muscle-makers and pure fat than the 
sorghum, while the sorghum contains more fat-form¬ 
ers. Sugar (in which the sorghum surpasses) is a 
valuable food, but less valuable than the muscle- 
makers and the fat. Corn ensilage of our own making 
is usually better than the average above given. We 
generally produce an article analyzing as follows : 
College Farm corn ensilage, water, 72 per cent ; 
muscle-makers, 2.87 per cent; fat-formers, 15.74 per 
cent; pure fat, 1.36 per cent. It will be noticed that 
this ensilage surpasses the sorghum ensilage in every 
THE WASH ROOM. Fig. 267. 
Where Bacteria are Steamed to Death. 
important item, containing more than double the 
muscle-makers, and more than five times the fat. 
4 Sow just as early as it is safe to plant corn, and 
best with a seed sower in drills about 30 to 36 inches 
apart according to the variety. Thin to about six to 
eight inches in the drill. The growth for several 
weeks is very slow ; it seems almost to stand still, but 
is really making roots. This peculiarity makes it cost 
much more to keep it free from weeds than it does 
corn. Because its culture will cost more, because it 
will hardly yield so much, because its texture makes 
it more unpalatable, either green or more especially 
dry, and because ensilage made from it is inferior to 
good corn ensilage, I do not consider sorghum a desir¬ 
able fodder crop for New England, wm. p. brooks. 
Massachusetts Agricultural College. 
Corn Is to be Preferred. 
Sorghum has few if any advantages over corn fod¬ 
der as a food for dairy stock in New England. The 
crop needs a warm soil, as it makes a slow growth 
early in the season, and, consequently, requires 
more cultivation and w r eeding than corn. I know of 
no comparison as to yields, but in the South, yields of 
from 10 to 15 tons of green sorghum per acre, are 
considered srood. Sorghum seems to withstand 
droughts better than corn, owing, perhaps, to the 
smaller leaf surface for the transpiration of water. 
The chief differences in_-composition are the larger 
amounts of fiber, and smaller amounts of muscle- 
makers contained in the sorghum. The few experi¬ 
ments that have been made, show a lower percentage 
of digestibility for the fiber and muscle-makers in 
the case of sorghum. The composition and digesti¬ 
bility would, therefore, indicate a lower feeding 
value than for corn fodder. The fodder can be suc¬ 
cessfully field-cured for winter use in much the same 
way as corn fodder ; or it may be ensiloed. It has 
been fed green, and seemed to be well liked by dairy 
stock, giving fair results in the milk flow. The crop 
can be grown in hills much the same as corn, leaving 
the rows far enough apart to cultivate, but with the 
hills not over two feet; or it may be grown in drills 
with the stalks eight to ten inches apart. Sorghum 
is a heavy feeder of the mineral constituents of plant 
food, requiring a fertile soil to give a good crop. 
Storrs Ex. Station, Conn. c. s. PHELPS. 
THE STORY OF “ CERTIFIED MILK.” 
FROM THE COW TO THE CONSUMER. 
Improvements and Changes in the Business. 
[editorial correspondence.J 
Part II. 
Last week we were told how this milk is taken 
from the cow in as perfect a state as possible, and 
sent running through the air on that wire to the dairy 
house. In the picture we saw the cans just entering 
a window in the upper part of the building. Now we 
are to see what happens to it before it goes out again. 
At Fig. 268 is shown the cooling and bottling room. 
At the end is a Star cooler, probably the largest one 
ever made. This is a fluted metal box inside of which 
cold water is constantly passing. The milk is received 
in cans in the upper story, and at once poured into a 
tank connected with the cooler. It trickles along 
down over this cold surface, losing the “animal heat” 
and dropping into the bottling tank about 25 degrees 
cooler than when it started. Mr. Francisco does not 
aerate his milk, as he thinks that it gets a pretty 
good airing in the journey from the barn. 
You will notice a great display of bottles on the 
long table. The tank under the cooler is arranged to 
run on wheels over these bottles which are placed in 
exact rows. By touching a spring little pipes on the 
under side of this tank are opened, and a whole row 
is thus filled at once. In this way the filling of 1,500 
quart bottles is not such a great job. After the 
bottles are filled, neat paper stoppers, each marked 
with the date of filling, are fitted in. These are much 
neater and better than the metal 
covers and hinges formerly used, 
because there being nothing to 
be cleaned, it is impossible for a 
careless washer to leave any sour 
milk to spoil the next bottleful]. 
As soon as possible after filling, 
the bottles are packed in the 
cases shown at the foot of the 
stairs to the left of the picture, 
and surrounded with broken ice. 
They are shipped in these cases 
to town, and kept on ice until 
delivered to customers. One 
would be surprised to see how 
short a time is required to take 
the milk from the cow and get 
it into these ice-covered bot¬ 
tles. Everything is done as 
rapidly as skilled hands and the 
best of machinery will warrant. 
This rapidity is the secret of suc¬ 
cess in keeping this milk. As 
it comes from the cow it is pure, 
and would keep for weeks if not 
permitted to change. Since we 
know that the changes in milk 
are produced by minute forms 
of life called bacteria, and that the action of 
these bacteria is deadened by extremes of heat or 
cold, the object of good dairymen is.to get the milk 
with the least delay into the packages in which it is 
to be sold, and then keep these packages cold. Raw 
milk handled in this way, will keep six days without 
trouble. It will keep as long as “ Pasteurized ” or 
heated milk, and be better for food purposes—par¬ 
ticularly for invalids and children. 
But one might use the greatest care in getting the 
milk into “cold storage,” yet fail—if the bottles had 
not been properly cleaned. Just as a “starter” put 
into cream sours the whole mass and makes it fit for 
churning, so a bit of sour milk left in any crack or 
wrinkle of the bottle, will breed millions of these 
bacteria, and spoil the milk in a short time. One of 
the chief reasons why milk reaches the city in poor 
condition, is that the cans are not scalded and cleaned 
properly. Some scrap of sour milk is left, and this 
starts the new milk to souring. At “Fairfield Dairy,” 
special arrangements are made to clean the bottles. 
DODGING THE BACTERIA. THE COOLING AND BOTTLING ROOM. Fig. 268. 
