APBSL fS 
MILK SUGAR. 
X. A. Willard On page 168 of your 
work on “ Dairy Husbandly,'* you speak of 
milk sugar, saving if left in eont,act with 
caseins and air it gradually becomes changed 
either into lactic acid or into fruit sugar. 
What I wish to know is if lactic neid is con¬ 
verted into fruit sitgnr and if milk sugar 
always is first, converted into lactic add: 
and further, if whey cannot be utilized by 
converting it into vinegar; if not, why not ! 
Has it been tried ?—Clark Alvokij. 
Sugar of milk, or lactose, is less sweet to 
the taste than grape or cane sugar. Tn a 
pure state it may be kept, unaltered for any 
length of time, being then insusceptible of 
fermentation. But if left in contact with 
on seine and air, it gradually becomes changed 
either into lactic acid or into fruit sugar, 
which in its turn enters into alcoholic fer 
mentation, producing carbonic acid andalco 
hoi. “ In its crystaline state milk sugar,” 
says Lehman, “has exactly the same empir¬ 
ical formula as nulr, clroua glucose, so that it 
therefore contains equal equivalents of car¬ 
bon, hydrogen anil oxygen.” 
Dr. Voklckkh, the eminent English chem¬ 
ist, says that sugar of milk or lactose con¬ 
tains when pure, iu 100 parts :—Carbon, 40 ; 
hydrogen, 0.00 ; oxygen, 50.34—total, 100. 
Those numbers correspond to the formula, 
CM2, H 12, 0-12, which is assigned t.o it by 
chemists. It, will be seen that this is free 
from nitrogen, and contains hydrogen and 
oxygon in the same relative proportion in 
which these two elements occur in water. 
Sugar of milk may therefore be represented 
to be a carbon hydrate, or compound of car¬ 
bon with water only. Lactic acid and fruit 
sugar, though widely {Iitiering in their phys¬ 
ical and chemical properties, nevertheless 
contain in 100 parts precisely the same amount 
of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen as sugar of 
milk. Under the influence of case.ine.-fe.rment 
lactose is changed into lactic acid in the sim¬ 
plest possible way. Without gaining or los¬ 
ing anything 1 equivalent of lactose, CM2, 
H-12, O 12, splits into 2 equivalents of lactic 
acid, C-fl, H-5, 0 5x110; for CM2, H-12, 0-12 
=2 (C-fl, H-5, O 5, HO) 1 equivalent of lac¬ 
tose-2 equivalents of lactic acid. 
We have never heard of any attempt to 
utilize whey by converting it. into a substi¬ 
tute for vinegar. Whey is freed from its 
albuminous matter by heating to the boding 
point and then skimming off this matter 
which rises to the surface. This is the pro¬ 
cess employed to purify the whey so as to 
obtain a liquor for Bteeping rennets. After 
standing a, few days exposed to the air it, 
become* sharply acid, but so far as we can 
judge, it would make a poor substitute for 
vinegar. 
It, has been suggested that the manufac¬ 
ture of milk sugar would be a good way of 
utilizing the whey at cheese factories, and 
that a considerable profit might be made 
from this source. We do not hear of any 
systematic plan for making milk sugar in 
this country, though we understand it is 
largely produced in Switzerland, where it 
forms an important article of commerce. 
The clear whey from which curd and albu¬ 
men have been removed by rennet and boil¬ 
ing, is said to be treated in the following 
simple maimer, to obtain the milk sugar: 
The clear whey is evaporated in shallow ves¬ 
sels until crystals begin to separate, then 
poured into the crystalusing pans, in which 
small pioees of wood are introduced, or 
strings urc suspended, to act as nuclei for 
the deposit of the crystals of sugar of 
milk, in this way it is obtained in long 
round sticks of a thickness of 2 or 2}^ inches 
in diameter, presenting groups of right four¬ 
sided prisms, terminated by four-sided pyra¬ 
mids. The whey from which these crvatal- 
ized masses have been removed, on further 
evaporation furnishes a second, less pure, 
smaller, yellow-colored crop of crystals. 
The proportion of milk sugar in an average 
quality of milk is about 5 per cent., while 
(he butter and caseine taken together is only 
about 7 per cent. Hence it will be seen vvliat 
an enormous product of this sugar could be 
made from the whey of New York factories 
if some easy, practical method of extracting 
it could be invented. The albuminous mat¬ 
ter skimmed off in the first process would 
make a valuable food for swine, ami thus by 
extracting the milk sugar all the component 
parts of the milk would be utilized. 
Milk sugar uow sells in the shops at a high 
price, which of course could not be sustained 
if a large quantity was annually thrown upon 
the market. But even if it sold for no more 
per pound than our best refined sugars, the 
amount of stiles from large factories would 
SWOOBE’S BUBAL SSEW-Y0B 
reach a considerable sum. It seems to us 
some experiments should be made by our 
dairymen iu this direction, so that we may 
know the cost of producing milk sugar and 
whether the business could be made remu¬ 
nerative. 
■- *■■*■■* - 
FARROW COWS IN THE DAIRY. 
How shall dairymen dispose of “farrow 
cows” to the best advantage ? ’ is a question 
which many are unable to determine. If an 
animal is old, thin in flesh and not very good 
for milk at the best, the sooner she leaves 
the farm and is convened into cash, oven 
though the amount be small, the more profit 
will be likely to result. Such animals often 
do not pay their keep in pasturage, and if 
wc. attempt to put on flesh in the fall and 
winter, the cost of grain or extra feed will, 
nine times out of ten, be more than her flesh 
w ill be worth for the shambles. If a cow is 
young and of an extra milking strain and 
happens to bo farrow in the fall, it will often 
be profitable to retain her in the herd, keeping 
up her milk during winter and the following 
summer, when she may come “rouud again 
in calf” and prove a move valuable cow for 
milk than one can ordinarily purchase. We 
have seen and owned cows of tills descrip¬ 
tion which, during the season they were 
farrow, averaged nearly, if not quite, as 
much milk as many other members of the 
herd considered as giving a good fair mess. 
Of course, there is always more or less risk 
in keeping over such stock for milk, as far¬ 
row cows When turned to grass not unfre- 
quently decrease in their yield and put on 
fat. But there is still another class of far¬ 
row cows, strong, healthy animals of me¬ 
dium age and of medium condition which, 
as the pasturage season closes, it is desirable 
to turn, and the question arises whether 
such animals should be sold, say in Novem¬ 
ber, for what they will bring, or whether it 
will pay to feed grain and put them in flesh 
for the butcher. 
Mr. Jokiah BilfLL of Dion, N. Y., has been 
experimenting during the past winter, to 
satisfy himself as to this matter. On t he 1st 
of November last Mr. SllDLL commenced to 
fatten a cow which he thought too old to 
keep longer for milk. Biio was farrow and 
only in medium condition. At first her feed 
wins corn meal and pumpkins, with what hay 
she. would eat. The meal w«as gradually 
increased. During the first two months the 
milk averaged at the rate of 13 pounds per 
day, but iu the third month it dropped to 10 
pounds per day, the feed meantime having 
been increased, giving all the meal and hay 
she would cat. This manner of feeding was 
continued until February 25th, when the 
cow weighed 1,240 pounds. Then he com¬ 
menced feeding the com meal cooked und 
made into a gruel, unlll an average of 11 
pounds of meal per day was used. The gruel 
made about a 12-quart pail full. At the same 
time she was allowed all the hay she would 
cat. 
This course, contrary to expectation, did 
not increase the flow of milk, but it decreased 
from day to day, tlio average for February 
being seven pounds per day, and for March 
five pounds per day. The milk now began 
to get poor in quality and Was very blue. 
On March 11th she weighed 1,300 pounds. 
The same quantity of feed was continued 
from day to day until the 251h of March, 
when she was again weighed, but had fallen 
off 40 pounds. On the 1st of April the cow 
was sold to the butcher for beef for $70. 
The following is a statement of receipts 
and expenditures, the hay being estimated 
at $20 per ton and corn meal at $1.75 per 
cwt. :—Market, value of cow on the 1st of 
November, $15 ; cost. <>f hay and grain from 
Nov. J to April I, $4(5.50—total, $61.50. The 
cow gave during the time as above stated, 
1,2(10 pounds of milk, which at. l t£ cent per 
pound, amounts to $15,82. Sale of COW for 
beef on t“t of April, M0-making a total of 
$85.82. Calling the value of manure equal 
to that for labor, &e,, m caring for the cow, 
the profit, of fattening is $24,32, 
Careful experiments of this kind where an 
accurate account is kepi of the quantity and 
cost of feed are valuable, because they give 
a basis from which an estimate may be mac e 
as to the profit and loss in feeding animals 
for the shambles. 
Horned stock was voiy low last fall in 
Herkimer Co., and the impression prevailed 
that it was better to sell at low figures than 
to fatten animals on feed at high cost; hut 
Mr. SmiLL shows that the profit is very con¬ 
siderable. The milk is reckoned on the basis 
of its value for cheese making, or at 13l£ 
cents for 10 pounds. But even if we drop this 
item from the account altogether, there isstill 
a profit from fattening amounting to $8.50. 
It will be well for dairymen to examine 
this matter of farrow cows a little more 
closely t han many have been in the habit of 
doing ; for we axe convinced that not unfre- 
quently considerable sums are lost by not 
understanding clearly whether an animal can 
be fed at a profit or a loss. 
<$hc $)ouHrj) $;M[tL 
APOPLEXY IN FOWLS. 
P. Gardner, M. D., Pine Drove, 0., writes 
the Poultry World :—There is no disease so 
liable to affect the thriftier and more preco¬ 
cious specimens of our thorough-bred fowls, 
which have been well fed and kept inclose 
yards, than apoplexy; and while it does not 
necessarily prove fatal in all cases, it cripples 
our efforts in producing the best specimens 
of the flock. It is an affection of the brain, 
aud is attended with congestion of the whole 
cerebral mass, including the spinal marrow. 
The fowl becomes suddenly disabled, walks 
with a tottoring gait, falls down, tumbles 
over, and is some minutes in recovering an 
equilibrium, Boon to bo lost again. The in¬ 
clination of the head is low, the legs much 
flexed on the body, and trembling ; the 
wings droop, the plumage is rough, and 
great lisfclessneas attends the whole system. 
The appetite, however, is generally good un¬ 
til the last days of the disease, when the 
victim sinks down and dies in a state of ex¬ 
haustion and great emaciation. 
Treatment .—The first thing to be done is 
to place the fowl in the open air, where it 
may have plenty of exercise and green food. 
.Scarifying the comb and wattles, thereby 
abstracting some blood locally, has had a 
good Influence. But, the remedy on which 1 
rely chiefly is the bromide of potash, in 
ten-grain doses (to an adult cock), three 
times a day. This has succeeded when 
everything else has failed. Oneof my Houdan 
cockerels lingered for several weeks in a 
most hopeless condition, nothing being of 
any avail until T adopted the use of the 
bromide of potash, when lie suddenly com¬ 
menced Improving, and is now one of the 
most vigorous cocks of my yards, I have 
also a Buff Cochin cockerel who lias b a en 
suffering with the same malady ; and but 
for the timely use of the bromide of pot ash, 
T am Sure I should have lost. him. T offer 
these facts for the benefit of those enraged 
in rearing poultry, and am satisfied that, it is 
capable of accomplishing great good in the 
treatment of this disease. My mode of ad¬ 
ministering the remedy Is In the solid form ; 
and, as it is not poisonous, there is no danger 
in the free use of it. 
GEESE . 
Wiisre t he farm homestead is adapted for 
geese, where there is proper restraint on the 
swine, there is nothing pays better for keep 
lug on the farm than a gander and three 
geese. Home have as many us four or live 
geese with one gander, and the feathers from 
the young ones when killed urc valuable 
without cruelly picking live ones. When 
there i-- a comfortable coop, with choice of 
nests and there is nothing to disturb them, 
geese will generally raise ton goslings each 
on an average; but if brought to a fresh 
place in the sprir.g, or gander or geese are 
changed, they seldom do well the first,season. 
They arc very long lived and will last any 
farmers’ time, on a farm. Borne people are 
ignorant of the habits of domesticated geese 
and suppose they will only breed in pairs ; 
others think the picking alive to be very 
economical, whereas the poor, miserable 
wretches never do much else but supply a 
few feathers while those who have lino heavy 
breeds aud manage them so as to sell the 
young ones fat at the right season make a 
handsome income without stripping them 
while living. a. w. f. 
-- *■■*■•*■ - 
“WHAT AILS THE CHICKENS V 
lx the Rural New-Yorker of March 21, 
Ann Hopkins asks “what ails the chickens?” 
and describes their symptoms and mourns 
over the loss of her 200 chickens, as well she 
may. I have lost chickens too, with the 
same complaint T think, except the neck of 
mine became very prominent in front. I 
lost several without trying to save them. 1 
had a large Spanish cock, which I prized 
highly. He was past eating before I know 
he was sick. I first gave him butter oil, but 
thinking that would be too slow, I opened 
his bill and poured down a tablespoonful of 
castor oil, and set him on the roost. He 
passed a dark given, slimy substance. I 
then gave him boneset tea, very strong. He 
very soon began to eat, a little. 1 then mixed 
his food with boneset tea. I have had sev¬ 
eral sick since and treated them as above 
with success in every case. M. A. Rica. 
Cherny Swelling in Fowls’ Throats .—My 
fowls have a swelling in their throats that 
feels, when touched, like cheese, or a cheesy 
substance. Is there any cure for it ?- S. H. 
WE know of none, Do our readers ? 
POULTRY NOTES. 
Preventive of Egg-Eating and Cock-Iiuek- 
ing Hens.— R. Huntington, East. Bloomfield, 
N. Y., a poultry fancier, writes the Turf, 
Field and FarmI receive many letters 
from persons breeding poultry, asking a cure 
or preventive for the bad habit in bens of 
plucking the cock’s feather?. There is but 
one sure preventive, and that is to burn off 
the end of the bill of the hen or hens that do 
it. Watch for the hens that do it, as out of 
five or Reven liens only one or two will have 
the habit and they arc usually the old ones, 
catch them, and, with a rod hot iron, burn 
off the end of the bill from one-quarter to 
three-eighths of n il inch ; then run the iron 
over the edg->s of the bill hull' way up, so 
they cannot get hold of the feathers. If tlio 
hens are not valuable, better cut their heads 
off, as they will teach others to do it. Such 
hens are seldom good layers, but are usually 
overloaded with fat, ami will sit mopingupon 
the roost or perch all day long, No feed of 
any kind will prevent or cure the habit. The 
same remedy will outwit the egg cater. 
Food, for Voting Chickens. —Chickens 
want, no food for many hours after they are 
hatched, as they are then digesting the yelk 
of the egg, which constitutes their first food, 
and acquiring strength to run about. When 
they begin to peck they should be fed with 
soft, food and very small grain. Unquestion¬ 
ably, the best soft, food is an egg beaten up 
with a tablcspoonful of milk and heated in 
the oven or by the side of the fire until it sets 
into a soft custard. Chickens fed or partially 
fed on this, make wonderful progress. If 
they are to make large fowls, they must, be 
fed soon after daylight; if, us is too often 
the case, they are left, hungry for three hours 
in the morning, they are always stunted in 
their growth. They must he fed the first 
thing, and, while they are young, every two 
or three hours during the day.— Tegetmeter. 
Impregnation of Turkey .Eggs. ~A corres¬ 
pondent of the Poultry World who, when 
a boy, had a hen turkey, was told that a. brief 
visit on her part to a gobbler would be as 
efficient as one of a week or a month. He 
accordingly left her in company with a 
gobbler for an hour or two and then rotm ned 
home with her. Ho adds :—“la due time 
she laid, sat, and hatched every egg ; and in 
the latter part of the summer she laid, sat, 
and hatched a second brood without a gob¬ 
bler, having stolen her nest and sitting sev¬ 
eral days before we had a suspicion even 
that she was laying, every egg hatching 
again.” 
Breeding Canaries .—It may not, be strictly 
within the province of your poultry oolumns 
to give place to a solicitor for information 
with regard to the breeding and manage¬ 
ment of young Canaries, hut I lia,vo no doubt 
that there are many experienced breeders 
among your readers who can give detailed 
directions to the inexperienced (of whom I 
am one) that will enable them to succeed 
where they have hitherto failed. Many lady 
readers of the Rural New-Yorker I am 
sure will be glad to know how to breed 
Canaries successfully.— Mary S. Vaughn. 
Partridge Cochins' Plumage.—The Cot¬ 
tage Gardener, in answer to on inquiry, says: 
The principal points in Partridge Cochins 
are, in the cock, scrupulously black breast, 
black and orange-striped saddle and hackle, 
no white anywhere. The hen should be 
Partridge or Grouse-feathered all over, 
without yellow tiuge, and the feathers more 
marked than those of a game hen. Condition 
makes a cock’s plumage glossy. Many fan¬ 
ciers think a few white peas daily are bene¬ 
ficial. 
Chicken Wisdom .—As the care of chickens 
is a source of great pleasure to me, I have 
learned a few things that may be interesting 
to the Rural Nkw-Yorkbr readers. Py 
keeping early elm-kens to breed from, you 
will, within a few years, increase their size 
beyoud your own belief. Feeding meat in¬ 
creases the size of eggs. Warm feed with 
milk and oats increases the quantity of eggs. 
Pullets’ eggs hatch sooner than those from 
old liens’ eggs.— a. it. 
Hatching Chickens for Market. — (Sarah 
W.)—Do not let your “ hens set all at once.” 
Remember that tender chickens for the table 
throughout the. season are only obtained by 
a succession of broods—just, as tender let¬ 
tuce is obtained by a succession of sowings. 
A Catarrh Remedy for Fon ts, recommend¬ 
ed by an English authority, isa tablespoonful 
of castor oil every other day for fourteen 
days and two feeds of toasted crust soaked 
in old, btroug ale every day. 
Raw Stoe.de Turnips, cut open once or 
twice and thrown on the floor of t he hennery 
are found by a poultry fancier to be the best 
and cheapest green food that can be given 
fowls. 
