border. The center of the plate correspond¬ 
ing to the cell in t he vulcanite plate, is clear 
and tranxj>areot; the rest of the plate is 
divided into six segments each colored in shades 
graduated to match the different qualities 
of milk: the fh'st is marked “ cream;’ 1 the next, 
“ very fat” or rich milk; the next “nor¬ 
mal:” the next, “poor” milk, and the last, 
“verypoor.” The central cell being filled with 
milk to be tested, the glass cover is laid on 
and presses out the surplus of milk over and 
above the requisite film to fill the cell. The jet- 
black vulcanite, of course, shows through this 
thin film of milk in the precise proportion to its 
density, and the milk to be tested is matched 
in color by t he colored segments of the glass 
plate. 
Rich milk from one of my cows that yields 
12 pounds of butter weekly, appears on the 
Pioscope much lighter in color than normal 
milk and scarcely so light as the very fat milk; 
the difference is, however, scarcely to be dis¬ 
tinguished. One drop of water added by 
means of a pipette to this milk, reduces it 
at once to the shade of poor milk and two 
drops bring it to a darker shade than very 
poor. The cell holds about, 10 drops from the 
pipette. Several tests with other cows’ milk 
result in the same way. Five per cent of 
water added shows very distinctly, and 10 
per cent carries it to the bottom of the scale. 
Except an accurate chemical tret by analysis 
I don't know of any other that is so sure and 
sensitive as this, and it seems to be one that 
may !>e used with satisfactory results in place 
ol’ the uncertain lactometer and the slowly 
acting cream gauge, it is instant in effect 
and Can be used and mark the result in one 
minute after the milk is drawn from the cow, 
and indeed it is then only that milk can be 
tested with any accuracy because its condi¬ 
tion changes every moment after that. 
Another test depending for its effect upon 
the same principle, viz., the density of the 
milk, was brought into use a. few years ago, 
but it failed because of the uncertainty of its 
elements. It consisted of two small sheets of 
glass cemented to wooden sides and bottom, 
leaving the top open and a space between the 
glasses forming n narrow cell about a quarter 
of an inch from wall to wall. This was mounted 
on a graduated slide and a lighted candle was 
placed at the end of the slide. The cell being 
filled with milk, wits moved on the slide un¬ 
til the light could be seen clearly through the 
milk. It is obvious that the result depended 
upon two very uncertain elements viz., the 
and which at certain stages of her condition 
of pregnancy is unusually charged with salts, 
and it will show a high specific gravity, being 
much heavier than water, in the ratio perhaps 
of LOSS to 1.000 or three and-a half percent. 
Then we take the milk of a l'resb Jersey cow, 
a rich butter maker, in which there may be 
25 or 30 per cent of cream and, of course, a 
less ratio in proportion of salts, sugar and 
casein, and It may show a specific gravity of 
ly what the Western men did, and that was, 
prove very conclusively that there was no 
pleuro-ptieumonia in theirs, and that there 
was no healthier place in the world for cattle 
than the Western States. And they should 
get a high official to use his official influence 
to support the fact that pleuro-pncuxuonia in 
the East is totally unknown to the inhabitants 
and that they themselves are living in daily 
dread and fear of infection from the West of 
Texas fever and some other diseases which 
have heretofore come from that way, but 
about which very little fuss has beeu made. 
The great West scarcely owns all the United 
States Government and the East has some 
claims upon it, too. 
&xmuan 
NORMAN-PERCHERON HORSES, 
The ancient county of Lo Percbe formed 
part of the old province of Maine in France, 
and was bounded on t he north by Normandy. 
Since the subdivision of the old French pro¬ 
vinces into departments by a decree of the 
National Assembly, January 15, 1790, the old 
division Le Perche has been distributed be¬ 
tween the departments of Orne, Eure-et-Loire 
and Eure, its ancient capital, Montague, be¬ 
ing still one of the chief towns of the first- 
named department. Ever since the eighth 
century at least it has been always famous 
for its draft horses called Percherous. With 
regard to the origin and development of the 
breed there is sonv** dispute, as there is with 
regard to all races that date hack to the 
Dark Ages. Some say it owes its commence¬ 
ment to a cross of pure Arabian blood upon 
the heavy draft horses of the country as far 
back as 732, when Charles Martel defeated 
the Saracens in a great battle a few miles to 
the northeast of Poitiers, capturing a vast 
number of their cavalry horses. Sorno of 
these, tradition says, were crossed on the 
horses of Le Perche and from this commix¬ 
ture of blood springs the Pere heron. The race 
is said to have been still farther improved in 
the fourteenth century by crosses of Arabian 
war horses brought home from the Holy 
Land on the return of the French Crusaders. 
In course of time the horses of Le Perche and 
those of the neighboring province of Nor¬ 
mandy, which partook moro or less of the same 
ancestry, became mixed from frequent inter¬ 
crossing, and the horses which of late years 
have been so largely imported from France 
for the improvement <>f American horses, 
have been to a great extent the progeny of 
these cognate races, and hence have been 
widely known as Norman Percherons, What¬ 
ever admixture of blood has. been made, 
however, occurred so long ago that the present 
breed known by that name is considered de¬ 
cidedly pure, the horses belonging to it being 
strongly prepotent, that is, having the ca¬ 
pacity of transmitting their special character¬ 
istics in a marked manner to their offsprings. 
The following are briefly the points of a 
Percheron horse: Head short; brow broad, 
with a hollow between the eyes and nostrils, 
sometimes culled a dish-face; neck long, well 
arched and heavy, but, like the head, in keep¬ 
ing with the general massiveness of the frame; 
back short; barrel well ribbed-up and round; 
legs particularly short from the kuees and hock 
downwards, heavily haired, without the let- 
locks and feet being shaggy; siuews iron-like; 
feet hard, sound and unusually exempt from 
disease; hight from l-Uj to 18 hands; color 
generally gray; weight from 1,400 to 1,800 
pounds, though sometimes horses of the breed 
run over 2.000 pounds, but hi such cases there 
is generally considerable doubt us to their 
being pure bred. Indeed, there is excellent 
authority for theopiuion that of all the horses 
over, say, 1,800 pounds imported from France 
into this country few if any arc pure Percher¬ 
ons; but, as Mona. Lava lard says, they are 
mostly either descendants from horses im¬ 
ported into Lo Perche from Bologuo 
or Belgium, or from other parts of France 
or bought up in different parts of France 
for exportation to the IJ mted .States, In 
view of the fact that crossbred aninals, 
however well formed and however closely re¬ 
sembling their pure bred parent, are always 
very uncertain in the character of this pro¬ 
geny, it is highly important that every pur¬ 
chaser of a Percheron nr Nonnau-Peivberou 
horse intended for breeding purposes, should 
have assurance of the purity of its descent. 
The character of the importer is the main re¬ 
liance in this case, and of these the most ex¬ 
tensive, widely knovvu and successful is Mr. 
M, W. Dunham, of Wayne, Du page (Jo., 111., 
who has on his two farms—one of fiUO and the 
other of 2,000 acres—one-fifth of all the Per¬ 
cherons ever brought to this country. 
Yet the West is a great place. It is able to 
feed the whole world with the help of a few 
men from the East now and then, and occa¬ 
sionally a few thousand thrifty, healthy calves 
from the East to fill up their broad pastures. 
And so let us have peace. 
English and American Mutton. 
The difference generally between these is 
so great it is not to be wondered at that any 
one who has tasted the former should be dis¬ 
satisfied with the latter. The English as well 
as the Scotch mutton sheep, are so much 
larger than the American that they give ful¬ 
ler and more desirable joints for roasting 
and boiling, and especially a greater umount 
of tender lean and very juicy chops for broil¬ 
ing. These can be cut an inch thick, and yet 
cooked evenly through; whereas the American 
usually comes off the gridiron half burnt on 
the outside, dry, stringy and tough within, 
proving nut only unsatisfactory but most un¬ 
profitable meat for consumption. 
We are glad to observe that a considerable 
impetus has boon given lately to the improve¬ 
ment of our sheep for the shambles. More of 
the well-bred mut ton soi ls have been imported 
during the past 18 months than for some years 
before; and we hope they will be followed up 
rapidly by other importations and bred and 
crossed here with such cure on the natives us 
to shortly furnish our markets with good mut¬ 
ton as plentifully as it is now done in Great 
Britain. 
THE UIOSCOPE. 
only 1.025, or one per cent less than the other 
milk. Then we take this rich milk arid add 
water in considerable quantity (T do not stop 
to work out the equation algebraically, but 
some of your readers who have more time 
than I may fiud out how much water would 
be needed), and this rich milk is raised in 
specific gravity equal to that of the less rich 
milk. Then the hydrometer or lactometer 
would say that these two milks were of a bet¬ 
ter quality than the rich Jersey milk, because 
they sealed 1.085. This shows what an un¬ 
reliable test is the lactometer, which is simply 
a hydrometer with the scale marks varied 
somewhat. Unfortunately the lactometer is 
the judicial test in courts, and many a milk¬ 
man or dairyman has been unjustly convicted 
by its false testimony. 
The cream gauge is a good test of the quali¬ 
ty' of milk, but it requires much time to work, 
and it is uncertain because different milks 
throw up the cream with different degrees of 
rapidity and a rich milk, after 24 or 30 hours, 
might be adjudged poorer than another which 
has put up its cream more qu ickly. So the cream 
guage is a faulty test. I have been experi¬ 
menting recently with a new milk tester made 
in Germany, a specimen of which was kindly 
sent tome for trial by my friend A. P. Sharp, 
of Baltimore. This is known as the Pioscope, 
(Heeren’s Milchpriiffer), and it works on the 
Angus Cattle at the St. Louis Fair. 
I observe that these black Polled Scotch 
cattle were the most numerous of all except 
the Short-horns, which were exhibited at the 
late great fair at St. Louis. I am glad to see 
the attention of Western breeders at length 
fully roused to the merits of this distinguished 
class of animals, to rear steers for the British 
market. The beef of no breed brings so high a 
price there or is so quick of sale, except that 
the Scotch Highland or Kyloe cattle. But 
these last are of a much smaller size and have 
long, sharp horns, both of w hich are so objec¬ 
tionable. This soi’t of animals could never 
find favor with American breeders. 
The best Angus cattle are nearly as large 
generally as Short-horns—some are fully so— 
and being destitute of horns, breeders who 
have tried them on the great Western Plains 
say they can be reared and marketed there for 
from 10 to 20 per cent, less cost than horned , 
beasts. This of itself is a handsome profit. 
They can also be stowed so much closer in 
railroad cars and on board ship that the cost 
of transportation is considerably reduced, and 
there is less lo3s of them by goring and other 
injuries to which cattle are subjected w T hen 
sent to market. a. 
TESTING MILK. 
HENRY STEW'ART. 
Logical 
The use of the lactometer, or rather the 
hydrometer or water measure for testing 
milk is a delusion and a snare. This instrument 
is constructed for measuring the relative 
specific gravity of liquids, pure or distilled 
water, water at a temperature of 00 degrees be¬ 
ing taken as the standard. The so. culled lacto¬ 
meter or milk measure is in its very name a 
fraud and a delusion, because it does not in 
reality measure milk, but merely the water 
in it and the specific gravity of the fluid which 
shows the quantity of solids in solution or 
suspension in it. Milk is a complex fluid con¬ 
taining a certain proportion of water, mixed 
with an uncertain proportion of various salts 
some casein and some sugar which are heavier 
than water, and some fat and volatile oils which 
are lighter than water. Now, it is an utter 
impossibility for auy measurer of specific 
gravity to ascertain what the true relative 
gravity or weight of a liquid should be when 
it contains every time a different quantity or 
proportion of each one of these added sub 
stances and each one differing somewhat in 
its own specific gravity. For instance, we 
take the milk of a “ native” cowq that w ill not 
show more than three or four per cent of cream, 
THE PINE-LEAF MINER AND ITS PAR¬ 
ASITES. 
f at Ithaca, N. Y., were infested by an interest¬ 
ing little insect, a caterpillar which is so small 
that it can live within the leaves—or needles, 
ns they are popularly called—of this tree. The 
softer inner part of the leaves furnishes the 
larva with food; the firm outer layer, retain¬ 
ing its form after the inner part has been eaten 
out, constitutes a tube within which the larva 
lives. Thus a single leaf serves lioth as house 
and pasture for the tiny creature. The part 
of the leaf which is eaten out dies and turns 
brown, rendering the w ork of the lurva con¬ 
spicuous. 
What are in all probability the eggs of this 
insect have been found deposited singly near 
the base of the leaves. They are nearly round, 
flattened on the side of attachment, and slight- 
The Challenger Lima Bean. — Fig. 522. 
basis of the density and opacity of the milk. 
It coi sists of a jet-black, circular plate of 
Vulcanite, having a circular shallow cell 
in the* center (Sec Fig 521). The two heavy 
rings in t he center represent the central cell 
surrounded with a low rim and a concentric 
rim a short distance,—about one-eighth of an 
iuok—from it, leuving a shallow, circular 
groove between them. A circular glass plate 
is made to cover this vulcanite cell and its 
dullness or brightness of the light and the 
sharpness or dullness of the eye of the ob¬ 
server, besides the gradations of the light 
would at any rate be so very difficult to esti¬ 
mate that no accuracy at ull could be secured. 
’This fnilk tester soon disappeared from view 
and its light went out. Neither of these ob¬ 
jections apply to the Pioscope the action of 
which is bused upon conditions which are al¬ 
ways equal and certain. 
