MARCH 34 
o 
433 
Now, if fat serves these important functions ! 
in the process of digestion, and if wo apply the 
principle to its offico in human food, the claim I 
made that skimmed cheese is more nutations 
than whole-milk cheese, cannot be true ; and in 
order to utilize food containing such a large per- l 
coinage of nitrogenous substance, a considerable 
quantity of fat must be eaten to help onward the 
prooesa of digestion. It is a woll known fact, 
that “ skimmed cheese” is not ao digestible as 
cheese rich in fat; and the explanation of ! 
Yoeluker very clearly shows why such food is , 
not readily assimilated, and Iherefore is leas nu¬ 
tritious than food which has a due proportion of 
fat iu its composition. 
In the application of this principle to the feed¬ 
ing of lower animals the fact is statod that the 
nutritive and fattening value of various kinds of 
oil cakes, docs not depend so much upon the rela¬ 
tive proportions of albuminous and nitrogenous 
substauces in them, ns upon the larger or smaller 
amount of readily digestible, nou-nitrogenons 
food constituents which they soverally contain. 
Thus, for instance, decorticated cotton cake, 
which contains fully two per ceut. more nitrogen 
than the best linseedoake, is nevertheless found iu 
practice to be inferior or le3S valuable for feeding 
purposes than the linseed cake, and the same 
rule holds good with rape cake when compared 
with Unwed, the latter being of more value for 
feeding. 
Now although it i s admitted that the nutritivo 
value of food depends in a great measuro upon 
a certain amount of albuminous compounds, 
which may be moro or less, according to the de¬ 
scription of tho animal or the purpose for which 
it is kept on tho farm ; still, Vokukkh is of the 
opinion that the order in which tho nutritive 
value of the constituents of food should be class¬ 
ed, is:—1. Oil and fatty matters; 2. Sugar, 
starch, and analagous carbon-hydrates ; 3. Albu¬ 
minous or nitrogenous compounds; 4, Digesti¬ 
ble cellular fiber; 5. Iudigestiblo woody liber; G. 
Mineral matters ash. 
It is evident that the theoretical basis from 
which we are to determine tho nutritivo value of 
foods, is undergoing changes, and that we need 
numerous carefully conducted experiments in 
feeding to determine the exact relation between 
the values of different kinds of food. 
--- 
DAIRY STOCK IN HERKIMER CO. 
TnE Hon. Harris Lewis, sometimes known as 
“ Previous Question " Lewis, made the following 
characteristic statement at tho lato Convention 
of tho Now York State Dairymen’s Association at 
Elmira. Ho said: — " Living, as I do, in the 
County of Ilcrkimer, where tlio very nest-egg of 
the choose dairy interest was deposited (if not 
hatched), I had reason to suppose that the dairy¬ 
men would have a desire to improve their dairy 
stock. But after a careful study of the ways, 
wants and practices of the maj ority of the dairy¬ 
men of Herkimer County, it is evident to me 
that they are five hundred years behind tho 
dairymen of the counties of Durham and York¬ 
shire, England, in tho improvement of dairy 
slock." 8ucli a statement coming from such a 
source would hardly Le considered worth noticing, 
but as a writer iu the Country Qentlernan has 
referred to it as rather reflecting on the practice 
of Herkimer County dairymen, it may not bo out 
of place to correct any wrong impression that 
may have beeu produced on those uot familiar 
with persons and facts. 
In the first place it may be remarked that 
Durham and Yorkshire are not among the most 
noted dairy counties in England, and that the 
breeders of improved stock who have beoome 
distinguished for their herds, are not dairymen. 
Aud further it can Vie proved that there arc herds 
in Herkimer County that havo made bettor 
average yields of dairy produce than any which 
havo been reported in Durham or Yorkshire. 
There is no desire to undervalue the important i 
work accomplished in England for the improve- ' 
meat of live stock, but as every well informed 
person knows, more attention has beeu paid to 
the beef producing quality of the animal and its 
early maturity than to the production of quality 
and quantity of milk. 
The great breeders of improved stock in En¬ 
gland, those who pay special attention to this 
business, are not dairymen. They belong to an 
entirely different class and may be designated a 3 
breeders. Again in the great dairy countries, as 
Somersetshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire—the dairy¬ 
men pay but little attention to breediug specially 
for milk—the object being to make moat as well 
as milk. Hence in choosing animals for tho 
dairy those are selected of any breed that, oau be 
easily turned into beef when not employed for 
milk. 
To those acquainted with dairy matters, 
Herkimer County, N. Y. ueeds no defense. Her 
annual shipment of cheese, as shown at the 
railroad freight offices, has been as high as 17,- 
000,000 pounds, with an annual shipment of 300,- 
000 pouuds of butter in addition. There is no 
county in the Stato that can show so large a yield 
of dairy produce per cow as Herkimer. We can 
point to many dairies that make an annual aver¬ 
age yield of from 500 to GOO pounds of cheese per 
cow, and the largest yield on record from any 
herd of considerable size, whether iu tins country 
or England, has been made by a Herkimer County 
dairyman—Mr. A. 8. Fish— the average being 
between 800 and 900 pounds per cow. The 
dairymen of Herkimer County have iu the past 
and havo of lato paid considerable attention to 
breeding for milk. More than 40 years ago. 
pure-blooded Short-Horns were introduced by a 
prominent dairyman of Little Falls, and the 
blood was largely disseminated in tho Northern 
towns. Mr. Fish, to whom wo have referred, and 
many others at a iator date in the Southern 
towns, have also paid attention to breeding for 
milk. 3lore recently the Ayrshire and Dutch 
cattle have been introduced. It is true, large 
numbers of cattle havo been brought from Cana¬ 
da and the West to till up dairies annually de¬ 
pleted, and this has been partly a necessity since 
the prevalence of abortion and other causes havo 
compelled many to turn oil’ stock and replace 
the same in spring. But a largo proportion of 
the animals brought in have often been well-bred 
grades of different breeds, and nowhoro in the 
dairy district is there a stronger desire to get 
good milkers than iii Herkimer, aud nowhere 
will there be found so many good fudges ot good 
milch cows, Possibly that may bo a reason for 
tho dissatisfaction expressed by Lewis. But we 
hope brother Lewis will in the future meet with 
more encouragement and success in ids laudable 
undertakings; aud if ho has good animals to 
soli ho need not fear but they will be found out 
and appreciated. Appreciation' is uot always 
obtained by abusing and misrepresenting our 
follow citizens and we have no doubt our unhap¬ 
py friend, on sober second thought, will argreo 
with us in this statement of the oase. 
♦ ♦ ♦ ■ 
EXPERIMENTS IN SETTING MILK AT LOW 
TEMPERATURES.; 
Hom. X. A. Willard: —My “ experiments ” 
can hardly bo called such at tho present stage of 
the work I havo had in hand. Experience, how¬ 
ever, has fully satisfied mo that tho “ Swedisli 
system" yonr “Practical Butter Book” has 
brought to tho notice of dairymou, is the host, 
method for raising the cream in milk. 
During tho past season, over 5.000.000 pouuds 
of milk havo been treated as represented iu my 
letter to you, published iu tho Rural of Juno 17 , 
187G. The result of this mode of setting milk 
has beeu eminently satisfactory. I havo never 
usod Mr. Cooley’s plan you refer to, but tho 
principle adopted two years since at Ridge Mills 
Creamery iB essentially tho Hame as Mr. 
Cooley's, and, in my experience, bettor adapted 
to tho handling of large quantities of milk, as 
stated in the communication above mentioned. 
The milk, under the plan at the above Croamcry, 
is in one sense submerged, being fully surround¬ 
ed by water on top, sides, and bottom; hut ven¬ 
tilation is allowed, and for this reason: It is to 
be regretted that it is not unusual to allow an 
interval of from one to two hours to elapse after 
the milk has been taken from the cowand before 
it is received at the Creamery ; and that during 
this time it is not always handled with tho cure 
osseutia) to the preservation of its perfect eomli- 
tion. It has, therefore, been found from expe¬ 
rience that such milk acts better by allowing ven¬ 
tilation during the cooling process than if closod 
tightly iu the bath. 
Tho dairyman who can place his milk iu an 
ice-bath situated within a few yards of his milk¬ 
ing-stalls, can, I have no doubt, adopt Mr. 
Cooley’s plan with impunity, and produce favor¬ 
able rewilts. With milk warm from the cow, and 
placed in au ice-bath haviug a temperature of 
of 34 ' Fahr., I have raised all the cream iu two 
hours aud a half; while a similar sample of milk 
allowed to cool down gradually, and handled aB 
carefully as could bo, when drawn three miles to 
a creamery, bas taken twelve hours for all tho 
cream t s rise, using tho same temperature. 
Whether the difference in time required for rais¬ 
ing cream from these two samples of similar 
quality of milk is owing to a difference in temper¬ 
ature of milk and bath, or to any abnormal con¬ 
dition of tho globules of tat that may be caused 
by the motion milk receives iu being transported 
on a wagon over our country roads, are questions 
I am not fully prepared to definitely answer. I 
believe, however, that each of these oames has a 
dilatory effect upon the rapidity with which 
cream can be obtained from the milk. 
If Mr. Coolky will reduce the temperature of 
his bath to lit ' or 35 Fahr., and set his milk di¬ 
rectly from the cow, I feel sure ho will find his 
cream rise more quickly than at 45° Tem. The 
spring at Ridge Mills is an unusually large one, 
and seldom stands at tho outflow above 46 Fahr., 
and yet we use over one hundred thousand tons 
of ice per season to facilitate' the rising of cream, 
in a word, I claim, with Mr. Euuenk Tisserano, 
that “ the nearer the temperature of milk is to 
freezing point the moro rapid is the collection of 
cream;' adding to his assertion, that he referred 
| to milk warm from the cow. Of course, those 
who advocate the setting of milk at very low 
temperatures will have their own views as to the 
best method of sotting; but they should bear in 
mind that one method is not likely to bo fully 
adapted to all conditions of milk ; and in a cream¬ 
ery where it is received from different hords, 
many points are to he considered that do not con¬ 
front the singlo dairyman, working his milk 
under ins own supervision. It is claimed by 
gome of our most practical dairymen that great¬ 
est density of milk is at 45° Fahr. If this is so, 
what is the most rational supposition respecting 
the rising of cream at that temperature? 
At the risk of making this communication 
prosy, I am desirous of asking a question of Dr. 
Henry A. Mott, whose interesting “ suggestive 
facts concerning milk ” appears iu the Rural of 
Feb. 3. He speaks of certain conditions affect¬ 
ing the composition of milk, and implies that 
thero is a difference between that of morning and 
evening milk. I would like to know whether ho 
lias found the milk of a cow, or herd of cows, 
that wore milkod at regular and equal intervals 
of time, different in any essential respect ? 
Very respectfully, Henry O. Freeman. 
Sherburne, N. Y. 
- — 
THE LACTOMETER AS A TEST FOR 
WATERED MILK. 
I have been deeply interested in a case lately 
tried in our Courts when a patron of a cheese 
factory was accused of watering bis milk, and 
the I .udometer test brought as part evidence 
against him. This tost was so crude, and tho 
delicate instrument had been usod so recklessly, 
It has occurred to mo as not being out of place to 
give through the Rural Nkw-Yohkbr to those 
interested, tho following experience and conclu¬ 
sions arrived at respecting the value of the Lac¬ 
tometer for testing milk received by tho factory- 
man or consumer. 
An o: ronoous idea appears to prevail among 
many who handle milk that tho Lactometer is to 
be used iu mill, as it comus from the cow. It is 
woll known tint milk from different cows differs 
materially in its component parts some cows' 
milk runs to butter, and therefore contains a 
largo percentage of crciim. tho lightest ingredient 
of milk ; while another cow's milk runs to cheese 
and contains more casoitio than the former which 
ingredient (fascine) stands third in tho list for 
density, water being No. 3. It therefore stands 
to reason that a oow which gives milk containing 
25 per cent, of cream, and l havo found such, will 
show loss specific gravity to its milk than that of 
a cow’s containing 15 per ceut. cream. Again the 
15 per cent, cream milk will show loss specific 
gravity than milk containing 10 per cent, cream, 
all other things being equal. This has boon de¬ 
monstrated time and again. Milk containiug 2G 
percent, when tried l>y the Lactometer showed 
accordiug to tho practice of tosting adopted by 
some, 10 per cent, of water. Upon the samples 
of this milk being properly placed in a glass 
cream guago, after nearly one half the cream 
had been taken from one guage the residue stood 
within 2 per cent, of pure milk, and with all tho 
cream taken from tho other sample the remain¬ 
der showed 5 per cent, better than purcmilk. 
Now by adding water to this last skimmed milk 
it was brought back to tho point of purity as 
per Lactometer. 
Tho only plan I havo to work with suspected 
watered milk, aud for which I am mostly indebted 
to Hon. Harris Lewis, is as follows : Take the 
milk of a herd known to bo pure awl of tho cus¬ 
tomary richness in oroam of the herds to be 
testod, and place a sample in the cream guage. 
Thou pluco a sample of tho suspected milk iu 
another cream guago, setting them both in somo 
cool spot for 30 or 48 hours, or until all tho 
cream possible to bo got out has risen upon both 
samples. Carefully skim each sample of milk 
marking tho percentage of cream taken from 
each in order to guide your judgment in your 
conclusions—of which more anon. 
Tako these two samples of skimmed milk and 
bring them to a temperature of GO or 80°, as the 
Lactometer may indicate its tests are to be tried 
| at, haviug a per cent, glass of pure water tem- 
| pored as above. Try tho suspected milk with 
the Lactometer aud note the mark as before. If 
i they stand alike your investigation with the Lac- 
| tometer is at an cud, even should tho suspected 
milk havo given you but 50 per cent, as much 
cream as that known to be pure. You suspect 
skimming has I icon resorted to before you re¬ 
ceived the milk, and you must dive into analysis 
for further satisfaction. If, however, tho pure 
milk sample shows say 110 of tho graduated 
scale on tho Lactometer and the suspected less, 
thou carefully pour wa’.er from the per cent, 
glass into the pure milk, until the Lactometer 
sinks to the point denoted by the suspected milk, 
and the quantity of water taken from the per 
cent glass is a fair starting point for estimating 
the amount of water the suspected milk has 
| had added to it. 
The Lactom ter, used as above in all tho 
details given, has usually been the means 
of detecting milk that has been tampered with 
by an addition of water or partial skimming, by 
giving grounds for tho fuller investigation of 
watching and analyzing ; but now comes in your 
discretion when unable to fasten the guilt by 
ocular demonstration. Milk tried as above may 
show great disparity in quantities of cream ob¬ 
tained. and yet tho specific} gravity of the skim¬ 
med milk bo the same, the inference being that 
one of tho samples had been partly skimmed of 
its cream, but if you will reduce each sample of 
cream obtained to butter you w ill possibly find 
tho same quantity of the latter In each case; 
some herds of cows producing less hut far richer 
cream than other hords. In snch an event whore 
is your accusation of skimmed milk ? Tho Lao- 
tometcr can only decido tho specific gravity of 
milk which it does with as unerring a certainty as 
tho compass noodle points to ttm North Pole, but 
it cannot toll you with equal certainty that water 
has boon added or croam taken off. In order to 
Bottle that point you must finally appeal to tho 
watching plan, and if that is impossible, thou to 
analysis of tho whole milk and possibly even then 
becomo mystified. Tho variation in tho compo¬ 
sition of milk stated by Voolcker, justifies this 
last remark. 
In arriving at his conclusions respecting tho 
adulteration of Buspeetod milk, the factoryman is 
called upon to take into consideration many 
points too numerous to bo mentioned iu this arti¬ 
cle, before dccidiug his neighbor to bo gnilty of 
either watering or skimming Ids milk; tho ono 
fact alone that milk varies as mue.h as ti per cent, 
to 9 per cent, in solids, being of itself sufficient 
to call for extreme caution iu our conclusions. 
After giving the matter considerable study and 
very many trials, and fooling it. to bo to my indi¬ 
vidual benefit to help to prove Dm Lactometer an 
infallible test, 1 am compelled to conclude that 
while I consider it an excellent skirmishing De¬ 
tector, 1 cannot decide that it is a oomplote one. 
Sherburne, N. Y. Henry O.Turkman. 
-•» » » 
GOOD COWS IN OREGON. 
I see iu tho Rural aooonnts from different 
persons of cows giving largo quantities of milk 
and butter. I think l have a good one. 8he is 
of medium size, white except, oars and feet, 
which are red. Her dam is about jShort-Horn. 
Her sire is what they OftII Spanish, being of a 
wild nature. She will be !> years old this spring. 
8he had a. calf March 25th, 1875 and will not 
calve again till next September. From April 
1st 1875 to Aoril 1st 187G we churned 363 pouuds 
of butter, besides, as she isouronly oow, using all 
tho now milk three, and sometimes four smail 
children required. Wo also used a good dea! 
of cream. It fa now 22 months since she calved 
and she gives 17 pounds of milk a day. I think 
she lias given milk enough to average one pound 
of butler a day since she calved. I feed her 
woll and tako good care of her. 
Ui ftaluvalist, 
THE FEROCIOUS SHARK. 
It may uot he particularly interesting to our 
readers to know why tho shark is by nature a 
very fierce animal; still there are men who de¬ 
light to study such subjects, and dwell at length 
upou tho ferociousness of those monsters, as one 
has iu a late number of the Science Monthly, and 
ho tells m that two tilings contr buto to the 
shark’s determined fierceness. Iu tho first pJa :o, 
we may refer to his toetli, for of those engines 
of dostmotion Nature bas been to him particular¬ 
ly bountiful; and this species of bounty ho has 
a peculiar pleasure in exercising. If ho could 
Speak, lie would probably tell us that, besides 
being troubled with his teeth, which ho could not 
help keeping in use, he had beeu gifted with 
enormous abdominal viscera, and that, more par¬ 
ticularly, a third of Jits body is occupied by spleen 
and liver. The bile and other digestive juices 
which are secreted from such an immense appar¬ 
atus, aud poured continually into tho stomach, 
tend to stimulate appetite prodigiously; aud 
what hnngry animal, with good tooth, was ever 
tender-hearted? In truth, a shark's appetite can 
never he appeased ; for, in addition to this bil¬ 
ious diathesis, he is not a careful masticator, but, 
hastily bolting ids food, produces thereby, not 
only Dm moroseaess of indigestion, but a whole 
host of parasites, which goad, as woll as initato 
the intestines to that degree that tho poor squalns 
is sometimes quite beside himself from the tor¬ 
ments, aud rushes, like a blind 1’olypheinus, 
through th6 waves, in search of anything to cram 
down his maw that may allay such urgent dis¬ 
tress. Ho docs not seek to bo cruel; but ho is 
cruelly famished. “It is not I,” expostulates 
the man in the crowd, “ that is pushing; it is 
others behind me." The poor wretch must sat¬ 
isfy, not only Ids own ravenous appetite, but tho 
constant demand of these internal parasites, 
either with dead or living food; and therefore it 
is that, sped as from a catapult, he pounces on 
a quarry, and sometimes gorges himself beyond 
what he is able to contain. 
