mi 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
404 
to be long-lived, must be top-worked on a 
more vigorous stock. This is well known to 
be the case with the Baldwin, especially along 
its northern limit, where, as in Southern 
Maine, it is always grafted upon vigorous 
seedlings. This will not answer farther 
north, for there hardly one per cent, of seed¬ 
lings from the common apple are hardy. For 
stocks to regraft to Wealthy, therefore, Rus¬ 
sian root-grafted varieties must be set, as there 
are serious objections to the Siberians and 
their hybrids, on account of their short life 
and a tendency to blight, both in tops and 
bark. The most promising varieties for top¬ 
working the Wealthy on that can be easily 
had, are Oldenburg and Tetofsky; though, 
if it could be obtained in quantity, I should 
prefer the vigorous, symmetrical and thor¬ 
oughly iron-clad Switzer—very valuable in 
itself, were it not so prone to drop most of its 
fruit before maturity. I am not sorry, how¬ 
ever, to have a considerable number of them, 
for nothing could be better to graft weaker 
sorts on. 
The Russian Mulberry.— Here is another 
fruit tree from the far north, which possesses 
a power of resisting cold much greater than 
any of the better known forms of Morus. 
But the same trouble exists with it as with 
the Siberian Apricot. It has been propagated 
solely from seed, and consequently has almost 
infinite variations. I have a tree which has 
resisted our hardest test winters with but 
slight injury, while a neighbor has one that 
kills to the snow line frequently. As to the 
fruit, not one in ten produces a good kind ; 
and there is also great choice in regard to 
vigor, form, productiveness and beauty of 
foliage. Here, too, is a profitable field for 
careful selection. 
Orleans Co., Vt. 
Prtlnj ijitslwtufcnj. 
“A NEW METHOD FOR DETERMINING 
FAT IN MILK.” 
This is the title of a pamphlet—Bulletin 
No. 10—just issued by the Wisconsin Experi¬ 
ment Station. Work of the greatest value 
is being done at many of the stations, but the 
Wisconsin directors seem to have found just 
what Wisconsin farmers most desire to know, 
and have concentrated their efforts upon that 
point. 
Dairying was considered to be the industry 
most promising for Wisconsin farmers, and 
the proper preservation of the corn plant 
ofEered the most feasible plan for securing 
cheap fodder. Consequently the station for 
several years experimented with the corn 
plant, dried, preserved in the silo, grown for 
fodder alone or as stover. The subject has 
heen carefully considered and a good deal of 
the increased interest in corn-fodder feeding 
at the West may be accredited to this station. 
Having begun at the bottom and interested 
farmers in cheap dairy-fodder, the next step 
was to improve ttie cows. Few farmers know 
which their best butter cows are. Milkmen 
are better posted, because measuring the 
milk yield is simply a matter of record¬ 
ing pounds and ounces. It is easy to weigh 
the pailful of milk. But the butter yield 
is another thing. There are various meth¬ 
ods proposed for acertaining this butter 
yield—keeping a certain cow’s milk by 
itself and churning it separately, placing a 
certain amount of it in a test tube and observ¬ 
ing the proportion of cream. All these meth¬ 
ods are too tedious to be carried out carefully 
by the average dairyman and none of them is 
accurate enough to give more than a general 
idea of the milk value. Tne only absolutely 
accurate test is that made by the chemist. 
How can the farmer approach this without 
the chemist’s expensive laboratory and with 
but a crude knowledge of chemistry? This 
was the question which occurred to the direct¬ 
ors of the Wisconsin Station. The method 
here described is the answer which Rrof. F. C. 
Short, the assistant-chemist of the Station 
and the author of this bulletin, gives after a 
study of nine months. We give the main 
features of the process; still it will pay 
dairymen to get the bulletin and examine the 
details which are too extended to be given here. 
The process depends on the following facts: 
When a mixture of milk and a strong alkali 
is heated to the temperature of boiling water 
for a sufficient time, the fat of the milk unites 
with the alkali and they form a soap which 
is dissolved in the hot liquid; at the same time 
the caseine and albumen are disintegrated and 
become much more easily soluble. After the 
heating has continued for about two hours the 
mixture of milk and alkali becomes homogen¬ 
eous and of a dark brown color. On the 
addition of an acid the soap is decomposed, 
the fatty acids are set free, and rise to the 
surface, while the albumen, caseine, etc., are 
first precipitated and then dissolved. The in¬ 
soluble fatty acids thus obtained, constitute 
very nearly 87 per cent, of the total fat in the 
milk 
Thus it will be seeri that the process depends- 
upon a principle of chemistry—the action of 
an alakli like potash or soda on fat* to form a 
soap—every farmer’s wife who has made soft 
soap has observed this action, and the action 
of an acid on this soap. The addition of the 
alkali to the milk, with heating, draws the 
butter fat into a chemical combination. The 
acid breaks up this combination but in¬ 
stead of sending the butter fat into a solution 
again it leaves it by itself where it can be 
measured. A farmer who has never studied 
chemistry may at first reading think this pro¬ 
cess beyond him. Let him try it once or 
twice and he will find it easier than he thinks. 
It is always hard fora chemist to express him¬ 
self in terms that are easily understood by 
one who has never studied chemistry. Prof. 
Short has been very successful in this respect, 
and any one after a brief study of an elemen¬ 
tary work on chemistry can follow him. 
APPARATUS. 
The process requires the following appara¬ 
tus: Tubes, 1 (Fig. 248), made of soft-lead glass 
about one sixteenth inch thick, the lower 
part of the tube being about five inches long 
and fifteen-sixteenths of an inch in diameter: 
the upper part of the tube five inches long 
and one-fourth inch inside diameter. Three 
pipettes, 2 (Fig. 248), one holding when filled 
up to the mark B, on the neck, 20 cubic centi¬ 
meters (about two-thirds of an ounce), this 
being the exact amount of milk to be taken 
for analysis; the other two pipettes holding 
ten cubic centimeters each, for measuring the 
alkali and acid used. 
A scale, 3 (Fig. 248), divided in millimeters 
for measuring the column of fat, when the 
analysis is finished. The one used by Prof. 
Short is a folding boxwood rule; but any 
rule divided in millimeters will answer the 
purpose. 
A water bath (Fig, 249), made of sheet cop¬ 
per. It is provided with a rack to hold the 
tubes while being heated, also a feed and over¬ 
flow (C) to keep the water in the bath at a 
constant level. In the cut the side is broken 
away to show the rack and method of sup¬ 
porting the tubes in tue bath. A wash bottlo 
(Fig. 250) to hold hot water. 
SOLUTIONS REQUIRED. 
The solutions required for the process are 
as follows: 
No. I. 8.75 ounces (250 grams) caustic soda 
and 10 7 ounces (300 grams) caustic potash dis¬ 
solved in four pounds (1809 grams) water Use 
10 cubic centimeters for each analysis. 
No. If. Equal parts of commercial sulphuric 
and acetic acids. The acetic acid should be 
of 1 047 specific gravity. 
Use 10 cubic centimeters of the mixed acids 
for each analysis. 
DIRECTIONS FOR ANALYSIS. 
Taking Samples —Mix the milk thoroughly 
by pouring from one vessel to another, avoid¬ 
ing as much as possible the formation of air 
bubbles; warming the milk to 80-90° Fah. will 
prevent frothing to a large extent. After 
mixing allow the milk to stand one or two 
minutes, to permit the air bubbles to escape 
before taking samples. Fill the 20 c. c. pipette, 
Fig 248, by placing the lower end in the milk 
and sucking until the milk rises in the tube 
above the mark on the side. Place the finger 
quickly on the top of the tube and allow the 
milk to run out slowly, until it falls to the 
mark on the side of the tube; then let the con¬ 
tents of the pipette run into one of the analy¬ 
tical tubes, Fig. 248, blowing out the last few 
drops. 
Adding the Alkali.— Fill one of the 10 
cubic centimeter pipettes to the mark on the 
side, with alkali, and allow the solution to flow 
into the milk just measured. Place the finger 
on the top of the tube and shake the tube until 
the milk and alkali are well mixed. A rubber 
cot on the finger will protect it from the ac¬ 
tion of the alkali. Treat all samples in the 
same way. Place the tubes in the rack, B, in 
Fig. 249, set the rack and tubes in the water 
bath, Fig. 249, and heat the bath until the 
water boils; continue boiling for two hours, or 
until the conU-nts of the tube become homo¬ 
geneous and of a dark brown color similar to 
that of sorghum molasses. After the tubes 
have boiled for one hour remove the rack and 
tubes from the bath and examine the tubes to 
see if the contents are well mixed. If a whit¬ 
ish layer of caseine and fat is found floating on 
the surface of the liquid, gently shake and roll 
the tubes till the contents are well mixed. 
Return tubes to water bath and boil one hour. 
The tubes are then ready for the addition of 
the acid. 
Adding Acid. —Remove the rack with the 
tubes from the water and allow them to cool 
to about 150° Fah. Then by means of the 
pipette, add 10 cubic centimeters of the acid 
mixture to each tube, slowly, so as not to 
cause the contents of the tube to froth over. 
Mix the acid with the contents by running a 
a small glass tube to the bottom of the mix¬ 
ture and blowing gently. Place the rack and 
tubes again in the bath and heat to boiling for 
one hour. Remove the tubes from the water 
and then by means of the water bottle. Fig. 
250, fill the tubes with hot water to within one 
inch of the top. The fat will then rise to the 
top of the water. Replace the tubes in the 
Lath and allow them to stand in the hot water, 
without boiling, for one hour. At the end of 
this time remove the tubes from the bath, one 
at a time, and measure while hot. 
Measuring the Fat. —By reference to 
Fig. 250, the reader will observe that the lines 
C and D, representing the upper and lower 
limits of the column of fat, do not extend 
straight across the tubes, but are slightly 
curved. In measuring the column of fat, 
place the rule on the tube so that the line D 
•will come opposite the lowest part of the 
curved line of fat, D, Fig. 250; then read up 
the scale to the division coming opposite the 
lowest part of the curved line C. The num¬ 
ber of divisions on the rule between C and D, 
is the length of the column of fat in milli¬ 
meters. The per cent, of fat in the milk is 
then calculated from the following formula 
and data: 
Amount of milk taken, 20 cubic centimeters. 
Specific gravity of milk, 1.032. 
Specific gravity of insoluble fatty acids, 
.914. 
Per cent, of insoluble fatty acids in butter 
fat, 87. 
From the above data we have the following 
formula: 
100 axbxc =x 
dXe 
where a = the length of the column of fat 
in millimeters. 
b = the value of one linear millimeter of 
measured fat expressed in cubic centimeters. 
The value of b will vary, according to the size 
of the tube used. 
c = specific gravity of the insoluble fatty 
acids. 
d 20 64 grams, or the volume of milk 
taken for analysis multiplied by its specific 
gravity. 
e = per cent, of insoluble fatty acids in but¬ 
ter fat. 
x per cent, of fat present in sample of 
milk taken for analysis. Substituting the fig¬ 
ures obtained by an actual analysis the for¬ 
mula would be. 
100 30x*027x, 914 =x ^ 12 
20.64X.87 
per cent, of fat in sample of milk analyzed. 
The analyst may fail to obtain correct re¬ 
sults from the following causes: Either the 
column of fat may contain flecks of undecom¬ 
posed caseine, which would increase the vol¬ 
ume of fat, thereby giviug too high a per 
cent., or a small quantity of butter fat may 
remain unsaponified, which will also give too 
high results. These errors are both caused by 
insufficient heating of the milk with the alkali, 
and may be easily obviated by taking care to 
heat the mixture of milk and alkali for two 
hours at least. If not pressed for time it is 
better to heat two and a half hours and there¬ 
by remove all risks of the above errors. If 
milk containing more than six per cent, is to 
be tested, the mixture of milk and alkali 
should be heated at least three hours. In such 
case it would be better, perhaps, to take ten 
cubic centimeters in place of the usual amount. 
Before adding acid the tubes and contents 
must be allowed to cool to 150 Fah. at least. 
If added at a higher temperature, the contact 
of the strong acid with the hot alkali solution 
will generate sufficient heat to cause the con¬ 
tents of the tube to boil with explosive vio¬ 
lence, throwing out the contents of the tube 
and spoiling the analysis. If after the addi¬ 
tion of hot water the tubes are allowed to 
stand in boiling water, small bubbles of gas 
are given off the continued action of the acid 
on the caseine. These bubbles rise through the 
column of fat, rendering it turbid and caus¬ 
ing difficulty in measuring. The bottles con¬ 
taining the solutions of acid and alkali should 
be kept corked when not in use. If the acid 
bottle be left open the acetic acid will evapor¬ 
ate and the acid will not dissolve the caseine. 
The alkali bottle should be kept closed to pre- . 
vent absorption of carbonic acid and conse¬ 
quent weakening of the solution. 
A DAIRY CONFERENCE AT CORNELL. 
Churn and creamery tests; a good talk on 
butter making. 
A dairy conference, under the auspices of 
the State Dairymen’s Association, was held 
at Cornell University Wednesday, June 20th. 
The meeting was held in the large barn, and 
was attended by about 150 farmers, with a 
few of their wives and daughters. The pro¬ 
gramme opened at 11 o’clock by a short ad¬ 
dress by Secretary Josiah Shull, who was in¬ 
troduced by Prof. Roberts. Then followed 
an exhibition of churns. There were on the 
platform the Gifford, the American Wonder, 
the O. K. Barrel, and an “Elward” swing 
churn. The Gifford Company had a man on 
the ground to exhibit its churn, and a trial 
was made with it and the Barrel chum. 
Power was furnished by an engine in the 
barn, and both churns were connected to the 
same shaft. Thirty-seven pounds of cream 
were put in each churn and churned 20 
minutes. The Barrel churn had to be stopped 
twice to let off the gas; the Gifford has an 
opening through one of the bearings through 
which the gas can pass without the necessity 
of stopping. From the 37 pounds of cream 
the Barrel churn made 10% pounds of butter 
and the Gifford 10 pounds. 
The next churning was to test the Cooley 
Creamer as compared with the Ferguson 
Bureau Creamer. One hundred and three 
pounds of milk had been set in each creamer; 
the cream from each lot of milk was churned 
