66 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 29 
IN TRANSATLANTIC DAIRIES. 
CHKBSK AND BUTTER UNDER GOVERNMENT INSPECTION. 
What Prof. Wing of the Cornell University Dairy School 
saw in Holland , Great Britain, Switzerland, Sweden 
and Denmark. (concluded). 
“ What cow is best liked by the Scotch ? ” 
“ The Ayrshire is general. In southwest England, 
the Short-horn is popular, and in Norfolk and Suffolk, 
which is not really a dairy region, the Red Poll is used ; 
but in the Midlands the Short-horns are strongly pre¬ 
dominant. The Scotch cheesemaking is almost wholly 
of the Cheddar variety, a firm, close-grained cheese 
like our own best Cheddar cheese. The name origi¬ 
nated in the village of Cheddar in southwest England. 
The Derby and Leicester cheeses are made much 
softer. The Cheshire and Lancaster cheeses are still 
softer, and quite dry in texture. The Stilton, Wrensley- 
dale and Cotherstone are run through with blue veins 
of mold, just common ordinary blue mold, which is 
not considered unwholesome ; tons of it are made and 
eaten, at all events. The cheese is first made moist 
with open texture, and then put in a warm place like 
bread sponge. The warmth and moisture are, of 
course, favorable to the growth of bacteria, and dur¬ 
ing the process of ripening, the mold permeates the 
texture very thoroughly. Wrensleydale, which is such 
a famous little valley for cheese, is almost equally 
famed for its breed of sheep. It is in Yorkshii'e. 
“ From England. I went to the Channel Islands, to the 
home of the Guernsey, Alderney and Jersey cows, the 
first two being very distinct from the last. 
The Island of Jersey, moreover, possesses 
great interest to the agriculturist, as it is, 
probably, the most productive and care¬ 
fully cultivated region in the world. It 
is only about ten to twelve miles long, and 
from four to five miles wide, supports a 
population of over 50,000, and still more 
of annual visitors, while its exports are 
very considerable, and its imports very 
small. I visited one of the largest farm¬ 
ers on the Island, and he had no com¬ 
plaints to make about his condition. Ilis 
farm consisted of 35 acres. He kept upon 
it 17 cows, besides young stock, employed 
the year around seven men besides him¬ 
self and son, and extra men during the 
potato harvest. Potatoes are their chief 
export, and they get them into the Lon¬ 
don market the latter end of April. Man¬ 
gels for the cattle are raised on the land 
after the potatoes are removed. Some of 
the land is in grass, where the cows are 
tethered, and marked method is observed 
in their tethering, so that they may eat 
the grass straight across the field. The 
grass grows up in their rear, which cuts a 
big crop of hay. I was there in early 
August, and saw fields nearly through the 
third crop, with grass then nearly knee- 
high. In addition to the farm manure, 
they get some sea weeds for fertilizer. 
Some butter is exported from Jersey, but 
in Guernsey, with its still larger tourist 
population, more butter is used than is 
made. The farmers are all more interested 
in the export of their cattle than in but¬ 
termaking. and deplore the falling off of importation 
by Americans. 
“From the islands, I went to Switzerland. Goat 
creameries and the like are largely myths, for cows 
are the main dairy animals. There are two breeds, 
the Brown Swiss, and the Simmenthaler; the latter 
is spotted, the dark spots yellowish. The Brown 
Swiss are gray or grayish brown, have thick hides, 
large bones, heavy heads and horns, and are bred 
with considerable care. Several of the dairy schools 
are quite progressive, and they receive some govern¬ 
ment aid. The valleys in western Switzerland are 
quite fertile, and largely given to dairying. The cows 
are mostly kept in stables the year around, and their 
food carried to them, as a matter of economy. In 
journeying through the country, one would think, 
from the lack of cattle in the fields, that few were 
kept. The dairies are separate from the dwellings, 
and the dairy cheese is chiefly made in factories. 
These different dairies make characteristic cheese; 
their methods differ from our own, and from the Eng¬ 
lish. The cheese has a peculiar texture, large holes, 
and characteristic flavors. There is an idea that the 
flavor of the cheese is due to pasturage, but 1 was told 
at a dairy school near Berne that they could make 
better cheese in their valleys, on ordinary pastures, 
than up in Alpine dairies, where they were nasty and 
primitive! But Swiss cheese made in Switzerland is 
better than Swiss cheese made elsewhere. The cheese 
is made in large sizes—200 to 300 pounds, and too heavy 
for women to handle. They are often handled in 
factories by pulleys and tackles. 
■ l Rut Denmark is the most important country, to 
an American, from the butter standpoint. The Danish 
butter, judged from the market standpoint, reaches 
the highest quality in the world. This has been 
brought about largely by official and semi-official 
government aid. The development has been rapid, 
and is, probably, now near to the maximum. The 
dairies are largely cooperative, what we call creamer¬ 
ies. These creameries take the whole milk, the cream 
is extracted in separators, then Pasteurized, and after¬ 
ward ripened by pure culture starters. A very large 
proportion of the creameries voluntarily place them¬ 
selves under government inspection, in this way : they 
agree to send, at any time, twice a year, to govern¬ 
ment stations, whenever required, a tub of butter, 
which, after it is received at the station, is examined 
as to water, and then judged by a committee of nine 
judges selected by the station. This committee is made 
up of two representatives from the dealers’ stand¬ 
point, to one from the manufacturers’. The average 
judgment of the nine is transmitted, with sugges¬ 
tions, to the maker. For the past seven or eight 
years, bi-monthly shows have been held in Copen¬ 
hagen, which have resulted in markedly improving 
the butter. When the butter from a creamery does 
not, upon its second appearance, come up to the 
required standard, the creamery is obliged to employ 
a government expert. The shows are held under 
the auspices of the Royal Agricultural Society. From 
factories of established reputation, no samples are 
required ; but from the poorer factories, several are 
required. Women do not. as a rule, work in the fac¬ 
tories : the work is too heavy, and is done on too large 
a scale. The women do the scrubbing, and, in one 
factory, I saw a girl working butter.” 
“ What is the most important way in which the 
government gives its aid ? ” 
“ In carrying on the butter shows, and in providing 
traveling dairy experts, or consulents. The consulent 
is equivalent to our consulting chemist or engineer. 
The government also maintains schools for instruc¬ 
tion, but in these schools only theoretical instruction 
is given, the practice part is learned at the creamer¬ 
ies. The latter is a sort of apprenticeship. The 
creamery managers are generally allowed to take a 
certain number of pupils, whom they charge fees. 
Women are rarely pupils. The Denmark cow is a 
little red beast, angular, wedge-shaped, not very pre¬ 
possessing in appearance, and having few of what we 
consider superior dairy points. She was a native of 
Angleland, and has now been bred for many years 
without admixture of foreign blood. The cows are 
largely tethered, as they are in Jersey, and fed much 
as they are fed here. Oil cakes are fed to them. They 
feed on the native grasses, mixed with clover. Butter 
was selling for about 25 cents a pound delivered on 
ship-board, for the English market. I saw it retailing 
in London in October for 30 cents. They salt and work 
it much as we do. Its chief characteristic is its par¬ 
ticularly uniform, mild butter flavor. Although 
made for immediate consumption, it has good keeping 
qualities.” 
“ All in all, what in butter and cheese most im¬ 
pressed you ? ” 
“ The uniformly good character of Danish butter, 
the care observed in its production, and the astonish¬ 
ing development for a taste, and market for cheese 
in England, brought about by the many varieties 
produced in that country. It would almost seem that 
every other Englishman wanted a different cheese 
from his neighbor, the demand having been created by 
the many different kinds.” 
“ Did you learn anything of special interest about 
De Laval, the Swedish inventor of the separator ? ” 
“No; only that he is a versatile inventor, some¬ 
thing like our Edison. You may know that the idea 
of separating cream from milk by centrifugal force 
was brought out by Le Feldt and Leutsch, a couple of 
Germans, the American patent for it being obtained 
in 1877. De Laval’s invention consisted in making 
the force a continuous one, making it more effective 
and available. Since then, the addition of plates in 
the separator, known as the Alpha plates, and which 
make it possible for more milk to be separated in the 
same-sized bowl, without, perhaps, any one being able 
to explain why, greatly increases the value of the 
separator.” 
“ How about milk inspection in foreign cities ?” 
“ There is none in Amsterdam. Not so much atten¬ 
tion is paid to it in London as in New York. Skimmed 
and separated milk are everywhere sold and used as 
foods.” MARY WAGER FISHER. 
GROUND vs. UNGROUND GRAIN FOR POULTRY 
An interesting experiment in feeding chicks and 
capons is reported in Bulletin No. 26 of the New York 
Experiment Station. The experiment was 
intended to show the difference, if any, 
in the feeding value of whole and ground 
grain. Similar tests with laying hens 
have been made at this station before. 
Now the results with young stock cannot 
but be of interest both to the mush- 
makers, and to those who favor feeding 
whole grain. The latter method is, cer¬ 
tainly. more economical of labor, but the 
question to be decided is as to the greater 
profit, all things considered. 
In the experiments under consideration, 
only ordinary foods were used, and the 
endeavor was made to have them of such 
character that there should be no pro¬ 
nounced difference in the chemical com¬ 
position of the rations. The two lots of 
chicks. 22 in each, were fed for three 
months in the summer, after which the 
cockerels were eaponized. The pullets 
were so few in number that the experi¬ 
ments were not continued with them for 
any length of time. They were hatched 
in incubators, raised in out-door brooders, 
and were comparable in size. Thej r were 
L. Brahma, Dark Brahma, Buff Cochin, 
Partridge Cochin, and Cochin-Game cross. 
One lot received nothing but ground grain 
from the start, and the other nothing but 
,vhole or cracked grain. Both had skim- 
milk freely. The lot having ground grain 
was fed dried blood, and the others cut 
fresh bone twice a week, and what dried 
blood they could be induced to eat. Not 
enough was eaten, however, to bring the 
amount of nitrogen in the whole-grain 
ration entirely up to that in the other. Each lot was 
kept on a grass run. 
The grain mixture fed to the chicks consisted of 
two parts by weight of corn meal, two parts of wheat 
bran, and one part each of wheat middlings, old- 
process linseed meal, and ground oats. The whole 
grain fed was granulated oat meal, wheat cracked and 
whole, cracked corn and barley. Those fed ground 
grain consumed more food, but made 8.9 pounds more 
gain in weight than those fed whole grain; each 
pound of the former cost 3.33 cents, and each pound 
of the latter cost 3.76 cents. Those fed on ground 
grain averaged one pound in weight at six weeks of 
age, and those fed on whole grain, one pound in seven 
weeks. In the former lot, the average weight at 10 
weeks of age was two pounds, and in the latter, 1.8 
pound. The total cost of growing to 12 weeks of age, 
including hatching and cost of eggs, oil for brooders, 
feed, etc., was 15.3 cents each for the lot fed on ground 
grain, and 15 cents for the lot fed on whole grain ; 
but the average weight of the former was 2.9 pounds, 
and of the latter 2.6 pounds. This cost does not in¬ 
clude labor, rent of buildings or losses. There was 
no loss in either lot from disease, and the chicks and 
the capons from them remained in good health 
throughout. A picture of the chicks taking their first 
walk abroad is shown at Fig. 25. 
The cockerels were eaponized, and fed the same 
contrasted rations during* the winter, or from Septem¬ 
ber 10 to March 10. The lot fed on ground grain were 
a trifle heavier at the start, and they maintained this 
weight throughout, reaching a weight of 10 pounds 
rqueh sooner than the others,- and a weight of 11 
CAPONS AT THE NEW YORK EXPERIMENT STATION. Fig. 26. 
