587 
i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
is there any danger of the rapid increase in 
germs, spoken of by Dr. Detmers, before the 
milk would be thoroughly creamed, and 
would they continue to increase in the 
cream after its removal ? 3. If it is unsafe to 
use water just as it comes from the well or 
spring, to what temperature must it be 
heated in order to destroy the germs ?” 
Nothing has been said on this point by 
those who advocate the addition of water 
to the milk. Whether they failed to con¬ 
sider it at all or thought it of no particular 
importance, I do not know. The R. N.-Y. 
will try to get their opinions; in the 
meantime this letter is printed, as there 
are many who “ would like the discussion 
carried further.” 
Protection From Frost.— In Bulletin 
12 of the Minnesota Experiment Station I 
And a very interesting letter from Prof. H. 
A. Hazen, of the U. S. Signal Service. 
There can be no doubt that gardeners and 
fruit men lose millions of dollars every 
year from early frosts. Is there no 
remedy ? Most men put bags, carpets, 
blankets and other clothes over their best 
plants and let the others go. It is known 
that a spray of water thrown over the 
plants will often save them. A correspon¬ 
dent in Idaho mentioned this fact last 
week, on page 565. Most of us have also 
heard about burning damp straw near the 
field so as to cover it with smoke. Prof. 
Hazeii thus describes that practice: 
“ What we must do is to keep, if pos¬ 
sible, the sod and plants from radiating 
their heat to the sky. It is known to all 
that the thinnest paper spread over a plant 
prevents frost; now if we can produce an 
artificial covering or cloud, no matter how 
thin, we shall accomplish the same pur¬ 
pose. The experiment has been tried of 
burning damp refuse straw, horse stable 
bedding, or damp chips, to the windward 
of a field, with a perfect protection from 
frost for the field. It is very much hoped 
that many farmers will be induced to take 
up this matter and make known their ex¬ 
periences, whether successful or not. The 
plan seems feasible, but the experimental 
data needed to perfect the plan are almost 
entirely wanting. In order to determine 
the direction of the current above the earth, 
burn a little damp straw and the direction 
of the smoke will show on which side of 
the field the straw should be scattered 
along. If the smoke should go straight up 
—a very rare occurrence, it is believed— 
the straw should be burned near the center 
of the field.” In the same bulletin Mr. H. 
F. Arnold says, describing his practice 
when a heavy frost seemed inevitable : 
“ Having a large straw pile and a manure 
pile at hand, I caused the straw to be dis¬ 
tributed along the northern boundaries of 
the fields of grain in bunches about as 
large as a small hay-cock, and the bunches 
about 40 feet apart. On each bunch of 
straw were placed three or four forkfuls of 
manure. A rise in the temperature in the 
evening prevented the practicability of the 
plan from being tested. It was my inten¬ 
tion, had the temperature fallen to a 
dangerous point, to set fire to alternate 
heaps, and when these had burned then to 
fire the remaining bunches. This, I think, 
would have kept a blanket of smoke over 
the fields for several hours, and by prevent¬ 
ing further radiation of heat held the 
temperature above freezing point.” Why 
not experiment a little with this ? 
A Small Potato.—Two years ago The 
R. N.-Y. sent to its subscribers samples of 
its new seedling potato. Those sent were 
necessarily small, most of them weighing 
less than an ounce. Some of the readers 
considered their specimens too small to 
plant. Others planted them. Here is a 
little note from one of the latter: “ The 
Rural sent me a potato in ’89, which I 
planted and got three pounds. Those I 
planted this spring and have just dug the 
crop to-day. I have 56>£ pounds of splendid 
tubers aud 8>£ of small ones.’ When the 
price of this potato is announced for next 
season it will be seen that our friend has 
made quite a little pin-money. 
Sound Sense on Cheese.— I would eat 
three times as much cheese as I do if I could 
get the article I want. I am ready to pay 
for it too. There are thousands of people 
who will say the same thing. The follow¬ 
ing note from Prof. H. H. Wing of Cornell, 
is so sensible that it ought to be printed in 
italics. “ Cheese as an article of diet is not 
appreciated by the American consumer. 
Why this is so it would perhaps be hard to 
tell since it furnishes in proportion to its 
bulk a greater amount of nutriment in 
better form for assimilation than almost 
any other form of human food. It is cer¬ 
tainly a fact that many persons, notably 
those with weak digestive powers, cannot 
eat cheese without distressing symptoms. 
For this reason it is usually supposed that 
cheese is extremely difficult of digestion, 
but some recent experiments with artificial 
digestive fluids go to show that cheese when 
well made and well cured is readily and al¬ 
most completely made soluble by the action 
of pepsin, and that even the green curd is 
in large degree acted upon. The same ex¬ 
periments also give a greater and easier di¬ 
gestion to cheese that has been kept for 
some time and that has ripened rather 
slowly. This may give one indication as to 
why cheese is looked at doubtfully by so 
many that are inclined to be dyspeptic. A 
large part of the cheese made for home con¬ 
sumption is made to ripen quickly and to 
go on the market within a month from the 
time it is made. Many who can not eat 
such cheese could in all probability eat that 
made to keep longer and ripen more slowly. 
The former is, of course, more profitable to 
the manufacturer, but when public taste 
demands the latter it will be provided. 
Would not it be better for the great mass 
of dairymen to make cheese during the 
summer months instead of flooding the 
markets as now with such a mass of 
summer-made butter ? If the cheese 
‘taste’ were cultivated among us to the 
extent that the butter * taste ’ is, there 
would be no room for all the cheese made 
under such a programme. The writer’s 
ideal of a dairy system would be to have 
some cows in milk all the time, make cheese 
from the middle of May to the first of Oc¬ 
tober, and butter during the rest of the 
year; but in no case try to make both at the 
same time. There is no place on his table 
for the skim-cheese.” 
Punishing Peach Poachers.— A friend 
sends me an account of the way our friend 
J. H. Hale handled a thief who was caught 
stealing peaches on Sunday. The fellow 
had his coat, tied in the form of a bag, 
partly filled with fruit. Instead of prose¬ 
cuting the thief Mr. Hale made him sign 
the following “certificate of character:” 
In the Middle Ages it would probably have 
been pricked into his skin 1 “ Having been 
caught by Messrs. J. H. Hale and H. J. 
Stancliff, on Sunday August 17,1890, in the 
act of stealing peaches from their orchards, 
I promise, if not prosecuted for this act, to 
pay to the keeper of the Glastonbury town’s 
poor farm the sum of $10, to be used by 
him in the purchase of special comforts for 
the worthy poor.” 
Feeding Potatoes.— Every year we get 
into a discussion over the feeding value of 
potatoes. The crop is short this year and 
it is not likely that any merchantable po¬ 
tatoes will be fed to stock, but that small 
ones can be profitably used for this purpose 
is beyond question. We are constantly 
learning of new methods and processes. 
Here, for example, is a note from a friend 
in Southern Ohio: “ I am still profitably 
feeding 12 or 20 cattle during the winter by 
using potatoes (their analysis is nearly the 
same as that of silage) and very little corn, 
housing warmly and carrying water to 
them.” We shall all be interested to know 
how these potatoes are fed, cooked or raw, 
mixed with hay or alone. I have never 
found a better way of preparing potatoes 
for stock than baking them. 
A Milk Test at Last.— It is rather a 
humiliating thing to have to say, but it is 
a fact that a good many creameries and 
butter factories are shutting down because 
patrons are becoming so sharp at diluting 
their milk. The tests employed in determin¬ 
ing the amount of fat in milk were either 
too complicated or too inaccurate for 
general use. When a man buys butter he 
buys fat. Milk Is fat mixed with water. 
In some samples there are 50 per cent, 
more fat than in others. It costs money 
to put that fat in the milk. If the milk is 
paid for at a standard price per pound re¬ 
gardless of the amount of fat there may 
be in it, it is evident that somebody is giv¬ 
ing “ something for nothing.” Either the 
creamery man has to pay money for a lot 
of fat which he never receives, or the farmer 
gives a lot of fat for which he never re¬ 
ceives any money. It is not strange, there¬ 
fore, that the experiment stations in our 
dairy States have been trying to solve this 
problem of measuring the fat in milk. Dr. 
Babcock, of the Wisconsin Station, seems 
to have met with a good deal of success. 
Speaking of Dr. B’s. method, one of the 
best dairy authorities in the Northwest 
writes: “ One dairy manufacturer said it 
was ‘worth millions to the dairymen.’ 
Four manufacturers have been to see the 
original apparatus, and are proposing to 
put the test ou the market. Every factory 
man that has seen the teat has ordered the 
apparatus. I honestly believe that had it 
been patented, the right to it would be 
worth a round $100,000.” The beauty of 
this test is its simplicity. Farmers regard 
the others as “chemical” tests more or 
less complicated. In the Babcock method 
a measured quantity of milk is placed in a 
bottle with a long, narrow neck. An equal 
quantity of sulphuric acid is added, and 
the whole is thoroughly shaken about by 
whirling the bottle about in a little ma¬ 
chine prepared for this purpose. Hot water 
is then added. That is all there is to it. 
Simple, rapid, sure and cheap. Forafuller 
description readers are referred to Bulletin 
No. 24 of the Wisconsin Station. With a 
few such discoveries as this the station 
will easily “ pay for itself ” and pay a good 
profit besides. 
Honey and Berries.— In the following 
note Mr. C. S. Rice calls attention to a 
matter that is well worthy the attention of 
farmers. In older times a few hives of bees 
were to be found on every farm. Now-a- 
days this sweet side of agriculture is 
neglected. Should we bring the hives 
back f 
“ Why do not more farmers avail them¬ 
selves of the labor of the honey bee ? The 
care of bees is a pleasant occupation. It 
may properly be termed a recreation. The 
life and habits of this useful insect afford 
an interesting study. Pure honey is as 
fine a delicacy as can be found on any 
table. It is a healthful food. It is a 
cheap relish. It is usually sold at from 
10 to 20 cents per pound in market but 
it costs the bee-keeping farmer only a few 
hours’ attention each year to secure a full 
supply for his family. It is surprising 
what an amount of the delicious product 
will be consumed in a family where its 
use is limited only as the appetite for it 
is satisfied. Berries or other fruits and 
honey are on our table every day in the 
year. The honey is in quite as good de¬ 
mand as the berries. For several weeks 
past fine, fresh-picked, home-grown berries 
and excellent honey have contended for 
favor with about equal success. While 
the younger members of the family greatly 
prefer the honey, those a little older eat 
largely of loth and berries receive most 
attention from the eldest. As a rule 
farmers should grow more fruit and keep 
more bees. A farm ‘flowing with milk 
and honey ’ and well supplied with bearies 
and other fruits is not a bad place after 
all, and should prove a contented home 
to its owner and his family.” 
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