842 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 19 
WHAT IS GOOD MILK? 
HOW IS IT MADE ? 
A Little of Its Chemistry. 
Part II. 
For its food value and for cheese pur¬ 
poses, the nitrogenous part of milk is of 
much interest. The three most import¬ 
ant nitrogenous constituents of milk are 
casein, albumen and fibrin. Of the ex¬ 
act chemical formula of these, we know 
nothing. They are quite similar in com¬ 
position to the vegetable albuminoids 
containing always nitrogen, carbon, 
hydrogen and oxygen, together with a 
small quantity of sulphur. The nitro¬ 
gen forms about one-sixth part by 
weight. Of these three elements, the 
casein is by far the largest in amount 
and of the greatest economic import¬ 
ance, containing, as it does, at least 
four-fifths of all the nitrogenous matter, 
and being the part preserved in cheese¬ 
making. While casein, probably, varies 
from the other two substances but very 
slightly in composition, its properties 
are different in a marked degree. Casein 
in fresh milk is in a state of imperfect 
solution, although, for all practical pur¬ 
poses, the solution may be called com¬ 
plete. Under very prolonged whirling 
in a separator, a portion of it, or, at 
least, of some albuminoid, separates and 
clings to the outside of the bowl in a 
solid mass. 
Casein is not coagulated by heat, but 
is by rennet, by weak acids, by the juice 
of some plants, and by various bacterial 
products. The addition of a very small 
portion of rennet causes it to become a 
semi-solid mass, the rapidity with which 
this takes place being dependent upon 
temperature, presence of free acid and 
presence of soluble salts of lime. The 
fact that casein is coagulated by rennet 
is a very strange and a very useful prop¬ 
erty. It is not a change of composition, 
but only what, for lack of more exact 
knowledge, we call a re-arrangement of 
the molecules. Evidently the rennet 
acts only by its presence and not by 
forming any combination with the casein. 
Albumen forms about .75 of one per 
cent of the milk. It is soluble in water, 
and is almost, if not quite, identical 
with the animal albumen of which the 
white of an egg is our best and most 
common example. It is distinguished 
from casein by the fact that it is not 
affected by rennet or acids, but is coagu¬ 
lated by heat at about 157 degrees. In 
cheesemaking, it passes off in the whey 
in solution. Its feeding value is high, 
and it constitutes the principal source 
of nitrogen in whey. As a rule, it in¬ 
creases in relative amount as the cow 
advances in lactation, while the colos¬ 
trum contains several per cent of it, so 
that it will coagulate into jelly when 
heated. Quite recently, at the Wiscon¬ 
sin Station, efforts have been made to in¬ 
corporate it into the cheese. While a 
larger yield of cheese was obtained, the 
flavor and curing qualities were bad. It 
is to be hoped that this may be remedied, 
and, at least, it affords an interesting 
field for experiment. 
Fibrin is an albuminoid body of which 
we know very little. Its amount is 
small, and its only importance is its in¬ 
fluence upon the separation of the cream. 
After the milk is drawn, it assumes a 
form which may, to quite an extent, 
prevent the rise of the fat globules. This 
condition is commonly supposed to be 
hastened by warmth, agitation or stir¬ 
ring, and exposure to rough surfaces, 
lienee the lesson is where cold settings 
are used, to strain the milk while yet 
warm into bright, clean cans, and cool 
as quickly as possible. 
Sugar of milk or lactose constitutes, 
generally, about five per cent of milk, 
and is more constant in amount than 
either fat or casein. Chemically, it 
differs but little from cane sugar and 
glucose. Physically, it differs from cane 
sugar in being^very much less sweet, in 
having less tendency to form large crys¬ 
tals, in being much less soluble in water, 
and in various chemical tests. It readily 
forms lactic acid as in the ordinary 
souring of milk, and with yeast, forms 
carbonic acid gas and alcohol. As a 
source of easily digested carbohydrates 
in the feeding ration, its value is of the 
highest. There is a demand for the pure 
article in a commercial way as a ‘ filler” 
for medical preparations, and in some 
of the prepared children’s and invalids’ 
foods. In both butter and cheesemak¬ 
ing, it is important that it be eliminated 
from the finished product as far as possi¬ 
ble, and thus a really valuable food 
product is lost, except as far as the re¬ 
fuse is used for feeding animals. 
The ash of milk in healthy cows is 
very constant in quantity, forming about 
seven-tenths of one per cent. It is im¬ 
portant as supplying the bone material 
for the young and growing animal, and 
as constituting a loss of a considerable 
amount of phosphoric acid and a small 
amount of potash when sold from the 
farm. It is mostly composed of the 
phosphates and some other salts of lime, 
potash and soda, with other compounds 
in very small quantities. Right here it 
may be noted that the man who makes 
butter has a decided advantage over the 
man who sells his milk, so far as the 
maintenance of the fertility of his farm 
goes. The New York Experiment Sta¬ 
tion, in 1893, estimated the nitrogen, 
phosphoric acid and potash in a ton of 
milk to be worth $2.28 at trade values, 
no inconsiderable item in the course of 
a year. 
Another constituent of milk is laeto- 
clirome, which is of some interest, but 
very little real importance in these days 
of butter color which is a perfect sub¬ 
stitute for the natural June yellow. 
Lactochrome is an animal coloring mat¬ 
ter which occurs in the oily secretions 
of the cow, whether about the udder or 
elsewhere. The amount varies between 
wide limits, with breed, individuals of 
the same breed, and with feed. Undoubt¬ 
edly the Channel Island breeds, espec¬ 
ially the Guernseys, give the highest 
colored milk as a rule. The Devons are 
also noted in this respect. The color of 
the escutcheon and the inside skin of 
the ears, thighs and elbow are directly 
an indication of the color of the milk 
given. It is a popular error that high- 
colored milk is necessarily associated 
with a large per cent of fat, although 
this is very generally true. Of course, 
every one knows that the coloring mat¬ 
ter is more abundant when the cows are 
on green food than when they are on 
dry. It varies also with the kind of 
gram fed. In summer, some individuals 
will produce butter too yellow for some 
markets. Milk also contains other ani¬ 
mal products, but they are too small in 
quantity and, above all, too little under¬ 
stood to be noted here. 
JARED VAN WAGENEN JR. 
THE HAMPSHIRE DOWN SHEEP 
BREEDERS. 
WHAT WAS SAID IN THEIR MEETING. 
During the Live Stock Show, the 
Hampshire Down Breeders’ Association 
held a meeting in the interest of their 
breed. The sheep of this breed are 
found largely in Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Iowa, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Their 
breeders say that they prefer them be¬ 
cause they will thrive better under ordi¬ 
nary farm conditions than other breeds 
Probably other breeders will claim the 
same for their favorites, but this breed 
certainly seems to be gaining in popular¬ 
ity. They held their own well in this 
show. The association decided to offer 
first and second prizes of $25 and $15 at 
all State fairs where there is a [lamp 
shire class, for pens of four lambs, male 
and female, bred by the exhibitor in the 
State where shown, and registered in 
the Hampshire Down Flock Record. 
This is to encourage home breeders. It 
was said that by far the larger part of 
the prize-winning sheep are imported 
simply for this purpose, and are never 
used for breeders ; in fact, that they are 
utterly useless for that purpose, even 
though any one desired so to use them. 
Mr. James Wood, president of the as¬ 
sociation, said that, in England, breed¬ 
ing these show animals is a regular 
business. As soon after the lamb is 
dropped as it will take extra feed, it is 
given the milk from another ewe, the 
ewe being held for that purpose. Mr. 
Wood says that it is surprising how soon 
the lamb learns this ; that after being 
fed once or twice in this way, it will 
rush up immediately on seeing a sheep 
caught, ready for another free lunch. 
As soon as it will eat grain, it is fed all 
it can be tempted to eat of different 
grains, mixed grains, feed with sugar 
sprinkled on, and every effort made to 
induce it to consume the largest quantity 
possible. The result is, in case of weak¬ 
ness, a breakdown, and the loss of the 
animal; or, if it stand the heavy feed¬ 
ing, it becomes a mountain of fat, but 
totally unfit for breeding, and often un¬ 
able to propagate its species. The latter 
condition is, probably, Nature’s protest 
against such unnatural methods. Yet 
these are the animals that are admitted 
into this country free of duty for the 
purpose of breeding up and improving 
our live stock ! These are the animals, 
too, that are said to take more than two- 
thirds of the premiums at our fairs. 
The exhibition sheep at these shows 
are all clipped—that is, they are sheared 
enough to take off all the loose ends 
and tags, and make them look smooth 
and even. This might appear, at first 
glance, to be all right; but the custom 
is abused. Mr. Wood said that a sheep 
in the hands of an expert, is like marble 
in the hands of a sculptor ; he has his 
ideal, and by means of the shears, makes 
the shape of the sheep conform to that 
ideal. That is, to the eye, he is a sheep 
of just the proper form. But only wool 
is visible to the eye, and the judge to do 
his work well, must go down into that 
wool with his hands, and learn whether, 
underneath, there is a perfect sheep, or 
whether he is lacking in one or more of 
those points that go to make up a desir¬ 
able mutton or breeding animal. A 
sheep is the only quadruped that is sus¬ 
ceptible of such a transformation. 
F. H v. 
A Big Bite.— A writer in the Iowa 
Homestead tells the following story : 
On our farms we often illustrate the homely 
phrase, “ Biting off more than we can chew,” by 
laying out more work for the season than time 
will permit us to do without increasing the force. 
In making calculations, allowances should 
always be made for bad weather. One instance 
of biting off more than one wanted to chew occurs 
to me. I heard of a farmer who sold a steer for 
$20, the price being paid him in a single bill. 
Having no pocketbook with him, he tucked it in 
his tobacco pouch. Later on, wanting a chew of 
tobacco, and forgetting that he had placed the 
bill in the pouch, he took what seemed to him a 
separate bit of tobacco and, putting it in his 
mouth, chewed it for a considerable time without 
getting any comfort out of it. Happening to 
think of the bill, he exclaimed, “Well, I’ll be 
durned; a whole steer at one chaw.” 
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We have had 20 years experi¬ 
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SAVES MONEY, FEED AND FUEL.' 
“Cooking food for stock”, 
is the title of of an interesting andi 
practical book on the foodques-i 
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221 Main Street, Marlow, N. H. 
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Jobbers and Manufact¬ 
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Made in four sizes, for 2, 
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THOS. ROBERTS, 
P. O. Box 92. Springfield, O. 
Clark’s Root-Cutter. 
Used by all the leading 
STOCK - RAISERS, and 
pronounced to be the Best 
ROOT-GUTTER 
MADE. Send for Special 
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WAREHOUSE : 131 Water Street, New York City. 
Send for Special Circulars of the TORNADO 
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George M. Clark in the cultivation of grass. 
A 
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v. Two styles. 
Four sizes each, ] 
Adam’s No. 1 Crib, . 
The best made. 
Adam’s No, 2 Crib ( 
for One Cent perl 
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dealer for them or . 
write 
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Can be set in two minutes with¬ 
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RoiD LANDS 
FOR SALE AT LOW PRICES AND 
ON EASY TERMS. 
The Illinois Central Railroad Company offers for sale 
on easy terms and at low prices, 150,060 acres of choice 
fruit, gardening, farm and grazing lands located In 
SOUTHERN I LINCIS 
They are also largely Interested In. and call espeeia 
attention to, the 600,000 acres of land in the famous 
Yazoo Valley of Mississippi 
lying along and owned by the Yazoo and Mississippi 
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these lands both in southern Illinois and In the 
“ Yazoo Valley,” Miss. 
For further description, map and any information, 
address or call upon B. P. SKENE, Land Commis¬ 
sioner, No. 1 Park Bow. Chicago. III. 
