I 
242  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  September  3,  isse. 
dangerous;  valuable  in  that  it  is  Nature’s  own  gift,  and 
dangerous  from  tbe  fact  that  it  is  so  easily  contaminated,  and 
may  thus  become  the  unsuspected  source  of  untold  danger  to 
those  who  partake  of  it.  We  used  to  think  bad  water  was  what 
we  must  avoid,  but  we  never  applied  the  same  doctrine  to 
creatures  of  a  lower  scale.  We  never  gave  a  thought  to  the 
impure  state  of  the  ponds  and  water  courses  whence  our 
da'ry  cattle  drew  their  supplies.  We  never  heard  of  cases  of 
“  cow ’’ typhoid,  and  possibly,  if  we  gave  the  matter  a  thought 
at  all,  considered  the  cow’s  body  aS  a  gigantic  filter,  the  filter 
that  changed  foul  water  into  wholesome  new  milk  We  know 
differently  now ;  whether  we  apply  our  knowledge  remains  to  be 
proved.  How  to  produce  pure  milk,  and  how  to  keep  it  pure 
when  produced,  seems  now  to  be  the  problem  that  is  absorbing 
the  attention  of  the  milk  growers. 
It  is  a  well  accepted  fact,  or  perhaps  was  so  (as  we  believe 
the  disease  is  le  sening;  we  have  no  actual  figures  at  hand), 
that  consumption  is  the  curse  of  our  sea-girt  isle;  if  it  is  not 
in  the  first  rank  as  Death’s  most  fatal  weapon  alas !  it  is  too 
apparent  that  it  still  decimates  many  a  home. 
Pure  air,  good  food,  sensible  woollen  clothing  are  all  insisted 
on  by  the  doctors  as  preventive  measures,  but  as  long  as  babes, 
young  children,  and  delicate  adults  run  the  risk  of  drinking 
milk  from  cows  affected  with  tuberculosis,  their  efforts  are  in  a 
great  measure  nullified.  Very  few  people  have  any  idea  as 
to  the  extent  of  this  disease  among  cows,  especially  such  as 
owing  to  climatic  circumstances  are  stall-fed.  A  Danish 
professor  speaks  of  finding  as  many  as  80  per  cent,  of  the 
cattle  suffering  from  tuberculosis  in  one  cowhouse  ;  let  us  hope 
this  was  a  Danish,  not  British,  cowhouse.  This  number  must 
even  then,  we  think,  be  much  above  the  average 
Cattle  suffering  from  this  disease  are  not  allowed  to  be 
offered  for  sale  as  food,  but  as  yet  we  have  no  means  of  checking 
the  milk  supply.  Of  course,  constant  examination  by  qualified 
men  would  put  a  stop  to  this  state  of  things  ;  but  possibly  such 
act  on  on  the  part  of  Government  would  be  looked  upon  as 
grandmotherly  legislation,  interfering  with  the  liberty  of  the 
subject. 
Even  this  tuberculous  milk  could  be  rendered  harmless  by 
exposure  to  a  temperature  of  185°  Fahr.  ;  but  what  a  nuisance  it 
is  to  have  to  heat  the  milk  whether  you  want  or  no,  and  how 
little  does  get  heated !  Given  healthy  cows  milked  out  in  the 
pastures,  clean  dairy  folk  who  are  careful  about  all  their  vessels, 
there  is  but  a  low  infusion  of  “germs.” 
For  a  greater  part  of  the  year,  however,  and  in  some  neigh¬ 
bourhoods  all  the  5  ear,  the  cows  are  milked  under  cover ;  the 
surroundings  are  by  no  means  what  they  should  be.  and  the 
healthiest  milk  quickly  becomes  contaminated.  There  is  one 
form  of  bacillus  which  in  milk  is  a  most  fertile  source  of  chronic 
diarrhoea  in  infants,  and  which  also  makes  so  much  trouble  in 
the  dairy  by  causing  the  cheeses  to  be  “  puffy  ”  or  “  fluffy.” 
Ordinary  milk  has  been  found  to  contain  fifteen  different 
germs  To  prevent  mischief  being  done  by  these  germs  the 
only  way  is  to  sterilise  the  milk,  to  do  which  requires  hmt ;  to 
evenly  apply  that  heat  to  the  milk,  to  guard  against  after  infec¬ 
tion  of  the  milk,  is  the  object  of  the  sterilising  machines  exhi¬ 
bited  at  the  “  Royal  ”  held  in  Leicester  this  year. 
All  new  machinery  is  expensive,  and  the  tendency  of  the 
present  day  is  to  run  after  these  new  prophets  who  point  out  the 
only  true  way.  We  fear  ofteif  they  have  an  interest  (very 
personal)  ia  advocating  these  new  forms  of  machinery. 
Is  the  game  worth  the  candle  ?  We  have  heard  whispers 
that  the  butter  made  from  separated  milk  is  not  equal  in  flavour 
to  butter  made  from  cream  raised  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  and 
our  experience  tells  us  there  is  truth  in  this.  Boiled  milk,  or 
what  really  amounts  to  it,  is  not  so  palatable  nor  (to  infants)  so 
digestive  as  fresh  new  milk.  Properly  cooled  milk  will  keep 
long  enough  for  all  practical  purposes-  There  may  be  cases 
where  this  bottled  fluid  would  be  valuable,  just  the  same  as 
there  are  times  when  bottled  or  tinned  fruit  is  a  necessity  ;  but 
no  one  for  a  moment  with  any  nicety  of  taste  would  take  the 
preserved  insteai  of  the  fresh  fruit. 
We  think  there  is  here  a  good  deal  of  “  cry  and  no  wool.” 
Only  awake  people  to  the  risks  they  run,  and  let  them  do  their 
own  sterilising  on  their  own  kitchen  fires.  We,  for  our  part, 
are  willing  to  run  the  risk  of  a  few  germs  that  have  existed  from 
unknown  ages,  than  mollify  our  tea  and  enrich  our  tarts  with 
a  production  out  of  a  bottle  that  has  more  or  less  the  nasty  fiat 
insipid  taste  of  boiled  milk. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Rain  !  Rain  I !  Rain  !  !  !  It  is  very  bad  for  the  farmers  who  are  late 
with  their  harvest,  and  equally  so  for  those,  who,  having  safely  garnered 
the  year’s  crop,  are  now  attempting  to  clean  the  land  for  roots  or  corn 
next  year.  The  saving  danse  is  the  ploughing  of  seeds ;  this  in  many 
parts  must  have  been  a  work  of  great  difficulty  owing  to  the  dryness  and 
consequent  hardness  of  the  ground,  and  the  copious  rains  we  are  having 
at  the  present  time  must  solve  this  question  at  least. 
Ley  intended  for  Wheat  should  be  ploughed  at  the  earliest  oppor¬ 
tunity,  but  if  the  work  be  done  badly  owing  to  dryness  it  had  better  be 
left  over  for  a  while.  Wheat  never  loses  root  so  much  on  land  that  has 
been  long  ploughed  and  become  thoroughly  settled  before  drilling. 
Solidity  is  the  main  requirement  in  the  preparation  of  land  for  Wheat, 
and  the  Cambridge  roller  is  an  absolute  necessity  on  light  soils  where  the 
Id-fashioned  “  presser  ”  has  gone  out  of  use. 
E  *rly  threshings  of  Wheat  have  shown  an  excellent  yield,  and  the 
crop  is  without  doubt  considerably  above  the  average.  A  better  price, 
too,  is  promised  if  the  farmer  will  only  hold  his  Wheat  for  a  while ;  this 
“  if”  is  almost  too  big  a  one  to  become  a  reality. 
The  root  crop  is  an  improving  one,  and  may  turn  out  much  better 
than  was  expected.  Unfortunately,  trouble  ia  being  met  with  in  some 
districts  with  the  lambs.  The  Board  of  Agriculture  has,  however,  taken 
the  matter  up,  and  let  us  hope  that  Professor  Brown  and  his  able 
assistants  will  be  able  to  cope  with  the  difficulty.  Substitutes  for 
Turnips  can  generally  be  found,  but  sheep  once  lost  are  difficult  to 
replace. 
Potatoes  are  ripening  very  rapidly,  in  some  cases  we  fear  prematurely, 
owing  to  the  ravages  of  disease.  The  latest  reports  were  only  in  favour 
of  an  average  crop,  and  if  the  present  close  and  thundery  weather 
continue  there  is  a  possibility  that  below  the  average  will  have  to  be 
the  ultimate  verdict.  The  Potato  harvest  will  probaWy  be  an  early  one, 
and  lifting  must  be  at  once  prepared  for.  Much  interest  will  be  felt  in 
the  approaching  trials  of  “  Potato  raisers”  at  Leicester,  and  an  efficient 
implement  which  would  do  the  work  well  without  damaging  the  tubers 
would  be  indeed  a  prize.  Let  us  hope  that  such  a  one  may  be 
discovered. 
OUR  LETTER  BOX. 
Sbeep  Eating  Crocus  and  Daffodil  Foliage  Q'ldamonius').— 
Undoubtedly  the  sheep  will  eat  the  leaves  of  the  two  plants  mentioned, 
and  it  is  possible  that  the  Crocus  foliage  would  prove  injurious. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
OAKDBisr  SquARK,  London. 
Lat.  51°  32' 40"  N. ;  Lon^.  0°  8/ 0"  W.;  Altitude  111  leet. 
DATS. 
9  A.M. 
In  thk  Day. 
1896. 
.J 
Sag 
S  to 
fl  lJ 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
5 
August. 
S  W  08 
QQ  CQ 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Wind. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sua. 
On 
Orasa. 
Sunday  ..  23 
Inohs. 
3)-16i 
deg. 
62-4 
deg. 
60-0 
N.W. 
deg. 
60-3 
deg. 
76-1 
deg 
54-3 
deg. 
113-3 
deg. 
49-7 
Inohs 
0-141 
Monday  ..  24 
29-988 
63-1 
61-6 
S.W. 
61-1 
69-4 
6  1-3 
93-6 
67-1 
0-387 
Tuesday  . .  25 
29-843 
62-1 
57-1 
W. 
61-2 
61-7 
57-2 
115-2 
56-2 
0-178 
Wednesday  26 
39-660 
55-0 
49-7 
N. 
60-0 
62-9 
47-9 
110-3 
45-0 
Thursday . .  27 
29-904 
65-9 
60-9 
N. 
58  4 
66-1 
45-4 
113-6 
40-1 
Friday  . ,  28 
30-209 
6n-2 
62  2 
N. 
58-2 
67-2 
47-2 
111-9 
40-3 
— 
Saturday  ..  29 
30-194 
58  9 
53-9 
V/. 
68-7 
68-0 
48-0 
113-4 
43-2 
— 
29-993 
59-1 
55'V 
59  7 
68-3 
61  5 
no- ! 
47-3 
0-686 
REMARKS. 
23rd,— -A  sprinkle  of  rain  early  :  dull  morning  ;  bright  sun  about  4  P.M.,  and  storm 
rains  between  5  r.M.  and  6  P.M. ;  cloudy  evening  and  bright  night. 
24th,— Overcast  with  frequent  slight  showers,  and  heavy  rain  from  3  P,M,  to  4,16  p.M,, 
and  at  7  P,ii. 
26th.— Bright  morning  ;  sunshine  and  showers  in  afternoon;  heavy  rain,  hail, thunder, 
and  lightning  at  5.50  P.M. 
26th.— Bright  morning  ;  overcast  afternoon,  with  spots  of  rain  ;  fine  night. 
2'}th.— Pine  with  a  good  deal  of  bright  sunshine ;  but  frequently  cloudy  ia  morning 
and  towards  sunset. 
28th. — Generally  overcast,  but  occasional  sunshine. 
29th. — Generally  overcast,  but  sunny  at  times,  especially  in  afternoon. 
Very  nearly  an  average  week,  both  as  regards  temperature  aijd  rainfall.— 
Q.  J.  SYMONS. 
