598  JOtini^AL  OH'  ttOnriCULWM  AH'D  QOTTAOE  OAUDmER.  Uecembet  i7,  me. 
- - - - • - - — — - — - 
construction  (with  be&utifnl  plates)  of  the  cow’s  udder,  then  the 
properties  of  milk  come  under  notice.  The  remarks  on  feeding 
are  most  exhaustive,  and  should  be  read  by  all  who  can  obtain 
access  to  the  book.  There  is  an  opinion  abroad  that  a  cow  whose 
milk  supply  is  large  does  not  produce  a  proportionate  quantity  of 
butter  fat,  but  it  has  been  proved  that  the  butter  fat  may  be 
largely  increased  by  a  liberal  and  suitable  diet.  Germany  and 
England  have  one  great  fault  in  common.  We  improve  the 
“  beefy  ”  properties,  but  sufficient  attention  is  not  paid  to  the 
milking  properties  of  our  herds.  The  sire  must  come  of  good 
milking  stock.  The  same  animal  cannot  produce  milk  and  beef. 
Better  do  one  thing  well  than  try  to  do  two  badly. 
The  influence  of  various  foods  on  the  milk  and  the  butter  are 
here  put  plainly  before  us,  and  as  the  cow  requires  about  three 
times  as  much  water  as  solid  food  it  is  very  obvious  that  the  wacer 
supply  must  be  untainted.  There  are  ten  points  fully  noted  by 
which  the  value  of  a  milk  cow  may  be  assessed  ;  of  course  it  will 
be  a  very  good  cow  where  all  ten  points  are  found,  but  they  are  a 
capit.\l  test  to  go  by.  The  method  of  milking — the  right  way  and 
the  wrong  —  the  necessity  of  what  we  call  “  stropping  ”  —  i  e., 
extracting  the  very  last  drops  —  these,  last  drops  are  always  the 
richest  in  fats.  The  Professor  does  not  treat  of  milking  machines, 
and  before  we  advocate  any  change  we  shall  wait  to  hear  what  he 
says  on  the  subject.  Cleanliness  from  first  to  last  is  insisted  on. 
Having  got  the  milk,  its  further  management  occupies  several 
pages — the  cooling,  the  conveyance  to  the  customer,  the  marketing. 
As  to  adulteration,  the  analytical  chemist  is  so  much  to  the  fore  that 
it  is  practically  a  thing  of  the  past.  Milk  testing  takes  up  many 
pages.  The  dangers  of  bacteria  in  milk  are  something  fearful,  and 
sterilisation  seemt  to  be  the  best  way  of  combatting  that  danger. 
Naturally  butter  making  takes  a  large  place  in  a  book  of  this 
nature.  Of  the  old  method  with  its  faults  of  cream  separation 
we  all  know,  and  many  of  us  also  use  the  separators.  Sketches  of 
several  are  given,  and  it  would  be  difficult,  as  well  as  invidious,  to 
try  to  single  out  the  best — the  public  will  soon  let  us  know  that. 
And  again  as  respecting  churns,  every  dairymaid  has  her  own 
peculiar  fancy,  and  at  a  good  dairy  show  the  novice  has  ample 
opportunities  of  seeing  all  tested.  Dairy  classes  are  now  fairly 
common  all  over  the  country,  and  there  U  no  description  of  butter 
making  so  good  but  that  a  sight  of  the  actual  proce.os  is  not  much 
better.  We  all  know  good  butter  from  bad,  possibly  we  do  not 
know  the  why  and  the  wherefore.  We  can  point  to  the  defect,  but 
we  are  not  equally  ready  with  the  remedy.  Here  all  these  facts  are 
carefully  noted. 
Cheese  and  cheete  making,  the  preparation  and  treatment  of 
the  curd,  the  utensils  necessary,  the  pretsing  and  salting,  the 
difficulties  of  the  art  (we  thought  there  was  something  in  this,  or 
why  so  many  dairymaids  and  so  few  cheeie  makers  ?)  The  ripening 
time  is  not  only  a  period  of  danger,  bat  of  expense.  Of  the 
different  cheeses,  their  name  is  “  legion,”  our  readers  will  fill  in 
themselves. 
As  ordinary  milk,  in  the  nature  of  things,  does  not  keep  long,  our 
chemists  have  hit  on  three  expedients  by  which  this  valuable  food 
is  preserved  for  some  time.  First,  there  is  Pasteurised  milk,  then 
sterilised  milk,  and  lastly,  condensed  milk.  These  processes  are 
fully  described  and  illustrated.  Do  many  English  readers  know 
what  Kourai-ss  is  ?  Wine  milk.  The  best  is  prepared  from  mare’s 
milk,  and  has  long  been  used  in  Russia  as  a  remedy  for  sleeplessness. 
Dr.  Fieischmann  advocates  the  strictest  book-keeping,  and  he 
finishes  his  dairy  work  proper  by  giving  the  plan  of  a  model  dairy. 
The  last  chapter  is  devoted  to  margarine,  cheese  and  butter,  pre¬ 
parations  of  fat  for  which  we  have  neither  the  taste  nor  the  inclina¬ 
tion.  Taken  as  a  whole,  this  work  is  most  complete,  and  certainly 
the  English  translators  have  succeeded  in  their  task  of  putting 
before  us  a  clear,  readable  manual.  The  publishers  are  Blackie  and 
Son,  London  and  Glasgow. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
We  are  now  very  near  the  shortest  day.  Without  tVe  aid  of  a  light 
no  farm  work  can  be  done  before  eight  or  alter  four,  and  the  ordinary 
day  labourer’s  wages  are  hardly  earned,  but  in  a  different  sense  from  the 
one  we  usually  associate  with  them.  It  is  different,  however,  in  the  case 
I  of  the  stockmen  of  the  farm.  The  cowman  who  understands  his  work, 
and  does  it,  has  now  his  hardest  time  ;  he  can  use  lights  before  satirise, 
so  there  is  no  limit  to  the  length  of  his  day.  If  his  cattle  are  to  do  credit 
to  his  management  he  mast  be  on  the  premises  and  at  work  at  any  rate 
not  later  than  6  A  M.,  and  we  know  men  who  woald  consider  that  a  late 
start, 
A  man  who  has  a  large  head  of  stock  to  feed  cannot  attend  to  all  at  once, 
and  unless  be  begins  early  some  of  the  animals  will  want  their  breakfast 
very  badly  before  it  comes  to  their  turn.  A  good  man  will  attend  to 
sixty  head  of  cattle  single-handed,  and  have  all  fed  before  he  goes  to  bis 
own  breakfast.  He  will  have  to  work  hard  to  get  all  finished  and  made 
comfortable  by  6  p.m,  to  get  away  home  for  tea.  Then  he  should  take 
a  quiet  look  round  about  8,  to  see  that  there  are  no  symptoms  of  lllnesB, 
but  disturbing  all  as  little  as  need  be. 
The  hours  of  the  Turnip  shepherd  are  shorter,,  as  lights  are  of  little 
use  in  the  field  ;  but  as  his  work  is  practically,  though  not  nominally,  by 
the  piece,  if  his  hours  are  shorter  he  must  work  harder  to  get  done  ;  if 
he  is  a  capable  man  he  will  know  exactly  how  many  scuttlefuls  of  cut 
Turnips  his  sheep  can  consume  beneficially,  and  these  roots  must  be 
trimmed  and  cut  day  by  day,  with  a  little  gained  each  day  so  as  to  have 
the  due  proportion  ready  for  the  Sunday, 
Ordinary  labourers  are  often  set  first  thing  to  help  with  the  cattle, 
but  they  often  look  on  it  as  a  mean  way  of  getting  a  full  day’s  work  out 
of  them,  and  resent  it  by  doing  as  little  as  they  can.  This  should  not  be 
so,  but  so  it  often  is. 
The  men  who  are  paid  strictly  by  the  day,  however,  are  generally  the 
one-handed  men  of  the  farm.  Those  with  willing  hands  and  brains  to  use 
them  are  not  long  in  reaching  positions  of  responsibility,  such  as 
stockmen  with  a  permanent  and  better  wage. 
“LIVE  STOCK  JOURNAL  ALMANAC,”  1897.® 
“  Good  wine  needs  no  bush.”  What  a  wonderful  Is.  worth  of  infor¬ 
mation  is  contained  in  this  volume  I  The  publishers  have  been  most 
fortunate  in  obtaining  the  services  of  the  fathers  of  the  agricultural 
world — men  who  have  something  to  say  worth  listening  to  and  know 
how  to  say  it,  Witboat  being  invidious  we  single  out  for  practical 
usefulness  the  paper  on  ”  Side  Bone.”  by  Dr.  Geo.  Fleming,  and  that  on 
the  *'  Extension  of  Cattle  Breeding,"  by  Robert  Bruce,  Etq.  One  cisss 
of  horses  is  omitted — viz.,  hunters.  Surely  an  article  on  them  could 
not  fail  to  be  of  interest,  and  we  should  personally  have  preferred  it 
to  the  one  on  “Thoroughbreds;”  however,  tastes  differ.  The  book  is 
full  of  useful  information  on  miEcelJaneons  subjects,  all  bearing  on  agri¬ 
culture.  We  think  such  a  good  book  is  worthy  of  a  better — i,  <?.,  stronger 
binding.  We  know  that  if  we  live  to  see  189"  out  our  copy  must  get 
very  dilapidated  even  with  careful  usage. 
OUR  LETTER  BOX. 
Farxulner  t^Reader"). — Ycur  questions  are  receiving  attention,  and 
the  subjects  will  be  dealt  with  in  an  early  issue. 
Royalty  at  the  Cattle  Show. — We  are  desired  to  stare  that 
H.R  H.  Prince  Christian  honoured  Messrs.  Carter  &  Co.,  the  Queen’s 
seedsmen,  with  a  prolonged  inspection  of  their  large  stand  at  the  above 
show.  H.R  H.  appeared  to  be  greatly  interested  in  the  marvellous  roots 
and  the  very  fine  sample*  of  Wheat,  Oats,  and  Barley  exhibited.  It  is 
some  years  since  the  galleries  have  been  honoured  with  the  presence  of 
royalty,  and  Messrs.  Carter  are  naturally  gratified  by  the  PJ-ince’s 
recognition  of  their  prod  nets. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS, 
Oamdbn  Squabs.  London. 
Lat.Slvsa'AO"  H. :  Loqi^.O®  S'O"  W.:  Altitude  111  feet. 
Datb. 
9  A.M. 
In  tub  Day. 
1896 
^  13  ^ 
2 
“  *  m 
a  **  © 
a  0  j 
C3 
d  49  « 
3J  am 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Temp 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperatur- 
5 
*S 
OS 
December. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Wind. 
Max.  j  Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
GrasB. 
Sunday  ..  6 
Inohs. 
28-868 
deg. 
41-6 
deg. 
44-0 
Calm. 
deg. 
■Jl'9 
deg. 
48-0 
deg. 
40-0 
deg. 
51-0 
deg. 
33-3 
Inch*. 
0032 
Monday  . .  7 
2(<*15l 
421 
41-4 
N.W. 
41-2 
46-1 
37-0 
49-3 
30-4 
Tuesday  . .  8 
29-772 
36-6 
S62 
W. 
4,-0 
48-1 
29-9 
51-1 
25-1 
0-010 
Wedneaiay  9 
29-563 
47-9 
46-9 
S. 
40-9 
49-1 
35-9 
52-3 
30-0 
C-090 
Thursday  . .  10 
29-J31 
43-2 
41-3 
S.W. 
41-8 
49-9 
37-9 
66-1 
31-8 
0-060 
Friday  ,.  U 
29-850 
48-4 
45-9 
s. 
41-9 
48-8 
42-1 
62-9 
39  9 
0-010 
Saturday  ..  12 
29-901 
40-3 
40-0 
s. 
41-8 
46-1 
32-1 
60-2 
27-3 
0-197 
29-548 
430 
42-2 
415 
48-1 
36-4 
- 
31-1 
0-389 
KBMABKS. 
6th. — Rain  in  unall  hours  ;  generally  dull,  with  frequent  showers,  but  a  little  sunshine 
about  3  I’.M. 
7th.— Dull  and  damp  early  ;  fair  after  10  A  Jr.,  gleams  of  sun  at  H  A.M.,  spots  of  rain 
at  3  P.M  ;  clear  night. 
8th.— PoTgy  early  ;  fair  day  ;  drizzle  at-night. 
9th.— Dull  ani  damp  early  ;  overcast  morning  ;  frequent  rain  after  3  P.M. 
JOtb.— Overcast  morning;  gleams  of  sun  at  11.45  A.li.,  then  dull  and  drizzly,  and  rainy 
from  3  r.M. 
11th.— Drizzly  with  showers  early  ;  overcast  morning  ;  spots  of  rain  at  2  P.M.,  clearing 
after,  and  bright  night. 
12th.— Overcast  and  slightly  foggy  morning;  steady  rain  from  2.30  P.M.  to  8  p.m. 
A  dull  damp  week,  very  little  sun,  and  rain  every  day  bat  one.— G.  J.  8TMON8. 
