FARM AND STATION.

(Continued from, page 7.)

In a recent quarterly report to the Cheshire County Coiincil the county Poor Milk. analyst (Mr J. Carter Bell) makes some interesting remarks upon the samples of milk presented to him for analysis, and takes occasion to animadvert severely on the frequent practices in magistrates' courts of sanctioning as valid various untenable excuses pleaded by vendors of "poor milk." Of 68 samples submitted to him. five were found to contain 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9 per cent, of added water, 'and eight of the milks were very poor. One sample of milk contained under 11 per cent, of total solids, 10 under 12 per cent., 38 unde"r 13 per cent., 16 under 14- ]>er cent., and three under 15 per cent. " Many will think," continues Mr Bell, " that 2 and 3 per cent, of water is not worth noting, but this small amount is not the real quantity added, but only the excess calculated on a very low standard. Thus, if we take the milk which is returned as 2 per cent, of adulteration and compare it with the milk taken from the farmer's own cows, the difference in quality is very great. In this case the total solids of the milk bought wore 11.1 per cent., but the milk yielded by the ccnvb contained 13.8 of total bolids. It only needs a very simple calculation to show that to reduce 13.8 lo 11.1 move than 20 parts of water must bo added to every 100 parts of milk, and yet in the face of this wo have chemists coming forward and statins; that milk containing 11 per cent, of total .solids is pure, and gravely informing the magistrates that cows giving to-day first-class milk containing over 13 per cent, of total solids may to-morrow give milk of 11 per cent., because

there has been some slight alteration in the food, by the presence or absence of potatoes, or some other equally absurd reason. Another favourite excuse which is pressed forward before the magistrates is that milk varies verymuch in quality according to the season of the, year, and that cold winds, hot weather, rain, and drought will all combine to lower the riohnesp of 'the milk. I have hundreds of cows milked in my presence, have had also thousands of samples sent to me, and, practically speaking, I have never found the milk from a herd of well-fed cows to come lower than the low standard which is taken, and this experience is borne out by others. Thus I need only take the analytical figures from the tables of a well-known London dairy company, where 30,000 samples are analysed yearly. It is interesting to compare the different months for the total solids and the fat. In no month do the total solids fall below 12 per cent., nor does the fat fall below 3 per cent. Milk of 10,000 cows received from farms during the year: total solids 13.95 , fat 4-.05 ; February, 12.94, 4.02; March, 12.63, 3.50; April, 12.65, 3.84; May, 12.57, 3.70; June, j 12 36, 3.60 ; July, 12.33, 3.65 ; August, 12.38, | 3.72; September, 12.41, 3.71; October, 12.91, 4.04; November, 12.92, 4.63; December, 12.80, 3.89. I am well aware that many will come forward and say there are individual cows which will give milk of much lower quality than the above. That is quite true, and a poor, half-starved, diseased cow may give milk which will not be equal even to the lowest standard. Such milk has no more right i to be 'sold to the public than diseased meat or ' fruit. I have gone at length into this subject, for I have observed that statements are put forward in this witness box which cannot | be supported by facts." Jersey calves are just as subject to scour as, those of any other breeds ; Scour in CnlYes. indeed, some say that they A Batch of are moie so, because they are, Recipes. as a rule, more delicate than ordinary stock. In view of ; these circumstances, it is interesting to know \ the remedies resorted to by the leading Jersey | breeders ir> dealing with scour among their | calves. In the manual published last year t uii'ler the auspices of the English Jersey Society a number of the lei; cling Jersey bleeders give their expedience on this head. A few of these will bear reproduction. Mr Ernest Matthews, whose name is so we' l known in connection with the leading shows, u<-es two tablespoonfuls of flour, one tablespoonful of powdered ginger, mixed into a paste with whisky, made up into small balls, jii, d given every two or three hours, if necessary. This he finds very effective in the earlier staees of this complaint. Mr ~W . Milward-Jones, one of the earliest admirers of the breed on the English side of the Channel, recommends a close "of castor oil and ginger to be given at once as soon as the scouring is" noticed, followed by pills of butter argl bicarbonate of soda mixed Qlb butter with a teaspoonful of soda, well mixed). - This has been found very efficacious, experience phowing that if taken in time it rarely fails. In the Earl of Cadogan's herd a small close of limeed oil followed by two to four tablespoonfuls of a powder consisting of prepared chalk 2oz, ginger ioz, opium 1 drachm, peppermint water 1 pint, is the usual remedy resorted to. Fresh eggs (the shell included) j are also given, and lime water and old beans are alto recommended. A piece of chalk put where the calve* can lick it is al&o recommended as a useful preventive. Miss Standish, who keeps a small but very select herd at Ea'stleigh, Hampshire, recommends the administration, when the first symptoms of scour manifest themselves!, of a tablespoon Cul of linseed oil, followed in an hour by a tablespoonful of bicarbonate di potash in water. This dosa should be repeated if necessary. If the calf is very bad and weak, an egg broken up with a wineglassful of port wine is recommended as a "reviver." In the Earl of Warwick's herd the remedy employed in dealing- with scour in calves is two ov three eggs with a little whisky and gruel, half a pint of which is to be given three times a day. Mr Charles Wyndham approves of giving a tablespoonful of castor oil accompanied by a teaspoonful of laudanum, and keeping the animals dry and warm, with plenty of fresh air. Colonel Hankey, of St. Leonards-on-Sea, has found a dose of castor oil, followed by two or three raw eggs daily, to give excellent rej suits in curing- scour, and he has also found feeding on flour gruel very efficacious. In the Fullwell Park herd the remedy employed is to put a new-laid egg clown the calf's throat (fi'iell included), and to give no milk until two ! meals have passed. Colonel Barton Scobell uses port wine and blackberry shoots made into a tea, giving half a pin! three times a day, together with a little acorn powder ; while Colonel T. B. Shaw-Hellier gives ordinary cholera mixture, allowing about double the quantity recommended for a human being. An eminent veterinary authority writing on the subject sayb ihat whatever may Le tiie iminedJfcaO <.-v..*e ; scour in calves is al?it»ys i'^e I

to some derangement of the digestive orgavis.In nine cases out of ten improper feeding is at the root of the evil. There is no mere fruitful cause of scour than irregularity in feeding— that is, starving a calf for 12 .-r 14hours, and then giving it access to a large quantity of milk. The natural result of tin's treatment is that the animal gor^-:s itself when, it gets to its bucket, and in this way overloads its stomach to such an extent that thafe organ is not properly capable of dealing with, the quantity of milk imbibed.

There are many cures for a scour, and in pimple cases where the disorder is due to a mere digestive derangement, under which tha stomach is not capable of properly acting on the milk drunk, excellent results usually attend the addition of a little lime water to the milk at each meal. Many feeders even go so far as to give their calves a little lime -water regularly along with the milk as a preventive of scour. In bad cases, the best course to pur' sue is to administer" a smart dose of castor oil, and follow this up with daily doses consisting- of 1 drachm of tincture of rhubarb, 1 drachm of tincture of opium, and 15 grains bicarbonate of soda, dissolved in a glassful of. water.