AGRICULTURAL COLUMN.

Bush Advocate, Volume IX, Issue 796, 24 June 1893, Page 5

AGRICULTURAL COLUMN.

On 25th August, ISB6, a correspondent of the " London Field " wrote to describe a trial of fifteen and a-half hours which ho had undergone with a young horse ; which, within a few days of returning from the breaker's, had developed a trick of jibbing. The owner sat, through the night, from 4 p.m Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday "asking the horse" to move on, hut he declined. At 7 a.m. he began to bita at the shafts; and, half-an-hour later, to kick violently; whereupon — to use the owner's words — " I sent the groom to cut two good ash plants ; wheu we made him move and smartly, too." To this letter three correspondents replied the next weok; two giving as a means placing a Back (or other weight) upon the jibbing horse's back. Both averred that they had cured horses so. On Bth September, the original correspondent replied : "I am glud to say that, ever since our fight, the horse has been going on beautifully. He has never jibbed once ; and, when we come to the' place, rushes past it, as if afraid of being stopped again. His character in the Btable has completely changed. He no longer looks defiantly at you, with an, eye full of tomper and wickedness ; but hangs his head, his eye soft uni gentle, and he looks subdued. I have, now, great hopes that my fifteen hours in the tran were not spent in, vain " At a recent 'meeting oi me oußsex Dairy Farmers' Association, Mr E. B. Hadley, Horeham Manor, drew attention to the subject of the unrestricted importation of Dutch milk, and moved a motion as follows, which was unanimously carried : — " That, considering the i readiness with which epidemic disease can be disseminated by milk, and the danger, not only to our herds but also to human beings, that is consequently being incurred in ptrmitting the imrpat.iicted importation of milk into this country from foreign countries in which such epidemics as cholera, small-pox, typhoid, etc., or pIuUM-pneumonia and foot-and-mouth disease may buiife, this meeting is of opinion that thia milk should be soM as loroign milk, and no milk should bo allowed to bo landed at any of our ports from any country that cannot show a periectly cleau bill of health respecting the diseases of cattle, and unless the dairy in such, countries is under the coatrol of sani! ary regulations similar to those in force in Enpland." In view of this action on the part of the British dairy farmers, would it not ha advisable for the Dairymen's Association of Victoria to take such action as would result in a report being obtained from the chief inspector of stock, showing the condition of health our dairy herds are in. Periodical reports, in fact, certifying to comparative immunity from disease, enjoyed by our dairy cattle, if such, of course, should prove to be the casts, would materially help to popularise Victorian butter in England. An interesting test was held at a Scotch farm on the ißt of April last. A believer in the value of the weigh- bridge at the farmstead having erected a suitable weigh bridge and made a "pen" or "cage" for holding cattle, and being about to despatch a number of fat cattle to a butcher who had purchased them at so much per cwt. of cold carcase, invited seven of the largest feoders of cattle iv the county of . Kirkcudbright to attend and take part in a "block test," on the linos laid down by Mr M'Jannet, Stirling. The first animal selected was a prime fat Galloway bullock. The estimates were Gcwt. 2qrs. 211 b.; Ccwfc. 2qrs, Mlb. ; oewt. 3qrs. 141 b .; Gcwt. 2qrs. ; Gcwt. 2qrs. Mlb. ; Gcwt. 2qrs. 141 b .; and tiewt. 2qrs. The bullock was placed in its unfasted condition on the weigh-bridge and scaled 11 cwt. 3qrs. The owner, guided by Mr M'Jannet's table, declared for oewt. 2qrs" 241 b. On Tues day the bullock was killed, and on Thursday his carcase scaled Ccwt. 2qrs. 261 b. All the estimates were short. The last animal was a Galloway cow in very prime condition. The estimates were 7cwt. ; Gcwt. 3qrs. 141 b .; 7cwt. lqr. ; Gcwt. lqr. ; 6cwt. 3qrs. ; Scwt. 2qrs. ; anal Ccwt. 3qrs. The cow scaled 12cwt. lqr., and dressed Gcwt. 3qrs. 81b., or 201 b. Ibbs than the table for bullocks. Similar tests will be held again ut the farm. Remarkable success appears to have attended the operation of the Danish Margarine Law, passed on Ist April, 1891. Giving the gist of a report for IS9I-2, recently issued, the British Consul in Denmark, Mr luglin, says that_ 691 samples of butter, 155 of margarine, and sixtyfivo of cheese were taken during the year, and that no ease of adulteration was detocted in the butter or cheese, while each lot of margarine contained at least as much butter-fat as was stated on the parcel. Only ton cases of infringement of the law were reported by the inspectors, nnd nine of them wore cases of neglecting to conform to the regulations respecting the form and labelling of margarine receptacles, one being a lack of exhibiting a copy of the Act in the place of business in which it should have bcon displayed. On 31st March, 1892, there were sixteen margarine factories in Denmark, which had turned out 14,211,0001 b. of margarine in the preceding twelve months, Almost the entire quantity, and 2,000,0001 b. of .: imported margarine as well, were consumed in the country, tho exports being trifling. On the other hand, over 100,000,0001 b. of butter were exported, upwards of 98,000,0001 b. having been sent to England. Any discovery which would enable us to determine the exact amount of moisture would be a boon to chcesemakers. As Bhown with the hot iron, the curd should contain 48 per cent, ot moisture when there are fine threads on the iron. When taken from the prosa the cheese should have 38 per cent, of moisture, and when. wollcured33 per cent. An oxceßS of moisture tends to carry on fermentation ; a reduction to , lessen it. A low temperature leaves a soft, pasty cheese, and a high temperature a hard, firm cheese, according to the degree of heat. Putrefactive fermentation must be avoided. It is the greatest dread of the cheesemaker. — "Farmer and Stock Breeder." Mr A. L. Treadwell, of Wesleyan University, Connecticut, has recently made further experiments on the subject, and arrives at the conclusion that while milk under the influence of oxygen and ozone coagulates earlier than when left aloue, it doeß not do so if it has been sterilised, and kept from contact with unnlterod air. He therefore thinks that action is not a mere oxidation as Tolomei supposes, but is in part produced by the growth of bacteria, which is rapid iv hot, sultry weather. The bacteria of milk are aerobic, and free oxygen or . ozone would therefore, he thinks, foster thoir development.