Farmers' Column.

Bruce Herald, Volume X, Issue 912, 8 June 1877, Page 7

Farmers' Column.

The manufacture of butter from beef is rapidly increasing. When properly made, it is said to ba unexceptional in taste and quality. A new company has just been formed in New York for the supply of the foreign market. The only suggestion made for tho outbreak of cattle plague at the farm near Grimsby is that about a fortnight before a quantity of foreigu bones was taken to the farm for manure. At the Wigton (Cumberland) Petty Sessions. Mr Hutchinson, farmer, Stoekton-on-Teoß, was charged with having caused to be carried on a steamer from Dublin to Silloth twenty swine affected with foot-and-mouth disease. The Bench convicted the defendant, and fined him £2 for each of the ten pigs, making £20 in all, and 18s 6d costs. Within tho last fortnight about £100 worth of pigs havo been lost at Scarborough and the vicinity through the sudden death of swine, and it is said that in each case some of the animals had come from Scarborough pig market. From the symptoms described to him (not having seen one of the cases), the local inspector under the Contagious Diseases (Anima 1 ) Act, pronounces the disease to bo typhoid fever, and in this is fortified by other professional men. The pigs die in six or nine hours. — * Leeds Mercury.' Tho Commissioners of Customs have been informed that tho Colorado potato beetle has been discovered in a living state at Bremen, upon goods which had been brought from New York. Specimens of the beetle, have been seen at other places in Germany. The Commissioners have issued a circular to the Collectors of Customs at the ports in the United Kingdom, directing that the instructions already given for detecting the beetle be at once applied to potatoes imported from Bremen or any other place in the German Empire. A correspondent informs us (* Wairarapa Standard') that the seven-horse power steam thrashing machine ordered by Mr Walter Francis, of Taranaki, from England, is one of the newest and moat approved patterns. It is self-feeding, cuts its own bands, and combines all the latest improvements. We believe either straw or sawdust may be used with it as fuel. Mr Walter Francis is ploughing from 200 to 300 acres this season, and a labor-saving machine becomes a necessity to him. At the same time he will givo his neighbors the benefit of the importation. Various attempts have been made to utilise the carcases of the vast herds of cattle which roam and fatten on the Pampas of La Plata. At present some 3,000,000 head are understood to be killed there annually mainly for tbeir hides and tallow — a limited number of carcasea being utilised iv Liebig's extract and " jerked beef." From an article on Colonial Agriculture, prepared specially for ' Bell's Weekly Messenger,' we glean the following interesting particulars shewing the relative position New Zealand holds iv the Australian Colonies in an agricultural point of view : In Victoria, the most thickly populated of the Australian colonies, in 1875, there were 1,126,891 acres in cultivation ; in South Australia there were 1,444,580 acres ; in New South Wales, the oldest of the whole of the colonies, there were 485,138 acres ; in Tasmania, 332,824 acres ; while in New Zealand there were 2,377,402 acres. In 1875 there was an aggregate area iv cultivation in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, and Western Australia of 3,480,297 acres ; while in the same year New Zealand cultivated 2,377,402 acres, fully twothirds of the aggregate of the other six colonies. New Zealand is increasing the area of cultivated land, her population, her commerce, and her wealth, at a rate which is unprecedented. In the same year (1875,) the imports of Australia and New Zealand were valued at £47,272,839 — the exports at £44,407,091, or a total of £91,679,841 for the trade returns for the year. These are more like the figures of a wealthy empire than those of a few sins 11 colonies scarcely forty years old, and only partially occupied by a handful of people.— (The total imports of New Zealand during 1875 we find to have been £8,029,172, and the exports £5,828, G72.) A new oil-yielding fruit, known as Guzerat seed, has just been introduced into commerce from the East Indies. On examination, it appears to be identical with the Sinapis glanca (Roxb.) Extensive trials at a Dantzic oil mill have given most satisfactory results, 20001 b of the seed yielding 7301 b of oil, or about 701 b more than is obtained from tho same weight of rape. Professor Birner is about to investigate the value of cake made from the seed as food for cattle. — « The Farmer.' At a meeting of the lioyal Scottish Society of Arts, held in Edinburgh, Dr Stevenson Macadam read a paper on " Butterino," and showed samples of the material both pure and mixed with butter iv various proportions. He stated that the high and increasing price of butter had lately stimulated manufacturers in this and other countries to make a wholesome article which would be suitable in taste and of nutritious qualities as a substitute for butter. The original or raw material now used was the best ox suet, and was gently heated in a steam pan, until the finer and purer part of the fat was liquified. This was then run off, and while still warm was skimmed separately, and thereafter allowed to cool The semi-solid fat thus obtained was pressed through bags for further purification, after which it was churned with some milk, and kneaded and salted in the usual way. In chemical properties the buttering which was

thua obtained was almost identical with ordinary butter. The Smithfield Show of December was instrumental in raising the Devon breeds a notch c two higher in the estimation of cattle-' seeders. The home journals in their repor'i all speak highly of the quality the hard;, reds displayed. In the younger class of steers the judges commended the entire class of thirteen. Two belonged to the Queen, and two others to the Prince of Wales, and the hreed ought indeed to become fashionable, being patronized so much by royalty. One of her Majesty's took third prize, but the animals placed brat and second were the most remarkable, both being beauties of the first water. The three-year-old steers of this breed wera not so uniformly good, but there were two or three very fine — the second and third prize animals, in fact, weighed respectively 17 cwt 1 qr 10 lb and 15 cwt 3 qrs 6 lbs. Tho first prize animal, belonging to Mr T. H. Risdon, weighed only about 13 cwt and a quarter, but he was far above the others in nice quality and symmetry. But it waa the next class for Devon beasts, not exceeding four years and a-half, which furnished the wonder of the show. The honors gained by an ox at this shotv were the first prize of £25 in his class, the silver cup, value £40, aa the best Devon beast, the £50 silver cup for being the best steer or ox in the show, and the Champion plate, value £100, as the be3t beast. His winnings amount therefore to £215. But, saya one report, he is, indeed, a prime one, having immense substance, yet of the finest possible quality. His weight appears to be jusfc 19 cwt, which is only exceptionally exceeded by Shorthorns of the same age, yet he seems devoid of an atom of coarseness. With great depth and breadth of frame, and a very level top, he | 13 exceedingly handsome. His coat is lighter ( than the ordinary hue of the Devon, but the hair is of a beautiful texture, and stands all over him in waves of curls. The heaviest Shorthorn ox was within 4 lbs of 24 cwt. The prize Shorthorn ox weighed 23 cwt. A Hereford ox weighed 23 cwt 1 qr 3 lbs ; a Hereford cow, 19 cwt 1 qr 11 lbs. The Smithfield Club have recently passed a rule prohibiting cattle over 4$ year 3 from competing for their prizes.