CANNED MILK IN CHINA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14144, 20 August 1909, Page 8

CANNED MILK IN CHINA.

According to an American consular report, there is a growing demand for canned milk in Southern China, and the German and Swiss products are becoming keen, rivals for the trade, which was at one time almost entirely American. The Chinese have never used any groat quantities of milk. No dairy farms exist except in the various foreign settlements and colonies. In fact, among the Chinese, fresh milk is practically never used, owing to its scarcity. There is every indication, however, that the Chinese are beginning to realise the value of milk as' * food, and when once the use of it becomes general the manufacturers of the canned product should find a large market in this country. A Gorman brand of natural condensed milk has been in the market for about two years, and finds a good, sale. An Anglo-Swiss condensed milk is growing in popularity among the Chinese, and large quantities are now used -by them. This brand is probably the greatest competitor the American product has. It has been in the market for several years, and by continued advertising has gained a good hold on the market. A matter worthy of note regarding this brand is that the directions, etc., are also in the Chinese language on the label pasted around the can.

WORKING BUTTER.

Tho churning and working of butter is alike as is the, beginning and finishing of a piece of work. If you do riot get a good beginning you will have a hard time finishing. If you do not get the butter churned in good condition you will have a hard timo working it. The object of working butter is to distribute the salt evenly and to get it in a more compact form for commercial use. Mottled butter is butter that is uneven in colour and is not very common in factories where the manufacture of butter is pioperly carried on. In making butter unless tho greatest care is taken more or less buttermilk is left in tho butter and the buttermilk contains casein lactate.

DROUGHT IN ARGENTINA. • To those who aro impressed with, the idea that Argentina possesses all tho'advantages and none of the drawbacks incidental to agricultural pursuits, tho following report, coming from a reliable source, will prove a surprise:"Argentina has been suffering from one of the most protracted droughts ever experienced in that country. • Much of tho land up to the beginning of the 'season, was too hard to bo ploughed for wheat or other crops, and there- appears to be no possibility of anything like the usual acreage being sown. The lack of feed in the pastures has involved breedors in serious losses, many having been constrained to sell cattle at no more than the value of their hides, and, sheep at a corresponding sacrifice, while the mortality among the. animals on somo e&tancjas; is very, great. The drought has been most severe , in the greatest, cattlebreeding provinces and the north, and least so in the extreme south.: No relief had been experienced up to the first week of June." ,

- MILK FLAVOURS. ' : ; ;-^ In milk we find two classes of flavoursfood and contamination. Thoso flavours of different foods which the milk absorbs from the animal before being milked are known as "food" flavours, and are more pronounced at the time of milking. Contamination flavours are those which gain access to tho milk after it leaves the udder of the cow. These are of two kinds. One is due to flavours of certain substances which are absorbed by the milk after milking, while tho other is duo to tho milk being directly infected with bacteria, which takes place at some time subsequent to. milking. ■■■- -'■'--■ i■■ — • A BREVITIES. No one can got satisfactory gains from farm stock unless they be given good care. There are three essentials that go hand in hand—good breed, good feed, good care. If you lack either you cannot expect to succeed. •

In badly-formed feet it is impossible to stop tho development of corns. The shoeing should receive tho necessary attention. In bad cases removing the shoes and turning the horse on pasture is the best kind of treatment. ~ v

After the calf is removed from tho cow it should bo given its mother's milk for a few days, and then any whole milk win answer, but it is better to give milk that is low in percentage of butter-fat than that which is high.

Mrs. Nat. Collins, " tho Cattle Queen of Montana," owns so many head that when she was asked the number, she replied, "They're too many to count.",-'Mme. Creel, of Washington, has 600,000 head of cattle and 280,000 acres of land.

It has been sometimes claimed, as the result of experience, that three Jerseys can bo kept on the samo rations as two Shorthorns,* maintained in equal condition, and producing an equal quantity of milk solids, if not so large a quantity of milk.

Of all the changes (says the Field) which have come over the life of the English countryside during the past half-century or so, on© of the greatest is the deterioration in many districts in the manners and behaviour of tho countrymen and country children.

Measured rainfall in inches does not determine crop growth, for several reasons. Physical condition of the soil, drainage, etc., are important, and plants grown for a length of time will develop with less water, partly due, no doubt, to a more extended root growth.

A good lot of brood sows and a thoroughbred boar or two are good signs of prosperity on the farm. There is always a good market for pigs of almost any age under 12 months. All hogs, except breeding stock, should not bo kept beyond the most profitable age for the market.

"The Egyptian cow," declares an expert at Cairo, " is an animal quite different from the cow in Europe, being very strong and somewhat resembling a buffalo, whilst she is used for several purposes—to furnish manure, to work water wheels, to carry burdens, also for riding and for beef."

The systems of feeding dairy cattle are legion. In Lapland and the north of Sweden they'are largely supplied with fish; in some cases, even in England, a material known as sludge forms part of the ration; sesame cake is used in Denmark, rape cake in Holland, and'although an excellent food, it is distasteful to the cows, whilst brewers' grains are sometimes used in enormous quantities.

In an elaborate report on the milking trials at the London Dairy Show, which appears in the Journal of the British Dairy Farmers' Association, a table is given of the number of cows coming up to the standard. Of pedigree Shorthorns 15 were tested and 10 were above the standard; non-pedigree Shorthorns, 19 and 10; Lincoln Red Shorthorns, 9 and 2; Jerseys, 16 arid 5; Guernseys, 5 and 2; Ayrshires, 6 and none; Kernes, 6 and 2; and Dexters, 6 and 1. v