FARM TOPICS

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4407, 13 July 1901, Page 8 (Supplement)

FARM TOPICS

Uigilt reasons arc given ai foljows by IToiessor Marshall, oi Hie Michigan Hairy School, U.S.A., who recently visited Hen. mark, in expiantnm of Hie good reputation Banish butter possesses : ness in milking and in all butter-making operations; (-> pasteurisation of the milch cows; l!i) adoption of scientific practically universal; (:}) rational ute of starters; (4) careful supervision of feed for milch cows; m) adoption of scientific practices in dairy factories; (0) stimulus offered by the Government butter shows; (7) favourable localion of {heir country; (8) absolute control of the export trade by the butter'committee. ‘iiie process of jirepuiing the soil for growing vfc b e-aUies .uiiouueeu uy . nne»~or atone, OI me iMossacnuseits .igncullural College, lias been pi’acacajiy earned oul by . i . .v. Jiu.vs.ju. ene wei.«.aiown market gardener or Arrington (says tut •■postou i I ansenptlie is, pemaps, the largest grower of vegetables imuer gdass, having thirty-five greenhouses, most or them at present devoted to raising icttuce and cucumbers. Last year, Air rial.■ son soid 6(JU,90.) cucumbers in the Boston and iS'ew iork markers. necently the garden committee of tire State ilorticulu;ral Society visited these houses, and were specially interested -in the fact of the vegetables being grown on sterilised soil. The process of sterilising consists in heating the soil to a temperature of rhlO.ieg in boxes, which are lined with steam pipes. It is also carried on in the greenhouses by means of a portaiqe frame, which is put into the beds, and' sterilises the soil for a depth of a foot below and above the pipes. As the process requires only ’about an hour, ilf does not take a long time to sterilise the whole soil in a house, and tho soil thus treated is good for a year, raising several crops. The advantage of sterilising the soil is not only that the weeds contained therein are killed, hut all the fungi and growths deleterious to plants in the soil are also killed. In many of the greenhouses, where lettuce la grown, it is found necessary to put onlyon inch of sterilised soil on tho surface, and the committee visited greenhouse after greenhouse without seeing a ‘single weed. Uussia is coming into competition witli Australia in the Bnglish markets. It is stated that the Kussian Government has chartered three large vessels from Messrs. Wilson, ship owners, of Hull, for the purpose of carrying agricultural produce to London. These steamers are fitted up with the latest impovements in freezing chambers, with a special hold for the storage of eggs. They will bear Kussian names, fly tho Kussian Hag, and be manned" by Kussian sailors. The object of this move on the part of the Russians is to develop the Siberian agricultural resources. At a meeting of the cental committee of the Drought Distressed Farmers’ Fund, South Australia, it was decided to close the fund and to invest the remaining amounts in the hands of tho finance committee in trust. During the year altogether 17,839 bushels of wheat were distributed. The cash still in'hand amounts to H 1276, and promissory nolos outstanding to tho value ‘of .£4SO.

Among the by-products of tho dairy is sugar of milk, wnich is made froci iho whey obtained from cheese 'factories or creameries, and is mainly used in the prt* paration of drugs and medicines and various foods for infants and invalids. It has a very delicate sweet taste, but it is not so sweet as cane or beet sugar. In a bulletin issued by the United States Department of Agriculture it is stated that this component of milk was discovered late in the seventeenth century, hut it was not until tho first half of the present century that practical methods were invented for separating the sugar from the milk in a white and chrystalline form. For many years Switzerland was the principal pro* duccr. The United States was at one time the principal customer of Switzerland, and took about -three.fourths of /the total exports, which were valued at ,£12,500 annually. Between 1880 and 1890 the manu< ture of sugar of milk became established in two or three places in'the United States/ The prices of the article in America were at that time about Is 3d to Is 6d "per lb. but it has since fallen to between 5d and 8d per lb. There are now in the States of -New York, Ohio, and Illinois four or five factories of considerable size making sugar of hnilk. They use whey, from neighbouring cheese factories,, for which they pay 2d to 3<l, and sometimes 3Jd per 1001 b, usually delivered at the factory. From this is obtained from 2 Y to 3 per cent, of its weight in re, fined sugar. The quantity exported tc Hurope is stated to be increasing, but. af the article is not separately distinguished in the trade returns, no figures are available. * * *

A Continental journal gives the results of some experiments on tbe consumption by young pigs of -milk which had been treated with boracio acid for preservative purposes. The experimentalist gave tc six animals milk to which.had been added variable doses of boracio acid, and all the animals died within three or four weeks. At the same time six other young pigs were fed upon pure milk, and they grew rapidly, making weight to a notable degree. The animals which had milk treated with oracic acid lost their appetite in two days, manifested weakness, suffered from diarrhoea, and rapidly became very thin. The younger the pigs the more injurious the milk containing boracio ‘acid proved itse'f..

The experiments of Professor Russell, of the University of Wisconsin, show that 140 deg. for 20 minutes will kill tubercle bacilli, i: the milk be not open to the air. The following are Dr Russell’s conclusions:—!. An exposure of tuberculous milk in a tightly-closed commercial pasteuriser for a period of ten minutes destroyed in every case the tubercle bacillus as determined by the inoculation of such heated milk into susceptible animals like guinea pigs. 2. Where milk is exposed under conditions that would enable a pellicle or n embrane to form on the surface the tubercle organism is able to resist the action of beat at 140 deg. Fabr. for considerably longer periods of time. 3. Efficient pasteurisation can be more readily accomplished in a closed recdptacle such as is most frequently used in the commercial treatment of milk than whore the milk is heated in open bottles or open vats. 4. It is recommended in order to thoroughly pasteurise milk so as to destroy any tubercle bacilli which it may contain, without in any way injuring its creaming properties or consistency, to heat the same in closed pasteurisers for a period of not less than 20 minutes at 140 deg. Fabr. Under these conditions one may he certain that disease bacteria such as the tubercle bacillus will be destroyed without the milk or cream being injured in any way. For over a year this new standard has been in constant use in the 'Wisconsin University creamery, and the results have been abundantly confirmed.

In an article on the sale and consumption of meat in France, the "Economist© Francais” describes what has been done in Denmark in the way of co-operative slaughter houses and butchers’ shops. These establishments, which now number 25, have secured for the feeders rff fat stock a progress which they could never attain with private slaughter houses, namely, the purchase of pigs by weight after they had been killed, according to their quality. These 25 co-operative' slaughter houses killed in 1899 730,000 pigs, valued at Tl,700,000; and 22.500 head of cattle, valued at .£200,000. They include 50,000 active members, who undertake to furnish a given number of pigs, and, as is the case with the co-operative butter factories, the members have an equal proportionate share in the profits in the year. The Copenhagen Central Association, in constant touch with foreign countries. keeps members informed of the fluctuations of the market, and has in this way rendered valuable service to farmers and stock owners.