THE TAYLOR PATENT COLD ACCUMULATOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 1981, 11 February 1892, Page 7

THE TAYLOR PATENT COLD ACCUMULATOR.

By the s.s. Peregrine, which sailed yesterday for Sydney, Brisbane, and Kockhampton (says the Argus of January 14) the carcases of several sheep are being sent, with a view of demonstrating to pastoralists and others in the northern part of the continent how, by means of a recent invention, known as Taylor's patent cold accumulator, frozen meat can be conveyed from any part of the interior to the seaport and placed on board ship at the temperature at which it leaves the freezing works. The inventor is Mr Edmund Taylor, and his system of refrigerating is by means of portable cold accumulators, which are equally applicable to railway cars, hotels, and private houses as to shipboard. The inventor describes the accumulators as portable sheet-iron vessels of any desired weight or size, containing a freezing mixture, which does not require renewal for a considerable period. This freezing mixture can be so regulated that any temperature down to zero— namely, 32deg below freezing point on Fahrenheit's thermometer— can be obtained, which gives them an immense advantage over ice, which remains at a temperature of 32deg Fahr., and can only reduce the temperature of the interior of a

railway car to about 4-Odeg Fahr., rendering ifc impossible to carry meat in a frozen condition, whereas by the accumulator 20deg Fahr. may be easily obtained when frozen meat is carried. The air in a chamber cooled by the accumulators is rendered very much drier than when cooled by ice, as they congeal and hold all the moisture in the air coming in contact with their surfaces, and the apparatus for holding them is so constructed that a continuous circulation of the enclosed air is maintained in the chamber in such a way that every portion is consecutively brought in contact with the surfaces of the vessels, and consequently an almost absolutely dry atmosphere is obtained. In loading a railway car with the cold power prior to a journey the accumulators are merely lowered through a hatchway in the roof into a receptable of about only half the size required when ice is used. This is much more easily effected, and takes less time than handling and fixing ice according to the methods now employed in those cars using ice. In all the refrigerating cars which use ordinary ice for producing the cold power the air that circulates round the meat and other perishable produce comes in contact with the moist surfaces of the ice, and also with the water dripping therefrom, and which is still more intimately mixed with the air by means of a series of wires placed under the ice shelves. The impossibility of getting a sufficiently low temperature with ice and the quantity of moisture which is constantly in contact with the meat when it is placed in the same chamber with the ice is fatal to its complete preservation, whereas by the accumulators meat, fish, fruit, and other perishable goods may be kept in their natural state for a long period. The cost of producing the accumulators per ton does not exceed that of ice when the machines by the same maker are used, and meat, fish, fruit, and other perishable goods can be carried at a less cost than when ice is the medium employed. It is claimed that by the application of this invention the starving and bruising of cattle by their being travelled alive from the fattening grounds in live stock trucks to be slaughtered in the city will be altogether obviated. The gentlemen who are projecting the new refrigerating apparatus point to the frozen meat trade of New Zealand, which has, in a comparatively short time, grown to immense proportions ; and it is asserted that whilst prior to the initiation of the freezing industry there was only 11,000,000 sheep in that colony, there are now upwards of 17,000,000, and the possibilities of the export trade are only bounded by the shipping facilities. It is estimated that there are about 115,000,000 sheep, and 10,000,000 cattle on the Australian continent ; and that of these there is a surplus of about 10 per cent., or 11,500,000

sheep and 1,000,000 head of cattle available per annum for export. Taking 40 sheep and three head of cattle to the ton, this would represent an annual export trade of 287,500 tons of mutton 1 and 333,333 tons of beef, which at 3£d per 1b represents a value of L 20,280,545. It is claimed for the system under notice that it will enable the grower to freeze his carcases both of sheep and cattle in the interior, and to land them in London at a considerably less price and in far better condition than if they had been travelled alive lo thecoastand there frozen. Professor Kernot, Mr Henry C. Mais (late engineer-in-chief of the South Australian railways), and other experts speak very very highly of Mr Taylor's invention, which, should it prove to have all the virtues claimed for it, ought to create something like a revolution in the meat trade of Australia. There is already a car running from Tentcrficld to Sydney with great success, and it is anticipated that shortly a large trade will be opened up in the northern colonies. Nine carcases are packed in a cool chamber on board the Peregrine, and they will be taken down to Sydney, Brisbane, and Kockhampton, not as aii experiment, but by way of showing the effective character of Mr Taylor's invention. FARMYARD MANURE. ' At a recent meeting of the Newcastle-on-Tyne Farmers' Club Dr Somerville, professor of agriculture at the Durham College of I Science, read an eminently useful, practical lecture on farmyard manure, for an epitome of which we are indebted to the Newcastle Courant .— Professor Somerville said in composition farmyard manure was a somewhat complex substance, and to this, in part, must be attributed its value. In quality it was very irregular, so much so indeed that it was hardly possible to obtain an analysis that would fairly represent the general composition of a large heap. By far the most important source of nitrogen in farmyard manure was to be found in the urine, where the nitrogen was present almost exclusively as urea— a substance which decomposed in soil with great rapidity, producing ammonia, and ultimately nitric acid. It was to the careful utilisation of this that a far- | mer should in the first place direct his atten- | tion. This was doubly necessary— firstly, on account of the value of the liquids ; and secondly, because they were so liable to be lost. Besides, it was only by applying both the liquid and the solid materials to the land that farmyard manure was fully entitled to be called a general manure. The solids were deficient in certain ingredientb that were abundant in the

liquids, aud vice versa, and therefore they should both be used together. In a properly constructed dung pit the bottom should be quite impervious to the passage of fluids, otherwise much loss might arise from drainage into the ground. The best way to deal with the liquid portion would appear to be to collect all the drainings from the byres and the stables into a tank, and to pump the contents periodically over the dung heap. Farmyard manure that had been allowed to heat and become mouldy, owing toa deficiency of moisture, had been robbed of a considerable part of its nitrogen. At the lower end of the pit there should be another tank, where the liquids might collect that had percolated through the mass, and if the manure was preserved under cover, or consisted largely of horse dung, it would be necessary to pump these drainage liquids frequently over the heap as well, in order to supply the necessary amount of moisture. As regards the relative advantages of storing manure under cover or in the open, he was of the opinion that if proper precautions were taken a perfectly satisfactory result would be got by open storage. In furnishing farmyard manure one frequently obtained either pure stable or pure byre dung. These two classes of manure wore not alike suitable to all kinds of laud. The rapidly decomposing stable dung should be applied to the stiffest laud. Byre dung, on the other hand, suited light laud best. Proceeding, he said the less farmyard manure was meddled with the better, until it had been conveyed direct to the laud. Unless very considerable advantages as regards the distribution of labour were to be gained, the conveyance of manure from the dung pit to storage heaps in the fields was a system not to be recommended. In order to prevent excessive decomposition in farmyard manure, the simplest application was fine loam, rich in humus, though hotter results had attended the use of kainit or superphosphate. As regarded the application of farmyard manure to the land, he said it should be spread over the surface immediately after being deposited in heaps from the cart ; for if it be allowed to lie in this state for any considerable time a very unsatisfactory result would be got. Far advanced as they were in the theory and practice of manuring, there was no doubt that money was still recklessly squandered, and that we have still much to learn. Manuring was in many cases a haphazard operation, too much influenced by prejudice and guided by rule of thumb. Such a state of things had no right whatever to exist. To discover what his land and his various crops required, all a farmer had to do was to lay out small experimental plots, and pit the different manures and manurial systems against each other, and then carefully weigh the produce and compare the results. Of course the experiments must be arranged on

definite principles, and due care taken to prevent the chances of error. If a body of farmers, such as constituted the Newcastle Farmers' Club, would take concerted action and attack the subject with the determination to discover the truth, they would not only learn much that would be to their own advantage, but they would also contribute greatly to the agricultural progress of the North of England and of the whole country. Earl Ravensworth characterised the paper just read as the most practical, most useful, ami most lucid that it has been his good fortune to ] listen to for many years. The proceedings terminated with a cordial vote of thanks to the professor for his lecture. FARM KOTES. Men and Cattli; Seized with Hvdkovuouia. — A. telegram from Atchison, County Kansas, U. S. A., says : — "A terrible calamity has befallen three brothers named Vanderburg, cattle-breeders in this town. About a fortnight ago a steer of one of their herds of cattle was bitten by a mad dog, and was soon afflicted with rabies. The disease spread throughout the herd, and Messrs Vanderburg, who were not | aware of what had occurred, were bitten each in turn by the infuriated cattle. They paid no ! particular attention to their wounds, until on I Friday last one of the brothers was violently attacked with hydrophobia, and died in terrible agony on the following day. Another of the I brothers succumbed on Sunday under similar | circumstances. The third now exhibits all the symptoms of the disease, and is not likely to recover." A Small Tow. — A pure-bred Shetland pony mare on the farm of Mr A. Sandison, Uya Sound, Shetland, has this year produced what is believed to be the smallest foal ever bred on the island. At four days old this diminutive specimen of the equine family weighed only 271b and stood 22|in in height. Notwithstanding its unusually small size, the foal is a perfect picture of beauty in style, shape, and quality. Itb dam is 34in and its sire (Triptolemus) 39ain high. Mr Sandison has been a large breeder of ponies for over 40 years, and has some very line specimens on his farm. The prevailing olours are black and brown, and the average height 39in. — North British Agriculturist. Use for Kicking Cows. — If milk is not •sold as milk, but only used for making butter, it is often worth quite as much for fattening calves as for anything else. This makes it possible to save kicking cows, to which successive series of calves may be put in turn to suckle until fat, and thus with no trouble to the owner tho milk is converted into as much money as in any other way. The calves take all the kicks, though generally a cow that kicks a. human

A New Labour-saving Apparatus. — A labour-saving apparatus of some little interest and importance to farmers has recently been invented and patented by Mr David Ebonezer Carr, Tolkington, Berwick-on-Tweed. Tho apparatus is for use in the operation of threshing grain out of the sheaf, and its utility consists in elevating the sheaves to the feeding board and in cutting the bands while the sheaves are in the act of being elevated. Tho invention consists of a trough made of wood, or any other suitable material, of a length suited to the requirements of tho place or position in which the machine is to be erected. This trough is open at both ends ; its depth is aboub 14in ; its width about 16in. At each end of tho trough is placed a rollor, the top surfaces of which run level with the bottom of the trough. Around the rollers is made to revolve a belt, and this, passing under and over the bottom of the) trough, constitutes the elevating medium of tho invention. The cutting medium of the inven* tion is secured by having a thin steel disc of about 22in in diameter revolving in the centre of the trough, about 4ft from tho discharge end, the said disc rotating on a spindle running in bearings resting on the sides of the trough. On each end of the disc spindle, which projects, is placed a pulley, and to one of these is comt municated the motive power from the threshing machine. The other is used to give motion to the driviug roller of the elevating belt. The invention can be applied to either fixed or travelling threshing machines. — North British Agriculturist.