NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2369, 27 July 1899, Page 5

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

tProfessor Drummond, of the Scottish Dairy Institute of Kilmarnock, reJudging cently acted as judge of butButter by ter at a large show in the Points. north-east of Ireland, and adopted the system of judging by points, which geems to be regarded as q. novelty in the Home country. He took 100 points as his standard of perfection,- the awards being made according to the following scale : — Colour 25 points, flavour 40 points, texture 20 point 3, and appearance 15 points. As good butter must have good colour and good texture, and as the appearance is mainly cue to the colour and texture, it would be thought that giving points for appearance was rather unnecessary, but probably the appearance would, iv this case, gain points according to the style and neatness of the prints, or perhaps the wrappers, if any, would be taken into consideration. The first class that iho judged was that for butter made up into lib rolls, in which class were 27 entries, including a number of the leading creameries of Ulster; but notwithstanding that fact, all three prizes were gained by private makers. The professor awarded the following points to the first, second, and third prize exhibits : 3Tirst, colour 25, flavour 36, texture 18, appearance 15, total 94 ; second, colour 23, flavoar 35, texture 17, appearance 14, total 89; 'third, colour 23, flavour 35, texture 15, appearance 13, total 86. There were four other classes, but in none of them did the total marks of the first piize exceed 94 in number, and though the flavour in one or two was awarded as much as 37 points. Anyone who wishes to see up-to-date work in pig-killing has only to pay a Hints on visit to the Dunedin Abattoirs Tig-killing. on a busy day, but as all farmers cannot send their pigs there to be killed, nor provide such convenient premises for the purpoFe on the farm, it follows that they have to do the best they can in their absence. Colonial pig styes are, &s a rule, such filthy places that the moßt disagreeable and most difficult part of the pigkilling is the catching of the pig. Having caught the pig and secured it by slipping h moose round its top jaw and behind the tusks, and another noose around its hind leg the next thing is to stick it properly co as to cause sufficient bleeding, and avoid "knifing" the moat. Unless a man is pretty expert iv the sticking business his best plan is to stun it *by giving a sharp blow with a hammer in the centre of the forehead and if this is done smartly the pig will drop like a "pithed" foulloek. Now catch hold of the upper foreleg with the left hand (the pig lying on its side), kneel on the shoulder with the left knee, press the head well back with the right 'heel so that the throat is thoroughly bare and tight, put the point of the knife in a little behind the gullet, and feel your way gently towards the gullet with the knife until the Wood gushes out freely. Then remove the heel and kneel on -the pig altogether for a few moments. Some killers do not stun the pig, but prefer to have the head held up in a perpendicular position, and it does not matter an the least how the sticking is done so long as the result is satisfactory. The pig being dead cut a slit through the nose to make a looi> wherewith to lift that end of the carcase. The scalding is an operation that require Ipractice and judgment, especially with regard to the correct temperature. The water should foe made to boil, and then reduced to the right heat. It is very bad to have the water too hot 8- as to overscald, while if it is found to be too 000 l then it can bo brought to the right temperature by adding boiling water. If the water overscalds it i» difficult to get the skin off at all. Small and medium-sizod jugs can be scalded in a tub oi trough, I ut very heavy are best done on a grating or Ws9w9 vZ aofljMJjj o.n the wj,ter and dipping

the feet into a can of water. Singeing is rarely done nowadays, but it used to be frequently adopted with large and coarse pigs in my young days. The skin is first thoroughly wetted and then covered with a thin layer of dry straw which is fired while the pig lies on the grass or on a paved floor. The heat of the burning straw (old bags or sacking do as well) causes the moisture on the skin to turn to steam, and is really another method of scalding. It the heat is rightly regulated the hair and outer skin can then be scraped off and the dressed carcase has a rich brown appearance. Though it would not answer for the pork butchers it does very well , for the family use. I j It may be news to Eome of my farmer friends ' to learn that the okl-fa-Curing Bacon shioned method of dry-s>alt-I for ing bacon has been quite su- | Favm Use. perseded in the old country ' by a much-improved method, at any rate so says a contributor to a recent I Home paper. We have been accustomed to | think that the salt must be rubbed in and the bacon turned frequently on a bench or slab. I It appears that the method now in use in ] all up-to-date farmhouses is to put the bacon into a pickle for three days prior to dry-salt-ing for home use. The pickle or brine is made by using 51b of sail and £lb saltpetre j to every 2gal of water. After being in pickle for three days — turning it each day — take the sides out and lee them drain a little before being salted. Then lay them on a bed i of salt and sprinkle Ealt over them. After I three days turn and sprinkle again, and then ! let it remain till cured. Medium-sized pigs, ! j seven to nine score, should be ready in nine days after taking out of the pickle; larger pigs • two or three days longer. When ready, wash ' off the dry salt with clean, cold water, and hang op for use. . Though it cannot be said that straw is a j " fattening food, it is extremely Talue of Strdw useful as furnishing bulk in as Fodder. connection with concentrated foods, and also as a means of counteracting tlie injurious eff^is of a too watery diet. Without a certain amount of dry food abortion is -very likely to occur in. e»ves that are wintered upon turnips, and if straw or chaff is not available, it is necessary to give the ewes a run upon grass now and again, and to remove them from the roots at least a month prior to the commencement of lambing. It is surprising how much nourishment there is in good, clean, oat straw, cut before it is quite ripe. to scientists, whose business it is to go into these 1 things and furnish us with reliable informa1 lion thereupon, one ton of oat straw contains 1 9521b of fat-formers and 921b of flesh-formers, ; in all, lOWb, oi nearly half the ton weight. Linseed cake of high quality contains 16081b of fat-former? and 5821b of flesh-formers, in all, 21901b, so that the straw is one-half as 1 good as expensive linseed cake. It seems rather improbable that two tons of straw is equal to one ton of linseed cake, but I cannot dispute the decisions of the analysts. Linseed cake is both laxative and nutritious, and prevents feveriahness and wasting in the wool when green food is Ecarce and a wholly dry diet unavoidable. Kvery farmer knows that there is very great waste in allowing stock ' free access to straw stacks, and that in order to make the most of it the straw should be cut into chaff. When bran is cheap it pays i to mix ;\ little with straw chaff for sheep on i, j bare pasture. Without going to the expenpo 3 \ of chaffing the straw when it is plentiful, • ! a good plan is to supply it to sheep in wiie- ; netting racks, or in racks formed by two parallel wire fenced about 3ft or 4ft apart. '"' Bright, clean straw of any kind is much betr ter for stock than damaged, musty hay, and , ' straw fed in a stable is nearly equal to hay fed in the open, seeing that much of tlie feed ■ is required to keep up the heat of the body ', and counteract the exposure to cold. ' A certain largo dairyman, whe prided him- ' self upon the quality of his } Weigh tlie Milk dairy herd, has been cons and strained to testify very Cull the Cows, strongly to the efficacy of J the plan of weighing each , cow's milk, and keeping a daily record. He > did not think he required to do so, as he thoroughly knew his cows, and he and his sons , did all the milking, but just to satisfy himself ; I he decided to .weigh and keep a daily record [ for one season. Before commencing to keep [ a record he and his sons just ticked off in » order the six best cows in the herd, being r confident that their judgment, combined with 5 their knowledge of the cows, would be con5 firmed by the weighing test. They also jotted „ down their estimate of the season's milk yield 5 of each cow. When the year's record was i made up they found that their estimate and * placing wero entirely wrong. The cow the r dairyman and his sons had put first came out r fourth in the test ; their second and third came I out fifth and sixth, while the cow they had put fifth came out first, and the second cow 5 in the test was one they had not thought I worth placing at all. These results were veril fied by subsequent records, and the farmer 3 had to acknowledge that there is nothing r like the daily record for proving the quality 1 of a milch cow. Moreover, this experienced 3 farmer literally proved "by the book " that . about one-fourth of his cows were being kepi t al an actual \a*p, while many of them were I barely paying iheir way. ll seems very queer b that a praot'cal man s-houM be so much out r in his computation a- to find that the cow he : thought hia best ghovUd Uixn out Jq he his

fourth best. One could understand the discrepancy if the test "went by butter fat as well as yield, but in this case it was quantity alone. It is often the case that cows give a prodigious yield for several mouths, and then fall off, and the owner is apt to form a false estimate from the big yield at the outset. Whereas another may not be a great" 1 milker in the flush, but keeps up a fair yield consistently all through the season, and, like the tortoise in the fable, beats the showy cow in the total result. Keeping a daily record entails much trouble, but what about the trouble and loss involved in feeding- and milking cows that don't pay for their tucker? ; AGMCOLA. I