NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3885, 28 August 1928, Page 12

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Much of the grass land at the present

Cultivation of Grass Land.

time would benefit greatly if rigorously harrowed in the early spring months. Merc brushing over with light

chain harrows is not enough. This only scatters the droppings and fails to stir the matted grasses and open up the surface of the soil to the air and sunshine. The management and cultivation of grass land calls for as much attention as arable land. It is not merely a matter of grazing down the herbage in the summer or making hay. There must be frequent changing of the grazing stock, and the grass lands should be harrowed and fertilised if the best returns are to. be secured. If ploughing is being “ cut out ” of farm operations to some extent, then more attention can well be given to harrowing and fertilising the pastures. The harrows, in addition to freshening up the pastures, eradicating moss and rubbishy vegetation, clear the root surfaces and loosen old leaf blades and work in well with top-dressing operations. The slower growing and more valuable pasture plants

are assisted and the value of the pasture maintained and weeds held in check.

An American manufacturer points out

The Dairy Danner and Ice Cream.

how ice cream making helps the dairying industry. When was ice cream first made? This

question was raised bv Mr Fred Rasmussen, of the Internationa'! Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers of U.S.A., in a paper on the development of the ice cream industry in the United btates. He said one of the earliest records of its use was in the pensioning by Charles I of the French cook who at one the royal banquets. The Frenchman’s pension, however, was conditional on his keeping the process secret and on making it only at the command of his Majesty. King Charles, however, could have had no knowledge of the food and health value of ice cream, which was strongly emphasised in Mr Rasmussen s paper. Wliether the flavour or the health value was the basis or not he did not say when he mentioned that m 1926 in the U.S.A. 4,464,144,0001 b of milk or its equivalent was used in ice cream. With such a quantity in consumption he was able to say that ice creani acted as a balance wheel for the entire dairy industry and had a stabilising effect upon prices, for 67.5 per cent, of the total yearly production of ; "e cream was made during May, June, July, and August, so that, coming during ana directly following the heaviest production of milk, it helped to raise the price received by the farmer during those months. It was therefore an advantage to the dairy farmer to create a demand for dairy products in any form. In the United States commercial ice cream is no longer regarded as a luxury. It had a definite- place in the dairy industry and was considered a wholesome, nourishing, and essential food. Moreover, there ate over 450.000,000d0l invested in the industry. Several of the States require a niinimun? butter-fat content of 8 per cent., hut liv far the in'aior portion’ of

commercial ice cream contained from 10 to 12 per cent. An interesting analysis of the channels of distribution of ice cream showed that drug stores accounted for 29 per cent., confectionery stores for T 7 per cent., restaurants and hotels for 12 per cent., groceries for 11 per cent., wayside "stands-’ for 3 per cent., and cigar stores for 2 per cent. Approximately 88 per cent, of the ice cream is sold in bulk and 12 per cent, in brick or packages. Air Rasmussen recommended extension of the manufacture of ice cream in countries where its use was not so extensive. “As you make good ice cream more and more attractively available to your people you will prosper in large measure.”

Lambing time is a much more anxious

La nil> i ng Time.

job on the farm than was the case when wool and fat lambs were selling at any old price. We

are apt to-day to do the ewes too well and thus court trouble. It will pay sheep owners to move among the ewes daily so as to accustom them to being rounded up, but beware of trailing a number of strange dogs. One quiet old tyke is more than enough. Ewes on the farm should be visited in the morning and again in the afternoon. Many a good breeding ewe may be saved if seen in time. The use of a good lick is recommended, but in a general way, except with young ewes, no very great trouble is met with provided the bowels are in proper working order. Provided the foetus is presented in the normal manner, there is usually nothing gained by assisting the ewe. In most abnormal presentations the front feet and head should be felt for and placed gently in their position in the passage facing outwards. The natural position, be it observed, for the fretus is with the head resting on the forelegs, and if this is so help is seldom required. In any case of interference be sure that the finger nails are pared short and smooth and the hand smeared with vaseline or carbolised oil. In any false presentation the ewe is first placed gently on her side, the hand compressed and introduced gently, and assistance given by drawing steadily towards the hocks of the ewe each time the natural pains occur. It is advisable to provide a few small yards (hurdles thatched with straw or other material are useful) in the lambing paddock, and make use of ■ these pens for sick ewes or when mothering an orphan lamb.

Behind Vauxhall Station, England, has

JU ilk Tube for London. •11- J A. •

arisen a great square building, which overtops the surrounding houses and is the largest and most up-to-date wholesale

milk depot in the world. Here London. Wholesale Dairies has established a vast and efficient organisation for supplying not only proprietary dairymen, but hospitals and kindred institutions throughout London, with a safe and pure milk supply. Outwardly the new building is imposing; inwardly it is a marvel of hygienic organisation. Between the station and the depot is a tunnel, tiled and cool. Not a stone or a piece of earth was disturbed on the surface of the road during its construction. At the station end of the tunnel is a platform. Here, by road and rail, comes the milk from all parts of the country. Soon it will arrive in glasslined tanks, each holding from 1200 to < 3000 gallons. At the moment it is de-‘ livered in churns, which descend in lifts from the station above. The milk is then tipped into a pipe running through the tunnel. At the other end of the pipe, 100 yards away, the milk is cooled before it finds its way into one of the eight storage tanks that are ranged, four aside, along a tall white-tiled room. Each of these tanks, made of steel and lined with glass throughout, holds 2500 gallons of milk. The rooni resembles the engine room of one. of our great ships with its dials and pointers, its. spotless machinery, its iron ladders, and its electric fans. In no circumstances, however, is the milk stored for any .prolonged period, as the whole process from the time the milk arrives at the factory until it is sent out again only takes a few hours. The milk does not lie quietly in the tanks. It is steadily agitated during its storage, so that there is no separation of cream and milk. From the storage tanks the milk makes another journey to the sterilising and pasteurising plants. For the pasteurising process it is heated to 145 deg Fahr, and kept at this temperature for 30 minutes, and then rapidly cooled to 40deg Fahr., as required ■by the Ministry of Health. After cooling comes the bottling, as ingenious a job of work as machine ever did. The bottles, which are of a new and distinctive ribbed pattern, are moved along an endless belt from the bottle washers to the bottling machines, where they are filled with exactly the right amount of milk. Capping with a disc or stopper completes the whole business, and the milk, safe and hygienic, is ready for delivery to the retailer. The .striking feature of this Wonderful bottling plant is that nobody sees a drop of milk until it is safe in. its bottles. If the milk is required, in bulk it is automatically measured into 10-

gallon churns after the cooling process. The churns then travel along a mechanical conveyor to the cold storage chamber, where they remain until the hour of distribution. Among other wonders of this marvellous depot are large laboratories where analysts test samples of the milk taken frequently at every stage from cow to consumer; the engine room; bottlewashing machines; and the laundry, where the workers’ uniforms- are cleaned. The depot has been designed by the firm's own resident architects, the engineering and machinery (which is nearly all British make) being carried out ami installed by the resident engineers. It has been working for some time, but a formal opening ceremony took place on Friday. July 6.

AGRICOLA.