The Farmer.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2030, 25 February 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Farmer.

Commenting u{><in a conqietitive exhibition of preserved eil2S the I ifhl says that one sot was placed in an hermetically sealed tin vessel, closely soldered down, and were inaccessible to the judge. The first prize went to a lot described as “packed in good sweet bran with the thin end downwards. The eggs, when broken, proved very good, and ]>erfeetly free from odour or taste in the white. The second prize was awarded to those “ rubbed with a mixture of beeswax and oil, and packed in salt." The third to a set "rubbed well with mutton dripping, and packed in dry clear lime perfectly air tight. Amongst the commended were a second set packed simply in sweet bran, and another preserved in " Frigilme." Amongst the failures we may notice a set packed in wet lime, which had set into a concrete, from winch the eggs had to he excavated. Two lots were in preparations of saltpetre, salt, water, quick lime, Ac., in which they were described as kccp.ii', any time, hut the specimens were unfortunaii ly putrid in both. It is to he remarked that in almost all cases toe pn/as have gone to the eggs which have been preserved in a simple and eminently practical manner. No plan appeals supeiiof to putting them in dry salt, without any olin-r precaution—a system not followed by any competitor on this occasion, the llrst prize, as we have stated, going to a set in diy sweet bran, and ihe second to those that had been waved before placing them in the salt, which appears to add to the trouble without any corres|smding advantage. No liquid process was successful on this occasion, though in previous contests eggs preserved in a milky emulsion of fresh slaked lime and water have done well ; the troublesome additions of salt, cream of tartar, saltpetre. Arc., adopted by the competitors on this occasion not proving satisfactory. If we might suggest a practical plan for use where there is a summer supply of eggs that are required to be kept for winter use, it would be to take a box of convenient size and have the bottom fastened with greased screws or nails that would draw ; this should receive eggs, which sln-iild he placed end downwards, and covered with salt as collected. The hix. when full, should he placed in as cool a place as [mssihle, and the eggs, when required for use, taken out by inverting the box and removing the bottom ; thus those first put in would be the first used, and a good supply of pastry and kitchen eggs would he available for winter iHe. Those examined at the Dairy Show had been three months in the office in Fleet Street, thus it is obvious that the test was a set ere one, and that the eggs would have kept much better in a cool laidel. As regards the new laid eggs, the competitors at the Dairy Show have much to learn. The eggs to win must match in size and colour : they must he fresh, and he of fair average size for the breed. Stale doiihlc-yolked eggs, those that are dirty, and Jo not match, have no chance in such a competition. Working Batter by hand' .Mr. < Jorge llirham, in the course of an address a f the bring Show, said he waa very mu hj surprised to see that in the of Tyleshury, noted aa it waa. amL been for years accustomed to do, he asked them to give it up now. Some great battles had been fought with very simple weapons many of them with the old

smooth-lxire hut no general would now dream ot lighting without anus of precision. \\ here they had some of the finest cattle in the world, the finest pastures, tliecle.uiest and prettiestjdairymaids, and everything as it should he, why not give up the one or two points which tended to keep the quality of the butter hack ' It Seemed to him so offensive tiiat butter should he made by hand. If anyone at the breakfast table brought the butter in their hands instead of on a plate they should feel inclined to throw it at them. (Laughter.) But many of the dairymaids there had been fumbling the butter about for about twenty minutes. The y seem to think it absolutely necessary mu only to work it, But to weigh it by hand, pm. lung pieces oil, or putting others on till the weight was made up. If they w. ii'.d not give up the practice of tin a gi m ini..thers, he would beg of them to pr.-paie the hand for it. Me had seen th- in abroad put their hands into cold water, hut hj ■ should like them to do as tie v did in I'. am,irk, viz , dip their hands in’ ’ water, then into cold, and then rn.-e them in butter-milk. tanning in Holland. The Ifitrli umior is continually fertilising Ins farm of thirty or forty acres, and this process repealed for some centuries, with no crop to dram the sidistance of the soil c\ia pt grass, makes it rival if not sur-pa-s in feitility the famed hanks wf the Nile, He consequently mows four or live cr..p- hiv a year, and gets as many tons of good hay frun each aere mowed. This lie carefully packs away in the barn, wh-re it can never get wet. (•nr pe-ple would naturally impure; Where does his living come from ? It does look strange to the cotton planter, or corn planter, or w heat raiser, hut lie has solved the question, just as Tennessee will do in the near future. He makes it from lua cattle. Thirty cows in milk the whole year round, for lie has a breed that refuses to “go dry,” and one that has surprised the world with her immense yield of milk. After an experience of several hundred years he has learned to make the best cheese that is made in any quarter of the globe ; it is known the civilized world over. hor this cheese he has a tixed. certain and remunerative market, and sells it each week and pockets the cash. His cattle have become almost as well-known as his cheese ; consequently the increase of the herd are sold at the most fancy prices. He makes butter as well as cheese ; he makes cheese from milk after the cream is taken off, though its quality is not ranked as the best. These cattle support the thickest population in the world, and have made of these Hollanders the richest farmers on the globe. Every farmer keeps his carriage, his wines and his Schiedam schnapps, and lives in a most elegant and tasteful brick residence. His land is worth not leas than £ldO per acre, and, though he wears wooden shoes, he has never learned that others are more comfortable, and if be does make his wife work hard she dedans she prefers it, and expresses contempt for any one who does not know bow to keep clean stables and make good butter and cheese.