Farmers’ Column.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 22, 24 June 1871, Page 9

Farmers’ Column.

DAIRY PRACTICE. Pew persons who have had any experience in the dairy can be ignorant that in comparing the milk of two cows, for the purpose of judging of their respective qualities, particular attention must be paid to the time that has elapsed since their calving, for the milk of the same cow is always thinner soon after calving than it is afterwards, as it gradually becomes thicker though generally less in quantity in proportion to the time the cow has calved. The color of the milk, however, soon after calving is richer than it afterwards becomes, but this, especially for the first two weeks, is a faulty color that ought not to be coveted.

It ought to be an invariable principle, acted upon by all keepers of cows for dairy purposes, that to make cows give abundance of milk, and of a good quality, they must at all times have plenty of food, and of the most nutritious quality. If the weather permit the cows to graze at ease throughout the day, they should be suffered to range at freedom ; but if the cows be so much incommoded by the heat, as to be prevented eating throughout the day, they ought in that case to be taken into cool shades for protection, where after allowing them a proper time to ruminate, they should be supplied with abundance of green food, freshly cut for the purpose, and given to them by hand frequently, in small quantities, so as to induce them to eat it with pleasure. When the heat of the day is over, and they can remain abroad with ease, they may again be turned out, where they should be allowed to range with freedom all night, during the mild weather of summer. Cows, if abundantly fed, should be milked three times a day, during the summer season ; in the morning early, at noon, and in the evening, just before nightfall. If cows be milked only twice a day, of twenty-four hours, whilst they have abundance of succulent food, they will yield a much smaller quantity of milk in the same time, than if they be milked three times. Some attentive observers of the habits and character of the cow suppose that the animal in those circumstances will give nearly as much milk at each time, if milked three times, as if she were milked only twice. This fact, however, has not, that we know of, been ascertained by experiment. There can be no doubt that they give more ; how much has not been ascrtained, nor whether it would be advantageous, in any case, to milk them four times or oftener, or what effect frequently milking produces in the quality of the milk. Few persons are ignorant that the milk which is taken from the cow last of all at milking, and is called “ stroakings,” is richer than the rest of the milk, but fewer still are aware of the greatness of the disproportion between the quality of the first and the last drawn milk from the same cow, at one milking. The following facts respecting this circumstance were ascertained by us, many years ago, and have been confirmed by many subsequent experiments and observations.

Having taken several large tea cups, exactly of the same size and shape, one of these tea cups was filled at the beginning of the cow milking, and the others at regular intervals till the last, which was filled with the dregs of the stroakings. These were each weighed, the weight of each cup being settled, so as to ascertain that the quantity of milk in each was precisely the same, and from a great number of experiments frequently repeated, with many different cows; the result was in all cases as follows: —The quantity of cream obtained from the first drawn cup was in every case much smaller than from that which was last drawn, and those between afforded less or more as they were nearer the beginning or the end, the quantity of cream obtained from the last drawn cup, from some cows, exceeded that from the first, in the proportion of sixteen to one. In other cows, however, and in particular circumstances, the disproportion was not quite so great, but in no case did we find it fall short of the rate of eight to one. Probably upon the average of a great many cows, it might be found to run at ten or twelve to one. The difference in quality of the cream, however, obtained from these two cups was much greater than the difference in the quantity. In the first cup, the cream was a thin, tough film, thinner and perhaps whiter than paper ; in the last the cream was of a thick butyrous consistency, and of a glowing richness of color that no other cream is ever found to possess. The difference in the quality of the milk that remained after the cream was separated, was perhaps still greater than either in respect to the quantity or quality of the cream. The milk in the first cup was a thin bluish liquid, like as if a very large portion of water had been mixed with ordinary milk ; that in the last cup was of a thick consistency, and yellow color, more resembling cream than milk, both in taste and appearance. From this important experiment it appears that the person who by bad milking of his cows loses but

half a pint of his milk, loses, in fact, about as much cream as would be afforded by six or eight pints at the beginning, and loses besides that part of the cream which alone can give richness and high flavor to his butter. Many other useful corollaries may be drawn from it, which we will not here stop to enumerate. If milk be put in a dish, and allowed to stand till it throws up cream, that portion of cream which rises first to the surface is richer in quality, and greater in quantity than what rises in a second equal portion of time; and the cream that rises in a second interval of time, is greater in quantity, and richer in quality than that which rises in a third equal space of time ; and that of the third than the fourth, and so on; the cream as it rises decreases in quantity and declines in quality continually as long as any rises to the surface. Thick milk always throws up a smaller proportion of the cream it actually contains to the surface than milk that is thinner, but that cream is of a richer quality, and if water be added to that thick milk, it will afford a considerably greater quantity of cream than it would have done if allowed to remain pure, but its quality is greatly debased. Milk which is put into a bucket or other vessel, and carried in it to any considerable distance, so as to be much agitated, and in part cooled before it be put into the milk pans to settle for cream, never throws up so much, nor so rich cream, as if the same milk had been put into the milk pans directly after it was milked. We will here mention one mode of managing milk, by means of which inferior kinds of it might on many occasions, especially near large towns, be disposed of to great advantage. Take common skimmed milk, when it has be gun to turn sour, put it into an upright stand churn, or a barrel with one of its ends out, or any other convenient vessel. Heat some water and pour it into a tube that is large enough to contain with ease the vessel in which the milk was put. Let the vessel containing the milk into the hot water, and let it remain all night. In the morning it will be found that the milk has separated into two parts, a thick, cream like substance, which occupies the upper parts of the vessels, and a thin, serous watery part, called by dairymen “ wigg/’ by opening a stop cock placed for that purpose, and reserve the cream for use. Not much less than half of the milk is thus converted into a sort of cream which, when well made, seems to be as rich and fat as real cream itself, and is only distinguishable from that by its sourness. It is eaten with sugar, and esteemed a great delicacy, and usually sells at double the price of fresh unskimmed milk. It requires practise however to make it properly. From the trials we have made ourselves, we have reasons to believe that when the heat is from fifty to fifty-five degrees of Fahrenheit, the separation of cream from milk, which is the most important operation of the dairy, goes forward with the greatest regularity. In winter, should the cold ever become too great, it might be occasionally dispelled either by placing a barrel of hot water, closely bunged up upon the table, where it might be allowed to remain till it cooled, of some hot bricks might be employed for that purpose. This we should prefer to any chafing dish with burning embers in it, as the vapor from the coals, which very soon effects the taste of the milk, would thus be avoided.

How long cream might be kept in our climate, without rendering the butter made from it of a bad quality, we cannot say, but we are enabled to say with certainty, that it might be kept good for a much longer time than is generally suspected, even a great many weeks. It is, however, certain that cream, which has been kept three or four days in summer, is in an excellent condition for being made into butter, and we are inclined to believe that from three to seven days may be found generally to be the best time for keeping cream before churning, though if circumstances make it necessary, a considerable latitude in this respect may be allowed. EEAINAGE OF GAEDENS. It is not too much to say that nine tenths of the villa gardens are unfavorable to the growth of plants, for want of proper drainage ; and all directions that may be given for the preparation of beds for delicate flowers, however fully they may be carried out, will nevertheless fail, if there be not an effectual course for the superabunbant water to be carried off. Some gardens are what may be called high and dry, some are gravelly and sandy soil, some elevated considerably above the surounding neighborhood, an yet they may be rendered every way unfavorable by springs in the locality and the want of a proper escape for the water. If the springs be high, and the soil be gravelly, the water rises upon the roots, without any rain falling, and the chill it gives is very destructive, so that almost without enquiring or trying whether a garden requires it or not, drains should be formed two feet below the surface, upon a gradual descent from the highest to the lowest part of the ground, and there an outlet must be

formed of some kind for the waste water. Side drains must be made of a sort of herring bone form, and going into the main drain, from the outer edges of the space to be drained, and thus all the superfluous moisture will be conveyed to the centre water course, which will discharge itself at the lowest point, from which place, by an open ditch, it must be. forwarded to the nearest drain. It is of no use to say this capnot be done, it is of no avail that you make up your mind the water cannot be got rid of, because if that' be the case, shut it up as a garden, and cultivate things of less imporance. If as will sometimes be the case, there are no visible means of carrying off the water, and, from your having a house on the ground you must adopt it as a garden, you must make an excavation in the lowest part of it, and by letting the drains go in it, the upper ground may be drained, though the lower ones will be little the better. In such cases all the better things must be grown high up the ground, and the lowest position must be used for rough vegetables. In regard to flowers many of them will not, cannot flourish where there is stagnant water. The manure that is given to them is wasted and the soil they grow in is soured. They grow weakly, and dwindle away, without the growers know what is the matter. Year after year they find themselves buying new things, yet their stock does not increase; the effect is alike mischievous on all kinds. In the polyanthus bed, we find vacancies, and plants weakly; Primroses much the same ; Pinks stand for months without growing, and then throw up miserably thin stems ; Pansies turn yellow, and grow slim, instead of looking green and bushy. There is no going back with any flowers without a cause, and nineteen times out of twenty, it is the want of proper drainage. It is frequently directed that in making a bed ot ranunculuses, anemones, pinks or pansies, or other flowers the stuff be thrown out of the bed, two feet deep, that there be six inches of brick rubbish put on the bottom; upon this come some dung, and after all it is to be filled up with the proper compost described at the time. Anybody would fancy this a nice, dry comfortable bed for the most delicate flowers in the world, but if the garden be not drained, the water will fill the brick rubbish, and sodden the dung, otherwise the brick rubbish, being porous, invites the surrounding stagnant water, and the invitation is so instantly accepted that it has its own share and some of the shares in the surrounding bed, so that people must not fancy their beds well drained because they use the means in that one place; for, in fact, they only make provision to hold more water where their bed is, than the stagnant mould which they have removed would have had had they not disturbed it. We have seen in our time a florist’s garden in which every bed was constructed according to the best instructions for growing the respective flowers. The ranunculus beds were bricked round just beneath the surface; and as this was in the month of October, the soil was turned out of them like so many graves. The tulip bed was down on a gravelly bottom ; the others were down to a close black hard mould, and all pretty dry. We were called in, in consequence of several failures in the different flowers cultivated by the owner. We saw nothing remarkable in the appearance of things, but we did ask how far they had to dig for water in the winter time. “ Only one spade,” was the reply, “ and that for months together.” “ Then there is your failure,” said we, it is no use to inquire further. Make a good three feet drain down the centre path, and let nearly a foot of the bottom be filled with large stones; cover these with bushes, and fill in your walk upon it, make smaller drains down your side paths leading into the centre one, and serve them the same. It was no use tampering with the thing, it was done in earnest. In a month the water running from the middle drain would have turned a mill; there was nomore water to be found a spit keep, and flowers grew as well with our floral friend as with anybody. He had complained of doing all this at great expense, and all the other at great expense, and never finding it answer, whereas by only undergoing the system of thorough drainage, all that had been done without effect previously was now in every respect successful.

The pansies no longer damped off, the pinks gained strength, the tulips were no longer weakly and discolored, the ranuunculuses bloomed finely and swelled out well, and all things appeared as differently as if they had been growing ten miles another way. Such was the efficacy of draining on which hundreds of pounds had been expended, andthe owner thought all had been done that could be done. One half the people who grumble about soil and situation would be much nearer the mark if they complained of the water. It is not less fatal in the stomach of plants than it is in the stomach of animals ; at all events, let every one, old and young, who cannot succeed to his liking, look well to his draining, for he may in the default of that necessary operation find the cause of all his troubles in his horticultural pursuits.