The Farm.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 37, 9 December 1893, Page 4

The Farm.

AN AMERICAN SCHOOL OP AGRICULTURE. Professor Long gives an English journal the following notes concerning a visit he recently paid to the agricultural school attached to the Universit3 r at Wisconsin : The dairy building is completed, and although we have seen the best buildings of this class in all the European dairy countries, we know nothing which can compare with it in any sense whatever. There is a reading room adjoining the lecture theatre, behind which is the large laboratory, where •one third of the students are being instructed at the same time. In the creamery'is'a huge tank intended to hold 500lbs.of milk. Connected with this are'four smaller tanks and four separators, together with a butter extractor. The plant also includes coolers, box churns (which are common in the States), butter tables, and va.ts for ripening the cream. The walls are of hard yeliow brick and the roof of wood; the floor is laid in squares in two colours, substantial and neat, the apartment being large and airy and well adapted to its purpose. Near at hand is a cold room, in which the dairy produce can he kept at a-very low temperature. There is also an engine house close hy, together with a steam pump. In this creamery there is ample room for a large number of students, many of whom may be engaged simultaneously in the actual work ox butter making, separating, or milk manipulation. The cheeseroom is still more complete, and perhaps unnecessarily so. There are eight vats of similar size, rectangular in shape, and made upon the American plan — 18in. wide and sft. long, and 14in. ■deep —all having connection from Tabove. Overhead is a shelf hanging from four rods suspended from the roof, upon which all the appliances necessary for the work of cheesemaking are laid. In the centre of the apartment and between the two rows of vats, four of which are on either side, is a row of cleansing Troughs, two troughs being attached, hut separated by a partition between them. Upon the partitions are three hinged pegs on either side, together with a soap box, a tap in the centre and steam at the outside. Below each sink is a drawer and shelf for Brushes. The press room is near by, and here, as in almost every one of the dairy apartments, is a weighing macline, Professor Henry being a keen believer in the scales. There is a huge gang press and one triplet, with ordinary vertical presses as used in this country. In the cheesecuring rooms are five sets of shelves,

five tiers high, containing amply sufficient room for all the cheese likely to be made in the daily school under present conditions. As in almost all the other apartments there are heating appliances upon the American scale, which does not mean very much in the States, although as compared with our system of heating, it is upon a large, or, as most would think in England, an extravagent scale.

We must now return to the general agricultural department. The cattle buildings are excellent, well conceived and substantial, although chiefly ol wood. We may here remark upon one of the most ingenious cowstalls which we remember to have seen. The stall is actually three feet wide, with a partition four feet in height, open at the bottom for about 18 in. The floor is of wood, and the gutter behind is 12in. wide by 9in. deep, and provided with a false bottom, below which is concrete. So far the stall is plain, but in front of the cow is a moveable manger and partition in one. The bottom of the manger is a foot wide, the hind side slopes upwards and backwards to a height of two feet. In front of the manger the wood is 9ft. in depth. In the centre of this manger is raised a partition which does not obstruct the head of the cow, as it simply stands upon legs. The manger and the partition forming the appliance is fastened to each division of the stall by an ingenious catch. If a small cow is standing in the stall the stall can be immediately shortened by bringing the manger and partition forward. If, on the other hand, the cow is large, it can be pushed backwards. The object is to keep the cow back close to the gutter, and to prevent her soiling her stall. The food can be put in from the passage from behind the manger Avhether it be meal, cake, or hay. The cow is turned in loose ; she cannot escape from the front, whereas behind her a plain piece of cord is simply looped on at about a height of about two and a half feet. The stall, however, is narrow enough to prevent her making any attemjxt of the kind. Pi’o lessor Henry speaks highly of this, which he called the Bidwell cow stall, and it certainly appeared to be as ingenious as it is simple. Houses are specially provided for the ’sheep, as in France. One, a long useful building with a four-foot passage, and pens about 15 feet by 15 feet, has wooden mangers, and racks, and open wire windows. There is a foodhouse at the end, with a weighing machine, as usual, for weighing the stock and food. In one experiment in the feeding of lambs, Professor Henry found that he realised 60 cents per bushel for oats instead of a market price of 25 cents.

This is the kind of work which is done at the college, and it is that work which has made it so famous.