The National tribune., 1896-11-19
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers

One of the most interesting discussions al
the Section of Agriculture and Chemistry
meeting Of the Experiment Stations Con-
vention in Washington was that on milk.
DR. D. f.. Salmon, Chief of the Bureau Of
Animal Industry, read paper on the effect
OF the tubereulIn test upon the dairy. He
gave some valuable and interesting facts
concerning the chemical test for tuberculosis
in dairy animals and considerable time was
given to a general discussion of his paper,
as all of those present were anxious to learn
more upon the subject. DIR. Salmon thought
scientists were inclined to overestimate the
effect of the tuberculin test upon the milk,
and he also stated that the test does not
aggravate the disease. as the proportion OF
cows which go into rapid decline after the
test is very small. By far the greater NUM-
Der show no permanent effect of the test he
argued against the frequent testing of cows,
however, upon the ground that it results IN
rendering them immune to the effects of the
preparation, so that the test becomes worth
less.
T. B. Voorhees,, of New Jersey, presented
a paper on the question whether milk
should be sold OF a basis Of quality. He
gave the results of great many tests made
by the New Jersey authorities, showing
very wide differences in the quality of milk,
and presented strong argument In behalf
of basing the value OF the product on the
| amount of nutriment which it contains.
| The method, he said, is now in operation in
| creameries with entire satisfaction, and it
ought to be applied to the home. Appa-
| ratus for making the necessary test, he said,
/ md eoufd ha raa6 hv
intelligent person.
| Prof. c. C. Georgeson, of Kansas, who
made investigations in Switzerland and
Denmark for the DEPARTMENT. of Agriculture,
treated the subject more in detail in paper
! ON How shall selling milk on the basis of
| quality be accomplished in the retail trade?"
| He enumerated the various conditions that
constitute really pure milk, and declared
| that only experienced persons are capable of
| determining this point; that the chemist and
the bacteriologist must be called upon. If
il only depended upon the amount of fat or
solids which milk contained, il would be an
easy matter, but with all this it might be
swarming with bacteria of typhoid fever and
tuberculosis. As solution Prof. Georgeson
suggested the adoption by the Government.
of the most effective and least cumbersome
| regulations to govern the milk supply.
Such regulations, he said, should reach out
to the cows on the farm of the producer; the
sanitary conditions which surround them;
the man who milks and cares for them, and
/ lis family, as well as the persons with whom
he is in daily contact. The water that the
cows drink and with which the dairy uten-
sis are cleaned should also be looked after.
Anything short of this is imperfect" said
Prof. Georgeson, and cannot insure the
healthful quality of the milk"
Another scussion was that following .
paper by Prot. Milton Whitney, of the De-
partment of Agriculture, on methods for
ascertaining the physical condition OF soils.
Prof. Whitney is the inventor of an ingeni-
ous electrical device for ascertaining the
amount of moisture in soil, its temperature,
and the quantity of salt it contains, at al
most any depth, and he devoted some time
to explaining his system. Some of these in
struments have been in the hands of farmers
in various States during the past Summer,
and valuable record of results has been OBJ
tanned.
With this remarkable apparatus, Prof.
Whitney says he can ascertain promptly and
with accuracy the depth to which mOistEre
penetrates in arid lands, its distribution, and
many other valuable facts. 1t is all done on
| basis of measuring the amount of resist
. ance to electric currents, and Prof. Whitney,
, in the course of his remarks said he had OBJ
served the indicator on his apparatus drop
from 10000 ohms to 500 ohms IN wonder
fully short space of time as result of pour
ing water on arid soil, the effect being pro-
duced the instant the moisture had pene-
trated to the depth at which the electric
current was in operation.
Prof /. p Roberts, of Cornell University,
also explained device of his Own invention
for ascertaining the draft of agricultural ma
| chimes 1t is simple contTivance, which
registers on strip of paper the amount of
energy being exerted by team OF engine
in moving plow or other implement. Prof.
| Whitney played horse for Prof. Roberts, and
| the pair had a tug-of-war in order to give a
practical illustration of the workings of the
| instrument.
The Orchard.
Girdling some of the branches of rank
growing fruit trees often induces frulsfulness
by checking the growth.
Old orchards may sometimes be rescued
by tillage and pruning, but remedial treat
ments are generally begun too late in the life
, of the orchard.
}. Satisfactory results were obtained at Cor
Is nell Station by spraying apple trees with
mixture of one pound of Paris green to 2Ut
gallons of water, to which little lime was
: aQUeu TO pTefeut INJURY W buC iOli<sSC-e IA
4 the infestation was severe one, however
A the trees showed traces of injury throughout
the Summer.
Details are given in Cornell Bulletin o
experiments to determine what becomes o
arsenic when it falls upon the soil in thu
spraying of trees. The experiments showed
that on sandy soil Paris green applied to TIT
surface in May had penetrated but thre'
inches by October; on black clay loam
seven inches; the greater depth being du
to the rain carrying the poison down worn
burrows and channels produced by roots
The conclusion is that arsenites do not leacl
from the soil, but are mainly washed dow
to slight extent by the mechanical actiol
e es of the rain.
6. Stripping Cows.
ty To show the necessity for taking the las
II. drop of milk from cow, the following tes
was made at the Hawkesbury Agriculture
iy College CNS.W.): A cow in full milk wa
j. taken for the purpose, and MIXED quite dry
8. the milk weighed, and the following morn
al ING the milk was taken from the cow j
- three separate lots, as nearly equal In weigh
as possible, and test made of each OF th
three lots, with the result that the milk hrs
drawn gave areading of 8 per cent. of butte
-. | 60. .aoopd e. third e