Year: 1875

FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.


KEEPING MILK FROM SOURING DUR
ING THUNDERsTORMs.-E in
Sweden have shown that the we'll known
effect of thunderstorms in souring milk
may, in q great degree be avoided OF
cOunteracted by artificial heat in t.-e
dairy. The plan is to start fire in the
room where milk is kept whenever a
thunderstorm is seen approaching. This
is done even in hot weather, the purpose
being to drive out the excess of moist.
ure. The explanation given is that dur
ing the approach of such storms the at.
mOsphere becomes loaded with moisture,
and the damp, moist, heavy air resting
upon the milk produces acidity and
spOils it. Dry air, then, is important to
the dairy, and whenever there are atmOs-
pheric changes which bring excessive
moisture in the air of dairy, fire
should ''e ut once started to cOunteract
the bad influence it would have upon
milk.


If this explanation be correct. and il
artificial heat has the effect of preventing
milk being affected by thunderstOrms,
the knowledge is important to butter
dairymen. In the best dairy rooms the
heating is produced by steam pipes,
which give uniform temperature to all
parts of the room better than can be done
by heat from stove.


OPINIONS OF A JERSEY BREEDER.-A
writer in the New England Homestead
gives the opinion o. Il. w. StOughton, OF
Franklin county, Mass, for twenty-five
years a breeder of Jersey cattle, as to the
value of that breed. These opinions
may be summarized as follows: Jerseys
are not especially desirable for beef al
though the cows fatten readily when not
in milk, and make superior quality OF
milk; they are not remarkable 70" guam
tity of milk, but sometimes give twenty
quarts per day; they are not as .iardy
as native stock, but with good care there
is no trouble in keeping them. The but
ter is hard and will bear transportation
is high. colOred and has high flavor. A
thoroughbred Jersey bull crossed upon
native or ShortHorn stock is of the very
best. The quantity of butter would be
greatly increased, and the quality fully
forty per cent. The Jerseys are sharp
feeders and eat good deal of feed in
proportion to their size. The cows are
precocious breeders. Good Jerseys sell
readily ut an advance OH the price of
common cows. Grade two-year-Old Jer-
sey heifers not uncommOnly make ten or
twel Ie pounds of butter per week.


FRENCH MODE OF SELECTING HORSES.
"A Paris correspondent of the Lancas-
ter Farmer says: The purchasers of
horses for the French army always en-
deavor to obtain first look at the ami
NAL when he is tranquil and in the sta
BILE; noting if the animal supports itself
we'll on all its legs, and if one seems to
yield, to especially examine il; attention
is then directed to the largeness of the
pupil o the eye, which ought to be more
dilated when in the stable than when
exposed to full light. After the animal
has been led out of TIE stable, the eye
to be again examined, to observe if the
pupil has contracted; if not. the sight is
feeble; others to test the power of vision
feign to strike the forehead with the
hand. If the hollow over the eyes be
profound and the temple gray, old age is
to be concluded wounds about the tenn
pies suggest attacks of staggers, and when
the end of the nose presents circular
scars, it may be concluded that the horse
has been twitched with cord to insure
his quietness while being shod or under
going some painful operation.


Mich Cows IN NORMANDY.-At tou--
ist in Normandy say that the beauty Of
the milch COWS of that province never
fails to attract the notice Of the travele
as the are seen either grazing at the
tether, rs in upper Normandy, or feed
ing in inclosed pastures, as in the lower
portion of the ,rovince. TIE originrl
breed of cattle has become nearly ex-
tinct, by crosses with other French


eeds, and particularly with the cele-
grated Channel Island cattle.


This writer says the peculiar and un-
mistakable milking points OF the Jersey
and Alderney cows are very visible in
the cross breeds which are seen every
where in Normandy. Dairy husbandry
seems to be the main object in that prov
ince, and as bullock breeding is only a
secondary matter, it is to the milking
properties of p COW that the chief atten-
ton is paid. With very few exceptions,
the hull calves are fed for veal.


The cows are very docile, and bear
the restraint and exposure of the tether
system with wonderful patience. There
are two naive breeds which are worthy
of rotice; they are the "Manselles" and
the Cotenvines. TIE COrmer are from
the adjacent province of Brittany, and
the latter f. Jm thu portion OF lower
Normandy comprised within the penin-
sui" whose point is in the town and port
of Cherbourg. The former are ''rought
chiefly out Of the half wild herds which
Craze over the heaths of Brittany, but
they are poor mixers and difficult to
fatten. A cross with the English Short
Horns has been productive of the besS
results, by increasing the size of these
cattle, Fastening their maturity, and i'm
parting great propensity 10 fatten.
The COtentines, on the contrary, are ad-
mirable mixers, of dOcile temper, and
are with less difficulty made ready for
the butcher; they are very desirable
dairy stock.


The practice of tethering improves the
docility of horned cattle, as the calves
and young stock are also submitted to its
discipline, and the fact of each animal
being handled four or five times day
and generally by women, must be of
great advantage in this respect.


The cows are led out and home morn
ing and evening by the femme de Ia basse
cour, or dairywoman, md her assistants,
and they are attended three or four
times day, to change their tethers and
give fresh bite.


The cattle are ranged in straight
line, so that they go over the ground
evenly. The cows are always in good
condition, are never excited or fatigued,
and give an abundance of good milk.
Water is given regularly. sometimes at