DAIRYING

The students' judging contest attracted much attention, and teams from ten institutions competed. For the first time an International Dairy Show was held at Milwaukee. Among the features were 500 entries of dairy stock, extensive machinery exhibits, a model creamery operated by the dairy division of the Department of Agriculture, a cheese tactory fitted up with modern machinery, an interstate butter contest, a demonstration herd showing groups of cattle fed in different ways, a child-welfare exhibit, and many other features of interest to the dairy industry.

The Philadelphia Milk Show, under the lead of the medical men of that city, was perhaps from an educational standpoint the most important exhibition of the kind ever held. Special days were set aside for school children, who visited the show in thousands to witness the picture shows, which illustrated the importance to the welfare of the community of a pure milk supply. The educational exhibits served to portray the conditions relative to the care of cows, the process of milking and the handling of milk on the farm, transportation, distribution of milk, and its uses as a food. The commercial exhibits included those submitted by any individual or company dealing in milk or milk utensils for commercial profit. There were also many meet ings of dairymen, scientists, and officials, where problems connected with the industry were discussed.

BREEDING. The circuit breeding with milking Shorthorns at the Minnesota experiment station, conducted in coöperation with the Department of Agriculture, has given such good results in rais ing the standard of milk and milk fat that similar work has been conducted with Holstein cattle in North Dakota. The general plan o. operation is to enlist all cows of desirable conformation and breed, using the yearly records of production as the basis of selection. All cows which do not furnish a profit are discarded,and those finally selected are bred to sires owned by the experiment station. The sires were collected from herds that had been systematically bred and selected for a combination of profitable dairy production and desirable conformation from the beef standpoint. They are the product of dams with yearly records of from 10,000 to 18,000 pounds of milk and combined with this have the ability to lay on flesh when dry and to obtain weights from 1400 to 1600 pounds. All heifer calves from ap proved dams have been raised and will be tried out in the first lactation period. The bull calves are raised to eight or ten months of age, and divided into three classes, reserved, approved, and rejected. The sires reserved for the circuit are offered for sale to other members of the association for use in supplying new herds taken into the circuit, and those that are approved are sold to the breeders in the usual way.

The dairy industry has been growing rapidly in the Pacific Coast States, where in California alone the output of butter has increased threefold the last ten years. Throughout all the southern United States increased attention is being given to dairying, owing in large part to the efforts of the State and federal departments of agriculture.

SANITARY MILK. Experiments in the production of sanitary milk have been carried on at many of the State experiment stations. The results have thrown a great light on the sources

DAIRYING

of the contamination of milk and methods of preventing. A recent report from the West Virginia station shows that the germ content of milk was increased by passing over the milk cooler. A steam-tight compartment to enclose the cooler and bottling machinery was then constructed in the form of a box, with doors convenient to operate. It was found that after turning live steam into the enclosure for fifteen minutes the cooler ceased to become a source of contamination. Sterile water allowed to flow over the cooler contained on an average two bacteria per cubic centimeter, but when the cooler was left open and merely washed and scalded the average number was 11,400 per cubic centimeter. In a number of cases it has been found that the sanitary condition of milk has been improved by offering the dairyman an extra price for his milk, provided it came up to certain requirements. See SANITATION.

BUTTER AND CHEESE. An investigation of butter by the Department of Agriculture has shown that twenty parts of metal salt to 1,000,000 f butter distinctly influenced the flavor of butter, copper being more active than iron, and that when oxygen is run through a flask of milk containing metal salts, a strong odor is produced in a short time. These facts lead to the conclusion that the principal changes in storage butter are due to the catalytic action of metallic salts, produced by the aciu content of cans, vats, and other containers and inducing an oxidation of some constituent of butter.

In the work with cheese it has been found that cheese without gas holes other than the usual eyes can be made from very gassy milk by inoculating with Bacillus bulgaricus. A study of the bacterial flora of imported and domestic Swiss cheese showed that the cheese contained two varieties of the Bacillus bulgaricus type, Chemical work in connection with Swiss cheese has established the fact that the first proteolytic change in the ripening of Swiss cheese is the formation of a substance soluble in salt solution.

HOMOGENIZED MILK. Homogenizing milk by treatment which breaks up the fat globules is a new method of treating milk, which seems to be of increasing importance. This subdivision is accomplished in various ways. One method is by forcing the milk by the aid of pumps through a metallic filter and then through capillary tubes. Homogenizing prevents the milk from creaming and it will keep in this condition for a long time. It is used for feeding children, for export, and for making ice-cream. The principal disadvantage perhaps is that it may tempt some unscrupulous dealers to incorporate foreign fats.

VARIOUS EXPERIMENTS. The Wisconsin experiment station has discovered a method by which a palatable cheese can be made from buttermilk, which has about the same food value as lean beef steak and can be produced for half the price. This cheese can be retailed in small packages or shipped in ordinary butter tubs. It can be kept for ten days at a temperature of about 55° F., or for longer periods if stored below the freezing point.

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue has ruled that the incorporation of more than sixteen per cent. of water in butter is not an accident, and such butter is considered adulterated by the federal authorities.

RECORDS. Among the important dairy records made during the year was that of Missouri Chief

Josephine, a cow calved and raised on the farm at the Missouri Agricultural College. She has produced 110.2 pounds of milk in one day, 17,008 pounds in six months, and 26,861 pounds in a year. The amount of solids in one year was equal to six carcases of a 1250-pound steer. Dolly Dimple, a Guernsey cow, completed a third phenomenal milk record and holds the world's championship for three successive lactation periods. The Holstein cow, Pontiac Pet, made 37.67 pounds of butter in seven days.

FOREIGN COUNTRIES. The dairy industry in Canada has shown a remarkable development in the past few years. In the province of Saskatchewan alone there has been an increase of over 300 per cent. in the output of butter, due to the policy of the government in centralizing the creameries at the most promising point. This has been a difficult year for the dairymen in England, owing to burned up pastures, the small yield of hay, the advanced rates on concentrated feeding stuffs, and more stringent dairy laws. A very thorough clean milk crusade was carried on at Liverpool by means of distributing leaflets on the care of milk to farmers, milk dealers, and consumers, and it is proposed to teach the subject of purę milk in the elementary schools. Owing to the railroad strike the milk trade in England suffered somewhat, but much less than other commodities. Many tons of cheese were lost owing to the delayed market, and in some cases a supply of fresh milk for infants could not be secured.

The French government is encouraging cooperative creameries and cheese factories by granting loans free of interest, the amount to be limited to about twice the paid-up capital and the time limit twenty-five years. Under this system 119 coöperative enterprises have borrowed $1,000,000 since 1906. The import of French cheese into the United States has increased tenfold since 1900; the principal types imported are Camembert and Roquefort, although Brie and other types are imported to some extent. Investigations of the Department of Agriculture show that probably all these kinds of cheese can be produced in the United States. A new commercial treaty between Sweden and Germany provides that pasteurized milk and cream may be sent to Germany duty free, while a duty of two cents per pound is applied to but ter. Under these conditions the cream export from Denmark and Sweden to Germany is grow ing rapidly. The new Swedish law provides that all butter exported must be packed in receptacles provided on the outside with a permanent brand or label stating whether or not the butter contains more than sixteen per cent. of water.

In South Africa there has been a great expansion in the dairy industry in several years, and many dairy factories have been established, but the supply of butter has not been sufficient to meet the demand and considerable quantities are still being imported. Dairy interests have been active in New Zealand and the government has been increasing its force for inspecting dairies and herd testing, but its most important work is the grading and classification of butter and cheese for export. The production of condensed and powdered milk is also assuming great importance in New Zealand, both for home consumption and for export. The trade in condensed milk with China has continued to increase. Buyers have found that the condensed

skim milk is much cheaper, so a big trade has started up, but when the consumer realizes the difference between the condensed skim milk and the whole milk it may tend to react on the entire business.

The Fifth International Dairy congress was held in Stockholm in June. Papers on various topics were read by delegates from many countries. Among other things the congress passed a resolution to the effect that one of the best methods for improving milk supplies at practically no cost was the milk record and control associations, which reach their best development in Denmark, but are increasing rapidly in the United States.

The following books on dairying were published during the year: C. H. Eckles, Dairy Cattle and Milk Production (New York); Laura Rose, Farm Dairying (Chicago); B. Marquart, Lehrbuch des Milchvieh Kontrollwesens (Berlin); G. A. Witt, Die heiztechnischen Winrichtungen der Käseri (Berlin); H. Weigmann, Mykologic der Milch (Leipzig); A. Monvoisin, Le Lait, son Analyse, et son Utilisation (Paris). DAIRY SHOW, NATIONAL. DALLAS. See TEXAS.

DAMON, WILLIAM EMERSON. An American naturalist and author, died December 1, 1911. He was born at Windsor, Vt., in 1838, and was educated at the Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H. He came to New York City and entered the employ of P. T. Barnum as director of the aquarium at Ann Street and Broadway. He had taken a great interest in marine life and botany, and he persuaded Barnum to fit out expeditions to bring fish from Honduras and Bermuda. When this museum was burned in 1866, another aquarium was started at 35th Street and Broadway. Mr. Damon had much to do with the opening of the great public aquarium now in New York City. He was also a collector of shells. He wrote a work entitled Ocean Shells. For many years he was connected with the firm of Tiffany and Co. He was a member of several learned and scientific societies.

DAMROSCH, WALTER. See MUSIC.

DAMS. During 1911 the failure of several large dams, attended in one case by great loss of life and property, aroused general attention to the condition of such works in the United States and the need of proper State supervision of their design, construction, and maintenance.

AUSTIN DAM FAILURE. The most serious of these disasters, involving as it did a loss of life of eighty-five persons, was the collapse of the concrete dam of the Bayless Pulp and Paper Co. on Freeman's Run just above the village of Austin, Pa. The water thus released swept down the narrow valley in which the villages of Austin and Costello, one and one-half and three miles respectively below the dam, were located, carrying, death and destruction in its course. Previously, on January 23, 1910, this dam had failed to withstand a flood that while doing serious damage to the structure and leaving it seriously impaired, nevertheless had not been attended by disastrous results. It was a reinforced concrete structure crossing the valley where it was about 350 feet in width, and was designed to impound 200,000,000 gallons of water, having a depth of forty-two feet to the level of the spillway, with two and one-half feet free board. The concrete structure, which was thirty feet in