attention to the development of the material resources of the | muskets, and bows and arrows. A later writer estimated the country.

on.

The "Customs."-Reference has already been made to the Dahomey Customs," which gave the country an infamous notoriety. The "Customs" appear to date from the middle of the 17th century, and were of two kinds: the grand Customs performed on the death of a king; and the minor Customs, held twice a year. The horrors of these saturnalia of bloodshed were attributable not to a love of cruelty but to filial piety. Upon the death of a king human victims were sacrificed at his grave to supply him with wives, attendants, &c. in the spirit world. The grand Customs surpassed the annual rites in splendour and bloodshed. At those held in 1791 during January, February and March, it is stated that no fewer than 500 men, women and children were put to death. The minor Customs were first heard of in Europe in the early years of the 18th century. They formed continuations of the grand Customs, and "periodically supplied the departed monarch with fresh attendants in the shadowy world." The actual slaughter was preluded by dancing, feasting, speechmaking and elaborate ceremonial. The victims, chiefly prisoners of war, were dressed in calico shirts decorated round the neck and down the sleeves with red bindings, and with a crimson patch on the left breast, and wore long white night-caps with spirals of blue ribbon sewn Some of them, tied in baskets, were at one stage of the proceedings taken to the top of a high platform, together with an alligator, a cat and a hawk in similar baskets, and paraded on the heads of the Amazons. The king then made a speech explaining that the victims were sent to testify to his greatness in spirit-land, the men and the animals each to their kind. They were then hurled down into the middle of a surging crowd of natives, and butchered. At another stage of the festival human sacrifices were offered at the shrine of the king's ancestors, and the blood was sprinkled on their graves. This was known as Zan Nyanyana or evil night," the king going in procession with his wives and officials and himself executing the doomed. These semi-public massacres formed only a part of the slaughter, for many women, eunuchs and others within the palace were done to death privately. The skulls were used to adorn the palace walls, and the king's sleeping-chamber was paved with the heads of his enemies. The skulls of the conquered kings were turned into royal drinking cups, their conversion to this use being esteemed an honour. Sir Richard Burton insists (A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome) that the horrors of these rites were greatly exaggerated. For instance, the story that the king floated a canoe in a tank of human blood was, he writes, quite untrue. He denies, too, that the victims were tortured, and affirms that on the contrary they were treated humanely, and, in many cases, even acquiesced in their fate. It seems that cannibalism was a sequel of the Customs, the bodies of the slaughtered being roasted and devoured smoking hot. On the death of the king the wives, after the most extravagant demonstrations of grief, broke and destroyed everything within their reach, and attacked and murdered each other, the uproar continuing until order was restored by the new sovereign.

Amazonian Army.-The training of women as soldiers was the most singular Dahomeyan institution. About one-fourth of the whole female population were said to be "married to the fetich," many even before their birth, and the remainder were entirely at the disposal of the king. The most favoured were selected as his own wives or enlisted into the regiments of Amazons, and then the chief men were liberally supplied. Of the female captives the most promising were drafted into the ranks as soldiers, and the rest became Amazonian camp followers and slaves in the royal households. These female levies formed❘ the flower of the Dahomeyan army. They were marshalled in regiments, each with its distinctive uniform and badges, and they took the post of honour in all battles. Their number has been variously stated. Sir R. F. Burton, in 1862, who saw the army marching out of Kana on an expedition, computed the whole force of female troops at 2500, of whom one-third were unarmed or only half-armed. Their weapons were blunderbusses, flint

number of Amazons at 1000, and the male soldiers at 10,000. The system of warfare was one of surprise. The army marched out, and, when within a few days' journey of the town to be attacked, silence was enjoined and no fires permitted. The regular highways were avoided, and the advance was by a road specially cut through the bush. The town was surrounded at night, and just before daybreak a rush was made and every soul captured if possible; none were killed except in self-defence, as the first object was to capture, not to kill. The season usually selected for expeditions was from January to March, or immediately after the annual " Customs." The Amazons were carefully trained, and the king was in the habit of holding "autumn manœuvres" for the benefit of foreigners. Many Europeans have witnessed a mimic assault, and agree in ascribing a marvellous power of endurance to the women. Lines of thorny acacia were piled up one behind the other to represent defences, and at a given signal the Amazons, barefooted and without any special protection, charged and disappeared from sight. Presently they emerged within the lines torn and bleeding, but apparently insensible to pain, and the parade closed with a march past, each warrior leading a pretended captive bound with a rope.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Notre Colonie de Dahomey, by G. François (Paris, 1906), and Le Dahomey (1909), an official publication, deal with topography, ethnography and economics; L. Brunet and L. Dahomey (Paris, 1895). Religion, laws and language are specially Giethlen, Dohomey et dépendances (Paris, 1900); Édouard Foà, Le dealt with in Ewe-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast, by A. B. Ellis (London, 1890), and in La Côte des Esclaves et le Dahomey, by P. Bouche (Paris, 1885). Much historical matter, with particular notices of the Amazons and the "Customs," is contained in A Mission to Gelele, by Sir R. Burton (London, 1864). The story of the French conquest is told in Campagne du Dahomey, by Jules Poirier (Paris, 1895). The standard authority on the early history is The History of Dahomey, by Archibald Dalzel (sometime governor of the English fort at Whydah) (London, 1793). The annual Reports issued by the British, Foreign, and French Colonial Offices may be consulted, and the Bibliographie raisonnée des ouvrages concernant le Dahomey, by A. Pawlowski (Paris, 1895), is a useful guide to the literature of A Carte du Dahomey, by A. Meunier, the country to that date. (3 sheets, scale 1: 500,000), was published in Paris, 1907. DAILLÉ (DALLAEUS), JEAN (1594-1670), French Protestant divine, was born at Châtellerault and educated at Poitiers and Saumur. From 1612 to 1621 he was tutor to two of the grandsons of Philippe de Mornay, seigneur du Plessis Marly. Ordained to the ministry in 1623, he was for some time private chaplain to Du Plessis Mornay, whose memoirs he subsequently wrote. In 1625 Daillé was appointed minister of the church of Saumur, and in 1626 was chosen by the Paris consistory to be minister of the church of Charenton. Of his works, which are principally controversial, the best known is the treatise Du vrai emploi des Pères (1631), translated into English by Thomas Smith under the title A Treatise concerning the right use of the Fathers (1651). The work attacks those who made the authority of the Fathers conclusive on matters of faith and practice. Daillé contends that the text of the Fathers is often corrupt, and that even when it is correct their reasoning is often illogical. In his Sermons on the Philippians and Colossians, Daillé vindicated his claim to rank as a great preacher as well as an able controversialist. He was president of the last national synod held in France, which met at Loudun in 1659 (H. M. Baird, The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1895, i. pp. 412 ff.), when, as in the Apologie des Synodes d'Alençon et de Charenton (1655), he defended the universalism of Moses Amyraut. He wrote also Apologie pour les Églises Réformées and La Foy fondée sur les Saintes Écritures. His life was written by his son Adrien, who retired to Zürich at the revocation of the edict of Nantes.

DAIRY and DAIRY-FARMING (from the Mid. Eng. deieris, from dey, a maid-servant, particularly one about a farm; cf. Norw. deia, as in bu-deia, a maid in charge of live-stock, and in other compounds; thus "dairy" means that part of the farm buildings where the "dey "works). Milk, either in its natural state, or in the form of butter and cheese, is an article of diet so useful, wholesome and palatable, that dairy management, which

VII. 24

pounds by 10: thus, the Shorthorn cow Heroine III. gave 52.4 lb, | tests conducted by the English Jersey Cattle Society over the or 5.24 gallons, of milk per day. The table is incidentally of interest as showing how superior as milch kine are the unregistered or non-pedigree Shorthorns-which are typical of the great majority of dairy cows in the United Kingdom-as compared with the pedigree animals entered, or eligible for entry, in Coates's Herd-Book. The evening's milk, it should be added, is nearly always richer in fat than the morning's, but the percentages in the table relate to the entire day's milk.

The milking trials are based upon a chemical test, as it is necessary to determine the percentage of fat and of solids other than fat in each sample of milk. The butter test, on the other hand, is a churn test, as the cream has to be separated from the milk and churned. The following is the scale of points used at the London dairy show in making awards in butter tests:

One point for every ounce of butter; one point for every completed ten days since calving, deducting the first forty days. Maximum allowance for period of lactation, 12 points.

Fractions of ounces of butter, and incomplete periods of less than ten days, to be worked out in decimals and added to the total points.

In the case of cows obtaining the same number of points, the prize to be awarded to the cow that has been the longest time in milk. No prize or certificate to be given in the case of :—

period of fourteen years 1886 to 1899 inclusive. These tests were carried out year after year at half a dozen different shows, and the results are classified in Table III. according to the age of the animals. The average time in milk is measured by the number of days since calving, and the milk and butter yields are those for the day of twenty-four hours. The last column shows the "butter ratio." This number is lower in the case of the Jerseys than in that of the general run of dairy cows. The average results from the total of 1023 cows of the various ages are:-One day's milk, 32 lb 2oz., equal to about 3 gallons or 12 quarts; one day's butter, 1 lb 10 oz.; butter ratio, 19.13 or about 16 pints of milk to 1 lb of butter. Individual yields are sometimes extraordinarily high. Thus at the Tring show in 1899 the three leading Jersey cows gave the following results:

The eight prize-winning Jerseys on this occasion, with an average weight of 916 lb and an average of 117 days in milk, yielded an average of 2 lb 9 oz. of butter per cow in the twentyfour hours, the butter ratio working out at 16.69. At the Tring show of 1900 a Shorthorn cow Cherry gave as much as 4 lb 4 oz. of butter in twenty-four hours; she had been in milk 41 days, and her butter ratio worked out at 15.79, which is unusually good for a big cow.

(a) Cows under five years old failing to obtain 28 points. (b) Cows five years old and over failing to obtain 32 points. The manner in which butter tests are decided will be rendered clear by a study of Table II. It is seen that whilst the much larger Shorthorn cows-having a bigger frame to maintain and consuming more food-gave both more milk and more TABLE II.-Prize Shorthorn and Jersey Cows in the Butter Tests, London Dairy Show, 1900. Points for Total Lacta- Points. tion.

In

Cows.

Milk
Age. Milk. per
Day.

Butter.

Milk to Points
for
1 tb
Butter. Butter.

No.

No.

Shorthorns-
Ist
2nd

37.25 6.40

43.65
42.75

39.75

2 21
2 3
I 12

997

222

257 40 13 butter in the day of twenty-four hours, the Jersey milk was much the richer in fat. In the case of the first-prize Jersey the "butter ratio," as it is termed, was excellent, as only 13.83 lb of milk were required to yield 1 lb of butter; in the case of the second-prize Shorthorn, practically twice this quantity (or 27.11 lb) was needed. Moreover, if the days in milk are taken into account, the difference in favour of the Jersey is seen to be 123 days.

The butter-yielding capacity of the choicest class of butter cows, the Jerseys, is amply illustrated in the results of the butter Table III.—Summary of the English Jersey Cattle Society's Butter Tests, Fourteen Years, 1886-1899.

In the six years 1895 to 1900 inclusive 285 cows of the Shorthorn, Jersey, Guernsey and Red Polled breeds were subjected to butter tests at the London dairy show, and the general results are summarized in Table IV.

Although cows in the showyard may perhaps be somewhat upset by their unusual surroundings, and thus not yield so well as at home, yet the average results of these butter-test trials over a number of years are borne out by the private trials that have taken place in various herds. The trials have, moreover, brought into prominence the peculiarities of different breeds, such as: (a) that the Shorthorns, Red Polls and Kerries, being cattle whose milk contains small fat globules, are better for milk than the Jerseys and Guernseys, whose milk is richer, TABLE IV.-Average Butter Yields and Butter Ratios at the London Dairy Show, Six Years, 1895-1900.

containing larger-sized fat globules, and is therefore more profitable for converting into butter; (b) that the weights of the animals, and consequently the proportionate food, must be taken into account in estimating the cost of the dairy produce; (c) that the influence of the stage reached in the period of lactation is much more marked in some breeds than in others.

An instructive example of the milk-yielding capacity of Jersey cows is afforded in the carefully kept records of Lord Rothschild's herd at Tring Park, Herts. Overleaf are given the figures for four years, the gallons being calculated at the rate of 10 lb of milk to the gallon.

In 1899, 37

6430
6136

643

614

In 1900, 39 The average over the four years works out at about 630 gallons per cow per annum.

Cows of larger type will give more milk than the Jerseys, but it is less rich in fat. The milk record for the year 1900 of the herd of Red Polled cattle belonging to Mr Garrett Taylor, Whitlingham, Norfolk, affords a good example. The cows in the herd, which had before 1900 produced one or more calves, and in 1900 added another to the list, being in full profit the greater part of the year, numbered 82. Their total yield was 521,950 lb of milk, or an average of 6365 lb-equivalent to about 636 gallons per cow. In 1899 the average yield of 96 cows was 6283 lb or 628 gallons; in 1898 the average yield of 75 cows was 6473 b or 647 gallons. Of cows which dropped a first calf in the autumn of 1899, one of them-Lemon-milked

continuously for 462 days, yielding a total of 7166 lb of milk, being still in milk when the herd year closed on the 27th of December. Similar cases were those of Nora, which gave 9066 lb

Fractions of a pound are not entered, but 18 lb 12 oz. would be recorded as 19 lb, whereas 21 lb 5 oz. would appear as 21 lb, so that a fraction of over half a pound is considered as a whole pound, and a fraction of under half a pound is ignored. By dividing the pounds by 10 the yield in gallons is readily ascertained.

Every dairy farmer has some idea, as to each of his cows, whether she is a good, a bad or an indifferent milker, but such knowledge is at best only vague. By the simple means indicated the character of each cow as a milk-producer is slowly but surely recorded in a manner which is at once exact and definite. Such a record is particularly valuable to the farmer, in that it shows to him the relative milk-yielding capacities of his cows, and thus enables him gradually to weed out the naturally poor milkers and replace them by better ones. and replace them by better ones. It also guides him in regulating the supply of food according to the yield of milk. The register will, in fact, indicate unerringly which are the best milk-yielding cows in the dairy, and which therefore are, with the milking capacity in view, the best to breed from.

The simplicity and inexpensiveness of the milk register must not be overlooked. These are features which should commend

especially to the notice of small dairy farmers, for with a moderate number of cows it is particularly easy to introduce the register. But even with a large dairy it will be found that, as soon as the system has got fairly established, the additional time and trouble involved will sink into insignificance when compared with the benefits which accrue.

of milk in 455 days; Doris, 8138 lb in 462 days; Brisk, 9248 bit
in 469 days; Della, 8806 lb in 434 days, drying 28 days before
the year ended; and Lottie, 6327 lb in 394 days, also drying
28 days before the year ended; these were all cows with their
first calf. Eight cows in the herd gave milk on every day of
the 52 weeks, and 30 others had their milk recorded on 300 days
or more. Three heifers which produced a first calf before the
11th of April 1900, averaged in the year 4569 lb of milk, or
about 456 gallons. In 1900 three cows, Eyke Jessie, Kathleen
and Doss, each gave over 10,000 lb, or 1000 gallons of milk;
four cows gave from 9000 lb to 10,000 lb, two from 8000 lb to
9000 lb, 17 from 7000 lb to 8000 lb, 19 from 6000 lb to 7000 lb,
30 from 5000 lb to 6000 lb, and 16 from 4000 lb to 5000 lb.
The practice, long followed at Whitlingham, of developing
the milk-yielding habit by milking a young cow so long as she
gives even a small quantity of milk daily, is well supported by
the figures denoting the results.

The importance of ascertaining not only the quantity but also, the quality of milk is aptly illustrated in the case of two cows at the Tring show, 1900. The one cow gave in 24 hours 4 gallons of milk, which at 7d. per gallon would work out at about 2s. 7d.; she made 2 lb 12 oz. of butter, which at Is. 4d. per lb would bring in 3s. 8d.; consequently by selling the milk the owner lost about Is. Id. per day. The second cow gave 5 gallons of milk, which would work out at 3s. Id.; she made 1 lb 12 oz. of butter, which would only be worth 2s. 4d., so that by converting the milk into butter the owner lost 9d. per day.

The colour of milk is to some extent an indication of its quality the deeper the colour the better the quality. The colour depends upon the size of the fat globules, a deep yellowish colour indicating large globules of fat. When the globules are of large size the milk will churn more readily, and the butter is better both in quality and in colour.

Though milking trials and butter tests are not usually available to the ordinary dairy farmer in the management of his herd, it is, on the other hand, a simple matter for him to keep what is known as a milk register. By a milk register is meant a record of the quantity of milk yielded by a cow. In other words, it is a quantitative estimation of the milk the cow gives. It affords The following fifty dairy rules relating to the milking and no information as to the quality of the milk or as to its butter-general management of cows, and to the care of milk and dairy yielding or cheese-yielding capacity. Nevertheless, by its aid utensils, were drawn up on behalf of, and published by, the the milk-producing capacity of a cow can be ascertained exactly, United States department of agriculture at Washington. They and her character in this respect can be expressed by means of are given here with a few merely verbal alterations:figures about which there need be no equivocation. A greater or less degree of exactness can be secured, according to the greater or less frequency with which the register is taken. Even a weekly register would give a fair idea as to the milk yields of a cow, and would be extremely valuable as compared with no register at all.

The practice of taking the milk register, as followed in a wellknown dairy, may be briefly described. The cows are always milked in the stalls, and during summer they are brought in twice a day for this purpose. After each cow is milked, the pail containing the whole of her milk is hung on a spring balance suspended in a convenient position, and from the gross weight indicated there is deducted the already known weight of the pail. The difference, which represents the weight of milk, is recorded in a book suitably ruled. This book when open presents a view of one week's records. In the left-hand column are the names of the cows; on the right of this are fourteen columns, two of which receive the morning and evening record of each cow. In a final column on the right appears the week's total yield for each cow; and space is also allowed for any remarks.

A portable milk-weighing appliance is made in which the weight of the pail is included, and an indicator shows on a dial the exact weight in pounds and ounces, and likewise the volume in gallons and pints, of the milk in the pail. When the pail is empty the indicator of course points to zero.

THE OWNER AND HIS Helpers

--

1. Read current dairy literature and keep posted on new ideas.
2. Observe and enforce the utmost cleanliness about the cattle,
their attendants, the cow-house, the dairy and all
utensils.

3. A person suffering from any disease, or who has been exposed
to a contagious disease, must remain away from the cows
and the milk.