THE FARM.

Bruce Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 21, 17 March 1913, Page 4

THE FARM.

DAIRY MEDICINE CHEST.

No medicine chest on a dairy farm is complete without a reliable milk. fever outfit (says a writer in 'The Dairy). Before the present air treatment was discovered, about 97 per cent, of all tows stricken with milk fever suct tun bed to the ailment. At the present time 97 per cent, of all those i rented by tho air method recover and .•.how no ill effects afterwards. Many herd owners have used an ordinary i-icycle pump with. a milking tube attached to tho end of tho rubber tube, ;.:id have had much success, but this plan is open to objection, inasmuch as ihe air taken in by a bicycle pump came from near the floor, where the aiist is abundant. Lust is always iideii wiili bacteria, aud if pumped into a cow's udder may make much trouble. Regular milk fever outfits have a provision for purifying the air before it passes to tho udder, so that ibis trouble may be overcome. For men owning such outfits milk fever has absolutely no terrors. A thermometer is also a very necessary article in the medicine chest. No disease can be treated intelligently without some idea of the animal's temperature, else one may givo a cow a stimulant when she roally needs a sedative, or vice versa. Two troubles that come to my mind at the present time—metritis and milk fever—have < symptoms which on physical examination may be easily confused by the farmer, but with the thermometer are quickly distinguishable, since metritis shows a temperaturo above normal and milk fever shows a temperature below normal.

Tho majority of eases of inflamed udder, parget, etc., will readily give way to frequent applications of hot water. Too many dairymen will, immediately any of the above troubles appear, hitch up and drive to the veterinarian's, then to the druggist's, and finally back to the cowshed with a bottle of pink or yellow or green stuff, rather than use a remedy which is as simple and easily obtainable as is hot water. If the hottest watery that one can bear the hands in is rubbed on the cow's udder three or four times daily, for 10 or 15 minutes at each time, the trouble will usually disappear within a day or two. The above, unfortunately, is too simple a treatment to command the confidence of the average owner, he preferring to use something with a little color in it. Occasionally cases will be found that are particularly obstinate. In such, cases, the writer says, he has had much success in using an emulsion made up of one ounce iodine, one ounce turpentine, and five ounces sweet oil. These mixed thoroughly together and ■ applied externally two or three times a day will usually cure the most obstinnte case. Always have some good disinfectant in the cowshed where it may readily be reached. Its uses are manifold, especially in large herds. Abort on will occasionally in the host regulated herd, and even though it seems to be accidental, it is best/To treat it as contagious, and use a aisinfectant freely, so that any bacteria, which cause contagious abortion may bo quickly killed. Many herd owners, to 1 heir sorrow, have treated cases as accidental, and have found, when too late, that the trouble was really contagious. In cases of milk fever, a disinfectant shon'd be us-od to wash ibe udder and teats, and also the tube before it is inserted into the teat. Once in a while a cow runs against a piece of wire or otherwise bruises her teats so that it is desirable to use a milking tube. Too many times the tube is found lying on a' rafter, and i<' ort into the cow's teat just as the tube is found. Such treatment may do more harm than good, as it necessarily takes in with it bacterial growth which ofttimes causes bad udder troubles. Wash the tube with a disinfectant first, and. then it may be safely used. 'Hie above are only three of the many cases In. which a disinfectant proves' its value, but these three alone make the presence of a disinfectant a necessity.