PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 771, 21 March 1910, Page 10

PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

VICTORIAN HERD LOST. A serious outbreak of pleuro-pneumonia ■is .reported from Preston, Victoria, n;here as a result of expert examination, it, was found necessary to destroy the .whole'of a-herd 0f.59 head of catte.'.'.

.Dr. Cameron, the chief veterinary offi-, cer, stated that, the disease/ as regards the .number of cases in which it occurred, was.of a virulent type, inasmuch as only 13 of all the animals 'on the farm were found to be souud. The disease must have existed in the herd for some time, as the dairyman had lost 19 oows. during an extended period.: ' The examination;of the herd was conducted by Dr. Cameron. He found fivo of the animals badly affected, and, they were destroyed at once, .l.aior ou, :hs the result of more careful examination, 15 oows were found affected with the disease in a mild fonn, and 16 which had rer covered .from the disease. As an animal which has only lately recovered from pleuro-pneumonia becomes a carrier of the-disease and a potential source of further' infection, the ; question of defraying these 31 cows had to be considered. The policy of non-compensation has obtained in the past. Dr. Cameron., considers it a pernicious, policy, inasmuch' as intends to prevent people notifying, a disease for fear of they will sus-' tain. As a result of consultation with the Minister for Agriculture and: the Treasurer, it was decided that the cattle should be destroyed under a system or partial or modified purchase,, in order to recoup, to. the dairyman for "the'lo® he would x sustain.. Of the 31.j cows vhich had been diagnosed 30 turned out' to be diseased. This left 16 cows, six heifers, and a bull on the farm. Inasmuch as it. was probable that some of. the remaining , oows had the disease, it was'decided-to make a clean sweep of 4he whole herd. ' . • JOTTINGS FROM ABROAD. ' ' The number of - 'cattle -"in 4 Brazil' is estimated at about. 25,000,000, of which the largest quantity—s,ooo,ooo—is to be found in the State, of Bio Grande do Sul. From the pastoral regions of.Goyaz and Matto Grosso cattle are frequently' driven over-' land from 800 to 1200 miles before it ispossible to transport- them 4 by. rail- or" ■water. The'most important of.the jerked beef establishments .are located in-Rio Grande do Sul, where about 625,000 cattle are slaughtered annually for that class of meat. v ! '■ " '

■Clydesdales and Peroherons are -the leading breeds o£ heavy horses in the prairie provinces of Canada. Clydesdales are the dominant breed in Canada, ,and no doubt will continue so to be. Peroherons come next in: line in the West, followed 'by>.Shires,. Suffolks, and Belgians. There were 132, purebred Clydesdale stallions registered in Manitoba In 1!)0S, 111 in Saskatchewan, and 95 in Alberta. Of Percherons in the same provinces there were 52, 33, and. 52. Shires numbered 24, 9, and 11 respectively, while 'SuHolks .were 7; 3,-' and !>.■ No Belgianswere enrolled in Manitoba, only 1 in ' Saskatchewan, and 5 in Alberta. These figures are .significant. - . The . American immigration in Alberta and their fondness for P-ercheroii liorses •is responsible for. the large proportion, of : the blood of that breed in the sunny province.

. Ten' lots of ten" pigs Mere tested against each other in: ; some;'.fceding experiments, at the .Colorado .Experiment Station, and the greatest, profit shown oh the ten lots was just .£1(1 made on the lot fed on maize and, "tankage." . The next largest, total profit (.£9 3s', 2d.).was made by the lot fed' with a mixture of barley, maize, .'and vlucerne ;' while- very close to this was the lot fed with barley and tankage. The smallest profit (£1 13s. Id.) was made from 'the' lot fed - with- rnadie and • beetroots. This litter lot; also cost, most (5.70 cents) per lb.' of gain, while the lowest cost per lb. of gain (3.59 cents) was in the case of the barley, maize, and lucerne feeding.

'Tho "Cincinnati Price Current," in reply to anUnquiry, gives 'the.'number, of cattle slaughtered at the "four principal packing centres of the United Stat®, in which over 85 per cent, of the total of Western slaughtering, takes place, with the. annual average' price for each year from 1595 to 1909 inclusive. r Taking quinquennial periods, the average number for !the? first five'.'year,s. -.pern tannnm -was 3,653,000,' and the average price was 4.74 dollars; in the second, 4,510,000 and 5.45 dollars; and in the third, 4,740,000 and 5.77 dollars. ,The nupiber was highest in 1906, when it was 4,393,000. In 1909 it had fallen to 4,6H,000.

Look for a sheep with'a. strong dock. The. spine" is the- centre of physical strength, and a big, well-developed dock is tangible evidence of a strong back. Some ,of the older school of sheepbreeders declare that no good-backed sheep is deficient in dock. ~

We are frequently asked (says the "Parmer an<l Stockbreeder") how to estimate the weight of a stack of hay. The method is simple. ' Take the height; in feet to the eaves and.add half, the height from.. tho eaves,' tothe - crown;,., Multiply the-"result ,by >; the' length -in feet. Then multiply by the width: in, feet;. Divide by 27, which gives the contents in cubic yards. New hay will average about 1301b. to . the cubic yard and about 1601b.' to 1901b. of old hay will be contained in the same cubic area. It thus becomes a siriiplo question of rule .of three to find the theoretical weight of tlie stack. : , ; The, proportion of live to dead weight in cattle and sheep varies according .to the way in which the animals, are .fattened. It is not often -thdt a fat, beast kills over 72 per cent, of its' livo weight; only show beasts, may be reckoned to'do that. The pTiinest. may kill, to 72 .per ceht. when, cake finished. A, good average is 68 pef cent. Mutton sheep newly shorn will kill about 3 per cent, more than cattle. GENERAL FARMING NEWS; Mr. George Cormack, of Elgin, Canterbury, has almost completed harvesting an exceptionally fine crop of partridge peas, which will thresh over 50 bushels per acre. '-. .; The 'number 'of entries of stock at the Addington yards last week were as-fol-lows, those lor . the previous week being' given in parentheses Cattle: 838 . (753), sheep, 30,569 (36,099), pigi: 748 (524).

A case ,of particular interest to dairymen Occupied the .attention of .-the'..Supreme Court, Melbourne, recently Mr. A. Gillies (of the Lawrence-I&nnedy-Gillies machine) proceeded against the Harnett Milking Machine 'Company r for an infringement of the Gillies air admission patent. The case was heard before Mr. Justice Hood. . Messrs. Mitchell, Starke, and Mann were counsel for plaintiff, and Messrs. "-vjip and Schutt for defendant. The case occupied thirteen days >1 has now , been given in which Mr. Gillies was granted an injunction and secured damages-aud costs. . The Northern Wairoa Dairy Company produced for the month of February 54,456 lb. of butter; an increase of 50301b. on the corresponding month of last year. The company tins season lias manufactured 75,0401b. more butter to the cud of last month than it did last season, and everything points to an unusually prosperous 3*ear for the shareholders. The recent-rain and cooler , weather in the' Wairarapa are stated to have had the effect of materially checking the rust in the grass, and indications arc that the season will be an exceptionally good one so far as the supply of green feed is concerned. The sum of ,£997 was paid out on Saturday- to, the suppliers of the Nireaha cheese factory for February's milk supply. This amount is at the rate of Bd. per lb. of butter-fat. The following additional factory payments for February are reported from Taranaki, the figures for February, 1909, being given ,in parentheses:—Hawera, .£4458 (.£1822); Normanby; ; £1613 (.£1788); Hells, ,£1221, (.£1222). ,

It is stated on -very good authority that the present dairy season is-the best ever experienced in the Wairarapa. At the Featherston Co-operative Dairy Factory, for. instance, the daily milk supply was some 3500 gallons, which is a-bout 1000 gallons in excess of tho corresponding daily supply last yeoT. It is expected that tho total cheese output from tiio factory this season will be fully 430 tons, or 70 tons more than was the case ' lfist.ye'ar. The factory has about 16 suppliers, and the excess means that each supplier will lift nearly ,£IOO more than he did last year. The quality of the cheese is said to have been extremely good, tho grade notes running at about 91. ! ' Mr.- Gillanders, formerly manager of the State experimental farm at Moumahaki.'is about to take up his residence iu Eltham, having accepted a position as manager of Mr. C. A. Wilkinson';; seed and manure business. '. Mr. Gillanders enters upon his new unties on April 2. .Th® Eltham Dairy Factory manufactured last month 220,2'i51b. of- butter, and will pay to suppliers ,£7997, at the rate of lOd. per lb. butter-fat. There will also be paid close on .£2BOO as a supplementary payment of a penny per lb. butter-fat supplied .during the months of October, November, and December. In February last year the amount of butter manufactured was 204,3341b., thus the present output is considerably larger than at this time last year. It is expected that some 900 tons will be manufactured during the 'season, as against 753 tons last year, which was 77 tons better than the year before. The payments in February, 1909, were;. greater, however, amounting to .£BSOB, at the rate of Hid. per lb. butterfat. - -'. ..Messrs. A. and L.Seifert's Flaxdressing Company at Miranui, which for the greater part of the season has been running seven strippers, will shut down threa or four strippers during the winter months; they also intend using the land recently purchased from Mr. \Y. Crowv ther for fibre-bleaching purposes. Some very fine crops of C-aliforniau thistle,.,which are growing on the Main Trunk railway-line between Taihapo and Kaurimu, are said to be occasioning much worry to the selectors whose lands adjoin the infected area, and who are only keeping, back the invasion of the pest with great. labour. . . Mr! J. M'Nair,' farmer, of Tahara, Vic-, toria, recently turned a number of cows into plot of Borghum, which, having been eaten down two or thrae.times, was only a few inches high. . Next morning six of the. cows were dead, and others were in a bad condition. It is supposed that the dew on the fodder formed gastss which led to the death of the stock. ,

Says the Sydney "Telegraph"As a general rule, tlie business man who carries his business methods into the arena of agriculture succeedshe keeps careful records of liis dealings from day to day, and is able to tell exactly how each department of his farm pays. Moreover, he enters the field with an open mind,' and is prompt. to • take advantage of what the conservative farmer would lrequently qontemptuously reject as a "new-fangled notion." -.« ■ • DISEASE AND BLIGHT. TURNIPS AND POTATOES. As indicated in paragraphs from, time to time, potato blight is again very prevalent this year, and most of the crops round Christchurch and Timaru are badly affected. Wellington's main supplies of potatoes 1 are drawn from the south, and the bulk of them are now coming to hand l.rbm Oarnaru, whore many crops have escaped the blight altogether, and many others have been but lightly- affected. The Southern Lakes district does not appear to have so far been'attacked by; tne ,blight. The turnip fly is, also'doing widespread damage this season in different parts of the country, and in the Wairarapa an obscure disease has broken, out . among the turnips. The early sown crops have been severely attacked, and there' has been fairly heavy loss. The disease appears in *he main roots, which begin gradually to ■ rot away. Growers are rather at a loss to know what lias struck them, and expert advice has not been able to throw any, light on the matter. The turnip Uy is best dealt with by a nicotine spray, buKwhere the crop is.a large -one extending over pcres,. this is out of the question. Wellington gets a good part of its supply of turnips from the Hutt Valley, and the crops tflere are reported to be fortunately free from' disease.