DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION.

Evening Star, Issue 12068, 14 December 1903, Page 3

DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION.

A meeting of stockowners interested in the milk supply question and the inspection of dairy cattle was held under the Auspices of the Dunedin and Suburban Dairymen’s Association at the’ Shamrock Hotel on Saturday evening. Mr D. M'Greeor, president of the Association, occupied the chair, and there were also present Messrs I. Green, D. T. Roy, J. Matheson, J. Mowat, A. E. Bcissel (representing the Executive of the Association), and about thirty-five member's.

The Chairman explained the circumstances vliich had led to The calling of the meeting. They had no doubt read in the papers what aad been happening with respect to the inspection of dairy cattle in Canterbury. If the same thing were going to be carried nn throughout the dairying districts, it would mean ruin to the dairymen. —(Hear, hear.) It could not be properly considered that the rigid inspection which was being carried on in Canterbury was at all necessary here. At the same* time, they did ml wish to give color to the idea that the dairymen here had objected to inspection—the Association had had a great deal to do with bringing about the present mode of inspection—but they did object to the manner in which the inspection was carried out. The Executive had drafted one or two resolutions hearing on the subject, and the secretary (Mr D. T. Roy) had prepared a paper which would ho read to the meeting. The present method of inspection was onesided. though, as far as they were concerned, they had been fortunate in the matter of inspectors, The inspectors, however, chose their own times for inspection, and, if they saw anything wrong, they had power to bring a veterinary surgeon with (hern at a later date. He thought that if any inspector noticed anything wrong during the course of his first visit, the 'owner of the cattle should be informed, and the date of tlie inspector’s return visit named, so that the owner could also bring along some competent man to watch his interests. At the present time the inspector went away and left the owner under the impress?on that everything was right, and no consideration was shown the dairyman in cases whe.re toe inspector made an unexpected return. It was often extremely difficult to run in n particular cow when the herd had been turned out after milking. Some years ago it had been proposed to stmt a small fund to meet such cases as that under discussion that evening, and if that had b-en cions they wonld now have been able to have paid for the services of a veterinary surgeon to watch over their interests. He also desired to refer to the maximum compensation (£4) which an owner was entitled to in the event of an animal being condemned. It was an amount altogether too low. The age limit was too low also, ns at eight years o*d a cow wa.s in her prime ; yet in cases where a cow over that age was condemned the owner received no compensation at all. Neither was any difference made between pedigree cattle and ordinary dairy cows, so that those who had cows of the former class condemned were much more onr of pocket than those who lost ordinarycows. He did not consider it advisable to take up their time longer, as the secretary had prepared a lengthy paper dealing with the whole subject, which he would call on him to read.

Mr Rov then read an exhaustive paper on ‘The Tuberculin Test as it Affects Dairymen.’ _ Tim- Dairymen’s Association (Mr Roy said) had been given credit for bringing about the rigid system of inspection now being enforced by the Agricultural Department. As a matter of fact, at the time of the formation ot the Association daily inspection was a farce. Milk was then bein« supplied from dairies which were a disgrace to their owners and to the district. The object of the Association had been to place i wholesome and healthy article on the marker. That their endeavor had not been ippreeiated by a large section of the com•nunity was. evident, from the fact that many people were prepared for a. slight difference in price To accept a supply which ivas_ cheap and nasty. Extracts from the Earlier proceedings and correspondence of the As-oria-wi were sufficeint to show to the puh.ic ill- Association were not merely a comhme to seeme higher prices, and also In show to the Agricultural Department tiMt in the •Association they had a strong ally in the endeavor to improve the dairying industry. After dealing with the tuberculin test, the paper went on to say that of the different parts of the animal affected by the disease the ndder was the most important to them as dairvmen, and with certain indications the animal was no longer fit for a dairy herd, hut might be fattened and sold under inspection with profit to the owner. Unless the ndder was implicated there was no immediate danger of the milk being contaminated. As showing that the bulk of the cows condemned were only slightly affected, it was worthy of note that out of forty cows recently condemned and slaughtered only ten " were affected in the udder, and over thirty Were passed as perfectly wholesome for food! The carrasse* were disposed of to the meatcanning companies—at what price did rot transpire, hat the unfortunate owner was only paid the pa.try sum of £4 as compensation, one-half of the department's valuation. Many of the animals cost the owner fmm £lO to £l2. The inspectors statement to the newspaper men was considered decidedly rash, and calculated to cause much) unnecessary alarm. The statement that any number of cows appearing perfectly sound and healthy externally might be internally rotten, was an exaggeration, and obviously wanting in fact. That up to a certain stage the disease could not be easily detected was readily admitted, but that‘organs rotten with disease could perform their functions so as to keep the animal in an apparently

health}’ state their knowledge of cattle forbade them to believe. Dene din had been decidedly fortunate in having the. services of Messrs Snowball and Wilkie, who were always ready to give dairymen advice s:o as to be more easily able to detect any disposition towards disease in their cattle. They were strongly of opinion that the conditions in Christchurch were more conducive to disease in cattle than in Dunedin, because in Dunedin there was rougher, hilly country, with plenty of natural shelter in the gullies and from native bush; besides which, almost all cattle were comfortably housed in the winter months. . As to the effect upon the colony at large if the crusade against tuberculosis were persisted in throughout all parts of the country, the generally-expressed •opinion was that the markets for butter, cheese, and preserved meats would suffer largely—not on account of inspection, but owing to the wild and alarming reports that had gained currency regarding the dairy herds of the colony; for of a surety they would be made the most of by their less fortunate competitors who had not been able bo attain to the same standard of excellence. Further, had the cost to the colony of all this slaughter been fully considered? Whv should animals only slightly affected not be turned out on an entire change of pasture and separated from other herds? The present crusade could only bo, regarded as an experiment, the results of which were mostproblematical. Without removing the primary causes of tlue disease, what guarantee was there that subsequent herds reared within the next three years would not be equally tainted? That the experiment was not justified by results was demonstrated bv the fact that the highest ;uithorities in End]::ml would not recommend the wholesale slaughter of tuberculous cattle, on account of the cost being prohibitive and the result most doubtful.

The Chairman ; Well, gentlemen, you live heard the secretary’s paper read. ' I think he deserve? great credit for the manr; i in. which he has got it up; and I heg to move its adoption. This was carried unanimously. Mr I. Green then moved—“ That in the opinion of stockowners now assembled the test as at present applied to dairy stock is rot satisfactory to dairymen • that in the opinion of the meeting ten years should he the age limit in place of eight years; that swing to the price of cattle ruling for some years past the limit of valuation should he fit the verv least £l2, seeing that the owner only gets half valuation, which means £6 for file best cow; that all benefits derived from Bie sale nf condemned cattle be refunded to file owner.” In speaking to his motion, Mr Breen said that the large gathering present that evening showed that stockowners were alive to their own interests, and he toped that in future all matters affecting )Ke3r joint interest would be so threshed cut

as to be a benefit to all. Ha thought that if they had a practical man it would be quite unnecessary to put cattle to the test unless indisputable evidence were forthcoming that an animal was diseased. His experience went to show that the present procedure might mean putting a cow off her milk for a. whole season, and those present ought to use every means in their power to resist the carrying out of some of the inspection regulations. To say that a cow is useless at the age of eight was absurd, and the age should be raised to ten. With regard to the amount of compensation, it- was a fact that many cows were worth £lO or £l2 to dairymen, and, if condemned, could not be replaced at those figures. The increased value of stock during recent years made the amount named for compensation seem absnrrd. Five years ago a dairy cow could be bought for £4 or £4 10s, but not now. Mr W. 11. Anderson, who seconded the motion, said that, according to available information, Hu> test was erratic and useless. It was difficult to bring and keep the injected matter to a uniform standard, and hence it was possible that a healthy cow might contract disease from the injection. There were scarcely two veterinary surgeons who held the same opinion about the test, and at the present time they seemed, to ho simply experimenting both at the expense of the dairymen and at the expense of the country. He agreed with the. other speakers as to the age limit. The Chairman then put Mr Green's motion, which was carried. Mr A, Thomson moved—“lf, when a dairy inspector inspects a herd of cattle, and considers that a boast should Ire examined by a. veterinary surgeon, that notice should bo sent to the owner as to when the veterinary surgeon wonld visit and inspect ; and that if the beast should be condemned, valuation should be paid within one month from time of inspection/'

Mr A. Smaill seconded the motion. A member said (hat the dairies here were now in a better condition than ever they had been. The inspection which was being carried on in certain districts did not reflect much credit on the officers concerned. He thought that the Government were simply wasting money on inspection. Mr Anderson said that an inspector who had any suspicion of disease in a cow was not doing his duty if lie did not draw attention to it. A beast might look perfectly healthy, and not be so. Some of the pnniest bullocks sold at Burnside were occasionally condemned. At the same time, any properly qualified veterinary officer should be able to detect disease.

The Chairman, replying to a question bv Mr Anderson as to what there w.as to prevent a man driving a suspected coir out to and disposing of her before the inspector’s return visit, said that such a procedure would lay the owner open to severe punishment. Mr Roy said that sometimes cows had to ho raced about before they could'be brought up to undergo the test, 'and the test then reacted just as if the animals were diseased.

Mr 1 homson s motion was then put ami carried.

Mr A. E. Beissel moved—“ That all resolutions carried at tills meeting in- forwarded to the Minister of Agriculture. and that the Executive be recommended to meet the Oita- and suburban members and ask their assistance in ‘riving effect to the foregoing resolutions.” Mr T. Lyxm seconded the motion. Mr Green said that the reason that the Executive hod placed this resolution before the meeting was that t-hev (the Executive) wished to take the whole of the members into their confidence. He was certain that if they put the, matter before the Minister, who was an agriculturist, their representations would have weight with him He also wished to say that they did not take exception to the mode of inspection in Otago. It was the procedure in Canterbury that had raised their “ dandnim.” There were some men appointed bv the Stock Department who did not know a rabbit- from a hare, and from this he took it that they did not know a hull from a cow.

I he motion was carried unanimously. Mr Smaill said the department's officers need not go down to the Mnlvneux im-dii nr they would get “ slung ” into the river' He knew one man who had had ninetemi rattle shot, and six or eight not shot at the place were killed and sent to the abattoirs.

-‘V vote of thanks was passed to the secretary (Mr D. T. Roy) for his admirable paper, and also to the Executive for the trouble they had been at in calling th» meeting together.