FARM PROBLEM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22971, 24 February 1938, Page 18

FARM PROBLEM

DISEASE IN COWS AMERICAN SCIENTIST'S PLAN TESTING SYSTEM EVOLVED INVESTIGATIONS IN DOMINION Mastitis among dairy cattle, which costs the Dominion many thousands of pounds each year, is present in advanced forms among at least 3 per cent of cows in this country, said Dr. G. J. Hucker, Ph.D., of .the Now York Agricultural Experiment Station, on Tuesday, shortly before his departure by the" Niagara for the United States. At the invitation of the Government he spent six months in investigation of the scourge among dairy cattle,.and a detection test system is now being evolved by experts in the Department of Agriculture. Dr. Hucker is recognised as a world authority on mastitis, or mammitis as it is sometimes called. In collaboration with officers of the Department of Agriculture, he has a plan to control the disease, which, in direct loss of stock and lowered production, constitutes one of the dairy farmer s major problems. The plan is now being formulated by departmental officers, and is designed to detect incipient cases by what is known as the Brom Thymol Blue test. In New Zealand it will be known as the " indicator test," and will enable operators to segregate infected animals. Testing of Herds It is intended to incorporate this test in the activities of every herdtesting association, so that each cow tested for butter-fat production shall also have a record of fitness or otherwise, Dr. Hucker said. To institute the tests on a Dominion-wide basis, the Department of Agriculture is importing an adequate supply of materials. When the milk is normal, the indicator test gives it,a yellowish-green colour, but "f the mastitis germ is present the milk turns a deep'blue. The reaction is instantaneous. There is no irrigant or vaccine which gives completely satisfactory results, Dr. Hucker continued. It is probable that any disinfectant sufficiently powerful to destroy the disease germs would, damage delicate membranes and permanently impair productive qualities. World-wide experiments have convinced him that vaccination is not effective. If delicate tests were taken among dairy cattle in New Zealand, probably 50 per cent would be found to suffer from mastitis. Contributory Causes In his opinion the following probably would be contributory causes to the transmission of the disease: —Milking at too high a vacuum and leaving the cups on too long; encouragement by higli feeding of too great a flow of milk at calving time; poor and incomplete stripping, which leaves milk in the udder, and a deficiency of minerals in soil and pastures, predisposing dairy cattle to attacks of mammitis and other diseases. Mineral deficiences in the soil were a serious problem in this country, Dr. Hucker concluded, more serious than perhaps in any other, and should be the subject of special research.