TUBERCULOSIS IN CATTLE. INTERVIEW WITH DR TRUBY KING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2272, 16 September 1897, Page 7

TUBERCULOSIS IN CATTLE. INTERVIEW WITH DR TRUBY KING.

* 11 Oa Friday a member of our reporting staff interviewed Dr F. Truby King, medical superintendent of the Se&cliff Lunatio Asylum, in order to ascertain his views on the subject of tuberculosis in cattle. *', Yes," said Dr K ; ng, in answer to * question by oor tepresentaMve, " I have given considerable attention to ths subject of tubercu'oais in cattle." Would "you mind stating what conclusion you have arrived at in regard to the matter ? •♦ Speaking from my own observation and from ioquiries m&de from others, I should say that tuberculosis is extremely common among cattle in New Zealand, and that there must be many farms on which, s*y, from 10 to 20 per cent, and upwards of the beasts are suffering from this disease." 'Jo what, do you consider thii state of affairs is attributable P " Tuberculosis is common among c&ttlo all over the world at the present day under the most varied conditions of soil and climate. The question is not a local, but rather a general, one. l-i the case of New Zealand', I should say the most potent causes are want of attention to curtain principles which are cs enttal to the bealth 1 and strength of animals in general. In citfcle , a great strain is thrown upon the organism by the ex essi ye lactation which has gradually been brought about in the proof sb of selecting dairy cattle ; aud this renders them prone to the iuroads of such diseases as tuberculosis unless a certain amount of care is taken to keep the nutritive powers and general v ta-'ity up to a certain standard." You mean that there is a certain standard of v,t-»lity essential to health, aud th-»t below that ecaudard animals are ep°f;iaily liable to <!isea'sirr"~'~" "Precisely." What ara the principal directions in which you coD9ider..thafc cattle are uot trestfd as thyy j uhould be ? , ' «• The main points, in my opinion, are I neglect, and starvation in the reanog of calves, breeding from eaUlc when they are too young, and want of shelter and propar feeding during the winter." Would you kindly explain what you mean bj uegiect and starvation in the rearing of enlv<=« ? ' ' The main points are the want of proper provision for shelter, both from wet and cold, knd in regard to feeding the lack of any definite hjstem ot artificial feeding. There would be no difficulty if calves were reared on new milk, but of course this would be very expensive, and the results are really no better than can be obtained by & properly regulated artificial dietary. Perhaps I can best explain this matter by rcfening you to the experiments in feeding made at the asylum and their results »s compared with the results of feeding conducted by most farmers. There are no doubt pleaty of farmers in the colony who do their cilves full just'ee, but in the vast majority of eases pr*ct',cally no attention is given to the matter. As regards the experiments made at the asylum we find that calv< s brought up on a properly regulated dietary, which may be regarded as corresponding approximately to rearing by the mother, attained a greater vre'ght at three months than calve* of the same j breeding do in six mouths without similar attention. I received a letter only a few days ago from one of the most successful practical breeders in the 'colony, in which he says, in reply to a question as to his experience in regard to tuberculosii : * A great many of the losses which people sustain are caused by want of attention and starvation in youth. Don'G b-3 afraid .to give the young stock plenty of milk, and have them carefully • attended to and well fed th* fir*t winter. After that you will have no trouble .with them." It is the care and attention that , young^animals get the flrat 12 months of their exit-tence that makes or destroys their couetitutions.' So far as our experiments go they point in the same direction, and, indeed, Ihe nutter is not at all questionable. Leading authorities on cattle everywhere lay the utmost stress upon the necessity of generous treatment of young stock, and deplore the ignorance and carelessness which prevail generally in regard to this matter." What about the sec and pomt — that of breeding from cattle when they are too youog ? "As to that the practice is almost' universal, and no doubt results to a large extent from a desire to gain time — that is to say, to get a milk yield as soon as possible. There is & common impression that the early functioning of the' milk glauds tends to their higher development, but nothing cauld possibly be more, fallacious and shortsighted. Neither the udder nor any other part of the organism ever - attains a full development. The drain that' lactation means to a. cow appears somewhat startling when one calculates the amount of organic matter contained in a, week's milk yield of a good animal during the earlier months after calving. There is actually as much organic matter in a week's milk as there is in two newly-born calves ; and it will be readily understood from this how impossible it must be for a h*lF-grown heifer to make the necessary provision for her own growth and for the growth of her offspring. As a matter of fact she does neither properly, or if ehe does bring up her off spring she has certainly nothing to spare for the ■ bucket, and her own growth is iuevitably stunted. Her constitution is, moreover, permanently damaged. Considering that dairy cows are often kept for 12 years, and that a good cow may yield upwards of £100 worth of milk during that period, the folly of not rearing an animal to a healthy maturity is obvious, quite apart from the fact that the lowered vitality induced bj stunting

prepares the way for tuberculosis aud other diseases. It is a commojn practice to hi7e h»ifers served at from a year to 18 mouths old, during tbe period of rapid growth and development ; and it is quite exceptional to wait to the approach of the second year, though it is generally recognised by the best authorities that the latter age. is quite early enough. So far back as 1838 I fiad is laid down by Pi ofessor Low, of the Edinburgh University, ' that though a heifer is capab'e of receiving the male during her ficet year, he should not be admitted to her until after she has completed her second year ' ; so that this view is by no means a new one, and is, after jail, simply in accord with what has been "observed in regard to animals generally."

What about the want of shelter and propjr feeding during winter ?

" The importance of this matter has been so much insisted on of late in connection with Mr I Low's ptiper, recently road at the Imperial Institute, that it i« not worth while to say much with regard to it. There can be uo question ■whatever as to the great increase of milk yield which results from attention in the?e directions ; but it is questionable whether sheltering in the ordinary colonial byres at night would not do more harm <htn good go far ai the constitution is concerned. To confine animals in small, close, and ill-ventilated buildings his been found to lead to au increase of tuberculosis, which is what one would expect from the | experience of human beings. On the other •hand, go^d shelter sheds, however rough, and the provision of proper shelter in th^ way of treeß, tends to the improvement of health. Th-z starvation which is so general in winter is a great strain on vitality, aud no doubb one of the priu- [ clpal causes of tuberculosis The conditions I under which we keep cittlp are, oi' course, quite j unnatural. We have bred into them certain i q-ialiti-rs which ar<? useful to us, but which are a i posit;\o disadvantage to them and a'etrain upon thei»* vitality, so that their health can only be maintained by spucial- artificial precautions,, j and the higher the class of stock — the more specialised it lias bee 'ine — the more necessary it is to take precautions to prevent disease." - I understand, that consanguinity has been, regarded as a fruitful ciuse of degeneration in stock ? " Drgeneration is undoubtedly liable to arise j from this, but probably it is a minor factor in regard to the general question of disease in cattle in New Z-^land, because, for the most part, a certain amount of ctre is taken in this •direction, and relationship of p\rents, unless Very close, has not an important influence upon offspring, except when 'continued through a aeries of generations, which would probably be quite exceptional. The ("election and rearing I of bulls, on the other hand, is a matter to which very little attention indeed i* paid, aa a rule, i the main object being usually to have progeny begotten for the sake of the milk production of the mother, and not primarily on account of the offspring." How would you sum the whole matter up with regard to this question of disease in cattle ? "In my opinion the prevention of disease in cattle involves merely greater attention to their physiological necessities as animals living under special and more or lees artificial conditions. Diseases such as tuberculosis cannot attack | animals of good constitution 6<?pt in a condition j of high vitality ; and the sama principle obt-tius { in regard to all organic life. The ultimate fight against disease is between cells, of which all animals and plants are alike built up, and other cells which arc liable to invade their territory either individually or in groups. One sees illustrations of this on every hand. The badly-nourished turnips on a patch of poor soil, dying and covered with blight from which other adjacent plants are entirely free, simply because they are .in good soil and fully nourished, affords an example of the same general law uader which tho^stuuted, underfed, a-hd neglected cow becomes a prey to tuberculosis."