STERILISATION OF BONE MEAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2665, 12 April 1905, Page 6

STERILISATION OF BONE MEAL.

We confess that we have not very much confidence that the measures which the Government, disregarding the advice of

ita expert adviser, has resolved on j adopting with a view to the sterilisation of the animal bonedust that is imported into the colony will prove entirely satis- • factory. The point is one upon which, i most people will^, agree, the stronglyexpressed opinion^ of the chief veterinarian were entitled to a greater amount of respect than has been shown them. Complete sterilisation would be ensured, j the Government was informed by Mr i Gilruth, if plants were erected in the ! colony at which the imported bones f might be subjected to treatment. But j there is no certainty that this end may ! be accomplished under the plan to which it has been decided to give a trial. In this issue we publish some particulars respecting the regulations which the Government has framed to provide for the supervision in India and the Australian Commonwealth of the steps that are taken for sterilising the bones. It will be seen that proprietors of works in these countries for the manufacture of animal manure that is intended for export to New Zealand are to be licensed by the officer of the Department of Agriculture who is to represent this colony, but no license is to be issued to them unless the officer in question is satisfied that a separate building and plant suitable for the purpose are set apart solely for the reception and treatment of the manure after sterilisation and that the general conditions are such as may be commended. Moreover, no consignment of animal manure I is to be landed in New Zealand unless it is accompanied by a certificate showing that any bones included in the shipi ment have been exposed to a temperature of -at least 281 degrees Fahrenheit for not less than four hours or that they have been so thoroughly crushed that they are reduced to fragments not exceeding two inches in length and afterwards sterilised under pressure at a temperature of at least 267 degrees for 1 not less than two hours, and, further, j that all animal ingredients, other than bones, contained in the consignment have been subjected to the latter steaming process. Among the other provisions contained in the regulations is one prescribing that tlie proprietors of the works at which the consignments shall be respectively prepared are to pay fees to the agent of our Government at the rate of 2s 6d in Australia and 2 rupees in India per ton or part of a ton weight of the consignment. And there are many elaborate regulations prescribing additional precautions that shall be observed both in the exporting countries and here to prevent the landing of diseased manure. But in view of the difficulties that have always been experienced in India in the way of securing reliable work from coolies, even when vigilant supervision is exercised over them, the danger that the bonedust may be shipped in an imperfectly steamed state does not appear to be sufficiently eliminated under the Government's scheme. Besides, though the regulations are certainly comprehensive, we cannot forget that the whole proceeding is an experiment of which the issue is doubtful. A somewhat novel departure is involved in the plan in pursuance of which the of New Zealand proposes to issue licenses in India and Australia to persons' engaged in business in those countries, and it is not impossible that the innovation may be viewed with disfavour in each or either case by the authorities concerned, while it is also questionable whether the effect of the operation of the regulations may not be to confer upon a particular firm in each country a monopoly, that may ,prove of an undesirable kind, of the supply of bonedust manure in New Zealand. It has been, however, in the face of repeated warnings from responsible quarters, and it must be with an ample knowledge of the risks that are involved, that the attempt is to be made to secure the effective sterilisation of animal manures prior to their shipment to the colony, and if. the result of the experiment '

is to prevent any further introduction of anrhrax in consignments of bonedust we shall not hesitate to assign the Government due credit for the s-ieps adopted by it.