“Water”

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1010, 28 June 1930, Page 29

“Water”

Its L_.ses on the Farm r 1 1: , .1 . V \V'."'i» oTV Very ;i| ” one £ol ' an address 1 *: t ; l n°' \'“ ale> research chemist for the Fedvatinn n kl A DaU T factories, before delegates to the ll ‘p Association Conference held at Hamilton this Meek. Undoubtedly the quantity and quality of the i\ater available should be an item of first importance to every xarm owner.

Assuming that every farmer realised the importance of having ample drinking water readily available to the stock, Mr. Veale stressed the neces- ; sitjr for paying some attention, at least, to quality. The absence of j minerals from water, he stated, was j most desirable as, apart from not j being too palatable for stock, it quite frequently brought about a depression in the milk yield. Contrary to general opinion, a reasonable quantity of vegetable matter ; in drinking water was of no great importance as far as cattle -were concerned, even if the vegetable matter was in a state of decomposition; even active pollution from sewerage was not in itself something to be dreaded. The great point as far as drinking

water for cattle was concerned was ! j whether the cattle drank it. if cattle hung off water, it might safely be | assumed that there was something wrong with it. It might be the tem- • perature, but whatever it was, the fact | that cattle were showing a disinclin- : atjon to touch their drinking water i should be sufficient to start an imme- ; date investigation as to the cause. In the selection of water for household use on the farm, the quality could : be judged within reasonable limits by ! those concerned without having it j tested by a bacteriologist. Water used the house should be entirely free i ! f, 'om sewerage pollution, animal or human. One simple test for puritv w as to take a clean glass jar. of the i mason preserving type for preference. | and till it with the "water under test ; , warmed to blood heat; the water ! should be allowed to stand for 'M 1 hours and if at the end of that time n gave off an objectionable smell it I

; could be safely assumed that it was not all it should he for human con- • sumption. Another simple test was to place : a few drops of Condy's Fluid in the ; M'ater and, if, after a few hours, the colour had disappeared, it could be assumed that there was organism in the wa.ter. At the cowshed the main point-with respect to the water should be quantity; in the ordinary course very little of the water used in the shed came iB contact with the milk, and, to avoid risk of pollution in this connection, only boiled water should be used in the final washing of machines and utensils. A trace of odorous disinfectant such as Condy’s fluid should always be used in washing the cows teats and udders prior to applying the machines. In the butter factory purity was a matter of relatively greater importance as bad flavours and poor keeping qualities had frequently been traced to the water used in manufacture. Undoubtedly, many farmers could pay greater attention to their supply of water; in many instances, paddocks are not well equipped with an easily available supply at all seasons of the year and, further and of greater relative importance as far as keeping up the quality of New Zealand’s dairy produce, too little is used in the sheds in a big majority of instances. In the campaign for improving quality, N'ew Zealand dairymen cannot well lose sight of this fact.