CHILDREN’S ESSAYS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 56, Issue 4050, 20 May 1938, Page 8

CHILDREN’S ESSAYS

AT TE RAU-A-MOA SCHOOL STOCK INSPECTOR’S DEMONSTRATION. Early in April Mr G. B. Melrose local Stock Inspector, gave a lecture at Te Rau-a-Moa, on mammitis and facial eczema and also a practical demonstration of the brom thymol test. There was a representative attendance of farmers, and also of boys from the local school, the chairman of the committee (Mr J. Randall) having arranged for their presence. Subsequently the teacher (Miss A. P. Phelan) invited the boys to write essays on what they had heard and seen. These were written during school hours and were submitted for adjudication to Mt J. T. Petrie, of the Courier staff, who has made the following* awards: Leslie Dassler 1 W. Heron 2 Reg. Parkinson 3 The winning esay is as follows: On the Bth April Mr Randall kindly arranged for the boys of the Te Rau-a-Moa school to be present at a talk chiefly on mammitis in cows and how to detect it. On arrival at Mr Russell’s cow-shed we found a large gathering of local farmers, along with Mr Melrose. At length Mr Melrose gave a very interesting talk on mammitis and its prevention. It greatly surprised some of the settlers when they heard that the mammitis germs could be contained in one Quarter of the udder while the others were entirely free of them. There was, however, no certain known cure, and, as he said, “prevention is better than cure.”

Having concluded this very interesting talk, he produced a set of instruments for testing mammitis which is known as the brom thymol test. All of the boys had a turn at using the useful set. Several of the farmers ordered one of these remarkable sets.

This finished, he gave a short talk to sheep farmers on eczema in sheep and its prevention. Eczema is caused mainly by a sudden change of types of food. When sheep are thus affected the blazing sun is great agony to them. They should be put in a shed with dry, rough hay to eat. The liver is the main part affected. The afternoon was concluded by a short speech by Reginald Parkinson, of behalf of the boys, and a speech by Mr Randall.