OUR DAIRY HERDS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13979, 10 August 1909, Page 2

OUR DAIRY HERDS.

Man and beast all the world o\ev an ] being stricken down b> that dreaded disease consumption. It hub airajed against it many of the most eminent men of BOience; still it pursues its ouward course. Perhaps the phase ot consumption which interests us most in a dairying district like Taranaki is its attack on human b«ings through the medium of the cow. So deadly haw the ravages of the disease taken h*ld ot the people in the United Kingdom thai a Royal Commission has been appointed to devise means for arresting its progress. The commission recently "issued an interim report, in which it states that cow's milk containing l>ovme tnhercule bacilli is clearly a cause (it tuber- ; culosis and of fatal tuberculosis in m.in. Tubercle bacilli, it says, ought nevei to be used for food, and measures moi«> stringent than those at present taken ought to be enforced to prevent the. sale of such milk. Experiments nwido by other authorities show that in sixt> cases of human tuberculosis fourteen had the bovine type of the bacillus, and in cases in which infection had apparently occurred by the bowel, neailv 50 per cent, were bovine in origin The present proportion of milk eow.s in the Tinted Kingdom shown by the tuberculin test to he tubercular is about M pec cent., and when we consider that in 1907 there were 11.1328.453 cattle in t'.e Old Land, we realise how deep-io<it< .1 the disease is. In New Zealand we h.ivc been combating the disease in cattle to some extent by our meat inspector and our stock inspectors. Hut it tin trouble in to be stamped out. more di istic measures will have to be adopted. Tuberculosis occupies an impregnable position amongst the herds of the \ nitI ed Kingdom, and before it can h< driven from its stronghold, either _tl<e Government will have to spend millions of pounds in waging war against it. or the farmer will have to go to the w ill through loss occasioned by his stock l>ring destroyed. In New Zealand the position is" different. Dairying now >s practically in its infancy, compaied with what it will be in a few yea is. when the land is opened up and M->ence is more generally allied to the farm and its products. If the Governnu nt is alive to its responsibilities it v, ill prosecute the war against tuberculosis with more vigour than ever. I,mn«' Minis ot money will have to bo expended in compensation if the disease is t.> bo stamped out, but money so spent will be money wisely invested. The law now relatum to the subject is almost farci<.-i It empowers the authorities to se./.c diseased stock from the farmer, .bstrov it and pay him reasonable v i - pensation. Thousands of beast> s-il-fering from the disease neve.- s'".u nnv outward signs of it. and the ovU uav of detecting that they are «] ■'<-.- '."• is by the Koch tuberculin test. Dv laws provide for the application '.I this test to the. stock of any farmer who may desire it applied. Hut h ■■" is the strange part of the aw : ii :>i applicant's itook proves to be disen ,>H he must tender it for destruction wubout the hopo of receiving a tingle penny as compensation, the nan who keeps quiet and waits for his, cattle to be seized gets a very fair return for his loss. Mr. C. J. Ueakes due, veterinarian, made some valuable suggestions at the Agricultural f«nl<-r-ence on the subject of tuberculosis. ; le recommended the present- system o. weeding out and slaughtering all noticeably affected animals and the I<stmg of all doubtful cases with tuberculin. But, as we have alre.uh stated, hundreds of cattle suffer fi nm the disease and never show the slightest sign of it. We would rather mm? the test universally applied lmme diately, in order that the disease ma-. all the more easily be an eh led Human life is at stake and the subiecl calls for more serious consideration Other recommendations made by -Mr Reakes are the pasteurisation ot all separated milk and whey at dairy tactories and creameries before their removal by farmers for the purpose oi feeding calves and pigs, and the provision of good winter feed, both or cows and for young stock, to enable them to maintain a high standard ot vitality and give them a better elm nee of resisting- the infection. Consumption kills nearly 40,000 persons every at Home and 200,000 per an mi; in the United States. Fortunately it is not so disastrous here, but the proportion of deaths is alarming cnoi'g'i to necessitate the farmer, the diir> factory, and th" Gov >rnmcnt conn ming and preventing the disease gaming an impregnable position m Ae<\ Zealand. If they shirk their responsibilities they commit a grave imnotice on society and promote nu cr> and wretchedness in future gem rations.

An examination of engineers is bein« held in the Courthouse to-da> b\ tho Inspector of Machinery. T!i.>re were nine candidates. Stock in South Taranaki are wintering well, and at the present time (>!•<■ in remarkably good condition ( uy.> the Hawera Star). The stock this winter has been particularly free f i oi.i serious disease. In parts of the Ham era district there are evidence-* of early calving, and in some shed-. milking' has already begun. Tou.uo^ the end of the month another lnill-inn season will have been fairly started. In the Magistrate's Court ye.stenhu afternoon, before Mr. H. S. Fitzlieibert, S.M.. Joe Wall, a Chinese ( i.et appeared on six different charge, oi having in his possession, nianufac t;ir u.g, and concealing opium, contcirv to the Customs Act. 15)08. (Jan Fun a Chinese laundrynian. was chnij/cd with having opium in hu»<-po < *esMon. and also with smoking opium, t'nitrary to the Customs laws. Mr D Hutchen represented the latter. 'I I<• charges were interpreted by Mr. ( he\> Chong. Mr. T. S. Weston, CVran Prosecutor, asked for a remand iv each case until Monday next, and this «a.> granted. A sitting of the Magistrate's dm t was held this morning, Mr. H. S. Fitx.herbert presiding. Judgment for plnmtiff in default of defendant was gn^n in each of the following cases:— West- , port Coal Company v. John F. Whitmore, claim i;l "s 6d (costs 7s> ; Com missioner of Taxes \ . Henrj Fwies ( n!laghan, £1 7s Gd (os) ; Charles Dame! Chant v. Edward John Baker, 48 <X Id (£1 3s 6d); Arnold George v. To Atun. £1 ("s 6tl). The judgment summ m case of Dr. H. A. M'Cleland v. \\ illumi. Blair, jun.. partiallj heard la.st Tu-s day, was adjourned for three months, debtor having agreed to pay the debt. £11 2b Bd, within that period. Last evening Messrs. W. 11. Skinner and R. C. Hughes waited on the New Plymouth Borough Council and asked it to refrain from having a group ot pine trees on the top of Marsland ilill removed. They had no objection to the felling of tlie row of trees along tho Fulford Street boundary, but thought one of the beauties ot both tlie hill and the town would be removed if these pines were felled. They understood that the council intended planting the western face of the hill with native shrubs, and appealed toi the lives of this group of pines until such times as the new growth bad matured a little. The council discussed Hie matter at some leugth. Councillor Watkins contended that the trees were blocking one of the prettiest views which the hill afforded, viz, the hospital and Westown. — Councillor Wilsou said he had been informed ,tliat tho proximity of pinus insignis had a detrimental effect upon white marble It would be a pity to leave those tree.* standing if they were likely to spoil the handsome monument which li.nl recently been erected on the lull Eventually the matter was left with the Reserves Committe to deal with