JOTTINGS.

Waikato Times, Volume 98, Issue 16152, 29 November 1924, Page 18 (Supplement)

JOTTINGS.

The Minister of Agriculture states that the live stock division of the Department of Agriculture has now in hand a special investigation into certain diseases of dairy cows, and that a highly-trained veterinary officer has been relieved of his ordinary duties in order that he may devote the whole of his time to this work. The Minister states, also, that active consideration is now being given to the question of establishing a special laboratory for the investigation of dairy problems.

The lowa Experiment Station undertook a series of elaborate experiments on the bacteriological effects of liming. The practical lessons to be learned from these researches on liming are that the application of lime to soils in quantities ranging from half a ton to three tons an acre will render more available the plant .foods in soils and fertilisers, thereby improving crop conditions; that an application of lime is practically equivalent to the direct use of the essential fertilisers of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash since lime forms soluble compounds of these plant foods and thereby increases crop yields; and that, when experience teaches the farmer that his soil needs liming, he can confidently make use of lime up to three tons an acre without danger of injuring his land or lowering the yields of crops. When you are estimating the quality of a cow’s udder, an actual examination is absolutely necessary. We have found by extended experience that before buying a cow it always pays to go over every part of the udder with the, hands (says a writer in the , Breeders’ Gazette). Gentle” massage will locate every lump and hard spot. Such tumourlike places or “hunches" in an udder tell the story of past attacks of inilammation, slight or severe, and indicate the likelihood of a recurrence of the attack at a subsequent calving. They should also lead one carefully to examine the milk secreted by the affected gland. It is therefore well to strip a stream of milk from each teat in turn into the palm of the hand, then note its appearance and smell, and if there seems to be no sign of abnormality, one may next venture to taste the emulsion. The quarter that contains a tumour or scar tissue has been attacked at some time in its history, and .will ho subject to further attacks. In some instances tuberculosis of tho udder is present, especially where the lump js high up at the rear of the udder. Testing with tuberculin should therefore be done without fail when hard, insensitive lumps arc felt in an udder. It is also unsafe to buy a “three-teat-cr" cow, or one whose milk is abnormal in any way, for infection may possibly spread from such a cow to the others in the herd. A careful manual examination of the udder in all of ils parts, and as (n llir quality of the milk yielded, is of paramount importance before money is invested in a row, and never should he neglected. „