Vol. XVI. No. 392. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



133 



to the hurricane, 106,000 onion seedlings were distributed 

 during the season. The small growers were shipping their 

 onions direct to St. Thomas where high prices were ruling. 

 Concerning the cotton industry Mr. Fishlosk says that 

 this ha^ passed through a critical stage. In present 

 circumstance-! a straight cash payment is more acceptable 

 than a first payment of -^c. and a distribution of profits 

 afterwards. It is one of the reasons why a considerable 

 amount of cotton was sold to a private buyer instead of 

 being sent to the Government ginnery. The weather at 

 Tortola during the ijuarter was dry, the total rainfall during 

 the period .January- .March inclusive being only 'rOG inches, 

 which is 3'34 inches below the average for the previous 

 fifteen years. 



AGE DETERMINATION OF CATTLE IN 



DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. 



It appears that the dentition formulae for age determina- 

 tion of cattle vary according to breed and environment. An 

 article published in the Agricultural Journal of Egypt 

 (Vol. VI, 1916) deals with the question of age determination 

 in Egyptian cattle. From this it would seem that the 

 matter is one deserving of investigation in the West Indies, 

 for it appears certain that the commonly employed dentition 

 formulae of Europe do not hold good for Egyptian cattle, and 

 probably less so for Indian and those breeds generally found 

 throughout the tropics. 



The article under notice discusses first of all the methods 

 of ageing employed by Egyptain dealers and farmers. When 

 a dealer in an Egyptian cattle market requires to age a cow or 

 a bull, he simply look< at the animal carefully without neces- 

 sarily touching it, and then pronounces its age on its general 

 appearance. The dealers believe that such cursory examination 

 is sufficient to estimate the age of the animal, relying on long 

 experience. This method cannot by any means be exact, 

 because even with the greatest experience the estimation of 

 age becomes a matter of opinion. Another method is to 

 esiimatc ilie age of i-ows by the number of ealvings It is 

 reckoned that heifers usually become mature when they are 

 about two years old. They are usually served early in 

 their third year, so the first calf will come about the end of 

 the third year This method would be of some value if the 

 cow had a calf every year, and also if the owner staled the 

 right number iif calving=.. 



The reliable methods of determining the age of cattle 

 are by the horns and by the teeth. Determining age by the 

 horns is inon- useful after the shedding of all the insisors. 

 But usually Egyptian cattle are tied up and led by the horns 

 — conditions which affect their normal growth. It is only in 

 a few instances that one could count the rings on the horns. 

 At any rate the rule is ta add two to the number of rings, 

 and the result will be the age of the animal. 



By far the most reliable method is, of course, by means 

 of the teeth. The classical word in Arabic for ageing is 

 tannine (teething). The Arabs had very reliable observations 

 .on camel and horse teeth. They also mention cattle, although 

 they seeiii to have had more interest in the first twn kinds of 

 anim.'ils. I'.elow will be found a comparative table with 

 European and American cattle, which shows briefly the ageing 

 dealt with in the article under notice. It may not be out of 

 place to mention here, that there are two .sets of teeth in cattle: 

 temporary or milk teeth, and permanent teeth, the latter 

 being larger and much wider and more yellow in (.olonr than 

 the temporary teeth. The teeth are of two kinds: incisors, 

 whicli are sho-.'el-shaped, eight in number asd found at the 



extremity of the lower jaw; and the molars, which are 

 twenty-four in number — twelve in each jaw. 



The table referred to, is as follows: — 

 A. — Egyptian cattle. 

 Milk teeth:— 



(1) Centrals, middle laterals, 



and laterals up at birth. 



(2) Corners up at one week. 



Permanent teeth: — 



(1) Centrals 



(2) Middle laterals 



(3) External laterals 



(4) Corners 



up at two years, 

 up at three years, 

 up at three years six 

 months to four years, 

 up at four years three 

 months to four years 

 six months. 



B. — European cattle (according to Brown's 'Table 

 Dentition'). 



of 



Permanent teeth: — 



(1) Centrals 



(2) Middle laterals 



(3) External laterals 



(4) Corners 



cut at one year six 



months, well up 



at one year nine 



months. 



up at two years 



three months 



cut at two years 



eight months 



up exceeding three 



years 



C. — American cattle (according to 'Diseases of Animals', by 

 Professor L. H. Baily). 



A note appears in Nature for March 29 to the eti'ect 

 that the President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 

 of England and Wales has appointed a Committee to consider 

 practical means for increasing the supplies of sea-fish for the 

 home markets, and for encouraging the consumption of such 

 fish, whether cured or fresh, in substitution for other foods. 

 The committee is also i-oncerned with increasing the amount 

 of fresh-water fi.sli supplied, and is empowered to provide 

 machinery and labour to make the supplies available and 

 for their transport to market. It would be easy for the 

 West Indies to take simi'ar action. In these islands locally 

 caught fish could well be substituted for much of the cured 

 fish imported if the fishing industries were better organized. 



