574 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [Aug. 2, 1920. 



Stock do not suffer A'ery greatly from exposure to rain alone, although 

 scalding may take place in long-continued wet weather ; young animals may 

 suffer loss of condition from the same cause. Nothing reduces stock so 

 rapidly as continued exposure to cold biting winds, and shelter from these is 

 of very great importance. Even where animals are suffering the severest 

 exposure, such as occurs with horses on hoi'se lines in wet, cold winters, 

 much of the ill effect can be reduced by the simplest kind of windbreak. 

 Debility and exhaustion cause very heavy losses among horses under such 

 conditions, and the wind is probably one of the most serious factors. The 

 disease-resisting power of the animal is also considerably reduced. 



Probably one of the most serious economic losses from exposure in this 

 country is the reduction in the milk supply of dairy cows. 



Standing timber is again the most suitable protection, and should be so 

 left as to provide a windbreak from the direction of the prevailing winds ; 

 but shelter sheds and the lee side of farm buildings may be utilised, or 

 hedges can be grown along exposed sides of small yards. 



The Hygienic Disposal of Excreta. 



-This question is only considered of importance in the case of animals on 

 small holdings, and yet at times the sheep on the biggest runs may be 

 more or less affected with disease associated with the disposal of excreta. 

 Certainly it is rarely that it will be so, and in the vast majority of large 

 holdings the matter has no practical significance. The small farmer has to 

 consider the question from two standpoints — firstly, the effective use of the 

 excreta on his cultivated land, and secondly, the prevention of disease 

 among his livestock. 



So far as horses are concerned but little need be observed, except to 

 emphasise the ill results of allowing them to stand in a mixture of mud, 

 dung, and urine, and to point out that horse manure appears to be a peculiarly 

 favourable breeding ground for flies, and should therefore be got well away 

 from stables, cow-sheds and houses, and dealt with by close packing or covering 

 with earth or in other ways to minimise its attraction. When circumstances 

 do not permit of open drains in the stable for the removal of liquid manure, 

 care should be taken that the existent drains are properly trapped and 

 ventilated to prevent the return of foul gases into the building. 



In cow-sheds the liquid manure is preferably removed by a wide and 

 shallow drain at the back of the cows. Solid excreta should be removed 

 regularly from the bails and yard, and stacked or pitted preparatory to its 

 use on the land. 



Sheep yards and pens should be cleared of excreta to prevent infection of 

 lambs at marking and of sheep after shearing. 



It has been shown that tuberculosis may be readily contracted both by 

 cattle and pigs from grazing over land which has been heavily manured with 

 the excreta of tubercular cattle. This fact emphasises the desirability, 

 where practicable, of disposing of the dung on land to be cultivated ; and in 



