Report of the Chief Inspector of Stock. 861 



hv^ev I'ot. With ;i summer suck as the past, this is uot to be 

 wondered at, aud the absence of these worries among their Hocks for 

 a few years had caused some owners to think they were a thing of the 

 past ; while to others it came as a revelation to find their })astures 

 were the cause. In connection with tluke, Dr. Cobb, of the N.S.W. 

 Department of Agriculture, favours the assistance obtained from 

 ducks or other birds which devour the host, which the lluke inhabits 

 in an intermediary stage after passiug from one sheep in the form of 

 ova, before they are taken up in the larval form on the pasture by 

 other sheep. This would no doubt be a very simple and efficacious 

 method of destroying a number, but owners should place licks, con- 

 taining salt, sulphate of iron and lime, in different parts of the 

 paddocks in which the animals are grazing so that they could have 

 free access to them at any time. This would at least prevent either 

 lluke or water rot obtaining mastery over the animals. Maggot liy 

 has caused some trouble to ewes in the Swan Hill district, as also on 

 some parts of the South Australian border ; from which latter 

 locality weauers are also reported as suffering from worms. 



Swine. 



As will be seen by reference to the reports of the district 

 inspectors, swine fever has again manifested itself. Fortunately, how- 

 ever, while the losses have been very sev^ere on some places where the 

 disease existed last year, the various inspectors have been enabled to 

 keep it in hand, and thus preventing its spread by restricting the 

 movements of the pigs from such places and the enforcement of strict 

 quarantine on the piggeries. In connection with the stamping out of 

 this disease, Mr. Cotlier pays a deserved complimeut to those salesmen 

 in i\\Q Western district, who absolutely refused to allow store pigs in 

 their yards unless they were able to vouch for their health ; from 

 Warrnambool comes similar news. In fact store pigs would not be 

 yarded, while from Ballarat comes a message of similar import. 

 This shows a genuine feeling on the part of these gentlemen to assist 

 the Department in its eiforts to stamp out the disease. Were ownei's 

 themselves animated by a similar desire the rest would be easy, but 

 as it too often happens, when a pig dies on the premises of many of 

 them, no time is lost in putting the others into the market, so that 

 some one else may lose money by purchasing that which the vendor 

 knows is diseased. 



Reports. 



The various district and border inspectors of stock report as 

 follows : — 



Waernambool Dj strict. 



Mr. Haines reports : — During the last six months I have been 

 engaged in inspecting and quarantining cattle for pleuro-pneumonia ; 

 inspecting pigs and dairy and other cattle in various portions of my 

 district, in part of which anthrax was supposed to have broken out, 

 but which on investigatiou proved without foundation. I have 



