380 Journal of Agriculture. [8 June, 1907. 



Lameness will usually continue until the change of cartilage into l)one 

 is completed and the sidebone is " set," i.e. so long as the inflammatory 

 activity and bone formation or ossification continue ; and one of the objects 

 of treatment should be to hasten this process. To this end blistering is of 

 assistance. The red mercury ointment may be rubbed in round the coronet 

 at intervals of four or five davs for a fortnight or so. Failing this firing 

 may be resorted to and. as with ringbone, point firing is likely to be most 

 effective. 



For inveterate lameness due to sidebone the operation of neurectomy 

 is to be recommended. For cases in which the bony enlargement continues 

 tc increase in size and is accompanied by great lameness on account of the 

 compression of the soft tissues between the bone and the hoof fall, Colonel 

 Fred. Smith of the British Army Veterinary Department has introduced a 

 method of surgical treatment by which the pain is mechanically relieved. 

 The operation consists in the cutting of two niches or grooves in the hoof 

 wall lengthway O'f the horn fibres from the coronet down to nearly the 

 ground surface. One niche is made in front of the bony enlargement and 

 the other posterior to it near the heel. Both are cut sufficiently deep through 

 the wall as to allow of pressure of the enlarged bone from within to cause 

 the part cf the wall i.solated by the niches to be sprung outwards. With 

 the relief nf pressure so caused there is also cessation of irritation, the 

 ir.flammation sulisides and comparative freedom from lameness results. Of 

 course an ugly appearance of the foot is brought about, but in horses 

 virtually crippled with sidebone the operation is successful to the extent of 

 R'ndering the animals wnrkabh sound. 



{To be continued .) 



FlU IT STORES. 



C: Bogue Luffmanii. Principal Burnley School of Horticulture. 



A cool store room enables the orchardist to keep fruit far into the winter 

 and thereby supply the local and Inter-State markets when as a rule prices 

 are extremely good. The co-operative cool chambers now established in 

 some districts will meet the wants of many growers whilst one or two large 

 private establishments have erected cooling and refrigerating plants of their 

 own. It will scarcely pay to build a fruit store where the orchard is 

 small or say less than five hundred bushels could be relied on each year. 



The only fruits likely to pav for special storage are apples and pears. 

 Late ripening fruit of firm texture and perfectly sound, especially about 

 the eye and stalk, are the only kinds which should be selected for storing. 

 The cooler and more regular the climate in which fruit is grown the 

 better it will keep. Soil and the degree of exposure given to fruit during 

 its various stages of growth have also a great deal to do with its keeping 

 qualities. No fruit rooms should be thought of (unless supplied with a 

 refrigerating plant) in the hottest parts of Victoria. In the elevated country 

 passing from 1,000 to' 2,000 feet; in the Western District; and, in Gipps- 

 land. a great deal of fruit is grown which is cajjable of being stored. 



