254 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 April, iyi8. 



four wide pieces of tape or cloth handy. The cotton is used to filter 

 the air or remove the dust from it. Insert the milking tube in one of 

 the teats, and pump that quarter of the iidder full of air. Then with- 

 draw the milk tube, pinch the teat to stop the air from leaking out, and 

 tie one of those pieces of tape around it tight enough so the air cannot 

 escape. Disinfect the tube, and do the same thing with each of the 

 other three-quarters of the udder. Unless care is exercised to thoroughly 

 disinfect all instruments, teats, and hands, mammitis is almost sure to 

 follow, with the subsequent loss of one or more quarters of the udder. 

 This is all there is in the treatment, and as a rule it cures in a few hours 

 at most. If the cow does not begin to get better in four or five hours, 

 repeat the treatment. jSTow, if one did not happen to have a milk-fever 

 outfit, and could not get one at once, it would be possible to make a 

 temporary one, using a bicycle pump, a piece of rubber tubing, and a 

 milking tube. With this the cotton could, of course, not be used." 



NEW ZEALAND DAIRY COWS. 



It is satisfactory to know, on good authority, that our New Zealand 

 dairy cows are improving in their average production. Mr. W. M. 

 Singleton, Assistant Director of the Dairy Division, in an illuminating 

 article in the Journal of Agriculture, makes some good points in general 

 advocacy of the worth of herd-testing, kc. Accoi-ding to the 1916-17 

 enumeration per the Government Statistician, our dairy herds totalled 

 777,439 dairy cows, an increase of 143,706 in six years. On a conserva- 

 tive basis, it was estimated that, during the 1916-17 season, over 

 125,800,000 lbs. of butter-fat was produced, as against 90,000,000 lbs. 

 of butter-fat in 1910-11 — the increase of cows during the two periods 

 being 22^ per cent., and the butter-fat increase over 39 per cent. Or, in 

 other terms, the average cow accounted for a production of 142.1 lbs. 

 butter-fat in the 1910-11 season, as against 161.8 lbs. of butter-fat for 

 the average cow in the 1916-17 season. As Mr. Singleton says, inter 

 alia, an increase in the Dominion's exports of food products, due to the 

 keeping of an increased number of cows, is commendable enough; but 

 even more praiseworthy is the increase of production due to the improve- 

 ment of the average dairy cow. A further increase of production may 

 naturally be expected as time goes on. The Dairy Division may rightly 

 claim, as it does in the article before us, that the period during which 

 this improvement in the production of the average ISTew Zealand cows 

 has been brought about synchronizes Avith that during which the cow- 

 testing movement has been developed. We can but regret that the move- 

 ment has not grown in the South as in the North Island, and Avould 

 Avek'ome active propaganda and practical work in our midst. We are 

 told that the dairy farmers are more circumspect in the purchase of their 

 bulls than formerly. The use of pure-bred bulls of dairy breeds has 

 had a marked influence on the production of our dairy herds. The 

 certificate of record-testing system, C.O.E., carried out by the breeders 

 and the Dairy Division, has been a most potent influence at work in 

 increasing the demand for bulls which will assist in building up the 

 quality of our dairy herds. It is an interesting movement, and soon, 



