10 Feb., 1917.] The Control of Mammilis. 117 



Cleanly dairy management is not only very advantageous to the 

 consumer, in that the jjroduce used by him under such conditions will 

 be of good keeping quality, appetizing and health promoting; but the 

 liealth of the cattle tiiemselves is very largely controlled by their sani- 

 tary surroundings. Diseases of a contagious nature are very often 

 checked and controlled by cleanly methods in the milking sheds and 

 yards, but dirty and careless habits help to spread them. 



Take maramitis, for example, probably no notifiable disease under 

 the Dairy Supervision Act, not even that insidious one tuberculosis, 

 has spread to such an extent through the dairying herds of this State 

 as manunitis, or garget as it is commonly known, nor caused such mone- 

 tary losses to the farmer as this disease has done. 



This may at first appear a rather startling statement; but it is war- 

 ranted by several years' experience in handling cows in different parts 

 of the State. As showing the prevalence of this disease among the dairy 

 herds during a recent e.xamiuation of dairy cows in one district alone, 

 when 1,457 head of milking cows were handled, no less than 117, or 8 

 per cent., of these were found to be affected with mammitis in some form. 

 This number, possibly, is not so large as usual, owing to the high prices 

 obtainable for beef cows, and the good year for grass being a favor- 

 able opportunity to dispose of numbers so affected at a high price to 

 graziers. 



And when we consider that the number o*" cows stated above, found 

 to be affected with mammitis, was the result of only one inspection, 

 some idea may be gained of the probable extent to which the disease 

 exists in the herds of the State. 



Although the disease and its treatment have been brought under the 

 farmers' notice by Mr. R. J. de C. Talbot, B.V.Sc, in an article on 

 mammitis, in the May issue, 1913, of the Journal of Agriculture, the 

 seriousness of the situation is still very far from being realized by them. 

 If they could only be brought to consider the loss tlie disease is causing 

 them individually, that article would be read and studied carefully by 

 every farmer, for its value is inestimable. This might result in the 

 annual loss from this disease being considerably reduced. 



Dairymen, in many cases, are totally ignorant of the causes of 

 mammitis, and owing to the many forms in which it appears they find 

 it hard to distinguish them as variations of the same disease. It 

 frequently happens that they are so satisfied with their own faulty 

 diagnosis of the trouble that they give little heed to professional advice, 

 and consequently the affected animal receives no treatment, and there- 

 fore seldom makes a recovery. If dairymen vdW fix their attention to 

 the fact that mammitis is fundamentally an affection of the udder, they 

 would arrive more quickly at the reason for their cows' sickness. 



Although the udder may have been affected some time, they usually 

 do not notice any sign of the disease until some very pronounc d con- 

 dition occurs. If this should be confined to an inflamed condition of 

 the udder, accompanied with heat and pain, then they may diagnose 

 it and treat it reasonably well; but if, as frequently occurs, the animal 

 also shows signs of sickness, such as a feverish condition, staring 

 coat, lameness, &c., the owner will more often than not diagnose the 



