508 Journal of Agriculture, Yirtoria. [10 Aug., 1917. 



iiuniilked would result in a bulk loss of some 6^ gallons, and as the 

 price at the time of my inspection was liigh, viz., Is. lOd. per gallon, 

 there was a monetary loss of well over £8 on the week's work. It 

 would be a particularly good dairy herd that could stand such a leakage. 

 This is no unusual occurrence, and indifferent milking is one of the 

 commonest causes which make the dairy fanner say that his cows 

 " are doing no good." The Department of Agriculture has constantly 

 advocated the weighing and testing of each cow's milk as one of the 

 most essential features of dairy farm management, and the farmer who 

 follows this advice is running no risk of his cows not being milked 

 properly. This tests acts as an alarm bell to point out any falling off 

 from the normal milk yield. It enables the owner to get rid of all 

 cows that are " not worth their salt." It is an indisputable report on 

 those cows which are to produce stock for future dairy work. In short, 

 systematic weighing and testing of milk yields is the key to profitable 

 dairying, and no dairy farmer can afford to forget it. 



SOME OBSERVATIONS OF THE DROUGHT ON OUR 

 WESTERN BORDER. 



By F. R. Temple, Inspector of Stock. 



That a drought has beneficial effects is a statement requiring quali- 

 fications. However, in districts where fluke and worms are found in 

 stock, especially young sheep, there is no doubt that a dry season brings 

 advantages to compensate for the losses it inflicts. Yet seldom does an 

 opportunity occur of noting the marked difference in the condition of 

 lambs and two-tooths consequent on a period of drought as has been 

 afforded during the past two years on some of the station properties on 

 our western border, previously noted for the difilculty experienced by the 

 proprietors in the rearing of sheep. In a couple of typical holdings which 

 I have known for many years, the land, prior to the drought ot 1915, 

 was not without swamps, which acted as a favorable situation for 

 reproducing animal parasites. This drought, however, dried out 

 all these water lodgments in the whole district — a state never 

 before known to the white man — and since then the animals reared 

 on these holdings have^ been singularly healthy, and equal to any 

 from areas where fluke and worms are unknown. When the swamp 

 waters were failing on these stations subterranean supplies were 

 sought, and, whether instinctively avoiding the disease-producing 

 swamps or from preference for the underground supply, it would be 

 hard to determine, but the sheep soon passed the swamp by and went 

 to the troughing for water. At any rate, the circumstances have 

 proved that without the swamps the stock on these properties are free 

 from internal parasites which formerly affected them. 



Many will naturally be inclined to ask whether this benefit out- 

 weighs the losses sustained. To this question I reply that we must 



