760 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. 1 10 Dec, 1917 



WATER SUPPLY FOR COWS AND DAIRIES. 



By E. TF. Murphy, Dairy Supervisor. 



The necessity of a liberal supply of good clean drinking water foi 

 milch cows needs great emphasis, for too often we find that the only 

 water available is that from a dam or waterhble into which the cattle have 

 access so that they puddle it up and pollute it. In many parts of the 

 State the supply of water for stock is dependent upon surface catchment, 

 into dams or walerholes, or upon subterranean sources. In the Upper 

 Murray districts I found many farms supplied with beautiful water 

 from quickly flowing streams, and frequently it was brought in open 

 trenches right past the dairy and yards, and at one place in the Mitta 

 Valley the separator was driven by a water wheel. Here on the Western 

 plains and in the Wimmera districts, waterholes on the surface at times 

 become offensive bog.s, and cows being forced to drink at these objection- 

 able places often develop digestive troubles. Water that has become 

 polluted in such reservoirs can be cheaply purified by using chloride of 

 iron, or lime, to precipitate the clay and organic matter. It will cost 

 very little, and if a quantity of either agent in excess of that actually 

 required to clarify the water be used, the stock will further benefit, as 

 both chloride of iron and lime are essential in the animal economy. Full 

 details of the method of using iron chloride, or lime, were given in an 

 article by the- late Dr. Rothera in the Journal of A r/ricvltiire of July, 

 1910. 



The dam or waterhole should be fenced off and the water lifted into 

 tanks, or gravitated into trotighs if possible. Trees shotild be planted 

 about, the banks to give welcome shade to the cattle. lb has been found 

 in many cases that cows show a marked ])reference for well or spring 

 water, even though the water from the surface catchment be fairly 

 clean, and there is abundant evidence pf good results following t/he use 

 of water from underground. The freedom of such waters from dele- 

 lerious organisms is probably an important factor always, and in some 

 cases it may be ths chief reason of the benefits experienced, but often 

 it is the minerals contained in the water from below, which we should 

 credit with the favorable influence on the health of the milking cows. 



Agricultural and veterinai-y science are otily now coming to be 

 recognised in their true relationship to human welfare, and the researches 

 at. the experimental stations have borne fruit which will be of great 

 value to the race, by throwing light on the causation of disease, and in 

 return we may no doubt look to the physician for help towards a better 

 understanding of the causes of disease in cattle. In the history of medi- 

 cine we find that many wells were famed for the curative properties of 

 their waters, and e.spacially in connexion with the elimination of toxic 

 matters from the system, and from the Agricultural Experiment Station 

 of Ohio, U.S.A., comes the brightest light that science has shed on the 

 subject of the service of minerals in the animal economy. Professor 

 Forbes tells us that they are essential for maintaining the proper condi- 

 tion of the blood and for the structure of the cells throu,ghout the 

 system, as well as for the electrical efficiency of the body fluids. 



Saline and mineral waters are mostly from volcanic strata, and the 

 nature and amounts of the minerals held in solution will be governed 

 by the kind of rocks and soils passed over, or percolated through, and 



