DISEASES AND TREATMENT OF CATTLE 393 



after she has gone dry. Burn the hole with a pointed stick 

 of caustic potash, which destroys the fistula, then while it is 

 healing the hole disappears and it will be all right the next 

 time she calves. 



8. Cow Pox. 



This is often met with and affects herds in all parts of 

 the world. It is somewhat similar to smallpox in people only 

 it is not nearly so fatal. It is an infectious disease, that is, it 

 can be carried from one cow to another. For instance, one 

 man is milking eight or ten cows and only one has the disease 

 at first; he will carry the disease to all the others. 



Symptoms. — The cow seems feverish and does not give 

 quite so much milk. In a few days, little red, pimple like 

 spots appear around the teats. In a day or so more, these red 

 spots rise up in the form of blisters, which contain a watery 

 fluid. If these are not broken during milking, they dry up 

 themselves and form scabs, which, in a few days, drop off, 

 leaving the teat natural. It generally takes from eight to ten 

 days to run its course ; but sometimes, when the blisters on 

 the teats are broken by the milker's hand and kept irritated 

 by milking, or flies, they take a long time to heal. 



Treatment. — Keep the cow separate from the others, and 

 allow only one person to milk her, and no others, so as to 

 keep the disease from spreading. If in the spring, let her 

 have grass only. If at any other time of the year, feed soft 

 food with boiled flax seed in it, and give the following pow- 

 ders for the blood and kidneys: 



Nitrate of Potash or Saltpetre J4 pound. 



Sulphur 34 pound. 



Ground Gentian Root ... . . % pound. 



Mix thoroughly and give a teaspoonful night and morn- 

 ing in a mash. Each time before milking, bathe the teats 

 with lukewarm water and soap, then milk carefully and use 

 the following preparation: 



Sweet Oil 4 ounces. 



Carbolic Acid 10 drops. 



Mix and apply to 'he sore parts each time after milking. 



9. "Drying" a Cow. 



Give her a pound of epsom salts in a quart of lukewarm 

 water as a drench. Bathe the bag once a day for a week with 

 lukewarm forge water or warm vinegar. This may be 



