82 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tion at first, and soon after the inflammation shows itself. I 

 think that a restricted diet is the best preventive for great 

 milkers. I told a neighbor of mine, who had a very valnable 

 Shorthorn cow, that I would take her up and keep her on short 

 allowance before calving. He did so, and she did well. Per- 

 haps she would if he had not done it. 



Mr. Homer, of Brimfield. — I have been sufficiently instructed 

 upon diseases of the bag ; but there are one or two other diseases 

 that I think we should consider. One is the foot-ail, and 

 another, which has gone through my lot of cows, is the kine-pox. 

 My cows have had it more than a year. It is as contagious as 

 the smallpox itself among cows. A man who worked for me, 

 and milked the cows, claimed that he to©k the kine-pox and 

 suffered from it, by milking the cows. There first appears a 

 little spot on the teat, which spreads, and finally hardens into 

 a scab on the surface. I have no hesitation in saying that the 

 matter from it will produce the genuine kine-pox. 



Dr. Martin, of Worcester, being desired to express his views, 

 said : — I wish to throw a little light, if possible, on the subject of 

 swelled bag. I think gentlemen have all aimed at the right 

 treatment. There is no doubt, I suppose, but that the young 

 cow which is the best, is much the most likely to have a disease 

 of the bag. It is the result of a variety of causes ; but the cow 

 which is going to give the most milk has the cause which is 

 most likely to produce the disease. Pressure is the great cause ; 

 the increase of the size of the bag is another; another is the 

 plugging of the ducts which produce the milk. All of these 

 causes operate to produce inflammation, which is the result; 

 then comes suppuration, and finally a sloughing off, or mortifi- 

 cation. All these result from the same cause ; but you can see 

 how different the treatment in different stages of the disease. 

 The cold treatment might be good in some stages. But the 

 difficulty is,. that it is applied to the surface, and does not reach 

 the seat of the disease. If we could extend the cold down, so 

 as to prevent the flow of blood, it would do good. If ice could 

 be applied, as it may to a person, the cold might reach the 

 disease and do good. But as it cannot, the warm treatment 

 does good, by attracting the blood to the surface, away from the 

 deep-seated inflammation, and relaxing the place where there is 

 a plug, if there is one. In a variety of ways the warm treat- 



