90 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



here about keeping the system down at the time of calving ; but 

 we will not do it. Men wish to get good results, and sometimes 

 the cows come in with inflamed udders ; but, as I think I have 

 shown, it is not necessarily a consequence of the high feeding. 



Mr. Smith, of Middlefield. — Was the cow of which you spoke 

 milked after the calf sucked ? 



Mr. Thompson. — Yes. The calf run with her all the time. 



Mr. Smith. — It is plain that the bag was not milked clean. 

 A young heifer will not give down all her milk. I should 

 expect trouble if I let a calf run with a cow like that. 



Mr. Thompson.— I generally take away the calf as soon as I 

 can. But I am confident there is such a thing as a heifer having 

 a caked bag when she has had poor food. 



Mr. Smith. — I agree to that, because the bag has not been 

 sufficiently cleaned out. 



Mr. Thompson. — I will only say that if gentlemen will 

 get Mr. Flint's book they will find there just about all the 

 information they want. Dr. Thayer prescribed for an inflamed 

 bag as follows : " A half ounce of iodide of potassium in three 

 gallons of water. Then give one tea-spoonful of that liquid in 

 a half pint of water three times a day. Also apply tincture of 

 iodine with a pencil-brush over the parts affected." 



Mr, John M. Smith, of Sunderland. — We have been instructed 

 to-day by the remarks of Dr. Martin and others. But Mr. 

 Thompson comes forward with an illustration that a cow that 

 has no feed at all may have a caked bag. I have been interested 

 in the discussion, but still, as each remedy has been suggested, 

 I have l)een reminded of Mr. Flint's book, although there have 

 been some new ideas presented here. I had a cow about twenty 

 years ago that lost the use of one teat the year before I bought 

 it, as I was told by the person of whom I bought her. Before 

 she came in, fof a short time, I commenced applying hen's oil 

 two or three times a day, and rubbed it in thoroughly until the 

 time of calving. I had no trouble at all with the cow. 



I had another cow whose bag swelled some six or eight 

 weeks after calving. She was fed with Indian meal and shorts, 

 but not very high. I never let her have another calf, as I was 

 convinced the garget could not be cured. 



I think the foot-ail is analogous to the rot in sheep. They 

 are contagious, and will go through a herd when they begin 



