THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



557 



calves, if properly looked after, will come 

 through the following summer without 

 much risk. 



There is also another factor which must 

 be considered when trying to solve the 

 problem why calf-rearing in Natal is not 

 more generally successful, and that is the 

 system so much in vogue throughout the 

 Colony of rearing calves on their mothers 

 and milking the mothers at the same time. 

 I am quite aware that this cannot very 

 well be avoided, but at the same time it 

 is often the cause of much sickness 

 amongst the calves, as it is seldom that a 

 calf gets the same quantity of milk daily, 



sometimes getting too much, l)ut more 

 often not sufficient. This irregularity in 

 the quantity of milk a calf receives is 

 bound at times to produce sickness, and 

 the only way out of the difficulty seems 

 to be to bring the calves up by hand. At 

 the Net's Rust Dairy, under the able 

 supervision of Mr. George Alexander, calf 

 rearing by hand has been carried on 

 throughout the summer with a consider- 

 able amount of success ; but as Mr. 

 Alexander's experiments have not been 

 fully completed, I shall ihope, in a future 

 report, to deal more fully with this im- 

 portant matter of rearing calves by hand. 



Veterinary Departmental Report for August, 



ABSTRACTS FROM REPORTS 

 Minister op Agriculture — 



I BEG herewith to forward the monthly 

 reports of fhe Veterinary Department 

 for the month of August. Nothing of 

 particularly noteworthy character has 

 occurred. The District north of the 

 Tugela is still extensively affected with 

 contagious disease, and under the present 

 conditions cannot but remain so. The 

 continual movement of diseased stock 

 will cease only with the cessation of 

 hostilities. The Tuberculosis Law con- 

 tinues to justify its existence, and as long 

 as intending importers fail to insist upon 

 animals bringing with them a certificate 

 of freedom from this disease, the loss and 

 inconvenience attendant upon the appli- 

 cation of the provisions of the law will be 

 incurred by those neglecting this simple 

 precaution. 



Quarter-evil appears to be e?pecially 

 rife this season. Of the vaccine for this 

 disease over 1,160 doses have been issued 

 within the past month. 



A further visitation of the disease 

 rinderpest seems a certainty, alid prepara- 

 tions are being made to meet it as far as 

 possible. 



H. Watkins-Pitchpord, 

 P.V. Surgeon. 

 19th October, 1901. 



MARITZBURG. — D.V.S. WOOLLATT. 



From the 1st to the 8th of the month I 

 was on duty in Durban during the 

 absence of D.V.S. Amos on leave. Dur- 



ing this time one cow (Australian) was 

 tested for tuberculosis, ►•^he reacted to 

 the tuberculin test, and upon /wsl-inortetn 

 examination was found to be suffering 

 from generalised tuberculosis. The flesh 

 was condemned as unfit for human food. 

 Fourteen bulls arrived from England, 150 

 horses from Australia, and 50 mules from 

 the United States. The remaining por- 

 tion of the month has been taken up 

 chiefly with office duties. A clean 

 quarantine depot for breeding stock was 

 established during the month near Spion- 

 kop, and Mr. Stratford placed in charge. 



On the grazing area for discharged tran- 

 sport oxen at Umhlamyo GS2 head of oxen 

 have been running during the month, and 

 a total of 16 deaths have occurred as 

 follows : — 4, lungsickness ; 1, accident ; 

 41, poverty. 



At Pieters, the clean quarantine depot 

 for oxen, 1,011 oxen were admitted, 595 

 oxen released, and 1,;576 oxen were in the 

 depot at the end of the month. 



HOWICK.— D.V.S. BYRNE. 



Lion's River Division. , 

 Scab. — I regret to have to report four 



fresh outbreaks of scab in the Lion's 



River Division. 

 There is no other contagious disease 



that 1 am aware of in this Division at 



present. 



Upper Uinkomanzi Division. 

 There are no fresh cases of seal) in this 

 Division. There are no cases of glanders, 



