THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



587 



bages, or ensilage, and a liberal supply of 

 veld hay. Cabbages are my favourite 

 food for cattle. The hay is sprinkled 

 with treacle and water. Ground-nut 

 cake, I may add, is excellent for milking 

 on, but it must be used fresh ; if kept too 

 long it becomes rancid and injurious. 

 Last winter I kept my calves here on 

 clover hay — all grown here." 



'* How did you come through the rin- 

 derpest ? " 



" Well. Here I lost only 3^ per cent., 

 though in the Berg troop the losses were 

 8 per cent. Like others, I first inoculated 

 uselessly with clear bile while the cattle 

 were still clean. When the disease broke 

 out I used serum, but the prescribed 

 treatment I modified slightly. I did not 

 mob the cattle and treat them wholesale, 

 but picked them out on the veld as soon 

 as they showed the first symptoms of 

 disease. The virulent blood I used I did 

 not take from the worst cases of 106 to 

 107, but from animals at 101 to 104^. 

 The serum was injected 21 hours after- 

 wards, and again daily when considered 

 necessary. The treatment of the cattle in 

 small lots prolonged the work, but as all 

 my cattle are quiet to handle, the advan- 

 tages I believe 1 gained did not cause any 

 appreciable extra trouble. The drink of 

 all animals under treatment was thin 

 oatmeal gruel." 



" And about common cattle diseases ? " 



" Happily, this district is very free from 

 cattle disease. Quarter-evil, which is 

 now bad in many parts of the Colony, I 

 don't know here. As you have noticed, 

 the byre is kept in a thoroughly clean 

 state, and the lime washing is frequent. 

 I am lavish in lime washing and the use 

 of lime. Besides destroying any germs of 

 disease that might be lurking v. here it is 

 used, it all comes back to the cattle either 

 directly or through the food which has 

 taken up the lime which has been rubbed 

 off the walls and swept from the floors 

 and has got into the yard manure. 

 The cattle also get lime in their water and 

 in their licks. Plenty of disinfectants 

 are used. Cases of scours among calves 

 are immediately attended to. The remedy 

 I use is a simple one— suet and milk. It 

 is an old Yorkshire remedy, and one that 

 often proves effective in cases of human 

 beings suffering from dysentery when 

 drugs have failed. For a calf a lump of 



suet about the size of a walnut is ground 

 up fine with a kitchen grater, and it is 

 boiled in the dam's own milk. It isgiven 

 cool. The effect is probably chiefly 

 mechanical in giving a smooth coating to 

 the intestines. One or perhaps two doses 

 nearly always brings about a cure. If the 

 calf should be looking seedy and not 

 thriving, I give a preliminary dose of 

 castor oil." 



Horses. 



" Previous to the war," Mr. Simmons 

 said, " I did a large stud business with the 

 public, having large and small thorough- 

 breds, hackneys, Clydesdales, ponies, and 

 general purpose sires. Arcane, the present 

 thoroughbred, is the best I have imported. 

 He has a marvellous constitution, great 

 power, and good bone. He is the most 

 muscular thoroughbred I have ever seen 

 ia my life. To make sure that the Boers 

 should not get him I sent him before the 

 Boers came into the district to Durban, 

 where he remained four months. I make 

 a great point of giving all my horses 

 plenty of lime — both in their drinking 

 water and in their licks. The loose boxes 

 are kept chiefly for mares sent by the 

 public. I firmly believe in keeping the 

 brood mares running out and foaling out 

 — carefully selecting the ground. During 

 June, July, and August they go on the 

 cultivated grasses. The general troop run 

 on the veld, most of them going to the 

 Berg farm in the winter. Pony and cob 

 breeding from blood sires is my speciality 

 in horses, and for this purpose I use some 

 fifty selected mares — all, with one or two 

 exceptions, selected since the Boer inva- 

 sion of this district." 



What Mr. Simmons told me about his 

 ■Shropshire sheep, imported grasses, and 

 other features of his farm will appear in 

 the next issue. 



The loss through using large brands and 

 placing them on the most valuable parts of the 

 hide is estimated by the Sydney hide dealers at 

 £150,000 per annum. 



The British Consul-ueneral at Marseilles 

 hears that " a new fatty substance, for consump- 

 tion in the United Kingdom, to take the place 

 of butter, is being put on the British market. 

 It is called vegetaline, and is nothing else than 

 the oil extracted from copra (dried cocoanut), 

 refined, and with all smell and taste neutralised 

 by a patented process. It becomes like sweet 

 lard, and is intended to compete with margarine 

 on the breakfast table as a substitute for butter." 



