392 



Agriculture Abroad. 



[JULY, 



necessar}/ to improve the present strain. It will then be possible 

 to establish in South Africa the nucleus of an industry which 

 may take a leading place in international trade. 



5js j}* ^ 5}i SfC ^ 



One of the problems which requires to be settled in Northern 

 France is the replacement of the live stock which has been 

 destroyed by the ravages of the late Wslv. 

 Live Stock for stated in a note in the issue of the 



Devastated Areas ^ i j, a ■ ,• , 



in France Journal a Agnailhtre Pratique for 22nd 



April last that, in accordance with the 

 terms of the Peace Treaty, the devasted areas of France are to 

 receive from Germany 500 stallions, 30,000 horses or mares, 

 2,000 bulls, 90,000 milch cows, 1,000 rams, 100,000 sheep, and 

 10,000 goats. Convoys of this stock have been arriving since 

 the second week of March, and by the ist of April, 1,400 horses, 

 4,000 cattle, 10,000 sheep and 4,000 goats had been delivered. 

 Although, according to the note, the agriculturists of the 

 liberated areas had so far been quite satisfied with the quality 

 of the stock received, there was some anxiety felt as to the 

 state of their health on account of the prevalence in Germany 

 of foot-and-mouth disease. In view of the prevalence of this 

 disease in France as well, however, it was considered by the 

 authorities concerned that no more danger was incurred by 

 receiving the German cattle than by buying stock at the local 

 fairs and markets. Moreover, the financial loss which might 

 be entailed by outbreaks of the disease in the imported cattle 

 was probably much less than would result if the importation 

 of German cattle w^as discontinued. 



According to information recently communicated to the 

 Ministry from America, experiments have been conducted 

 by the Bureau of Animal Industry and the 

 ^'and M^lk^^^^ Department of Agriculture of the United 

 States Government with dairy cows, which 

 indicate an important relation between milk secretions and 

 certain mineral substances. The results suggest that feeding 

 compounds of phosporus and calcium have a decidedly beneficial 

 effect on the milk flow, both in quantity and fat content. 



It has also been found that a deficiency of phosphorus 

 in the dairy rations has a detrimental effect on milk secretions 

 of cows and on the growth of calves. This deficiency was 

 successfully remedied, however, by the addition of sodium 

 phosphate to the rations. 



