360 



Prevention of Foot-Rot in Sheep, [sept., 



of oaks under 40 ft., making in all 1,792 acres of woods. In 

 addition there are 31 acres of coppice and 61 acres of new 

 plantations. 



In the first-class oak woods it is proposed to cut out the trees 

 of inferior shape and development, and to under-plant with 

 beech. In the second and third-class oak woods, the good 

 patches will be treated in the same way, while the inferior 

 patches will be cleared and re-stocked with conifers. 



Foot- rot is a disease from which all flocks suffer more or less, 

 and in many cases it is the most serious trouble with which 

 the sheep-owner has to contend. There is 

 Prevention and stili some doubt as to its cause, but there 

 Cure of Foot-Rot . , r . . ' 



in Sheep.* 1S general unanimity of opinion that it is 



contagious. 



The usual method of treatment is to pare the hoof of the 

 affected sheep and to apply a dressing of some preparation 

 proprietary or home-made. Detailed treatment of each hoof 

 separately is not only a slow and somewhat laborious, 

 business, but as it entails the turning of the sheep more or less 

 •on to its back it cannot be good for the animal, and, in the 

 case of ewes in lamb, it is a fruitful source of abortion. 



It had been noticed that the ordinary process of dipping sheep 

 had a curative effect on foot-rot, and this was ascribed to the 

 action of the poison on the cause of the disease. From this, it 

 appeared probable that beneficial results would follow the walking 

 of affected sheep through a solution of poison just deep enough to 

 cover the hoof, and in practice this has been found to be the case. 



In order to test the effects of such treatment on a considerable 

 •scale the Board of Agriculture, early in 1904, distributed thirty 

 .baths (16 ft. by 1 ft.), each accompanied by 1 cwt. of copper 

 sulphate, to a corresponding number of sheep farmers in Great 

 Britain. The instructions supplied were that the sheep should 

 be walked once a month or opener through a 5 per cent, solution 

 of the substance (1 lb. in 2 gallons of water), after the hoofs in 

 the case of a bad attack had been cleaned and dressed. 



Reports from most of the recipients have now come in, and 



See "Foot-Rot Experiments," Journal, Vol. XL, No. 9, p. 553. 



