April 1, 1899.] Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist. 
737 
CATTLE NOTES, 
In Guzeral-, (Bombay Presidency) the he-calf is 
simply starved off by withholding milk trora him. 
In other pints he i-s driven away to the forests to 
become the prey of wild beasts. In Bengal he is 
often tied up in" the forest and left, without food, 
either to starve or to be devoured. And yet 
the people who do this are those who do not 
allow an animal to be killed outright even if it 
were in extreme suffering, 
The cow, ns being a sacred animal to the 
Hindoos, is only rarely worked in India, and only 
by Mnhammadans. This is the case at Serajgunge 
(Eastern Bengal), the Muhammadans regularly 
using cows for ploughiiig, but th.e Hindoos n">t. 
The same reverence is not always extended to the 
she-buffalo as to the cow. At Belgaum, when the 
buffalo cows do not calve, they are sent to the 
plough or to work the wells. 
The udder of the cow is divided into two 
chambers by n membrane which runs in the same 
direction as the backbone. So complete is the 
division resulting from the presence of this 
membrane that the milk from one chamber cannot 
pass into the other. For this reason it is advisable 
that the milker should operate, say on the front 
and hind teats on the side next to him, and havitig 
emptied one chamber of the cow's vessel, should 
proceed Vfith the other. This is not, however, 
the general practice- It is customary to operate 
on the teats of different chambers simultaneously 
on the ground that the method of procedure 
preserves the natural state of the udder whereas 
such a contention is quite contrary to facts. 
Here again is one of those absurd paragraphs 
quoted by the Farm and Dairy of February 11th, 
1899, relative to the so-called '■ sacred running 
oxen of Ceylon," wherein the diminutive breed 
peculiar to Southern India, the trotting bullocks 
of Ceylon and the Brahmani bulls (referred to 
ill another part of this issue) are so hopeless-ly 
confused : — The newest breeds of cattle coming to 
the Dexter Kerries, that were landed with the firbt 
batch of Government imported dairy cattle, are 
the Cingalese cattle. They are known to zoologists 
as the " facred running oxen," They are the 
dwarfs of the whole ox family, the largest 
specimen of the species never exceeding 30 in. in 
height. One which is living, and is believed to 
be about 10 years of age, is only 2'2 in. high and 
weighs 109.^ lb. In Ceylon tlu^y are used for quick 
trips across the country with express matter and 
I oilier light loads ; it is said that four of them can 
pull a driver of a two-wheeled cart and a 200 lb. 
' load of miscellaneous matter (iO or 70 miles a day. 
They keep up u constant swiiiljing trot or run, and 
have been known to travel 100 miles in a day and 
nigiit without either food or water. No one knows 
] anyiliing ccinceiui-ig the origin of this peculiar 
breed of miniature cattle. Tliey have been known 
]on the i-laiid of Ceylon and in oiher Buddhist 
coiintrios for more than 1000 years. 
We have before reforrad the various metliods 
of dolioraing cattle, but liaving received fresh 
w.iquiries, we repeat a description of the most 
effective process :— Stick caustic potash is the 
medicine. The earlier the application is made in 
the life of the calf, the better. The hair should 
be clipped from the skin, and the little horn 
moisteued with water, to which a few drops of 
ammonia have been added to dissolve the oily 
secretion of the skin, so that the potash will 
adhere to the surface of the horn. Take care not 
to moisten the skin, except on the horn where the 
potash is to be applied. One end of the stick of 
caustic potash is dipped in water until it is 
slightly softened. It is then rubbed on the horn. 
This operation is to be repeated from five to eight 
times, until the surface of the horn becomes a 
little sensitive. If done carefully, a slight scab 
forms over the surface of the budding horn. No 
inflammation or suppuration of any account need 
follow. 
MORE ABOUT MILK. 
{Continued.) 
Before one can intelligently search for the cause 
of the taint in milk, he must have some idea as to 
the character of the same. A tainted condition 
arising from any source injures the quality of the 
product, but the eff'ect of a taiat is largely deter- 
mined by its character. 
Taints may be classified into two groups depend- 
ing upon tlieir origin — 
1, Those produced by bacterial fermentations 
in the milk ; 
2. Those caused by the absorption of odours 
directly from tlie animal, or after milk 
is drawn. 
In the minds of most dairymen, the latter class 
has been considered the more important, and the 
effect of the first group has not been adequately . 
recognised. As a matter of fact, a large number 
of taints, that affect" the quality of milk, are 
induced by bacterial growth than otherwise. The 
danger that comes from this class is, that it 
is caused by a livii'g organism, and, therefore, 
may be widely distributed unawares. A physical, 
taint is unable to reproduce itself, so that a mixture 
of tainted milk with a larger quantity of normal 
milk serves to diminish the intensity of the taint: 
The manner in which the respective taints are 
produced enables one to detect the difference. If 
produced by germ origin, a well-marked taint iu 
any milk can be propagated from one batch of milk 
to another, by transferring a small quantity and 
placing it under conditions that favour bacterial 
growth. Particularly is this true, if the inoculated 
milk is first heated to de>tory pre-existing bacteria. 
If it has been directly absorbed from some external 
source, it cannot be transferred in this waj'. 
Then, again, if a taint is produced by biological 
causes, it will not, ordinarily, appear until some 
time after the milk is drawn ; for, as a rule, bacteria 
gain access to the milk subsequent to its with- 
drawal, and a certain jieriod of incubation must 
elapse before the taint-c>rodncing organism can in- 
crease in sullicient numbers to produce the obnox- 
ious odour or ilavour. If tlie drfociive condiiion 
of the milk is due to direct absorption from the 
animal, as is tlio case where the food contains 
volatile odour-producing substances, tlieii it will b« 
noted immediately r.riormilking. Aeration of the 
milk is often rocoinmended iu such cases, but 
