‘Supphmmt  to  the  “ Tropical  AgriculturisV’ 
[April  1,  1896. 
7^6 
4 
Mr.  ^lorris  found  tlie  residual  ashes  obtained  by 
burning  tlie  peat,  ricli  in  ])otash  and  oilier  salts, 
and  uii.\ed  witli  soil,  he  thought  they  ought  to 
prove  a useful  manure  for  estates  aud  gardens. 
floating  masses,  identical  with  that  in  the  ivuru- 
negala  tank,  are  to  be  met  with  in  some  of  the 
other  tanks  in  this  district,  wluch  it  is  believed 
is  the  only  division  in  the  island  in  which  they 
occur. 
FRANK  MODDEK. 
THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  DAIRY  CATTLE. 
By  Me.  James  Moleison, 
Superintendent  of  Farms,  Bombay  Presidency. 
( Concluded.) 
The  period  of  heat  or  oestrum  in  a buffalo  is  of 
short  duration,  usually  only  a few  hours.  A 
buffalo  should  therefore  be  put  to  the  bull  at  once 
when  the  symptoms  of  heat  are  observed.  In 
the  case  of  a buffalo  they  are  unmistakable. 
At  pasture  a buffalo  in  heat  will  rush  all  over 
the  field  and  bellow  or  rather  grunt  vigour- 
ously. 
A cow  remains  longer  in  heat,  usually  about 
24  or  30  hours.  The  cow  though  also  e.vcited 
does  not  make  so  much  fuss  or  noise  as  the 
buffalo.  The  cow  is  most  likely  to  hold  to 
service  if  covered  when  going  off  heat.  Nei- 
ther cows  nor  buffaloes  should  be  covered  more 
than  twice  during  the  period  of  heat.  A stud 
bull  is  a much  more  certain  stock-getter  if 
he  is  as  regularly  worked  as  an  ordinary  work 
bullock.  He  must,  however,  be  liberally  fed. 
If  a cow  has  been  covered  and  does  not  hold 
to  service,  she  will,  if  in  thriving  condition, 
come  in  season  again  in  21  days.  Buffaloes 
may  come  in  season  every  three  weeks,  but 
often  a much  longer  period  elapses  between 
periods  of  oestrum.  If  a cow  is  healthy,  slie 
will  not  come  into  heat  when  pregnant.  The 
other  signs  of  pregnancy  are— the  belly  en- 
larges particularly  on  the  right  side,  and  about 
the  sixth  month  the  calf  can  be  felt  as  a 
hard  lump  near  the  flank  on  the  right  side. 
The  calf  can  be  seen  even  earlier  than  this 
to  jump  especially  when  the  cow  drinks  cold 
water. 
One  attendant  is  required  to  feed,  attend  to 
and  milk  8 to  10  cows.  Each  animal  should 
be  milked  always  by  the  same  man.  At  milk- 
ing time  the  stalls  should  be  clean.  The 
milkman  should  wash  each  udder  and  dry  it 
with  a cloth  immediately  before  milking.  This 
is  specially  necessary  with  buffaloes  which  when 
excited  urinate  in  small  driblets,  which  run 
down  the  thigh  oii  to  the  udder  and  drop 
from  the  teats.  The  milker’s  hands  .should 
also  be  washed  clean.  It  is  almost  needless 
to  add  that  I he  milk  vessel  used  must  also 
be  clean.  Milking  should  he  done  expedi- 
tiously and  the  last  drop  of  milk  e.vtracted. 
The  calf  usually  is  accountable  for  the  tho- 
roughness of  the  latter  operation.  It  is  com- 
mon in  dairy  farms,  where  no  calves  are 
suckled,  to  go  over  the  cows  a second  time 
and  draw  away  the  last  milk,  which  is  called 
“strippings.”  This,  as  alieady  noted,  is  the 
richest  part  of  the  milk  and  is  usually  set 
aside  in  farmers’  households  to  answer  the 
purposes  of  cream.  Any  milk  left  in  the  udder- 
der  does  not  tend  to  increa.se  the  yield  at 
next  time  of  milking  but  rather  to  set  up 
local  inflammation. 
The  milk  is  easily  tainted  by  the  food  given 
to  the  animals.  Buffaloes  are  indelicate  feeders, 
and  with  good  reason  their  milk  is  often 
objected  to  on  this  score.  Any  plant  with  a 
pungent  aromatic  odour  is  apt  to  taint  milk. 
Turpentine  given  ns  medicine  will  taint  milk 
secreted  during  the  following  24  hours,  so  much 
so  that  the  milk  is  quite  undrinkable.  The 
drinking  water  of  cows,  if  polluted  with  sew- 
age or  with  decaying  organic  matter,  whether 
animal  or  vegetable,  maybe  the  cau.se  of  taint- 
ing the  milk,  so  that  it  becomes  dangerous 
as  human  food.  Every  contagious  di.sease  has 
its  own  germ,  and  milk  at  any  ordinary  tem- 
perature is  perhaps  the  best  medium  in  which 
these  germs  may  be  propagated.  Disease  in 
the  human  subject  has  been  repeatedly  traced 
to  impure  milk.  How  far  enteric  fever,  cho- 
lera, diphtheria  and  many  other  diseases,  can 
be  communicated  through  milk  may  be  conjec- 
tured. There  is  no  question  that  unsanitary 
conditions  surrounding  cow-sheds  and  dairy 
premises  furnish  a public  danger  of  no  com- 
mon order.  A simple  test  to  determine  whether 
organic  matter  is  present  in  water,  is  accom- 
plished by  evaporation  and  by  burning  the  re- 
sidue in  an  open  ves.sel  ; if  the  smell  peculiar 
to  burning  organic  matter  is  given  off  the  water 
is  unwholesome.  Nitrates  or  common  salt  pre- 
sent in  drinking  water  indicate  contamination 
b}'  sewage,  the  salt  being  an  indication  that  tlie 
contamination  is  due  to  human  urine. 
Cow-sheds  in  India  should  be  airy,  well  ven- 
tilated, have  pucka  floors  and  open  gutters  or 
drains  to  carry  the  urine  directly  to  tlie  manure 
pit.  The  byres  should  be  situate  on  a high  well- 
drained  situation.  Cows  should  not  .stand 
crowded  in  the  stalls. 
♦ 
PADDY  PESTS. 
Leucania  loretji, — Specimens  of  this  Noctuid  moth 
were  received  at  the  Indian  Museum  in  1888  with 
the  report  that  it  had  done  considerable  d.image 
in  the  larval  stage  to  the  rice  croj)  in  the  Central 
Provinces  of  India.  The  insect  is  allied  to  the 
“Cut-worms.”  Several  other  species  of  Lepidop- 
terous  pests  of  rice  have  from  time  to  time  been 
reported,  but  as  yet  the  knowledge  with  regard 
to  them  is  very  incomplete.  One  form  which 
is  .said  to  attack  the  rice  crop  in  Burmah  is  des- 
cribed by  Mr.  Wood-Mason  ns  Parapony.v 
; and  the  “wolf  moth”  { tinea  (jranelta) 
has  been  known  to  have  on  several  occasions  done 
great  damage  to  cargoes  of  rice  shipped  from  Cal- 
cutta to  L nidon,  while  lying  in  Kingston,  .lamaica 
Snasta.i  ijremius  is  said  to  be  destructive  while 
in  the  larval  stage  to  rice, — feeding  on  the  young, 
tender  leave.s.  'riioiigh  the  dainage  is  not  consi- 
dered very  great,  its  destruction  is  recommended 
by  rai.iing  the  bunds  or  dams  of  affected  paddy 
fields  and  submerging  the  crop  under  water  for  a 
time. 
the  oylyp/iu!  furci/er  and  Buprepocnemis  bram~ 
ina. — The.se  are  orthopterous  iirsects,  aad  ar 
