581 
Supjjlement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturist. 
Feb,  1,  1897.] 
to  dip  her  for  every  fresh  lot  of  ticks,  and  it 
will  become  a ca'^e  of  ‘ and  last  of  all  the  cow 
died  also,’  and  she  will  have  cost  you  more 
than  her  hide  and  your  trouble  are  worth  twice 
over.” 
The  largest  official  record  of  a Holstein  cow  was 
tliat  given  by  ‘‘  De  Kol  2nd.”  This  cow  produced 
in  one  week  5.36f  lbs.  of  milk,  which  made  by  the 
Badcock  test  26^  lbs.  of  butler,  containing  80  per 
cent.  fat.  The  largest  yield  in  one  day  was  8.3^  lbs. 
of  milk,  producing  4|  lbs.  of  butter. 
Another  common  trouble  w'ith  us  is  what  is 
commonly  spoken  of  as  “ worm  complaint”  in 
calves,  generally  causing  a diarrhoea  which 
weakens  the  young  animals  to  such  an  extent 
that  nothing  will  help  to  bring  back  their 
strength.  Veterinary  Surgeon  Crawhurst,  a Gov- 
ernment Veterinary  Surgeon  of  the  Cape,  re- 
commends the  following  treatment  : — Give  halt 
a drachm  of  sulphate  of  iron  twice  or  three 
times  a day  with  food,  and  after  continuing  this 
treatment  for  3 days,  give  one  dessert  spoon- 
ful of  turpentine  in  4 oz.  of  castor  or  raw  lin- 
seed oil. 
Professor  Koch,  the  w^ell-known  German  Scien- 
tist, is  making  a study  of  rinderpest  in  con- 
nection with  the  outbreak  of  the  plague  in  South 
Africa.  We  also  learn  from  a communication  in 
Nature  that  the  Roj  al  Society  is  likely  to  take 
up  the  question  of  the  cattle  plague- 
The  following  extract  from  the  Mark  Lane 
Kvj)ress  of  Nov.  9th  while  giving  some  statis- 
tics with  reference  to  animal  diseases  in  Eng- 
land, also  shows  us  how  they  stamp  out  or 
prevent  the  spread  of  these  disease  there  : — 
The  weekly  report  in  the  Mark  Lane  Express 
of  November  9th  states  : — “ That  the  number  of 
cases  of  rabies  during  the  44  past  weeks  of  the  year 
were,-in  dogs,  406,  and  in  other  animals  226, 
swine  fever  4,689  outbreaks  and  70,391  infected 
slaughtered.  There  have  been  during  the  year  2 
cases  of  imported  cattle  suffering  from  lung-sick- 
ness, which  disease  wa.s  promptly  stamped  out  by 
the  slaughter  of  the  diseased  cattle  and  183  more 
which  had  been  exposed  to  infection.” 
In  a paper  read  by  the  Russian  Minister  of 
State  Domains  before  the  French  National  Agri- 
cultural Society  of  France  in  October  last,  we  find 
it  stated  that  the  Prince  of  Oldenburg  who 
devoted  a large  sum  of  money  to  the  founding 
of  the  St.  Petersburg  Bacteriological  Institute 
had  “ brought  forward  a new  discovery — that  of 
the  bacillus  of  cattle  plague,  which  up  to  the 
present  had  evaded  discovery.”  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  early  last  year  the  same  dis- 
covery was  announced  by  Dr.  Simpson,  the 
Health  Officer  of  Calcutta,  and  the  fact  record- 
ed in  our  pages.  It  still,  however,  remains  to 
be  seen  which  of  the  discoverers  of  the  bacillus 
will  be  the  first  to  prepare  a preventive  vaccine 
for  the  disease. 
Pi’ofessor  Henry  of  the  Wisconsin  J'lxperimen- 
tal  Station  writes  ns  follows  in  recommendation 
of  pumpkins  for  milch  cattle : — 
“ The  pumpkin  is  a splendid  feed  for  dairy  cows 
in  the  fall,  and  our  d dry  farmers  cannot  use 
them  too  liberally  The  dairy  cow  likes  variety, 
and  i)umpkins  can  be  grown  so  easily,  and  yield 
so  well  when  planted  by  themselves,  that  a pru- 
dent dairyman  will  not  forget  this  useful  adjunct 
to  his  usually  rather  short  list  of  feeding  stuffs. 
The  pumpkin  containing  much  nourishment  and 
being  very  palatable,  tends  to  produce  a large  flow 
of  milk.  The  seeds  of  the  pumpkin  are  said  to 
increase  the  action  of  the  kidneys,  and  I think 
the  statement  entirely  reasonable.  It  is  well 
therefore,  in  feeding . pumpkins  in  quantity,  to 
rid  them  first  of  seeds,  which  can  be  done  easily 
and  rapidly.” 
A w'riter  to  the  American  Breeder  writes  'iil 
high  praise  of  rape  as  a fodder  for  stock  : — “ I 
think  rape  a grand  crop  for  sheep  and  profitable 
for  cattle,  either  as  pasture  or  soiling.”  As 
containing  a larger  percentage  of  sulphur  the 
most  fodder  crops,  rape  is  highly  recommend- 
ed, together  with  other  cruciferous  crops,  as  a 
healthy  diet  for  stock. 
NITRAGIN  OR  THE  USE  OP 
PURE  CULTIV^ATION  BACTERIA  FOR 
LEGUMINOUS  CROPS. 
While  every  one  interested  in  Agricultureij 
and  in  Agricultural  Science  in  particular,  must 
feel  that  a great  advance  has  been  made  in 
our  knowledge  of  the  hitherto  une.xplained  and 
peculiar  action  of  leguminous  field  crojas, 
and  must  conclude  that  the  matter  is  one  that 
ought  to  be  put  to  a trial,  yet  the  need  must  be 
very  apparent  of  thorough  experimentation  be- 
fore one  can  absolutely  come  to  a decision  as  to  the 
practical  value  of  the  di.scovery. 
It  behoves  every  agriculturist,  therefore,  to 
put  the  discovery  to  the  test,  and  should  it 
prove  successful  to  avail  himself  of  its  advan- 
tages. 
In  England  some  experiments  have  been  be- 
gun at  tlie  Woburn  Experimental  Farm  with 
“ Nitragiu”  brought  over  by  Dr.  VoeIcker  on  a 
variety  of  crops.  Some  members  of  the  Conn* 
cil  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  have  also 
commenced  a trial  upon  one  or  other  field  crop. 
If  the  atmosphere  can  be  brought  under  contri- 
bution not  only  to  supply  the  means  for  legumin- 
ous crops  to  grow  luxuriantly,  but  also  to  supply 
the  fertilizing  ingredients  required  either  to  the 
succeeding  annual  crop  or  to  a contemporaneous 
perennial  crop,  tlien  it  must  be  far  better  to 
grow  a leguminous  nitrogen-collecting  than  a 
non-leguminous  non-nitrogen  collecting  one. 
Nor  can  this  be  a matter  of  indifference,  for 
it  must  be  admitted  that  farmyard  manure  is 
expensive  to  produce  and  conserve  in  the  most 
approved  way,  that  it  is  difficult  and  often  e.x- 
pensive  to  procure  in  good  condition,  and 
that,  owing  to  its  bulk,  it  is  costly  to  transport, 
so  that  it  is  quite  worthy  of  consideration 
whether  it  might  not  be,  in  some  cases,  at  least, 
economically  replaced  by  the  growing  of 
leguminous  greoi  crops  either  for  feeding-off 
or  ploughing-in. 
