1 Juny, 1898. ] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 45 
Mr. O’Keere (Laidley) stated that the efforts of the Department of 
Agriculture to assist the dairying industry deserved the practical support of 
farmers. Mr. Mahon had referred to the proper supervision by the Govern- 
ment of the sources of milk supplies. This was a question of burning 
moment among rilk suppliers throughout the colony, and whenever cases of 
inferior cream or butter were discussed, want of cleanliness in the source of 
milk supply was as often as not given as the cause. He quite agreed that such 
might be the case, and, as Mr Mahon had pointed out, milk from one supplier 
would be sufficient to spoil the whole product of a factory. But so far as 
suppliers in general are concerned, they were most anxious that there should 
be a supervision by properly appointed inspectors. They wished to have cast 
off from them the onus of the imputation referred to. He had recently 
seen a correspondence in the Brisbane Press, in which such an onus was 
put upon a recently established small co-operative creamery, but he could 
vouch for the fact that this and similar creameries were much more cleanly 
conducted than the general run of proprietary creameries. He was not one of 
those who believed in asking the Government for everything, and would not 
ask for anything he was not prepared to pay for. In asking for supervision, 
therefore, by a Government officer—with his necessary prestige—over the 
sources of milk supplies, he felt sure dairymen would be willing to pay for it. 
Milk-testing was another matter which was greatly troubling farmers at present. 
They felt they had every right to be equally considered in this matter as the 
manufacturer. It seemed a very humiliating position that the manufacturer 
ignored the supplier on this point. Under the present system suppliers had to 
depend on the integrity and capability of someone down in Brisbane, say, for 
the testing of their milk, &c. Often, when this matter was brought up, the 
answer was that the difficulty could be met by each farmer having a tester of his 
own. But what was the good of that? <A farmer will take his cream to a 
co-operative creamery, and have it tested to show 50 per cent of fat. He will 
then send it to Brisbane, and will be told the test went 41 per cent. Under 
the control of a Government officer, all this would be done away with, and the 
Government would be put to no expense in the matter. With regard to cancer 
in cattle, he desired to endorse the remarks made by Mr. Bates, and in doing 
80, mentioned the case of a very valuable cow he had purchased, but which had 
afterwards to be destroyed through cancer. Everyone of her progeny developed 
the same disease, and had all to be shot. 
Mr. A. Macraknanr (Rockhampton) asked for further information con- 
cerning the tuberculin test. Was it suggested the Government should compel 
' the use of the test, and would, as in England, the owner of the animal, if 
destroyed, be reimbursed by the Government 50 per cent. of its value? In 
reading up the matter in some of the British papers he saw that the test 
sometimes failed, and, in one notable instance, some valuable animals reacted- 
under the test, and were accordingly destroyed. On post-mortem examination, 
however, no traces of tuberculosis could be found on them, and the expert 
who carried out the operations, on being questioned, then stated that in certain 
cases the test was unreliable, some of such cases being when an animal was 
suffering from excitement or was coming into season. He greatly approved of 
Mr. Robinson’s suggestion about the Government purchasing high-class stud 
stock, and standing them in farming centres. Mr. Coulson in his paper had 
thrown out some very valuable suggestions, and, as he said, if they wanted to 
succeed in dairying they must: keep good cows. It was also necessary that the 
good cows should be in the hands of good farmers, as many men did not know 
how to keep good stock when they had it. As had been stated, if a cow could 
speak, one of the first things it would probably ask for would be an improvement 
in the breed of farmers. Every care should be bestowed in the handling of stock, 
but in this colony they were frequently half-starved—left to take their chance 
—in winter, and when summer came round they were expected to give milk 
and pay their way. 
