22 
Diseases of the Skin. 
Se eteeieaiaaied 
(Continued from last Issue.) 
S. §. CAMERON, M.R.C.V.S.. Chief 
Veterinary Officer, Melbourne, in the 
Victorian “ Journal of Agriculture.”’ 
NON-PARASITIC SKIN DISEASES. 
— Grease (Pustular Eczema) .— 
Grease is an exaggerated condition of 
cracked heels extending beyond the 
hollow of the pastern and perhaps invad- 
ing the skin as high as the knees and 
hocks or even above. 
Nature aud causes —Some horses appear 
to be constitutionally predisposed to 
grease and it mostly occurs on hairy- 
legged horses of the heavier breeds and in 
them the affection is much aggravated 
if, from lack of tone or want of exercise’ 
the legs are allowed to become stocked. 
Given such a predisposition, the causes 
which have been described as likely to 
induce cracked heels in other horses, par- 
ticularly prolonged exposure to wet and 
cold, will set up an attack of grease. A 
large part is played in the extension of 
the disease by the irritant moisture which 
exudes from the already affected surface 
as also by the accumulation of scurf and 
filth and by the splashing of urine in 
tables with insanitary floors. Indeed, 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
grease may be aptly described as a typical 
local filth disease: 
hair at the back of the fetlock and pastern 
predisposes to grease, as when this is 
The clipping of the 
done the natural protection for the skin 
is removed and exposure to the cold, damp 
and dirt is brought about. Insome cases 
the skin becomes enormously thickened 
and warts form in abundance all over the 
affected surface (grapy grease).' The 
affected parts may suppurate and the 
discharge is usually very foul and sicken- 
ing. 
Treatment.—In mild cases the treat- 
ment recommended for cracked heels may 
be affected, when there is much hair the 
dressing of the part thoroughly with an 
ointment is a tedious matter and astrin- 
gent lotions or liniments are more likely 
to be affected Ifthe discharge is fouy 
the parts should be washed with hard 
soap lather and some disinfectant such ay 
Condy’s fluid applied before the healing 
drezsing is put on. 
Treatment often necessarily extends 
over a long period and it is found advan- 
tageous for the dressing to be changed 
every few days ‘That this may be done 
the following list of dressings is given:— 
Tincture of Creosote (1 part creosote to 
6 methylated spirit). 
Strong Tincture of Creolin (1 part 
creolin to 6 methylated spirit). 
Tincture of Sulphuric acid (1 part acid 
to 15 methylated spirit). 
Solution Chromic Acid (1 part acid to 
9 methylated spirit). 
White Lotion. 
Powdered Wattle Bark. 
Oxide of Zinc and Powdered Starch, 
equal parts. 
Oxide of Zinc and Powdered Charcoal, 
equal parts. 
Horses need pure water if they are to 
thrive. 
January 1, 1909 
Dry Farming in Semi-Arid 
Districts. 
By W. Frank McClure, 
A great deal of attention is being 
attracted at this time to a system of agri- 
culture known as ‘dry farming.’ which iS 
being successfully used in the semi-arid 
districts of Colorado and other Western 
States in place of extensive schemes of 
irrigation. By ‘semi-arid’ is meant a 
territory in wuich the annual rainfall is 
less than 20 and more than 8 in. By dry 
farming, many thousands of acres which, 
on account of their location, could never 
be reached by irrigation ditches, are 
reclaimed. Some of this acreage has long | 
been styled ‘grazing lands, and considered 
useful for nothing else. 
‘Dry farming,’ briefiy stated consists 
jn so preparing the soil in semi-arid 
regions that it will catch what little annual 
rainfall there is, aud store it within reach 
of the roots of the plants to be grown, 
This, as might be supposed, requires a 
firm solid foundation beneath the goil. 
The soil above is kept firm and loose, ang 
acts as a mulch, keeping the moisture 
from escaping into the atmosphere, much 
as a brick or plank keeps the ground 
directly under it moist even in a beating, 
sun. With such preparation of the soil, 
grazing lands will often yield as high as 
40 or 50 bushels of wheat to the acre, or 
more than the yield of the Eastern States? 
where the natural rainfall is adequate. 
The last two years have witnessed the 
greatest progress in the new plan of 
reclamation. Not only is ‘dry farming’ 
being extensively employed in Colorado 
Kansas, and Nebraska, where it was first 
introduced, but in Eastern Utah, Oregon 
Washington, Wyoming, and Idaho, where 
heretofore great tracts of prairie land 
could, in many instances, be bought as low 
as 50 cents an acre. 
o-oo 
Soearwves 
