TUBERCULOSIS TEST.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 10 July 1911, Page 3

TUBERCULOSIS TEST.

A PRACTICAL SUGGESTION. To tlio Editor. Sir, -Allow mo to put my grievance. in front of your readers. Where are wo gong to end if trlio above lost goes on. without. the Government is going to assist in this mattor. and not by the insufficient method that they arc doing at present. Some weeks ago I applied to register inv farm, and keep within 'bounds of tlio law of ilio country. The Stock Deparlme.nt sent up their veterinary surgeon and dairy inspector, and arranged to come buck and test my herd wit ill the above test; anil I may say that that is st very severe test, because if tuberculosis is there at. all it will re-act on the animal, and if she goes three days over her normal temperature, she is condemned. I may say that I got six of my best Cows thrown out— cows that wore a picture of health. 1 felt sorrow to see my cows thrown out, and did not know how I was going to get them replaced, so I asked t'he inspector wliere was this going to end. Supposing f went out into the open market, amd got other cows at a large price (say from £7 to C'lO per cow), and then the inspector land veterinary surgeon come along and put them | through the same test! There can be nothing but ruin for the farmer if they are going on in this way! Also, why jump on one poor man, and then go miles to another. f naked them if they made a. universal test through the farmers, what would lie the result? (their answer was just what 1 expected it would be); they said it would be -ruin to the country and also to the farmer. Then I said isn't it ruin to meP Here you are taking away the best of my herd, a.nd what am I getting; a paltry sum of CI per cow. Mr Editor, perhaps you, or some other reader of yonr paper, will lie able to urge the farmers on to see if we can not get the Government (or the Reform party), to put into their platform this suggestion of mine—[ think it is practicable. J think the Government would be doing something practical to stamp out this disease if they would do this: Select three farms in the different provinces of the Xorth Island (say one thousand acres each), and stock them up with -100 heifers on each farm, say from six months old, and keep them till they are rising three year olds, and lvave them coming into profit at factory dates. Then the farmer who gets his cows condemned. instead of getting the money from the Stock Departniemt, would <j;ct an order to <ro to the manner of this farm and get cows equivalent to the number that he got condemned, at the price of, say, Co l()s per head, the farmer to pay the difference in value of the cows according to his order. These heifers would lie all put through t'.:- t:ib:T;-;ilcsis test before they left the State Kami; this would bo n stc in the riudit direction to try and 1 .'op the disuse down. .Vow. a farm of this kin 1 w..:i! i h; able to keep itself after it got started, as they would be stocking it with young stock, and then they are growing into money every v.'ir: also. it would be the 'best oi' young heil'en, that they would buy. The farmer would be very pleased to sell them their youn.g stock from th" best of their cows, in.-tead of bringing them into the open market. Of course, the Government' buyer could buy from the open market, and if slock was gathering too quickly 'on the farm they could hold an annual sale; that is to say. if t.hey were rearing more cows than the ir;mber that were getting condemned they could have an muiual snle of the surplus stock. Perhaps some other reader of The Morowdienua Chronicle will take up his pen and give his opinion on this subject, as all farmers are vitally interested in it. seeing that some day thev may feel the same as I do at present. Certainly there is room for improvement on the above subject.- Yours, etc., \Y. AIU 111 BALD. Levin, Bth July. 19U