THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1912. DISEASED CATTLE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 12 November 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1912. DISEASED CATTLE.

The statements published in yesterday's Age concerning the offering for Kale of diseased cattle in Wairarapa saleyards, and the transporting of these cattle to Wellington in stock trucks, have naturally created |an- , xiety amongst settlers of the district. We have made inquiries into the case under notice, and, so far as we can ascertain,, the majority of the cattle in question came from the Manawatu district. There can be no excuse, however, for the offering of diseased stock in public saleyards. It is unfair to those who bring clean stock to the yards, and it is a menace to the district. We are aware that officers of the Stock Department pay frequent visits to tho saleyards, but their ha.nds are, in a measure, tied. , Two of the most devastating stock diseases, notably, contagious mammitis and contagious abortion, are not scheduled as contagious diseases, and consequently the Stock Inspectors cannot order the destruction of animals suffering from these complaints. What happens? The owner of a dairy herd who .finds a cow affected tmv dispose of the animal to a dealer. He, in turn, places the beast in the salevard. The purchaser innocently takes it to his herd, which immediately .'becomes contaminated. There is a danger, also, of the other stock in the salevard being .affected. It is astonishing to us to know thi.it the Agricultural Department has not long since taken steps to have maninu itis and abortion scheduled as contagious diseases. This matter is one that tho local branch of the Farmer's

Union might well consider, with a view \<, making representations to the Minister, At the present time it is a n offence to expose for sale sheep infected with lice. Should it not be also an yirenco to oxposo cattle suffering from tuhoreiiiooxs, inammitis, contagious abortion or other disease the dissemination of which would involve wholes .!o loss on t.l;e coitiiiiunity and individuals? Some allowance must, of course, be made for the fact that it is not always possible for the layman to detect disease in cattle. This brings us to another phase of the subject. Why should not the whole of our cattle stock be periodically and systematically examined for disease ? The dairies from which the .milk supply is obtained are periodically examined. Apart from these, however, no systematic inspection is made. The milk from thousands of cows is being supplied to dairy factories in this and other districts, but the herds are seldom, if over, inspected for disease. When a firmer discovers a. diseased animal, ho as often as not turns it out, and the first dealer who comes along buys it and runs it into the nearest saleyard. If periodical visitations were made to the whole of the farms in the district, and the herds were properly examined, this criminal practice would, be largely reduced, if it were jhot entirely abolished.- It Is impossible, with the present field staff of the Agricultural Department, to conduct anything like a systematicinspection of herds. Wo maintain, however, that the preservation of one of our most important industries demands that the present system should be improved, even if it necessitates tlie doubling of our inspectorial staff. The incident that has recently occurred in the Wairarapa, scandalous as it is, only serves to show how glaringly defective is our present system, and how necessary it is that there should he reform.