TRICKS AMONG CHAFF DEALERS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1364, 27 April 1883, Page 2

TRICKS AMONG CHAFF DEALERS.

The' Sydney Morning Herald' says . an important discovery has been made h the Coonambie District. During the past two months there has been a' frightful mortality among draught horses in that district. The cause, of ; dpath-in every case/appear/}, .to. S J)O j inflammation of the' bowels,; which' defied all efforts to cure, notwith:. standing thatMrM'Gregor, veterinary surgeon, oxcercised all known remedes In order to discover, if possible,., ; the ; exact nature of the malady- Mr M'Gregor examined the intestines of one of the victims, and discovered the . cause of the inflammation spoken of, He found the membrane of the Btomach coated' with sand, and completely, riddled, as if a charge of shot had been . fired through it. The smaller intestiues were in a similar condition, arid from one pound weight of theso there .were about two and a-half ounces.bf'; sand, taken. The whole of the bowels wero coated with sand and when opened resembled sand-paper; this produced irritation and internal hemorrhage, resulting in death. It is thought that the sand is taken in by drinking in shallow water-holes with sandy bottoms. > But what appears just as probable is the circumstance that all the affected' animals were, chaff fed, and It is an : i open question as to whether the fatal- ■'[ sand was not obtained from that source,' Hay and.corn dealers are not above little'tricks of this kind to make their chaff a little heavier, fand thereby increase their profits, ~