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35V-(b)South.11+3. A stall-fed milk cow housed in a fly-proofbyre was demonstrated to us at Moor Plantation in 1938.During the war screened byres stocked with selected Zebucows have been set up in a number of southern,towns(Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Okene) to supplement the milkration and to provide fresh milk for military and civilianhospitals; 100 cows were supplied for stocking asimilar dairy opened by the Veterinary Department inAccra in 1943¬144* With the exception of an outbreak of contagiousabortion in the Lagos Dairy (see para. 121) the cows haveremained in good health, end milk yields, about 5 lbs. perday, have been satisfactory. Difficulty has been experiencedin securing effective services by the bull, and it isbelieved that some measure of exercise is needed .to makethe cow receptive. At Ibadan the cows are now let out at7.30 p.m. to roofed pens, where green fodder is stackedon racks; they are returned to the screened byres at daybreak.In Lagos It has been found more expedient to senddry cows back to Samaru in exchange for cows in milk.This measure has in part been dictated by the need toestablish a tested herd at Samaru.145' The Lagos price for milk is 6d. per pint wholesaleand 8d. per pint retail. The Lagos Dairy contained58 cows at the time of my visit, and the output was 27gallons per day. it can obviously supply only a fractionof the community, and priority has been given to childrenand hospital cases. It is not claimed that the Southerndairies are self-supporting: regular veterinary attentionand provision of railway transport are services which aprivate dairy farmer could doubtfully afford. It should,however, be remembered that the trade is a luxury one,and that there is a fair margin between 8d. and 1/1d.,the pre-war retail price for imported pasteurised Englishmilk. A Syrian dairy farmer has operated (presumablynot at a lose) in Ibadan over a period of five years.CATTLE FASTENING.146. The fattening of working ^attle and extrabeasts for the meat market has during the wer broughtin a large part of the mixed farmer's income. TheArmy has been supplied in the North With beef of goodQuality. Fattened cattle railed to Lagos have, however,lost eo muah weight during the journey that Lagos beefhas been of a low standard. In April, 1944, a StockFattening Scheme was started at Age-ge (15 miles north ofLagos').. Railed cattle were to be fattened locally,'slaughter tests being carried out to determine the optimumage and type of beast.Fattening in the South has the advantage^thatgreen fodder is available throughout the year andprices of palm-kernels and cotton-seed are low.147. /