BLEDISLOE MEDAL

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21961, 9 December 1936, Page 19

BLEDISLOE MEDAL

AWARD FOR 1936

MR A. VV. HUDSON SELECTED

Mr A. W. Hudson, at present lecturer in soil husbandry at Massey Agricultural College, has been awarded the Bledisloe medal for 1936. This recommendation was arrived at yesterday morning by a committee of board members of Canterbury Agricultural College and the Ex-Students Association, and the recommendation was confirmed by the meeting of the board later. The recommendation of the ' committees was unanimous. Lord Bledisloe, when GovernorGeneral of New Zealand, provided a fund from the income of which a medal is annually presented to a former student of the College who has rendered signal service to the cause of agriculture. Mr Hudson, who holds the degrees of B.Agr., B.Sc., and the Dip. of Agriculture, is a former student of Lincoln College. He was 11 years in the Department of Agriculture, of which 4i years were spent as instructor in agriculture in Canterbury and for years as field crop experimentalist, administering the experimental work of the Fields Division and carrying out personal research work on the effect of fertilisers on grass lands, and was later on the staff of Masscy Agricultural College. He had 31 years' war service. In addition to his period of scientific training and instructional work Mr Hudson has had practical farm experience. In 15)22 he was president of the Students’ Association of Lincoln College. Mr Hudson, who is a brother of the director of Lincoln College, was one of the finalists for that position when an appointment was made some months ago. POISONING FROM SORREL A SEVERE OUTBREAK FUimiEK INVESTIGATIONS BY ' LINCOLN COLLEGE Recently attention was drawn to work which Canterbury Agricultural 1 College has been carrying out on milk j fever in ewes. There have been num--1 crous outbreaks among flocks this seai son The staff of the Veterinary and ! the Chemistry Departments have obi tained marked success in treating the outbreaks by injecting a 20 per cent. { solution of calcium gluconate undci the skin of affected ewes. The similarity between the symptoms of milk fevei and sorrel poisoning was also referred to, and it was stated that curative treatment was the same in both cases. ' , Last week another serious outbreak of porrell poisoning occurred on Hie farm of a prominent North Canterbury farmer. A mob of 300 ewes and their lambs was allowed on a fallow field coidaining a fair proportion of young sorrel The following morning two ewes were dead. 22 \v ere either unconscious or scvni-conscious. and la were showing signs of tetany i muscular snasmsi in more or less advanced stages, and several more were slightly affected. Success of Treatment Approximately 3oz of a 20 per cent, solution of calcium gluconate made up in 5 per cent, boric acid solution Was injected subcutaneously (.under th® | skin> into 37 of the most b idly affected animals. Most of the ewes recovered within half an hour and were able to rejoin the main flock. Thirtysix had recovered within a few hours. Effect on the Chemical Composition of the Blood In the previous article on this subject it was staled that invariably (hero is a fa)! in the lime content of the blood of affected animals. Normally nilie to 10 parts of calcium dime) per 100,000 parts of blood are present, in a normal healthy animal. Samples were collected by Dr, M. C. Franklin and Mr 1. M. Brown, of the Chemistry .Department, from nine of (he affected animals before making the injections of calcium gluconate. Analysis showed them to contain from 2.4 to 6.5 parts of lime instead of the normal nine to 10. The average for the group was 3,7 parts of lime. Curative Measures by Farmers In view of the success achieved by the college staff in treating various outbreaks of milk fever and sorrel poisoning, the following recommendations are made: —In those areas where outbreaks arc liable to occur next season, farmers would be well advised to have on hand a syringe for making injections and a supply of the necessary solution. The syringe should be obtainable at less than £1 and calcium gluconate for loss than 10s per lb. This would provide sufficient solution for treating about 30 ewes. LONGBEACH FRIESIANS COMPARISON WITH DUTCH HERDS The Longbeach Friesians, in the opinion of Mr J. P. Kalaughcr, secretary of the N.Z. Friesian Association, are fully equal in type, constitution, and production to the Friesian herds he saw recently in Holland. When it is remem. hered that the Longbeach Friesians are descended almost wholly from the bull and seven cows imported by the J C. N. Grigg in 1383, the results of more than 50 years’ breeding are very gratifying. , , , . , The 20 cows in the Longbeach herd averaged 3.9 per cent, of butterfat, and the whole herd, recently tested, was found to be absolutely free from tuberculosis. Friesian breeders in the United States and Canada were much interested in the history of the Longbeach Friesians. and several enquiries were made to Mr Kalaugher by them, with a view to purchasing bulls from the herd. WAIKARI COLLIE CLUB LIFE MEMBERS At the annual meeting of the Waikari Collie Club on Saturday night Messrs G. L. Rutherford (Macdonald Downs) and C. W. McKeegan (Waitohi Hills) were appointed life members. These two gentlemen have taken a leading part in the management of the club for many years. Mr Rutherford is a very old member of the club, which was established as far back as 1888. He was a prominent competitor for many years at the trials, for which for some vears he supplied the sheep. In the last 16 years Mr McKeegan has occupied every position in the club, from a private member to the presidency. For some years he has been honorary secretary, and it has been largely due to his enthusiasm that the annual trials have been so successful. YOUNG FARMERS' FIELD DAY A young farmers’ field day will be held under the auspices of the New Zealand Federation of Young Farmers at Lincoln College on Friday. The function will commence at 10 o’clock. Those taking part are requested to 1 bring their lunch with them