HERD DEPRECIATION
TO THB EDITOR OV THB PRESS """/Sir, —The herd depreciation question Arises throughout New Zealand, and after travelling some 6000 miles in the last two years, seeing many and various farmers from Auckland to Invercargill, I have noticed that on every farm where trouble exists ergot on the ryegrass is present. This is well known to contain various poisons, and Retting into the blood of animals, causes various diseases.
Why some cows milk for years is that their blood has become immune to the poison, but the young stock are unable to stand up to the poison as it is becoming so pronounced throughout New Zealand. My firm belief is that there is not one ryegrass paddock throughout New Zealand—that is, predominantly ryegrass—that is not well ergotised. The ergot itself is not only poisonous, but in its honey-dew stage it destroys the chlorophyll, that Is the green matter of the leaf which is so essential to the health of the stock. Why wonder at 30 per cent, depreciation of a herd when it Is fed on a poisonous ryegrass pasture Yours, etc..
A , , A. KENT. Auckland, February 24, 1038.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22338, 28 February 1938, Page 9
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191HERD DEPRECIATION Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22338, 28 February 1938, Page 9
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