THE WEEK

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25483, 1 May 1948, Page 5

THE WEEK

LAMENESS AFTER DIPPING Mr R. R. Laidlaw, of Oaro, writes:— * ? £ as now been found necessary to add bluestone to dip, it would appear that this dip has been foisted On the farmer without proper testing by both the manufacturers and the Department of Agriculture. “My own experience of gammexane, used not only because it appeared cheaper, but. because of some laudatory commewts by Lincoln College published in ‘The Press/ was that the sheep were set back in condition, regardless of the incidence of lameness. “Strike by blowfly was unprecedented—over 10 per cent, of hoggets and even wethers. The sheep were not dirty, and the hoggets had been shorn a fortnight beiore. I had warned about this by a neighbour, who had used gammexane the year before. and immediately questioned the manufacturer’s representative, who told me that that dip had been mixed with phenol—now left out—and it would be quite safe to use now. ‘I was quoted, also, a gammexant dip that was a guaranteed fly preventive, and mixed at the modest sum of about £2O per 1000 gallons. This J used as a spray on the fly-s truck hoggets, but it did not prevent further strike. “Research with this dipping medium has apparently some distance to go yet. and those in this district who have used it are firmly of the opinion there is virtue in the ‘devil you know.-’’ Phenolic Dips.— The manufacturers of one gammexane dip point out that, as their dip contains phenol, there is no need to add bluestone to it. The phenol prevents the development of the organism responsible for lameness. No cases of lameness have been reported following the use of phenoicontaining dips. RYEGRASS AFTER FALLOW The advantages of sowing on a fallow as against sowing directly after a crop are strikingly demonstrated in a paddock of Hl in the Ellesmere district Half of the paddock was sown on an oat stubble worked up in March, and the other half after a fallow following the harvesting of a linseed crop last year. The whole paddock was sown early in March. At present the difference between the two parts is most marked. The grass on the fallow is well ahead, and is almost ready for grazing, but the other half is backward, and until the heavy dews and cool weather of the last week or so made hardly any growth. EGGS AND STOUT FOR BULL Among the cable news in recent weeks appeared a short report of an injured bull which was living on a diet of eggs and stout in hard-pressed England. A full report (with a photograph of the bull) appeared a fortnight ago m the “Sunday Express,” and so greatly has news of farming activities _ increased in importance in Britain that the report was given great prominence. The bull is an Ayrshire, now eight years old, Bargower Legacy, which had been “loaned” according to the report, to a Mr W Kerr, a Suffolk farmer, by his breeder, Mr J. N. Drummond. Legacy is by Bargower Golden Anchor, a noted sire, from Heather Honey the Fourth, whose percentage of butterfat was “5 per cent, against the normal 3.” For Legacy it is claimed that for the last five years he has sired stock which have brought between £BOOO and £lO,OOO a year. One of his sons brought the Ayrshire record price of £3500, and last autumn 23 of his sons averaged £1370 a head. “Farmers have been glad to pay £25 for the stud service of Bargower Legacy,” the writer remarks. It seems that Legacy was quiet and well behaved for ‘ a month after he arrived at Mr Kerr’s farm, but apparently had an argument with a specially-built oak gate in his paddock. One of hig horns was broken, a leg was injured, and when found the bull was nearly unconscious. The vets diagnosed a fractured skull and concussion. The bull was not able to move, and not able to eat He was therefore left where he lay, covered with Army blankets, and protected by walls of hay bales. He was bottle fed with 18 eggs, .two pints of stout, honey, and oatmeal gruel every day. He lost 5001 b in weight, but gradually Sulled through. The photograph with le article shows him looking much as one would expect, except for an iron splint that holds his damaged horn in place while it mends in its case of plaster of Paris. The report of the bull’s diet caused a good deal of sarcastic comment in the English press, but most farmers will recognise that heroic measures were justified in saving the life of so valuable a beast. HIGH PRICED PONIES Very high prices were paid for the five Welch cobs sold at Addington on Wednesday, on behalf of Mr T. Carruthers (Middlemarch). The consignment consisted of five fillies between 13 hands and 13 hands 2£in, all by the imported stallion, Gamrhw. Top price was lOOgns, and other sales were made at 80gns, 67£gns, 55gns, and 42jgns. The top-priced filly went to Cheviot, two went to Kaikoura, and the other two were bought by local purchasers. The recent strong revival of interest in light horses has been displayed nowhere more prominently than among ponies, which now regularly bring high prices throughout the Dominion. ADDINGTON REPORTS “Cocky” writes: “I sell prime fat lambs and ewes at Addington at easily 6s under schedule during the congestion at the freezing works, yet Addington report says the stock barely brought schedule. My next draft to the works, much lighter lamb, brought 4s a head more. This last week fat stock prices were quoted at 2s over schedule. So the question is now: Who guessed this time?” It is quite possible that “Cocky’s” lambs and ewes sold at 6s below schedule during the congestion at the works, which 1 lasted about a month. It is equally possible that other individual lines sold at over schedule on markets which were on the average below schedule. The Addington reports must obviously record the average of the whole sale, and will therefore not necessarily fit exactly the individual experience of every vendor. It is no novelty for a vendor to feel disappointed at the result of sales of his stock at auction, a- feeling which frequently arises from an over-estima-tion of the quality of his stock in the absence of other farmers’ stock with which to compare them. If “Cocky” will read last week’s report carefully, he will see that lambs were quoted at “up to 2s above schedule,” not simply “2s over schedule.” Ewes were quoted “a shade above export schedule.” The “guessing” seems to have been done by “Cocky” after no* more than a casual glance at the reports. EUROPEAN WASPS A pest of rising importance in the North Island is the European wasp, whiep has been spreading remarkably quickly in the Waikato and elsewhere. A northern correspondent writes to urge that all steps should be taken to proven! it getting into the South Island, but it seems that there is very little that can be done. The wasp flies well and Cook Strait would no* be an obstacle. The correspondent's remarks were prompted by the discovery in Auckland of a large number oL wasps in a shipment of sacks from further south. The wasps are of little economic significance. They attack certain fruits, and generally only when the fruit is over-ripe, but they are most unpleasant neighbours. They sting very painfully, and in certain circumstances dangerously, and are aggressive beasts. Their taste for sweet substances such as jam at picnics, is a favourite subject for humorous aiJtists in Europe. A campaign of de-

strdetion of the big papery nests has been carried on in the North Island, but tfie wasps seem to be ( gaining, nevertheless.