WORM CONTROL

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25709, 22 January 1949, Page 5

WORM CONTROL

Fair lie Farmer’s ; Trials SUCCESS CLAIMED How he had achieved control over sheep worm in a space of four years by methods other than normal drenching was related by Mr W. B. Trotter, : a Fairlie farmer, in an address to the Fairlie branch of Federated Farmers last week. By trial and error Mr Trotter has found that his experiments have been eminently successful and he considers that his experiments may open up new fields of thought. Mr Trotter prefaced his address by giving a short history of his farm. It consists of 496 acres of limestone country four miles from Fairlie and runs from 1000 feet above sea level to 1400 feet. Topdressing over the whole farm was first carried out in 1932 and resulted in a rapid increase in carrying capacity. In 1932 650 ewes were carried and in 1938 there were 1400 ewes on the property. The first signs of trouble were in disappointing lamb weights. The lambs fattened slowly, were shelly, and weighed up to 41b lighter than they appeared to. Trouble started in 1938. The 1400 ewes were well wintered and were carrying the bloom ewes north of the Rangitata were expected to carry. The pastures were a dark green colour, about two inches long, the weather was good and lambing appeared as if it was going to be a picnic. The task eventually proved to be a picnic in reverse. The ewes cracked up as soon as they were put on the pasture, and by tailing time 80 had died and others were casting their lambs. Mr Trotter and his shepherds wore thigh leggings as the scouring was so bad. Paradoxically the results of the season were surprisingly ‘ good. The ewes were drenched with bluestone and black leaf 40 in the tailing yards and also had two more drenches before weaning. About 50 per cent, of, the lambs went away fat off the mothers. Farm Topdressed

As it was limestone country the Agricultural Department thought—in 1932 —that it was good farming to topdress with super alone, said Mr Trotter. When a retest was made in 1938 it was found that super had resulted in what could be described as “super sickness” or acidity. Lime was then used in conjunction with the super. Five dressings of 14001 b of lime and one and a quarter cwt of super were applied. The results were good, through from 1938 onwards systematic drenching had to be undertaken. With the outbreak of war and the consequent shortage of labour Mr Trotter gradually turned to hogget farming. With hoggets the majority of the work is done in the winter and it was found to be a distinct advantage to be more or less free in the spring to do agricultural work, rather than lamb a big mob of ewes. In 1943 the farm was carrying 4000 hoggets of both sexes and a few cattle. The hoggets were practically all second cuts. In conjunction with the hoggets and cattle Mr Trotter also undertooka certain amount of lamb fattening and by buying most of the necessary feed an average of 1000 lambs was maintained for six seasons. When phenovine drenches replaced bluestone and black leaf 40 and veterinary surgeons guaranteed _a 100 per cent, kill of worms Mr Trotter said he expected wonderful results, but was very disappointed. Though death rate was controlled the sheep would not thrive. During, the 1944 season £7OO was spent on various drenches, but he felt that there was something else besides worms which were affecting the health of his hoggets, Mr Trotter said. It was necessary to find an answer to the problem or get out of hogget farming and perhaps sheep farming.

“Desperation Experiments” “My experiments were the results of desperation,” Mr Trotter said. “I con- s sidered that the worms left the sheep I in an anaemic condition and this was 4 probably why the sheep would not j thrive, even with drenching. An iron I tonic would be prescribed by a doctor I for an anaemic child —so why not for - sheep? On making inquiries from the J local chemist I was told that sulphate of iron would have a very constipating g effect on stock. , “To stop the scour had been my one ambition for years and I determined to take the culls out of my hoggets, use them as a control mob, stop them scouring by feeding sulphate of iron in a lick, or kill them. No drenches were to be used. Forty culls were taken out and put in the holding pad- ( dock immediately after shearing. If - worms were about, they would be . there in abundance. Small quantities . of lick were fed, and 1 per cent, 2 per cent, and 3 .per cent, of iron. . I also had at this time a few Hd Merino • ewes with Border Leicester lambs at foot, and they started to scour. 1 . drenched them with bluestone drench while their lick contained 1 P er ' c ®’ lt : of iron. The results were so good that I returned to the chemist to ask him • what relation bluestone was to sulphate of iron. The reply was ‘The lull brother. If by chance you. are short of copper nothing will thrive on toe place, as a lack of copper would leave stock without the power of assimila-

Bluestone Added to Lick “After this conversation I added copner sulphate or bluestone to the lick. When I reached 8 per cent, of iron and 3 per cent, of bluestone in the lick those cull hoggets stopped scouring and in a fortnight were fat. There were no deaths. My main mob of sheep were fed 3 per cent, of bluestone, and 5 per cent, of iron with outstanding results. Some idea how good the results were may be gained from the fact that 1 killed off grass 2249 wethers at the Smithfield works at an average weight of 56.81 b. These were excellent weights when allowance is made for 900 of them being halfbred two-tooths. AH the fine-woolled sheep were carrying so much condition in the wool that at 100 yards they looked like tar-tipped Merinos. “I had excellent results from the lick— so good that I determined. to topdress the farm with various mixtures. In January, 1947, I tried to interest the livestock division in this top-dressing trial, without*success. I was so convinced by the results I had obtained that I carried on. One hundred and fifty acres were dressed with 14001 b of lime, 1-Jcwt of super, 121 b of sulphate of iron, and 61b of bluestone; 170 acres with 14001 b of lime, IJcwt of super, 121 b of limonite, and 61b of bluestone; and 120 acres with 14001 b of lime, 1J cwt of super, and 101 b of bluestone. The results on all blocks were excellent. _ , Difference in Costs “I carried 1400 hoggets through that season. They were drenched once only (when bought) and the death rate was 2 per cent. From a financial point of view the difference was remarkable — in 1944, £7OO had been spent on drenches, and in 1947, £55 for drenches and £9O for bluestone. The hoggets did so well in 1947 *that a neighbour, Mr Gilbert Giddings, a well-known Romney stud breeder, asked me what I had done to them. He became interested and has used both the lick and the sowing methods. To-day he is as firmly convinced as I am that the solution to the worm problem lies in the application of copper sulphate to the soil and not with the drenching gun. “Much delay has been caused by the failure of the livestock division to cooperate. I have been forced to work entirely by trial and error. My reason for waiting so long has been that I did not know whether one dressing of bluestone had finished the job or started it. Of later seasons most of my sheep have been wintered at Ealing. This season I brought the hoggets home in September. They were shorn in February as lambs, starved all winter, and most stockmen would describe them as rabbits. I turned them out without lick to see what would happen. They scoured as usual, though none died. By returning to the lick mix they cleared up quickly and today they are thriving. “In 1945 the lick was eaten freely all season. This season the hoggets appeared to fill up in two months. From this is would appear that the bluestone

top-dressing in 1947 had given a carryover, though not sufficient to make further applications necessary.

Reaction From Copper Sulphate “Why should such a remarkable reaction be obtained from the application of copper sulphate? At this stage I had better make it quite plain that I am a grazier—not a technical expert. At the same time I make no apology for practical opinions. What do we know of copper in our soils? Copper is a trace mineral vital to stock health and is the medium through which assimilation of other minerals is made possible. “To-day our technical experts talk of development of land. Heavy applications of lime and super are the main theme. This results in at least doubling the carrying capacity of our pastures. To do this two blades of grass must be grown where one was grown before. What happens then to the other minerals in the soil? From the outstanding results obtained for the first few years it is obvious that the feed grown is of good quality, well' up to standard as far as mineral content is concerned.

“A call has been made on the soil to double the supply of minerals—including trace minerals—without any investigation as to whether the supply is capable of supplying this demand. From my results, obtained by applying copper sulphate, I feel certain that this vital trace mineral could not stand the strain, and resulted in mineral deficient feed being grown. The pastures looked well, but lacked the necessary amount of sustenance. We can carry on now and obtain an entirely new view of our worm problem. Practical and Technical Views “In effect my findings differ only slightly from what our technical experts have told us. We agree that the sheep is a natural host of the worm, that the eradication of this pest is impossible, and that sheep on any high plane of nutrition seem to be quite safe from serious infestation. What I wish to add to this is that sheep do not become the perfect host until they reach ttyte low nutrition plane, a state brought about by mineral starvation more than by apparent starvation. If it is possible to avoid the anaemic state brought about by mineral starvation the worm just cannot attack the flock seriously enough . to make drenching necessary. “One particular difference which I notice in my sheep is that even the culls appear to be packed with lead. I have built up a case which opens up an extremely wide field, quite apart from stock. It is time to wonder just whether most of the crops produced for food are worth eating, either by humans or stock. The implications are that all ground which has been manured and forced in any way other than cultivation, to produce more than it would normally produce, is in grave danger of growing crops which lack essential minerals. Kitchen gardens are in this class. Is it not time to cry ‘Better and Better’ rather than ‘More and More’?

Cures Before Causes “It is an unfortunate fact that soil analysis as practised at present is not nearly comprehensive enough. An accurate analysis of vital trace minerals would appear to be necessary and desirable. Actually there does not seem to be any technical reason why all our soils should not be brought to a high state of production. It is an equally unfortunate fact that our veterinary department is too prone to look for cures rather than causes. If causes can be located the cure is automatic. Remove the cause and the cure naturally follows. I do not wish to imply that no cure should be sought; but that the most important thing is to find the cause. s ,

“I wished to pass a few general remarks at the end of this address, so I asked a doctor a question: ‘So far as I can find out if a sufficiency of copper is taken away from stock they are left without the power of assimilation?’ The doctor’s reply was: ‘Yes. Humans are just the same. Lack of copper is responsible for most of our anaemic troubles. The approved treatment for anaemia is a combination of copper and iron.’ “I then asked: ‘ls it so strange then that I should have obtained such excellent results from feeding a combination of these? Who is right?’ “The doctor replied that copper deficiency would result in an anaemic state.

“Our own department has not recognised this as far as I know. Yet if the doctor is right, and humans are just the same as sheep, an extreme shortage of copper should result in a form of .paralysis which shows a marked preference for the young. Is infantile paralysis then just the acute form of copper shortage? I admit to being on very insecure ground there; but am forced to ask the question. “Where I do feel Very secure is in making this statement: The farmer’s main function is to feed the people, and so far we have nothing to be proud of. If we had sheep hospitals in this country they would be full to overflowing. It is little credit to us or the department, set up to assist us, that the hospitals are full to overflowing, while the cry still goes up: ‘More and More.’

“Also it does not make sense to me to expect a healthy people while we have millions of unhealthy stock,” Mr Trotter concluded.