AGRICULTURAL

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 136, 6 December 1919, Page 13

AGRICULTURAL

WHAT IS A HOGGET?

Referring to the recent difficulty experienced by Judge Bevan and sheep owners of Young over the definition of the term hogget, a stock owner, writing over ■ the name "Fullmouth," states in the Sydney Morning Herald that the following circumstances govern the use of the term among the large Riverina sheep owners: —

The regular lambing season of a district, for large flocks is usually determined by conditions of climate; early or late, according to suitability of temperature and likelihood of green feed.

A lamb from birth lo weaning time, usually about live months, is a lamb, and whether shorn as a lamb or not is, and continues to be, a weaner until the next season's drop of lambs in succession is marked, counted, and entered in the stock book as the season's increase. The weaner or lamb of the preceding drop then becomes a hogget, and so remains until it i 3 shorn, usually at the age of about 18 montlis, after which it is described as a two-tooth ewe, wether, or ram as the case may be, and so on through the various recognised dental ages up to full and broken mouth.

When the two-tooth ewe is mated with the ram she is a maiden ewe until her first lamb is weaned. In the old country the spring is" invariably the lambing time, hence the term 3 applied to the ages are perhaps more easily followed than here, 'where since the cutting up of so many of the large runs, and owing to diversity of climate the smaller owners are breeding almost at any season of the year, and sometimes all the year round.

The term hogget has therefore become too vague for a sale contract, and any age below the two-tooth should be stated in months from date of drop.- . Where lambs are shorn, and this is almost universal in Australia, the second fieece shorn at 16 or 18 months old is hogget wool, but originally hogget wool was the first fleece shorn at 16 or 18 months when the sheep had not been shorn as a lamb.

In Scotland the two-tooth ewe or maiden is a gimmer for the same' period as our maiden, and the hogget wether becomes a Dimnont to the end of his second year. In England the term shearling is applied to the two-tooth age of ewe, wether, or ram, the latter sometimes called Tup.

Professor Melander, head of tho department of entomology of the Washington State _ College, is reported to have stated that jt is possible that under continued spraying wrth insecticides haidier strains of insect pests are being produced, which are better and better able to withstand the effects of poisons. "In other words," said Professor Melander, "it is possible from a biological standpoint that wo are breeding the resistant insects. If there is such a thing as this,, it is a big, big thing in the fruit .world. A few years ago we were cocksure that sulphur-lime would kill respider* eggs, would kill eggs of tho green aphis, and yet I have examined I don't know how many millions of red spider eggs and failed to find them dead after being sprayed with sulphur-lime. Tho same caD be said of the green aphis in a good many localitiei). ■ Whether it is a biological^ fact that scale and other insects are becoming resistant _by a gradual process of weeding out the individuals that are not hardy Ido not know. But Ido know that some of the standard sprays are not nearly co sure and effective as they used to be. If the biological theory is true that we are breeding up scales that are resistant to this or that spray, it may l>e that we shall have to switch on methods of fighting the pest 3, we will say every 20 years. We will spray with sulphur-lime; that will be the best for 20 years, and then we will switch over and take up the oil emulsion, and spray with that for 20 years, until we get a scale that is resistant to oil emulsion, and then come back and switch to the other. Biologically, it is possible to rear up a breed that would be resistant."

Why do cows- love aeroplanes, asks a writer in a London paper. Recently, near Staines, I saw a very, big machine make an enforced landing on a great stretch of grazing land near the Code. Instead of being frightened, the numerous cows in the field all started off at a great pace to see this strange and wonderful visitor. There was a race from all quarters of the field, and by the time the 'plane came to rest it was surrounded by about a hundred curious cows. Small boys had to be told off to disperse them, and it was only by very skilful manoeuvring that none was converted by tho propeller into beef. They even started to follow it as it rose and flew away.

Captain R. E. Palmer, Oaklands Park, Surrey, England, who is one of th© strongest supporters and breeders of the Irish breed of cattle, the Kerry, informs the Farmers' Gazette tha* pure Kerriee are daily coming more and more in request, and these days of scarce and dear feed aro making many private as well as public dairy companies realise the economic value of the little Kerry, -producing equal quantity with animals twice her weight. The writer-points out it is quite necessary for every herd-owner to have a thorough knowledge of tho milk yield of every cow in his herd, and it it. further necessary, so far as tho general publio aro concerned, that the records of feed and weight should also be supplied for the nimple reason that two animals might be placed together for milk jrecording purposes—for instance, a Shorthorr weighing from 12 to 15 cwt. and a Kerry_ cow weighing from 5 to 7 cwt. The milk of the Shorthorn or other large-framed cow, by record might be 1000 gallons, and that of the little Kerry, a smaller animal, 600 to 800 or more. The question, then,'for a business man or a practioal man would be: which is tho most economical cow to keep ? That is not a question for the writer to go into, as ha is thoroughly opposed to the comparisons of breed with breed, but it can be broadly stated that, with the conditions of feed and feeding, weight for weight, of the animals, and the values under the conditions taken into consideration, there can be no question that the little Kerry is superior t<> many heavy non-milking breeds. Trie introduction of taking the values, conditions of feeding, and the weights of tho animals- boils down th© process to a practical, sensible, economic one, and it is to be hoped that the other societies who - aro interested in milk records will recognise this praotical suggestion, and give tho smaller milk breeds fair play.

At a meeting recently held in South Otago, for the purpose of establishing a Herd-testing Association, a local dairyman, Mr. Dooley, who has been testing' his cows for some time, gave his hearers the benefit of his experience. One of the conclusions forced upon Mr. Dooley is very valuable to dairymen'of the present day who are doubtless at the moment considering the purchase of a bull for use on their dairy herd this season. What shall this bull be? Mr. Dooley stated that he went in for a pedigree bull without a milking record, and found, to his sorrow, that his herd had deteriorated as far as its production of milk and butterfat was concerned. He was now convinced that every farmer must head his milking herd with a purebred Bire_ showing a milking record on both tho sire's and dam's side.

Serious losses to farmers have been caused in the Northern Wairoa district by an apparently new disease that has made its appearance among cattle, reports indicating that some farmers have had their stock reduced fully 50 per cent, by deaths. A curious feature is that animals apparently in the fittest condition seem most easily to fall victims to this scourge. Death usually follows soon after tho first indications of anything being wrong are observed. The only noticeable indication is, in fact, that the animal, after sitting down, is unable again to rise, owing to weakness in the hindquarters. No recoveries have been reported, and one farmer lost 33 rows, out of a herd of 49, solely as a result of the complaint. Every effort has been made by the farmers to trace the cause of the disease, but without any real success. Some attribute it to the eating of certain grass," but no ovidence has yet been adduced to prove this theory.