BRANDING CATTLE

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 9, 11 July 1922, Page 2

BRANDING CATTLE

EXPERTS MAKE SUGGESTIONS

AMENDMENTS TO THE STOCK ACT. .

A conference, was held in the Government Buildings^ Christchurch, last week, between representatives of th* Sheep Breeders' Federation, the Director-Gen-eral, and responsible officers of the Department of Agriculture for the purpose «f discussing- suggested amendments to the Stock Act and matters bearing on the administration of the Babbit Nuisance Act; , ,; ■> -

It was agreed that Section 36 of the •Stock Act could be amended to advantage in preventing sheep-stealing by .providing that when an owner of stock had reason for believing that stock belonging to him were on the land or in the hands; of another person, a police officer could, on application, detain such'stock until an inspector of stock washable to arrive and take the matter in hand. An agreement was arrived at that the system of legaHsed brands and earmarks should be as follows:—

Brand.—ln the case of. cattle :An earmark made by punching the ear with pliers so that in no case shall more than one-fourth of the ear be removed, or a distinct or plain mark not less than two inches in len-gth burned with a brandingiron into the. skin, or loth the above in conjunction. /In the case of sheep : An earmark made by punching the ear with pliers, provided that in no, case shall more than one-fourth of the ear be''removed,, to which'may be added, in conjunction, one. or more of the following marks :—(l) A registered wool-mark .plainly'made with paint, raddle, or lamp-black mixed with oil or tallow, "or made with some other approved material in plain or distinct letters, figures, or otherwise, not less than three inches in length, on the sides,, back,, shoulders, Kips, or rump of the cheep. (2) A metal clip with'a distinguishing registered mark stamped thereon affixed to the ear; (3) A registered tattoo mark distinctly and plainly made on any part of the skin. (4) A registered fire mark distinctly and plainly made on the face. To make this effective in dealing with sheep-stealing an amendment to Section 74 of the Act would be needed.

A further provision agreed to was that, in order to make the proposed new system- effective, in future,.., earmarks should be registered for use on one ear only—the right ear for males and the left ear for females. ;

It was agreed that the question of stating at the .time of sale the number of each ccx contained in lots of sheep of.mixed sex«s sold by auction should be taken up with the Auctioneers' Association by the Department of Agriculture, particieTarly with a view to protecting the interests of lees experienced buyers, such as returned soldiers and others. In connection with the Rabbit Nuisance Act, the Sheep Owners' Federation proposed that steps should be taken to prohibit trapping entirely. It was pointed out that one Babbit Board already has in hand proposals for preventing trapping within its area, and the operation of these will be obeerved with much interest as indicating how rabbits can be effectively and thoroughly dealt with in the absence of trapping. With reference to. wire-netting required for the control of, rabbits, the sheep owners' , representatives expressed themselves as being of opinion that the best way of dealing with . the; matter would be !or the" Department of Agriculture to arrange with commercial houses to supply, netting to settlers,' it was agreed that in order to secure the best results in eradication of rabbits, inspectors should make every endeavour to have simultaneous poisoning carried out in the infected localities. Satisfaction was expressed with the existing method by wliich the Department supplies phosphorised pollard, oats, _ eft;., to settlers ham. central depots, this system havinf been lately extended to district* not previously covered.