FARMS AND FARMERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 August 1935, Page 8

FARMS AND FARMERS

ITEMS OF INTEREST

(By

"Rouseabout” )

FO.OD-OR POISON? KARAKA AND POTATO. ’ - “Lam listening for a footfall,” runs the old song, but Hawke’s Bay sheep listen for the fall of karaka berries. This sound attracts them to the spot, where they seek for the karaka berry, find, and eat. , A well-known landowner of Hawke s Bay made this statement to the chief chemist of the Department of Agriculture, Mr. B. C. Astin, who cites it in the “N.Z. Journal of Agriculture.” The Wellington district superintendent of the Live Stock Division, Mr. p. A. Gill, received similar evidence in a letter written on March 8 by a Martinborough farmer, who says that every year, for a period after weaning, his lambs live largely on karaka berries, and this year—the drought having removed the grass—the lambs lived entirely on. karaka berries for some weeks, .with good results, for “although they had had no grass they had grown nearly half-an-inch of wool and put on fat,in three weeks.” And yet in certain conditions the kernel of the karaka berry is poisonous—"undoubtedly poisonous to many «icrms of, life,- if the kernel is eaten raw.’ TJie poison,” writes Mr. Astin, “is due to a compound or compounds ’ Which under certain conditions evolve • hydrocyanic (prussic) acid, one of the ! most deadly poisons known.” ‘When pigs swallow karaka berries, they (according to the Martinborough farmer) ’ “shallow most of the berry whole' arid merely digest the pulpy covering’ avoiding the kernels.” It is therefore easy to understand how the pig’avoids the potentially prussic part. But "sheep, cattle, deer, and goats chew the kernel before swallowing it.” ■ To tiie layman it would seem that they escape death for the same reason as a firdwalker’. escapes, being burned. Mr. Astin offers the opinion that : “evidently there' is some treatment which , the nut receives in the diges- • tive machinery of the sheep which inhibits the generation of prussic acid.” Other fodder plants, at times, can be loaded-with prussic acid. “In the sorghum.and similar plants in certain . seasons., and at certain stages of grdwffi;' enough prussic acid is generated to cause mortality in stock.” If animal fodder is liotentially poisonous, so are, within limits, human foods. But the safety conditions for , using:- plant; foods are, practised by -s human tieirig almost automatically; green, for instance, is a warning colour in potatoes. And it has to be respected? ” POISONOUS AMYLOIDS. “The most striking example of this need fpr extreme care in following the established practice is the case of the potato, which belongs to a family (Solanaceae) containing a number of very members " writes Mr. Astin “The green parts of these plants are usually poisonous, but the fruit when quite ripe is often highly nutritious and palatable, as, for instance, the tomato, the cape gooseberry. the egg plant, etc. Fortunately, the unpalatable nature of, the unripe fruit usually acts as a deterrent tn their consumption even by children. The green parts of the potato are similarly poisonous to human beings, so that cooks usually discard any tubers or parts of them which have become greeted by exposure to light. “A few years ago very high winds blew away the soil covering from tht? gTAWiug.. D.9.ta.to„ croj);. exposing large quantities..to the light, and as a result several cases of po&tto poisoning oc-

tnyred. in. the North' Island‘that year, Green potatoes stfould be used only for seed, for which they are more su(t-

1 able than the blanched tubers. If ’tcbntinuous access of light to the tubers Jis permitted they become green and ' poisonous alkaloids are formed* the green colour being the danger signal. Another excellent example ot the. necessity for following the correct tech- : nique- in preparing food is that of. rhubarb, the, stalk of which is highly esteemed as a vegetable food, but the leaf" of which is poisonous. During the Great War when vegetables were scarce the poisonous nature of the.leaf blade waft overlooked, and attempts to ptiUso- It by-boiling it as greens resulted in. several poisoning cases and ’even fatalities.

“Sometimes it is n question of the relative amount eaten which is the deciding faylor .whether the plant will exert-its'- a.cute poiaoniug effects or not: thus the pepper, mustard, and nutmeg act as poisons when taken in excess, although when taken in the customary quantities with other food they are useful flavouring ingredients or ap-petite-stimulants. The statement that one nutmeg, will kill a man is certainU’ a striking example of the need for moderation even in the use iof a familiar condiment.”

ANIMALS’ CHOICE OF DIET. If not restricted in any way. animals generally feed wisely. With a free selection of food, they do not as a rule over-feed in poisonous things. But if Abe owners of domestic animals force them into association with dangerous foods, trouble results. “The animal, and this includes fowls, penned up or tied up under artificial conditions may cat any poisonous plant within reach Powls in a run will cat South African box-thorn leaves (another poisonous so lanaceous plant) and die. cattle on curn.lps will break out and gorge themselves on tutu, resulting in 100 per cent, mortality. A horse tied to a poisonous tree will browse it with ill results. Starved driven calves will browse pimelia in default ot,Aomefb>o& else to eat, and a heavy mortality-wjl! occur among them, although hvthcfir home paddocks where there is iio lack of good pasture they will not touch pimelia, which causes blistering; of thu mouth and throat and must be extremely distasteful to. the normal animal.

“One exception to the statement that an animal will select food that Is l>yj,L tor it it it is available is that curious phenomenon of what is called a drug habit, where the animal obtains some after-effect which for a limo stimulates it. This condition may be perhaps compared to that of (he opium-eater >n the human being. Cattle, after they hav one acquired a liking for ragwort, will search out plants in a paddock and cat them in preference to normal pasture. This is alto the case with the bracken fern. These plants probably contain compounds Which stimulate the act ion of certain glands. producing a pleasant result in the animal which it becomes desirous of having continued, but the linn! result is disastrous." The kuraka berry eatrn by all HUlmalu except rats, rabbits. <jc , ami

it is the kernel which contains the nutriment. .... The whole karaka fruit compares very well in analysis- with other low-grade foods and food-pror ducts.” And the berry ripens during autumn droughts.

SUCCESSFUL BREEDER. “The handsome cow is the cow that gives a handsome yield of handsome milk," says Mr. A. D. Buchanan Smith, of the Institute of Genetics of Edinburgh University. Mr. Smith is a scientific worker who is making a life study of dairy cattle, and his work is proving of great value to breeders of Ayshire cattle in Sootland. His influence is extending to this country if we may judge by the progressive views being expounded by several of, th leaders of the Ayrshire breed in. New Zealand.

An article written by Mr. Smith says: "The cow that can give a decent yield of milk, that can produce a calf every 13 months, that is good tempered and treats both herself and her neighbours well. , is the cow that will live a long time and bring a good return to her owner. Such a cow is the one from which you. want a bull to head your own herd.”

Speaking of the lye of the dairy cow

he says: “It is true that there is very which will give a definite indication Of the milking capacity of the cow. The eye. however, is capable of measuring things that the foot rule and the calipers of the scientist cannot reduce tu figures. Hence the eye is of value in the selection of dairy cattle, but it must not bo subordinate to milk records."

After referring to the progeny test

n determining the value of a dairy mH (a test which must include the

production, of every daughter) Mr. Smith concludes by saying: “In the meantime the skill of the breeder, the eye of the artists, an understanding of the principles of heredity a great deal of sound cow sense, even more hard work, and an infinite amount of patience: these are the qualities that go to make the successful, progressive and constructive breedr of dairy or any other kind of farm stock.” In other words. Mr. Smith might have said, that the breeder is born, not made, and that, therefore, it Is not every man who can be a successful breeder of pedigree live stock.

~ ~ RETURN- OF BLOUGH/ MODERN FARMING METHODS. The plough has to the modern farm, because it was found that fertilisers could not take its place. For the supply of winter feed, root crops are still a necessity. Mr. W. J. McCullough, fields superintendent, Department of Agriculture, Palmerston North, made a statement to this effect on his visit ip the East Coast last week, and in an interview he explained that Taranaki farmers were now making more use of the plough, and were producing more per acre than the Waikato. He admitted that only a few years ago the department had recommended the discarding of the plough in favour of an extensive fertiliser programme. It was believed that by heavy manuring a farmer should be able to grow sufficient grass during the periods of plenty, conserving it as hay and ensilage, to last him for the rest of (.he year. At the height of the ensilage boom, it was stated that cows would milk just as well on ensilage as on grass, but this statement required modifying, and, to put it bluntly, ensilage was not to be compared with nice, succulent grass. It was also found that something more than hay and ensilage were required for. the winter spell, when the growth of grass was practically nil.

SWEDES AND MANGELS. Swedes and mangels were still regarded as the best winter feed. Taranaki farmers had realised this, and had retrieved their bld ploughs froip the scrap heap or bought new ones, /and large numbers had. ploughed up a few acres for root crops. As a result, they had increased their production tp above the Waikato capacity per acre, and not so long ago Waikato was regarded as the heaviest producing district for butterfat in New Zealand. The department now advocated the revival of the plough, and in doing so did not think that the farmer would be called upon to make any great outlay. According to statistics collected recently, the average Taranaki farm had £157 worth of implements and machinery, suggesting that most had nearly everything necessary for ploughing. The majority, at least, would have harrows and horses. The average Taranaki farm had over two horses apiece, according to data collected by the department; The purchase of a single furrow plough and a set of discs would not run into an expensive outlay, if these implements were not already on a farm. The area planted.in root crops need not be great, Mr. McCullouch proceeded. About two acres would be sufficient for most farmers on an averagesized property. He was sure that the feed provided during the lean months would more than compensate the farmers for their trouble and expense.