Farm & Station

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 11280, 9 August 1930, Page 12

Farm & Station

By “RUSTIC US.”

VITAMINS’.

EXPERT’S EXPLANATIONS

STOCK FEEDING PROBLEMS,

A few years ago hardly anybody knew anything about vitamins, but nowadays the newspapers; are plastered with the advertisements of food purveyors of gll kinds who announce that their particular beans,. or bread,' or burgoo is just frill of these mysterious substances. An extensive * literature has also grown up regarding vitamins and some of it is probably puzzling to stock farmers who' may wish to apply reliable scientific information in practice. Dr. J. 11. Orr, of th e Ilpwett Institute, Aberdeen,, has a rather interesting article in a recent number of the British Journal of Agriculture on th e subject of vitamins which gives a brief account of the knowledge which has been acquired,. of late and its hearing on practical stock feeding problems. OUR KNOWLEDGE LIMITED. Much experimental work has been carried out but. nevertheless, our knowledge of this newer aspect of in addition to the carbonaceous matour ideas, or the ideas of the experts, seem to he growing and changing in accordance with the fresh results of research and it looks as if there would be no real certainty until such work has .been tested and applied under farming conditions b' T experienced stock farmers capable of forming and expressing an opinion. Speaking of vitamins generally, Dr. Orr, points out that fresh foodstuffs in the natural state contain, inaddition .to the carbonaceous mat erial, proteins and salts, certain substances and properties termed vitamins, which are essential for health and growth. An example of these is the nntisorbutic, which is present in fresh fruits and vegetables, and which keeps the body free from scurvy. A REMARKABLE FACT, . Perhaps the most remarkable fact about vitamins is that the most minute quantities produce the most profound physiological effects. For example, less than a ten-millionth part of an ounce (!) per dav of irradiated ergosterol, a substance which contains vitamin D’ in high concentration—if indeed it he not actually vitamin D itself—is sufficient to keep rats and mice free from the disease which develops in the absence of this vitamin. The amounts of th e various vitamins which are necessary to maintain health are so small "and are so widely distributed in foodstuffs that it is really difficult to make up a vitamin free ration and in making experiments it is usual to work with synthetic rations, i.e., combinations of specially purified foodstuffs, artificially freed from vitamins, DIFFICULT TO ISOLATE. It is fairly obvious that vitamins do not provide any appreciable amount of energy or heat or constructive material and it is thought that they affect the acivities of the ductless "glands, which produce substances that have a pro found'effect upon growth and health. Another interesting feature about them is that it is very, very difficult to isolate them. They, can be concentrated in extracts, but as the separation of the vitamins from the other,* constituents proceeds, the vitamins tend to disappear or, in other words, the concentrated substance loses its vitamin property! THE DIFFERENT VITAMINS. The vitamins which have been chiefly studied are :—Vitamin C, which prevents, ‘or cures, scurvy ; Vitamin B, th e absence of which leads to disturbance of the nervous system and the digestive organs; Vitamin A, which is necessary , for growth; Vitamin D, which specially affects the metabolism of calcium and. phosphorus and is therefore of importance in .the growth of bone, and Vitamin E, the absence of which causes sterility. Recently another. vitamin named “G” has been taining a healthy condition; of the an effect upon growth and in mainskin and muscous membrance of the mouth. THE VALUE OF SUNLIGHT. With vitamins, says Dr. Orr, should also be included the effects of irradiation with ultra-violet light. These invisible light waves beyond the violet end of the spectrum, when ■ directed upon the surface of the body, produce the same beneficial effect as Vitamin D. This , light is contained in direct sunlight. . . and it can also he produced artificially by certain kinds of electric lamps. The chief undesirable conditions which develop when thy . various vitamins are not present in the diet have already been indicated, but the evil effects .of .vitamin deficiency are not limited to these gross disorders. A diet which may contain enough vitamins to prevent the onset of these gross . symptoms of disease \yet may not contain . sufficient to maintain perfect health and more obscure troubles may bn* sue.

PRACTICAL POINTS. Luckily, however, all natural foodstuffs are . comparatively 4'rich , in most of the vitamins. With regard to Vitamin. C,. the only animals which seem to. suffer to any. extent from a deficiency, of it are' monkeys, men and guiheapigs and there is not evidence- yet that it is. of much practical importance in stock farming. •' ■. ■ Vitamin B, which prevents ' beriberi, is .so widely distributed V in foodstuffs, e.g., in grass, whpat : offal, grains, roots, and tubers, that there is really l little likelihood of a deficiency in, any ordinary iarm 'ration. Yeast’ is. very 1 rich in " this vitamin, aiicf as’ poultry are ■especially susceptible to befi-beri, _ it has been suggested that yeast might be .added to poultry rations as 'a .means of providing a plentiful ' supply of the vitamin. - • V Tlic two vitamins which seem to be of the greatest importance in stock farming are A and I>. Of tlif) two. V D is probably the' most important, One of the richest sources of these vitamins is cod liver oil, and the addition of a small amount to the rations of chicks and young pigs, reared in confinement has .proved of- very definite, value. .Green ( food is also rich' in these two vitamins,' and it will, of course, have the same effect as cod liver oil in pro-' moling health. It should not ■ be forgotten also that -the ultra-violet lighty contained in direct < sunshine, can ’ supply, ov replace the necessary vitamin D, and a.' good run outside

in the sunshine thorefoue may be as valuable as feeding substances lie'll ip i.this vitamin, and considerably cheaper, one would imagine. ” With regard to tb© last vitamin, E, experiment's have been carried put' only' with rats,. and whether or not a deficiency of this vitamin would affect the reproduction of farm animals is unknown. Vitamiu E is widely distributed among foodstuffs, and it seems rather unlikely that -there would he a deficiency on the ordinary farm.

It will he seen that, so far as our knowledge goes, with the exception of vitamin D, there is not much likelihood of a deficiency of vitamins occurring in practice. Green grass, grains, roots and tubers are usually available, cod liver oil, yeast and sunlight are not scarce, and these things among them should supply everything that is necessary to keep an animal fit, so far as vitamins are concerned.

WOOL PRODUCTION.

HEAVIER FLEECES,

ON BLOOD. MEAL RATION.

Very promising results have been obtained bv the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Australia in its work on the supplementary feeding of .sheep for increased wool production, according to a statement issued bv the Vice-Presi-dent- of the executive council, Senator J. .T. Daly. “A flook of 100 oue-vear-old lambs, which were given a supplement containing a relatively high percentage of the protein material known as cystine,” said Senator Daly, -‘showed on an a.veiiige 20oz. more wool per fleece than a corresponding group of lambs not given the supplement—sterilised blood meal. The total cost of the supplement over a nerioj of 12 months was lOd. per lamb, so that - promising economic possibilities have been opened up.” The work was carried out at Meteor Downs station. Springsure, Queensland, on small flocks of lambs lent by the owner. Two paddocks of equal size and equal quality were fenced, each being large enough to carry 100 sheep. Flock ewes were introduced and allowed to lamb on the pasture. The lambs and ewes were weighed weekly, and the growth curve for each group computed. The groups were rotated from one pasture to th e other each week, so that any difference in pasture quantity or quality would be eliminated. One group, the controls, received a lick comprising rock phosphate and salt; the other, the rook phosphate, salt and sterilised blood meal. The blood meal group grew better from the start. At six months n(] per cent, of them were above 44 lb. in weight, whereas in the control group only IS per cent, were over that weight. Moreover, the treated animals as a- group appealed to be mor e healthy throughout. Blood meal is not obtainable m sufficient quantities to treat all the sheep of the Commonwealth. The council’s work, however, has shown that the results obtained with blood meal have been due to its cystine content, and a survey of other economic sources of large quantities of crystine is now being made. The council, however, sounds a note of warning in regard to the results outlined, because they were obtained on pastures which were known to be deficient in crystine. Many such areas exist throughoutAustralia. Oil the other hand, there are many areas where c-rystiiie is not deficient in the pastures, and . in these localities crystine-bearing licks ar e not expected to produce such favourable results.

FROPER FEEDING

(“Poultry Journal”)

Egg-laying competitons have' proved that the bird that does the best is tilt one that is the- big eater, and a bird will never be a good eater unless slip is encouraged to eat well as a growing pullet. This really means that the birds have to be taught tp feed well. If the organs that deal with the food are well developed the bird will enjoy her meals hut if they ar e cramped, perhaps because the youngsters were not well fed, then the bird will not eat sufficient to provide for bodily wants and that little extra that goes to make the eggs, or it the poultry mash is after meat, that goes to meat. Tint this does not mean that the birds should be forced; they should not. .The tendency too often with poul-try-keepers is to force the birds lor eggs, especially when they are making a. start, to show up their real egg-producing lines. If this is done iff is impossible to maintain the size and weight of the bird, and it cannot now be safely assumed that any sized bird will lay the ■ good-sized eggs, because they will not. _ Strict attention should be given to the maintenance of. weight as well as to the actual number of eggs that the'birds will lay. Then when the thirds , seem that they are being well fed it is just as well to keep up that feeding, because if the mash is not sustained they will show a, falling, oir, and then before they .become set tjicv will give trouble if over-led. The growing chicken needs special attention if good results are to be °'Jobtained. She needs plenty of exercise to keep up her health. If the grain that is fed is not thrown into the litter'and the .growing stock made to work for this grain, it will not be long before the birds develop a laziness that will moan a checking in the growth, and when good .• re-, suits ar e wanted this will never flo, Not only does the growing rullet require plenty of mash.'in‘which there js variety, but she alsobreeds plenty of grain.*’ Tin's assists her to.-balance the ration.. Too, much of the same meal is np good-to the growing millet a« it is no good to the ■ older ben; All these little ' extras need studying in poultry-keeping. ' '

A HANDY STILE

A farnier friend who has recently, returned, from a visit tp.. the Old Country writes as follows, '—~ t ■’"Gaths' -on New Zealand farms are-of all "'degrees* of elaborateness and usefulness, from the piece _of wire-netting on two stakes,, bejel no by a. wife, loop or two to tlie flush iron, or wooden, gate properly made by a tradesman. . The first .sort of gate is ■ probablv the most common, and it is a fruitful source of wasted time and sometimes of bad language on the part of. its owner. Its. onlv merit •is that it is very cheap. ‘‘While I was at .Homo, however, •I saw one dav : a* rather queer sort of .gate, or stile, that'was .said to

be very old and it was decidedly ingenious. I think that it had some good points about it for egress and ingress to a paddock or enclosure where one did not actually uant to run a cart or take stock, though, as a matter of fact, One could lead a horse through or even drive sheep through in case of ne cessity. . . „ It was called a “tumble-down stile,’ and.to look at, it looked just like a panel in the fence, made of wood. It causes.. Quite a- Jot of quiet amusement to the local peo pie, for strangers who try to use it generally start by putting thenfoot on one of the bars, which promptly collapses, the result being that the said stranger often tumbles down, lienee the name. “I don’t know whether I can describe it in words so as to. give your readers an idea of what it was like, but I will try. Imagine/ if you please, lour rails stretched across an open space in the fence, with two posts at each end and two in tile middle of the vails. The way it is worked is just to put your hand on one end of the topmost rail and press down. All the four rails can then be pressed down with ease and one can sten over without anv trouble at all. When you take your hand off the top rail all the rails swing up again in their ori ginal position. “On examining the stile you find that the four bars move on pivots placed between the upright middle posts, the bars being weighted at one qnd to keep them in a horizontal position when not purposely pushed down. This .may sound a little complicated, hut really it is not so and certainly the affair, works finite well and has been doing so for centuries. I just mention this contrivance as I thought that possibly -some New .Zealand ifii-me/ might trv bis hand at making one. Tt should be quite a handy thing and I do not think stock could work it themselves and so get out of a paddock.”