“FOOD IRON.”

Hokitika Guardian, 18 July 1931, Page 2

“FOOD IRON.”

A SHEPHERD-CHEMIST.

STATE! OPTION ON IRON ORE.

It. is on© of the romances of ■ the Twentieth Century that the 1 shepherd must also be a.chemist; and must quarry the rock and pass it through his laboratory in order that stock may eat ; what the them; ...The supply of food iron to sheep in iron starvation (‘‘‘bush-sick”) districts is- the subject of a further article in (the “New Zealand Journal of Agricuiturai’r by Mr B. C. Aston. If food iron could be successfully supplied to sheep .an' enormous area, of- iron-starva-tion land, -now more or less waste, could he used profitably. It is, oi course, ’ important that the food iron should be cheap and that the feeding should he . cheaply done. Mr Aston, as Chief Chemist has'for years been seeking a New Zealand supply of. ‘fan iron compound which might take'the place of the comparatively costly double citrate of iron and ammonium for the prevention and cure of bushsickness.” He found that hydrated oxide of iron was .'being turned out in two places (Onakaka and Whangarei) “as a commercial product which is being used by gas-works in the purification of 1 coalgas, It appeared however, that carbonate of iron would probably be more assimilable by the animal than the hydrated oxide would he, LOCATING NATIVE IRON ORE. i' / Vi- '* .J ' ... V .• ' Native carbonate or iron is recorded as occurring at various spots in both islands. In 1926 Mr. Aston identified a large deposit of carbonate of iron at Huntly). At- a clay-pit there he found a large quantity of discarded boulders, which were crushed with difficulty, and the resultant iron carbonate -was experimented with by feeding to sheep as a: lick. ‘The' Department of Agriculture ■ obtained 'an option over this depqsit.vand the option is still in force.” , That: was five years ago. -Followed “thb us-ual delay in getting positive results.” Some- of the crushing and grindihg, appliances were- very inadequate;"'; To reach the best crushing ahd grinding ]• plants meant transport cost. There'. Were certain “objections to the rise : of.,this water-insoluble material. It was, not; till 1929 that encouraging reusp of thb material as a lick.” In 1930 the department of Agriculture was able to report to the Empire \larketing Board that “quite a number of more reliable farmers have been supplied with this carbonate of iron compound, and nearly all report some good results from it's use. In most cases molasses had to be mixed with the salt and iron in the first instance to induce the animals to take the lick but once accusitemed,# was gradually reduced 'Until . only the salt and oar* bonate remained. • • With cattle in another district a reliable settler reports having had excellent results oyer two seasons with oarbonateof iron, and'has used no citrate of iron during all that time, notwithstanding which "his stack; are all in perfect condition.”

A NOTABLE SUCCESS

j In ; the some report (1930) to the Empire Marketing Board mention was .made of-‘V very extensive experiment I with sheep on iron lick treatment” at Atiamuri. The sheep numbered 1800. Mr Aston now is- able to report the further success of that experiment, j “On this sheep-run it had never before been possible to raise lambs to I maturity without treatment. The 1600 ewes were allowed full access to some carbonate-of-iron lick from May, 1930, to November. Forty ether ewes were selected .. as controls and these were shorn,, their average weight was 96.411 b. On the. other hand, the weight of twelve sheep , taken at random from the 1600- ewes | was 1191 b. Mr Taylor reported on 1 10th. March last that the forty control Bheep, with their lambs, had completely gone to pieces, only eleven'surviving; and that three .others would probably have died, but iD order to save unnecessary loss to the owners-they were drenched with a. solution of iron ammonium citrate and put on a slagged piiddock, where their response to the iron treatment was immediate. The 1600 ewes, on the other hand, survived in good healthy condition, and the majority raised their lambj successfully. ■ ■ ■ '

LESS THAN A PENNY A SHEEP

“The efficacy of the iron carbonate mixed with salt as a lick for sheep has so impressed itself on the minds of the ’owners that they have purchased a ton of the iron carbonate and ordered another ton. As to the quantity , required, it may be said that on this sheep station 2000 .sheep consumed only 16 cwt of the carbonate in eight months (June to January), or less than lib per sheep, at a. cost of §d each,” The material that is thus being supplied in the treatment of bush sickness is. an extremely flour v powder, and when mixed with salt in equal weights the carbonate which when fresh, is of a grey colour, partly oxidises to a brownish colour. Considerable success in feeding ironcontaining pellets (made by machinery) to sheep. (which are educated to eat them), and certain experiments with iron carbonate in ensilage, are features of Mr Aston’s article.