"FACIAL ECZEMA."

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXII, Issue 4638, 11 May 1938, Page 3

"FACIAL ECZEMA."

ABATEMENT OF FEAR. THEORIES AS TO CAUSE. With the cooler weather brought by May, the probability of frosts at any time now and with the pastures reaching a more mature, fibrous condition, the fears of "facial eczema" are abating. The concern now is to get back to normal routine and to count what losses have occurred. At the same time the virulence and widespread nature of the epidemic this autumn have brought a realisation that something must be done to prevent recurrence of such an outbreak (writes 11. A. S. in the "Dominion.") Very naturally it is felt that prevention is greatly aided when knowledge is possessed of causes. Hence there is a great deal of speculation as to what causes these epidemics—two in four autumns, 1935 and 1938. A passable theory is that "facial eczema' 'is a jaundiced condition brought about by over-rich feeding on a sudden flush of soft green grass that has followed a hot drought period when sheep were on "short commons," were lacking green material and were subjected to excess sunlight.

In general such conditions have obtained at times of epidemic. But they are normal in Hawke's Bay, being present in probably five out of six seasons, and "facial eczema" does not happen as a matter of course.

Then consider the Waikato. The writer was there 2 months ago, and pastures were long and lush, but there was not talk of an epidemic; indeed, not a whisper of "facial eczema" was heard. The Waikato was never really dry this autumn. It's a queer business! During recent weeks scores of suggestions as to cause and cure have been heard. "Too much topdressing," say many. "The pastures are sick, should be ploughed and resown every few years," say others. In Mushroom Seasons. One man whose opinion I must respect considers that there may be some connection between mushroom growth and "eczema." Over long years he has observed epidemics of "ryegrass staggers" in horses in seasons of mushroom abundance. He does not believe that eating of mushrooms or their spores causes "facial eczema." But mushrooms are a fungus growth; so is mould on jam and so is ergot and also that "disease" that last autumn spoilt the germination of much rye j seed.

It is held to be possible that in this season the ground breeds millions of fungus spores, perhaps invisible to the naked eye, and that sheep take these up and are affected in the digestive organs. A Feilding doctor who examined a piece of dry-gangrene ear from an affected animal considered it to have been of fungoid origin. That was an interesting confirmation of the theory. A fact frequently remarked upon is how one farm may be subject to

"eczema" and an adjoining one escape. Well, this is so, too, with mushrooms, as all hunters of that elusive delicacy are aware —a point for the "fungoid theory." However, despite all its points, I cannot as yet admit to being a subscriber to this or any other theory as to the cause of "eczema.' We may best leave that to the experts to study and they will probably be at it for years to come. Thirty years ago, Dr. Gilruth investigated it in this Dominion. South Africa has studied it for 18 years, we are told, and with no tangible results. What To Do. Are we to stop or lessfcn top-dress-ing, plough and resow our pastures or take other such drastic steps? I for one do not see any need for such measures. Without knowing anything about the cause or causes, the trouble can be well held down by the employment of sound and not overtroublesome preventative measures such as were described recently. It is not necessary to know the "why" of everything. Ancient mariners used the compass to their great advantage, although they knew nothing of the polarity of the earth, magnetism or electricity* This lesson is to be learnt—that farmers must be prepared to meet a "new" trouble; to provide a hay reserve and to take preventive measures whenever an epidemic threatens. But no drastic changes are required in our basic farming methods. A danger seen by stock experts is that farmers holding sheep on preventive treatment may so hold them too long. It is a temporary, not a long-term policy. Some farmers are loath to return their sheep to grazing, and understandably so. But they must be got back gradually, and the sooner they are started the better. When they are put on grass, put them on the longest, not the shortest, and on to the most mature, not the youngest grass. On one farm I visited half the ewes walked back to the holding paddock, and started nibbling hay the very first afternoon they were let on to grass. The only thing to do is to persevere; the sheep will soon come to it. It is now important to wean sheep off the hay on to full grass grazing. Observe the term "wean"; that means gradually but inevitably. Various Reports.

Reports I have received from the Wairarapa tell of no epidemic there, and from Hawke's Bay I hear of odd cases only. Through the Manawatu and to Wanganui, the trouble has been fairly bad. But the Waikato really has had a severe epidemic. From two farms there absolutely reliable figures are supplied. On one running 1630 ewes, there were 180 cases, and on a 650-ewe farm there were 150 cases. The first farmer stated that he considered "curing" ewes is worth while. After the 1935 epidemic some of his sick culls were sold at "give-away" prices to a neighbour. They were cured, and eventually most of them raised lambs fairly satisfactorily. Typical of the trouble in all districts is this manifestation on a Manawatu farm running 600 ewes: From 260 carry-over ewes, no cases; from 340 bought-in this season, 30 cases. All were running together for weeks before the epidemic struck, and were on short, quick-grown, green feed, heavily stocked on the richest of land. The brought-in ewes were drafted off and given preventive treatment, and few cases then occurred. The hold-over ewes just ran on the same pasture, with no cases at all. There have been some false alarms. On a farm at Bunnythorpe "thistlemouth" in very bad form caused consternation until a stock inspector called. The lower lips on some ewes were two inches from the gums to the bottom of the lip, swollen and sore, from injury from Californian thistles. I hear of other cases, less severe, from Pakipaki, in Hawke's Bay, and in the Waikato.

At times one hears circumstantial stories of "eczema" coming suddenly from an unduly hot day or a change of feed. That can be only a sudden manifestation of a trouble already coming, because the concensus of opinion is that "facial eczema" takes two to three weeks to generate. As to danger of infection, there appears absolutely on grounds to suspect that possibility.