BUSH SICKNESS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9740, 5 March 1914, Page 6

BUSH SICKNESS.

PROSPECTS OF EXPERIMENTS ENCOI'RAGIXG. Jiossrs ( . .). Realow (Government Veterinarian) and 11. (.'. Ast<m (Agricultural Chemist), who have been trying lor years to liml a r< medy lor boh sickness, which has proved! so' disastrous u stuck iu the Ho&orua and Bay of Plenty districts, iii ;i report to the Government state:— The information so far gained may h< summarised as follows: (!) Thai the most susceptible claw ol dairying cattk — viz., firet-claes heifers—can be kepi healthy and made profita.ble I'or dairying purposes, for at an\ rate a considerable time, when gram! u]>an paddocks suitably top-drctsed. ii remains to bo >een. of cour.se, whethei these animals will keep healthy throughout the milking season ; but even so lai a* wo have gone the result must b. looked U])on as being distinctly good. (2) That animals of the .same age ant; class will deveio}) 'hush s'ckncs.s in a lew months when graced upon similai land not top-dressed, even with plenty of feed, good t-helter, and acces« t< standing bush. (3) That syrup of phosphate of iroi in solution is a valuable curative agen; when given daily over a sufficiently lon<. period. (4) That breeding-ewes grazed upoi •suitably top-dressed paddocks will remain healthy over a much longer perkx than these animals will do when kepi upon land not tojMlressod. It cannot be suggested that conclusive results have yet been attained. s<

far as the attempt to solve the problorr definitely by soil-treatment is concerned. We shall be able to 6peak wit! more definitenoss. a few months hence but it can reasonably be claimed that further stojjtfonvard has been made and that the prospects are very eneon racing. Further details of the experi ments are given in the Journal of Agri culture.