SCIENCE IN FARMING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20496, 22 February 1930, Page 21

SCIENCE IN FARMING.

VALUE OF OBSERVATION.

CARE OF ANIMALS.

THREE PHASES IN LIFE

BY H.B.T,

Little, if any, scientific knowledge is necessary to deduce, through close observation, valuable information regarding the livestock with which one is constantlv mßDciateti. In fact, no farmer can be

really successful and progressive unless he develops the observant mind, and is capable of & certain amount of logical reasoning which will couple cause and effect. Sometimes it is hard to get at the "why." behind nature's workings, but the laws themselves are not difficult to detect, and as they apply to all forms of {ifa equally, he can act with them in any sphere of. his work with full confidence

of success. If we'takf for consideration the normal span of life of any species we find that it is divided roughly into three periods. These three periods of approximately equal length are development, maturity and decav. '

Treatise first with development we observe that nature is extraordinarily prodigal with young life. Reproduction when uncontrolled, is on a scale far greater than is necessary to perpetuate the species in' reasonable numbers. This, however, _is apparently necessary, for during the period of'develonment to maturity nature applies numerous tests to weed out the unfit and ensure the survival only of the physically perfect. During the first third of the period of life we find the young of all animals and plants particularly susceptible to parasitic and germ infection, an easy prey* to natural enemies, and with verv limited powers of resistance to unfavourable climatic and other conditions. This is the " culling " period of life, and the one when, if we are going to bring to maturity a greater number than nature intended," we must exercise particular care and devise means of combating nature's culling,,agencies. Our farm animals are nowadays safe from natural enemies, but because of their confinement to limited grazing areas are even more subject to parasitic and disease infection than when in a wild state, j "When the farmer realises that the_ first j twenty-four months of a sheep's life is j its most critical period when nature is i aiming to kill off any but the very strongest, an'd that the chief evil influences he j has to fight are parasites and climate, be j will have" gone a 'long way toward success- j fully, rearing his hoggets. When Nature Helps. Earing arrived at this conclusion, the j farmer' would commence to take precau- j tions at a very early stage against in- j iernal parasites"such as stomach and lung ; worms. He would supply his iambs soon j after they were born with a medicated salt | lick, or drench them at regular intervals , to prevent the worms becoming estab-j lished; also he would reserve for them when /weaned those padaoctcs which we.e best sheltered from cold winds, and which lying to the sun, would grow the sweetest and most nourishing grass. Once over development sta.se nature appears io fight with, instead of against, her children. " This second period, when reproduction of the species is the great urge, ; s annarentlv the most important in the I scheme of life, for then the animal is j Hv=n its maximum resistance to all forms ; oi' disease, and is enabled to successfully resist extremes of heat and cold. From the time when a sheep is two vears.old, until it has reached four years, {j will stand neglect, short rations, and unsuitable environment, recovering from each and all with remarkable rapidity. If country will not support mature animals in perfect health and top production there is something radically wrong either with the country or with the method of fanning itFinallv comes the third period—decay. When/ an animal or plant has reached the stage when the urge to reproduce its species becomes dulled, nature has no further use for - it. It is thereafter merely a. " cumberer of the ground, and nature changes the odds; they are now against survival. If conditions are favourable, iativ degeneration sets in, teeth decay or are *l/)st abscesses form and send poisons t.o. the 'kidneys or liver, small illnesses grow to chronic complaints, and altogether the body goes through a slow but steady process of breaking down, toward death. Progress c 1 Final Phase.

The- onset o? this stage may he delayed to .a certain extent by great physical vigour or again may be advanced _bv too. easy living and lack of hastens fattv degeneration, the chief cause of "impotence. For this reason the greatest care should be taken to prevent ewes four vears old and over from which it

-5, intended to oreed, trom becoming too fat. They must have exercise and be kept in store condition if they are to be kept breeding healthy lambs after this age. Again, it should ware farmers against keeping their rams and bulls too fat, ,and particularly against using aged

fat rams. The tendency of all stock which has entered the third, or " decay " stage, of life to put on fat rapidly can economically Ke taken advantage of to convert them into mutton or beef, for at no time during tneir lives do stock fatten with so little cost of feed or so rapidly as when they have just, passed the reproductive stage. It takes almost double as much feed to fatten a two tooth sheep as it does to make a four-year-old prime, because at the latter as;e nature has diverted energy, ■which was previously reserved for reproduction, to fattv degeneration. By observing the working of these natural laws, which govern life, and taking advantage rf knowledge thus gamed, the farmer is in a position to successfully bring his Voting stock to maturity, and profit by •ii-nosin" of them at the right moment.