BUSH SICKNESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23620, 2 April 1940, Page 9

BUSH SICKNESS

A 1 LACK-OF COBALT MOMENTOUS DISCOVERY EFFECT IN THE PROVINCE : EXPANSION OF PRODUCTION A momentous discovery in connection, with land development and production in the Auckland Province is that cobalt eliminate s bush sickness. In consequence of its use hundreds of, thousands of acres, the production of which was severely restricted, can now be classed as breed rig and all-the-year-round fattening, country and a further vast arta which hi ,s defeated pastoral enterprisecan now be regarded as of high potential value. Indeed, some more or less abandon.-d land is now assured of early recovery. . It is extremely important that the proved 'act of the cobalt discovery should ie understood by everyone in the business world whose activities have a bearing, no matter how remote, upon land development and pastoral production. In districts where cobalt is transforming the farming situation, settlers are working with confidence-and reaping substantial reward, but the f,ear was expressed jn many quarters recently i isited that, because of wide ignorance of the subject in the towns and cities, financial accommodation and % credit required to exploit the new knowledge with expedition might be withheld.

Official JPronouncement Officia. proof of the value of coba'lt is found in Bulletin No. 180 of the Department of Agriculture, it being a reprint of an article that appeared in the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture. The advice given for making good cobalt deficiency in the form of top-dresuing, drenches and licks is the joint recommendations of the_ department and the Cawtliron Institute. Unofficial < onfirmation has been obtained by the Nkw Zealand Hekald from dozens of farmers, land developers and stock agents familiar with, the- pumice lands and the Waikato, Kiug Country and Bay of Plenty .districts. Fortuaatelv, the cost of the application of cobalt in s.ny form is not a serious item in farm economy. For instance, cobaltised superphosphate of a formula popular in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty districts costs about £1 more a ton than ordinary superphosphate. A. Soil Deficiency Bush sickness is a wasting disease, although there are practical men who. contend that the term "disease" is a misnoni'tr. "What is called bush sickness," naid a Waikato authority, who has bee a deeply concerned in the question, " s a 'fading' of animals due to a minei-al deficiency of fne soil. "I know a sheep farmer who could not hod lambs after Christmas, and another; who could not carry his ewes over tl e year. The point came where, in spits of abundance of feed, sheep and ca itle lost condition and went into a decline. With ccbalt supplied either througi the pasture, in drenches or licks—?ven in trough drinking water—■ these ills have vanished," Earl er research indicated that the deficiency was iron and iron was often supplied iri the form of licks. Sometimes there was beneficial effect. Recent research has siliown that the deficiency was ■ cobalt. This was sometimes associated in sufficient quantity with the injn put into the licks; sometimes it was not. Now the presence of the potent, element is guaranteed. Immediate Benefit A most striking illustration of the rapid efficacy of cobalt was given by an official of the Native. Land Development Department., .whose duty takes him into zones where bush sickness has been widespread. He was shown an emaciated cow which the owner believed to be approaching the last. st?,ges of tuberculosis. The suggestion was made, although with little confidence, that the trouble was bush sickness, and cobalt in the form of a drench was prescribed. In> three weeks the official saw the cow. which had recovered its physic al well-being.;, and is now in robust health. <' j Mention was made of the fact that one agricultural and, pastoral show association in a district the progress of which was greatly retardea because wide ureas were more or, less affected by bush sickness, has now a class; fox four-tnoth sheep bred in the distpjjt and in it there has been fine.competition. Scientific Test IPlgures The, following figures of a test carried out on land described as "not particularly sick, but the sort on which stock did not do well," speak for themselves, the quantity,of cobalt sulphate - used number oi: ewes used on each paddockn being 30: — Tluii average weight of the sheep in each case in February, 1938, was li/J-lb. A yiiar later ; the average .weight of those on the paddocks which did not receive cobalt was 1271b., while iaat of the flock on the cobaltised paddock was 1441b, The comparative figures for wool were 9 6-101 b. and 121b.; lambs at birth weighed 9 12-131b. and 12 7-131b.; lambs at siiearing weighed 591b and SO l-51b. respectively; and the lambs' wool weighed 2 6-lllb. and 4 9-101b. respectively. Other tests have provided just as striking evidence of the value of cobalt and numbers of farmers whose land is no; regarded as "sick," but are using cobaltised superphosphate report substantial gains in production. Value Outside Sick Areas La it week one saw on cobaltised pasture at Horahora recently developed by the Native Land organisation near 'Rotorua some ewea, nine and 10 years old, which last year suffered facial eczena and last _ autmun would not have brought a shilling each. They have picke d up so marvellously that it is expected that they will' produce another lamb Certainly in this, case the country was not "sick" —none of that which received a coating of Rotomahana mud during the Tarawera eruption is unhealt nv and probably :in any case the ewes "would have improved on the splendid pasture now established on land that was growing fern, tea-tree and tutu only four years ago—but experts are of the opinion that even here, the robalt has proved or-Value. A' Turnip Analysis Analysis of swedes grown on land definit( ly* bush sick has shovyn, that the cobalt is present in the turnips, another propitious augury for the future of the paste ral industry in districts where turnip-feeding in. winter is vital. Cooalt, of course, is not a "cure-all," but it places wide areas on an equal stocl; footing with others free from the ills of cobalt deficiency,, It is impossible to calculate what the return of the disco very will be in this province alone. One is inclined to quote the saying of «■ an engineer who was asked how much pumice was washed away in 24, hours when the Waikato River at Arnpuni first went over the spillway, lhink o a number —and double it,'- was his reply. In wool, meat arid eventua Jy in dairy produce gain will .be ous ' and now that primary productmn is an important part of New Zeaands war effort, State and private enter-, prise will find ° rapit 1