NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1812, 13 August 1886, Page 6

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The whiter treatment of young young stock stock is a matter which should be

in receiving the farmer's best atten■wiNTßß. tion now, the latter part of winter, when stock are getting low in condition and there is little to be got yet from the pastures. It used to be said up country that September was the most trying month for stock. Handfed calves should be well looked after just now, especially those reared late in the season, and every effort should be made to give them justice. Even in the best of seasons calves require careful winter treatment. \ It is not uncommon to hear of a whole season's calves dying during the winter and spring, and yet it does not cost much to keep them, compared with their value. If they get low in condition, they should be examined to see that they are not infested with lice, which is almost certain to be the case. The torment the poor brutes endure from vermin must increase very much their struggle for existence. I have tried several remedies for getting rid of lice, and have found that the easiest applied and the most effective on the whole is the Glycerine sheep dip in the proportion of about 1_ in 50 or 60 of V^r. Probably some other dips might be equai^Pas good, but of thjs I cannot speak from experience. The best way^ of applying the mixture is to lay the animal on its side and pour on a little at a time, rubbing it well in with a brush, and taking care that every Jpart is gone over. Of course, as the trouble is caused by poverty of blood, it will only be got rid of permanently by better treatment and more liberal feeding.

There is one matter in connection permanent with the treatment of permanent pastures pastures, on whioh horses and

cattle are grazed which is very generally neglected, and that is their occasional dressing, so that the droppings may be scattered evenly over the whole paddock. If this is not done, not only is the space occupied by the dropping lost, but the stock refuse to eat the grass growing near it ; whereas, if the manure were scattered it would benefit the whole surface instead of lying worse than useless. If anyone will just take notice for instance how much ' ground is covered, where a lot of cattle are in t the habit of camping, it will easily be seen that j: the actual extent of surface covered amounts to a good deal in two or three years. It is »ot necessary that the surface dressing should be done every year. The paddocks may be treated in rotation once every two or three years. The best implement for the purpose is the chain harrow. A deal of ground may be gone over on a

day, and it may be done in wet weather when other work is at a stand.

A valued Southland correspondent tijh lamb- sends a few timely remarks on this mo season subject, finishing up with his

opinion on the lungworm question, which has received such an amount of attention in the Notes and Quieries column during the past few weeks. I subjoin " Q.Q.s " remarks in his own words : — Ewes in lamb should bo kept on the grass as far into the winter as possible, and have the run of the wether and the hogget paddocks after the latter go on turnips. When the ewes are put on turnips either keep them cleaning up after the wethers and hoggets, or if they get a break for themselves give them say six hours on, through the day, and turn then on to grass, tussockgif possible, at night. Jj When near lambing time, if the ewes require drafting, let it be done after a fast of say ten hours, with no turnips at least for that time, and draft them in a clean yard, through a race with Bwing gate. Don't lift them over a fence. Now if the owner is a sheepf armer he will have a few three-hurdled mothering pens here and there in sheltered corners through the lambing paddocks, and it will depend upon the use made of them, and the attention the sheep get, whether the percentage of lambs will be high or low ; the weather, no doubt, will affect the result. After lambing, on ■ weaning time, the ewes should have plenty of feed. Don't, on any account, overstock; it (Jjfon't pay — the lambs will be liable to disease, ftt shearing, if the flock is large be sure to turn Cach lot back to the same paddock thoy came from, as the lambs will thus have a better chance to find their mothers. At marking time dock the lambs as short as possible, and at weaning time, dag every lamb, whether it is clean or dirty, triming the wool well off the tail, hips, and inside the thighs. Don't leave over this operation until the lambs get dirty, as it is then difficult to perform it, and the wool is useless. Now dip them and put them on the best grass available — new grass if possible. Some don't approve of the new grass for lambs, but if they are as they ought to be, strong, they should be given the new grass. Whatever grass they get, on np account keep them on it until the pasture gets foul. This is <;he critical stage, and the weaners require the greatest attention. The chief point is to see that they have plenty of food and clean pastures, if this is neglected then comes this so-called lungworm disease.

Now the real- disease is diarrhoea or THE actual dysentery, caused by the foul pas«ause of ture— the lung worm being found death, in lambs oiJy in suth localities. The

weakened lambs are continually making ineffectual attempts to expel the worms by coughing, whereas the strong hsalthy lambs and older sheep have sufficient vigour to enable them to beep the bronchial tubes clear of the •worms, and even to expel them altogether. Your Tapanui correspondent found no worms, bwt the disease which killed his lambs and those •f your other correspondent who found worms is one and the same, and the cause was identical; and the same cause will produce the same result next year if the owners don't look out. I »ad the lung worm-fumigating- oil - and - turpentiiecraze a few years ago, and treated some of then to a " nip " of oil and turpentine. Some oi those which were bad got none, however, but I shifted them all on to first-furrow turnips in a locality in which there were, a good many gullies with tussocks and good clean feed. The result "was a perfect cure — those not treated recovering as well as those which got the nip. I have never dosed one since. Having found the cause, I have adopted the plan of preventing instead of curing. If the correspondents referred to above and any other sheep farmer who may see this will only try the treatment recommended, they will find the result satisfactory. # " Q.Q/s " experience points indubitably to the fact that Nature's laws work with unvarying uniformity. A foul run causes the chicken cholera, which bears a striking resemblance to lungworm in lambs, 1 and a foul pen is the primary cause of hog cholera; and is it rea'eonable to suppose that such a dainty little creature as a lamb should be able to withstand such a powerful predisposing cause as a foul pasture ?

Agbicola.