MR KENNETH KENNEDY ON THE BOT FLY AND LUNGWORM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2085, 8 February 1894, Page 11

MR KENNETH KENNEDY ON THE BOT FLY AND LUNGWORM.

Mr Kenneth Kennedy, who has had a vast experience among sheep and other stock in this colony, America, and the Highlands of Scotland, was interviewed by one of our staff to-day on matters connected with certain diseases among stock which are now occupying the minds of our agriculturalists and pastoralists. Mr Kennedy's colonial knowledge includes about 24 years in New Zealand, during which time he, being a gentleman gifted with considerable powers of observation, has, during his sojourn in the high country in Canterbury, and in Hawke's Bay, had extensive opportunities of noticing the effects of different descriptions of pasture, of the causes of disease, and of the best methods of combating the ravage 3to which stock are at times subject ; and having read the leaflets recently issued by the Agricultural department, Mr Kennedy has honoured us with his criticisms on them, which, coming as they do from so reliable and experienced an authority, will be read by all interested in these matters with profit to themselves. In the first place, we asked Mr Kennedy about the bot fly, and whether there was any sure method of destroying the larvre without injuring the horse. Mr Kennedy : The larvre are deposited on the horse from December to March under the jaws, on the throat, and between the knees ; after a few days they begin to irritate the animal, who then bites at the skin to which they are attached, and the horse then takes them into his stomach, where they work all through the winter eating through the coats of the stomach, in some cases until the stomach is completely honeycombed, when the horse dies. Uenerally, however, the larvsa do not show actively at work until ,the spring. Then the horse "sometimes passes some of them, but not all. These spread the disease among .other horses, as after being on the ground for a certain time, dependent on the state of the weather, they develop into the fly sbate and the process recommences. The horse inflicted in the previous season is by this time usually dead.

Rep. : What, then, is your proposed remedy, Mr Kennedy ? Mr X. : lam prepared to treat the worm in the presence of any committee appointed and the representatives of the press if any one having a horse affected is willing to bring it to Wellington, and to guarantee a cure without in any way affecting the animal's health otherwise.

Rep. : Have you approached the department on the matter P

Mr X. : They wanted me to give them my remedy to analyse and try. To that I replied that I could not hand it over to the officers of the department to be used by them personally, as I should have no guarantee of its proper application, and could not be responsible for the result under such circumstances. This is the position at present. Rep. : You have had some experience in lungworm in sheep, Mr Kennedy, I believe ? Mr K. : Yes. It first came under my notice in 1879. I notice by a leaflet published by the Department of Agriculture that the cause is attributed to the ease with which sheep may procure their feed in a profusion of clover, the excess of albuminoids acting on their liver, and* the cure recommended is removal to other paddocks not so well grassed, a dose of laxative medicinces, and chlorate of potash in the drinking water. Rep. : And does this explanation coincide with your experience ? Mr K. : No. The main cause of lungworms lies with the breeders themselves, who fail to recognise that their methods of breeding are responsible, to a great extent, for the evil. For instance, breeders in the North Island, as a rule, have for years extensively bred from twotooth ewes by two-toeth rams. At this age the animals are not sufficiently developed to perforai the functions of Nature successfully. Were old rams put to young ewes, or vice versa, this objection would disappear, but under the existing practice a young ewe in lamb is herself still growing, and there not being sufficient stamina in her constitution for herself and her progeny, a deterioration in both ensues, which is carried on from one generation to another, each becoming constitutionally weaker, and less able to withstand the strain upon the digestive organs in pastures as they become coarser, and the weakness attacks the lungs and liver, culminating in the now only too well known lung disease. Rep. : Then do you sugge&t treating the pastures themselves ?

Mr K. : Decidedly so. It is very often forfotten that after hill land— especially in the North Island, which cannot be ploughed — has lain in pasture for several years, it loses certain salts, the absence of which gt'eatly aft'ect sheep, especially hoggets. These selfcs can be supplied at small cost — rock salt being both cheap and effectual — and make a wonderful change in the health of the sheep. I have seen lambs suckling their mothers when the latter have been affected with lungworm ; but, by careful treatmeat, they have been turned oub flue sheep, although an examination of their livers after being killed proved that the disease had not been thoroughly cared. Drenching sheep for lungworm, although helping them a great deal, will not cure them, as examination has proved over and over again. Rep. : Then does this contention of yours apply generally ? Mr X. : No. My experience is that the pastures of Canterbury are singularly free from lungworm for a variety of reasons which do not apply to the North Island. Rep. : How would your recommendations work on a small holding, Mr Kennedy P Mr X. : 'Well, supposing a man with a holding of 100 acres, divided into four paddocks and carrying 300 sheep. He should have his flock divided into two of 150 each, and then shift them week by week, sa that the pastures would be kept clean, and with a sufficient supply of

rock salt distributed in boxes in each paddock accessible to the sheep. Rep. : And what about large estates ? Mr X. : Take, for instance, Te Mata, Marakakoho, or Captain Russell's station ; the above principle could be applied on a larger scale. My experience in the old country was that under similar conditions lung disease in a mild form showed itself — a shot, as we called it — and had the breeding of young stock continued there as it has done in the North Island that the disease would have been quite as bad in Scotland as it is here, but the practice was discontinued and the disease disappeared. This is proved in this colony by the fact that merino sheep which are not bred from till they arrive at maturity never suffer from lung disease, either in the North or South Island.

Rep : Then, Mr Kennedy, you look upon the lung disease as one of no moment if the stock themselves are bred from in a more natural manner and given a change of paddock occasion illy ?

Mr K. : These are the courses, and the cure is in the farmers' own hands. — Evening Press.