NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2104, 21 June 1894, Page 6

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

It appears that many districts in New Zea-

Ergotisiu In Cattle.

land are at the present time badly affected with the disease known among veteri-

nary surgeons as ergotism. The disease is caused by a fungus called ergot, which infests ryegrass chiefly, but also attacks cocksfoot and the fescues. Cattle feeding upon grass so affected suffer from distressing symptoms, often resulting in death. The disease has been in evidence more or less pretty well all over the colony, and statistics collected by the Department of Agriculture show that the disease is rather on the increase than diminishing. Mr Oharlton prepared a leaflet dealing with the disease, a perusal of which will guide the farmer to its detection and cure. The earliest indication^ of ergot on a grass, flower, or spikelet consists of minute drops of a yellowish liquid of a gummy nature. This dries up in a few days, and then what is called the ergot " spur " continues to develop till it reaches its full size. From the apex of each spur myriads of spores .proceed, and these falling on to other grass flowers develop there. When the grass seed ripens and falls, the ergot spurs fall with it. Those reaching the ground lie there till the following spring, when they send up heads of the fungus, and ■ these rapidly maturing evolve countless spores, which* in their turn again attack the young grass. It will therefore be seen there are two seasons of spore dissemination. The first is in the summer from the fungus spurs, and the second in the early spring. From the amazing rate of reproduction in most low organisms it Is easy to conceive that ergot may spread far and wide in a very short time. The symptoms produced in cattle when they eat ergot in grasses are very serious. The principal action is upon the*) organs of reproduction, so that cows in calf or ewes in lamb suffer abortion. Others develop a form of paralysis, accompanied, by scouring. There is also what may be termed a spasmodic form of ergotism. The leaflet in

question says :— " Th6re is a peculiar glaringexpression of the eye, twitching of themuscles ofthe hindquarters, and a staggerjing gait, which may or may not be succeeded' Iby total losb of- power in that region. Theother and much more serious form is the gangrenous, and it is no doubt dependent uponthe quantity of ergot ingested and the continued ingestion of it. In this form usually the first thing noticed is excessive lameness of one or more feet, the hint) ones generally. The lameness rapidly in creases in severity, the animal looks haggard, breathes heavily, arches the back, and loses condition. Between the digits in the heel and around the coronets becomes puffy and presents a characteristio appearance. These lesions extend upwards ; blotches appear on the pasterns, the hair falls out, and the hoofs often slough off, the separation of the dead parts being associated with excruciating pain. From the com men cement the horns, ears, and legs are usually cold, and there is frequently persistent diarrhoea." Seeing the serious nature of ergotism, farmers should keep a sharp look-out for the fungus, and if the pasture is found badly infested the sooner it is turned down by the plough and the land put into cultivation for other crops not liable to ergot the better.

Having pointed out the cause, the depart-

ment gives recipes for the cure of the disease. The advice is as follows: — "Im-

Tho Cure of Ergot.

mediately remove to a nonaffected pasture. Administer a drench consisting of sulphate of magnesium, common salt, and treacle (equal parts of each), 4oz to Boz, according to age, size, and strength of animal ; finely powdered ginger, loz to 3oz ;. the whole dissolved in a liberal quantity oftepid water. Injections of warm water (oneor two quarts) into' the rectum will have a. beneficial effect, and can hardly be given too often until purgation is established. Then the following drench may be given : — Carbonate of ammonia, one-eighth of an ounce to half an ounce ; cold gruel, about one quart ; and this drench may be given twice daily for two or three days. In addition to the above treatment, in the gangrenous form the affected limbs should be rubbed twice daily with the following Jiniment : — Liquor ammonia (f ortior), oil of turpentine, and water, one part each ; olive oil, six parts ; but this must not be applied to raw sores. Pure water and easily -digested, nourishing food must be within reach of the animal as the appetite reappears." But since prevention is better than cure, a sharp look-out should be kept for the first indications of ergot and ergotißm.

Very great improvement has been effeoted in all chaffcutting machines and

Chaffcutting.

driving gear during the last 10 or 15 years, more especially

in the direotion of improved methods of riddling the chaff and pressing it into the bags. Oat sheaves frequently contain a large quantity of sorrel, and under the old system of bagging the chaff as it fell from the knives sorrel seeds and other weed seeds that may have been in the crop were bagged up with the chaff, and subsequently scattered over the farm in the droppings of the stock, by means of leaky bags, waste chaff around feed boxes, and in various other ways. Moreover, unless care is taken to cut and throw aside the twine bands they are chopped up and- bagged with the chaff, and pieces are apt to be swallowed inadvertently by the stock when greedily devouring chaff after a long fast. All these evils are avoided by using any of the self-bagging machines, as these are all fitted with riddles which remove all the small weed seeds, and also the long straws and pieces of twine. In thus advocating the use of chaffcutters with riddles I do not mean to imply that all farmers should invest in the large, steam-driven baggers with screw pressers, for much of the chaffcutting is done in the winter months, when the farm horses and farm hands — whether these last be members of the farmer's family or not — have not much to do in the way of reproductive work, and thus can be employed in chaffcutting at less cost to the farmer than that' of the whole expense of having the fodder steam-cut by contract at per bag. There is no reason why the necessary riddles for removing weed seeds, twine, &c, should not be attached to the ordinary three-knived farmer's cutter driven by" horse or water power, as the extra power required to drive the riddles should not amount to so much that four good horses will not be sufficient to perform the whole of the work. The immense heap of sorrel, fat hen, dock, and

other seeds that are taken out of a stack of oat sheaves by one of the steam cutters is enough to frighten a good farmer when be considers the harm that a heap of seeds would do when carried about the farm, as it must bave been if bagged up with the chaff. If a farmer contracts to have a large quantity of cbaff cut by steam he must find a large number of baga and also" storage room until the chaff is consumed, but if he has a strong machine fitted with riddles driven by horse or water power he is able to chaff bis fodder at a less expense than is occasioned by employing contract plants. As to the power for driving chaffcutting plants on the farm, there is nothing more efficient and economical than a water wheel, and it is scarcely necessary for me to point out the advantages of employing such power whenever possible. Tbe only disadvantage is that of having to cart all the straw or sheaves to one point, instead of being able to move a portable plant to any point upon the farm.

When straw, or hay are finely chaffed the

Long v. Sliort Chair.

food is apt to pass into tbe proper stomach before it is thoroughly cudded or chewed,

and indigestion and stoppage of tbe bowels may result from it. Theie is no sense or leason in cutting chaff into very, short lengths, for the only purpose for which long fodder is chaffed is to make it more portable and convenient for hatdling and storing and for preventing waste. If, then, these objects can be achieved by chopping into half-inch lengths, wbat is tbe good of wasting ' time and power in cutting into quarter-inch lengths? It looks neater and can be put into less compass, but that is a very trifling matter compared with the extra cost of cutting: the shorter chaff. When the straw is very dry and harf h it is split a good deal by the/lrum of the threshing mil), and when these split or bruised straws are cut into fine chaff it is like pieces of needles an d mast be very bad for horses with bad teelh. The coarser chaff does give them something more to bite at and must be well chewed before being swallowed, whereas the veiy fine chaff is likely to be bolted without; proper mastication and may 'do much injury. An English farmer writing upon the subject says that it does not matter so much whether we cut the chaff fine for horses as their digestive processes are different to that of the horned cattle, and the finer the chaff tbe less time it takes the horses to eat their ration. In the case of a cow, he says, it is different, and every means should be employed to encourage them to chew their food properly, or they will derive little good from it. He contend*, therefore, that chopping into short chaff encourages too fast feeding, and hence imperfect mastication, and this gives rise to severe indigestion and perhaps complete stoppage with fatal effects. At all events, I have never, in my own practice, chopped straw or sheaves shorter than a half-inch length, and I find that it is eaten np as clean and free from waste as the £in chaff, and involves less expam c in cutting. I repeat, then, that as chaffing is done for the sake of convenience and to prevent waste, if these are accomplished with |in cut wbat is the good of cutting it any shorter 1

The institution of Arbor Day may now be considered fairly established

Arbor Day.

in this country, and in days'

to come the tree-planting day will always be associated with tbe name of the late Mr Ballance, who gave a colonial application to previous local efforts in this direction made by tbe Lake County Council and Mr Batbgate, of Dunedin. Tbe Department of Agriculture has issued a pamphlet fixing August 1 as Arbdr Day this year, and giving practical instructions for tree planting. There is also a catalogue of trees and shrubs suitable fcr planting in New Zealand, compiled by Professor Kirk. The list comprises timber trees; trees suitable for shelter, bat affording timber of small dimensions oi inferior quality; trees and shrubs for seaside planting ; - and ornamental and flowering shrubs for general planting. It is to be hoped this pamphlet will be read and studied by those who lead off tbe Arbor Day proceeding — borough councils and school com - mitteep. Every local body aria every school committee throughout tbe land shou Id make an effort to plant a few trees on Arbor Day, and every farmer and landholder should do the same thing. There is much of our New Zealand landscape that requires beautifying with trees; whether useful or ornamental does not so much matter. There are dreary treeless wastes tbab could be relieved of their grey monotony by judicious tree planting, and, as I have often pointed cut-, shelter belts of trees along boundaries will repay the farmer who plants them by tbe shelter afforded to tbe stock grazing in treeless and shelterless paddocks. Arbor Day Bhould be looked upon as almost a divine institution, and should be kept as religiously aa any saint's day.

It is gratifying to notice the annual extension of the fruit-growing industry,

Russian Apricots.

and more especially tbe annual progress made by tbe members of the Fruitgrowers'

Association, as evidenced by the report given by Mr Lorie at Roxburgh a few weeks ago. I see that apricots form a large portion of the ftuit sent to the Dunedin agent of the association, and in this connection it may te of use to quote the description of the Russian apricot as given in a magazine devoted to the interests of fruit and flower culture. It is said that the EuEsian apric t makes a good substitute for the peach in climates too. cold for the latter fruit to be grown successfully. The extreme hardiness of tbe Russian variety is evident from the fact* that it flourishes as far north as Siberia, \?bere it has Buivived a temperature 40 d( g below zero. It is also claimed for it- that it adapts itself to all climates and soil?, is exempt from diseases and thj ravages of inetcte, and is as reliable in teanog as the apple. The fruit is said to be large, la-d-tOtne, sweet, and of the best flavour, a goofl übippet, keeping good a long time after pjcklcg, and sailing at top prices in the market. Agmcola.

Mr M'Kerrow, tho Chief Railway CommisBiM&f, told » deputation at New Vh mouth that » WH w»8 now in preparation, and would to introduced during tho coming session, reri<fefj»# the impeotion and grading of butter pwJpal«OTjr.