NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3339, 13 March 1918, Page 8

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The dipping of sheep is compulsory in this Dominion, and, accoi'ding to the Stock Act of_ 1908, must be out of hand in the North Island by the 31st March and in the South Island and elsewhere by the 30th April. There is no question that this compulsory measure is a good one, and that, if a thoroughly good job is made, it is tantamount to an increase of §lb to lib of clean wool per sheep in comparison with an undipped lot, while the sheep greatly benefits in general health. Fatalities after dipping happen, of course, but they are generally due to cai'elessness and neglect of ordinary and simple precautions. Overheating, for instance is a dangerous preliminary to the busting and shock which frequently accompanies dipping of considerable numbers of sheep. A fine day should be chosen if possible, and the work finished early in the dav. Bought-in sheep should come particularly under observation, while owes and lambs should not be “boxed” too soon. The dip should bo mixed strictly in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions, and contents of bath stirred • occasionally and kept uniform, and avoid hurrying the sheep through. _ See that they are well soused under the jaws. Both from a theoretic and practical point of view, two dippings may be considered justified, although not with fattening jambs—first a non-poisonous dip, and then

Sheep Dipping Season.

later with a poisonous mixture. Why?, it may be asked. The sheep tick lays eggs at intervals of a few days, which hatch out in about three weeks, and the young tick matures in 12 days, and can produce the young pupa, so that to guarantee making a clean sweep of the vermin it would seem advisable to have a second dipping at four weeks or, say, 33 days' interval. The idea that by making the dip extra strong one can kill the egg is wrong and senseless. It can be done no doubt, but the writer has known big wethers being killed by absorption of poison, while the harm caused to the wool of those which survived can best be imagined. So also have we known sheep to have been run through the dip when the mixture was so mild that the ticks were but invigorated—simply Teuton "camouflage" and an evasion of the law.

By Act of Parliament the vendor of any quantity of fertiliser, pot less than Scwt, is required to deliver immediately to the ! _ purchaser an invoice certificate containing a general description of the fertiliser, showing the minimum percentage of the constituents —nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash in combination. The object of the Act is to protect farmers against attempts on the part of dishonest firms to _ palm off valueless mixtures. Whether it wholly succeeds may be questioned by a few sceptical ones. The idea is a right one, anyway, and might well be carried further with benefit. From certain happenings in the Commonwealth it would seem advisable to extend the Act so as to embrace such “mixtures” as sheep dips. The writer is strongly of opinion that all sheep dips offered on the market should bo analysed and the results published, or the worth of the mixture as a vermin-killer certified to by the Department of Agriculture’s .experts. It would harm no one putting tip a useful “insecticide,” and reputable manufacturers would doubtless welcome some such safeguard from cheap, useless mixtures. The Fact that arsenic, carbolic acid, soda, and sulphur are usually the chief ingredients of a_ good dip, and have gone up in price considerably of late (except, perhaps, the last-named), offers opportunities for unscrupulous dealers to unload some unknown conglomeration on to farmers who do not realise the benefits derivable from thoroughly good work at dipping time. A few pounds spent now on a tried “dip” will bo returned tenfold next wool season.

Analysis of Dips Required.

General dissatisfaction is expressed in regard to the difficulty of getting trucks to move stock northwards at the present lime. It is a matter which concerns not alone the buyers,, but the farmer who sells, as well as the grazier who will ultimately winter the sheep. At this season of the year the southern man sells his surplus ewes and lambs, and the position is particularly hazardous in connection with ewes. The Canterbury ram sales are just about due, and dealers who have bought southern ewe's cannot get the breeding stock away except in driblets. The southern farmer, perforce, after selling, has to continue feeding thousands of sheep, when he wants his feed for his own holding. It is most exasperating, and apparently the difficulty of getting, trucks pertains to Otago, the sister provinces being well served. Such is our information at any rate, and at the moment of writing there are 15,000 to 20,000 sheep sold and waiting trucks. Why cannot the railway authorities realise the position, and make an- effort and provide a special night train or two and clean up the sheep from the Clu'tha to Burnside? At present their “ etand firm” attitude militates against prices of breeding ewes and lambs being maintained, and in a measure jeopardises values at the ram sales; as owners liko_ to have the ewes on the ground ere buying to mate up the flock. We suggest that the stock and station agents wait on the Railway authorities and put the position plainly before them.

Sheep Trucks Shortage.

Several specimens of a little-known grass have been sent in to be identified during the season from correspondents living in widely-separated districts. The reference is to tall oat grass or false oat grass (Avona elatior or Arrhena'thorum avenaceum). Foreign agriculturists appreciate this grass more than do British farmers." It is used in mixtures for hay nurposog. according to Dr Cockayne, on poor land, and is palatable only when young. The older herbage Is always bitter, and disliked bv stock. At Home on arable sol's it develops a weed variety characterised by the formation of a bulb-like growth in the round, iust above the root. To this modification the name of “ onion couch ” is g ; vcn. It is this graes. possiblv, of ivhioh a northern settler writes. “It is difficult to harvest, for the seed is light. It appears to adapt itself to any kind of soil, and more than holds its own in the graz'ng paddock. Mv experience has. been 'that it will take possession of a seed paddock in a few years. The sides of the summit road near the hilltop show now only this tall oat grass, where formerly only the eoeksfoot grew. The grass has a high nutritive value.” It may be that climatic conditions up north favourably the palatabUtv of tips grass. In ISI3-14 the South Island Fields Suncrvisor had the following note-in regard to the tall oat grass as grown on the plot at the Auckland E-xhihition: —“One of the hardiest, most productive, and droughtresisting of cultivated grasses. It is onlv in recent years that its value has been fully realised. It is fond of all descriptions of soils hut its hardy and drought-reeisting dualities render it specially valuable for those that are light and drv. The grass has a sHorhtlv letter taste, but it is not tbe less liked bv stock on that account. It attains maturity very o.uickly after sowing, and is very deep-rooted. It is “well suited, for permanent pasture, as well as for one or two years’ lay. Tall oat grass takes the place of rvegrass on all light European soils! ... In experiments in connection w’th revegetating depleted lands in the South Island it is moving one of the best grasses under tost.” AGHICOLA.

Tall Oat Grass.