NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Volume 1851, Issue 3809, 15 March 1927, Page 12

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The Frozen Meat Trade.

The idea of merging freezing interests is a matter which, no

doubt, has its allurement. If it is possible to forward a scheme which

will safeguard shareholders’ capital in the successful concerns and incidentally save the weaker works which have a fighting chance of winning out, the elimination of some of the “has been” freezing companies would benefit the industry and the Dominion. Too many “ifs,” you will say. Yes; but there is no doubt that the industry is over-capitalised, and the interest earned is so meagre that a certain amount of capital must be in course of time lost. Some companies, one is led to understand, are carrying on at a loss. Recently at Oamaru Mr James Begg spoke on this subject, and expressed the view that under a scheme of merger that would embrace all the companies in the Dominion economies would be effected through concentration of activities that would suffice to provide the interest on a debenture issue of, say, £6,000,000 —-a sum which it is estimated may be taken as representing reasonable capitalisation. There is no doubt that the subject of meat merger interests should be seriously considered by all shareholders in the various companies. Necessarily the weaker enterprises will see good prospects which shareholders in dividend-paying concerns are unable to visualise, and the big job in front appears to be to convince these doubters. Not an easy task; but common sense assures one that it is a suicidal policy to permit the weaker “vessels,” one after the other, to run on to the rocks. The Meat Control Board, failing an individual company, should throw a line in the interests generally of the great frozen meat trade.

Oats tor Sterility.

Six virgin dairy heifers that had failed

to get with calf after being repeatedly served by different sires at the United States Depart-

ment of Agriculture Dairy Experimental Farm, Beltsville, Maryland, were fed sprouted oats in an effort to correct their barren condition. According to K. R. Graves, in charge of the experiment, five of the six heifers were settled in calf after 30 days of this special feeding. Six dairy cows that had raised calves, but had apparently become unable to conceive, were fed sprouted oats also, with the result that five of them got with calf after 19 to 48 days of feeding. Similar tests made at the Oregon Experiment Station, upon the suggestion of Mr Graves, gave equally favourable results. Feeding sprouting oats to overcome non-conception in dairy heifers and cows was suggested to Mr Graves by a study of the work done with small animals at the University of California, in which it was discovered that a fifth vitamin had a bearing on the fertility and reproductive organs. The vitamin (named vitamin E) was found in such feeds as green leaves of lettuce and lucerne. Whether or not th. fertility results obtained in heifers and cows fed sprouted oats is due to a vitamin has not been determined, nor have enough trials been made to conclude definitely that the method will always give positive results. Mr Graves points out that animaL in their undomesticated state have a breeding season closely allied with the spring flush of new grass, and that, under modern methods of management, cows and heifers are bred at all times of the year. Many of the cases of non-breeding may be due to functional disorders brought about by a high state of domesticity in which the natural breeding season is ignored.

Letting Rams.

The practice of letting or hiring ont

rams, although common enough in England, has not grown here to any

extent up to the present time. Last season sony? very high prices were paid for the use of rams in the Home Country. A Hampshire Down ram lamb, for example, was let at 300gns. “No doubt!” says a contributor to the Live Stock Journal. Bakewell, of Dishley, with his famous improved Leicester sheep, was the originator of this custom. Youatt tells us that the custom was first started in 1760, when Bakewell had great difficulty in getting farmers to take up the scheme, and he let his first ram for the season for the sum of 17s 6d. Only a few years later, however, Bakewell was receiving SOOgns for the use of a ram, and as he reserved the fights of use in this particular ram for one-third of the usual number of ewes to be served, it was estimated that the value of this ram during the breeding season was 1200gns. Jonas Webb, of Babraham, was another famous flockmaster that did well out of letting his Southdown rams. The ram letting at Babraham and the rams to be let were exposed round a field in pens, with a ticket at the h'ead of each pen, indicating the weight of the fleece of the sheep. It is said that at the thirty-second ram letting the Babraham flock numbered 700 ewes, a proportionate number of lambs, and 400 rams of different ages. The average prices of the ram lettings on this thirty-second occasion was nearly £24 apiece, although some of the rams brought in the sum of £lBO. The highest average obtained by Mr Webb during the years 1853-1860 was just over £33 for 77 head in 1856. the top price in that year having been 150gns. but in 1857 the highest price was 197gns.

Sheep Worrying.

It is to be hoped that local bodies are

alive to the importance of seeing that all dogs in the counties are

registered, and pay particular attention to those borough dogs which at times take to roaming the hills. The “call of the wild” grips these canines, and the next thing we learn is that sheep have been worried. Of course, the registration fee is immaterial to the dog. if he has the instinct of the wolf, blit the careless owner may possibly realise his responsibilities. As pointed out by the Wyndham Herald of the Sth inst.,

“recent serious cases of the worrying of sheep by dogs draws pointed attention to the importance of the law of registration. The Legislature in this country, where live stock forms an important part of the life and industry of the people, recognises that, while dogs have their uses to man, they yet have within them by their very nature an element of great danger, and, with that fact borne in mind, the Dog Registration Act is designed to have a restrictive influence on their numbers. The dog belongs to the order of the ferocious wolf, and unless kept under proper control the domesticated dog will revert to his ferocious character. Some dogs are unsafe to approach while feeding, and some will attack a human being with or without the slightest provocation. In some sheep dogs in comparatively recent years a -strain of the Australian wild dog (dingo) was introduced, bringing them closer to their savage nature. Dogs need to be kept in service to be useful. Allowed to roam at large, they (like idle human hands) are sure to get into mischief sooner or later. And in regard to sheep-worrying there is too often this feature: that the individual suffering loss and damage has no redress. In the first place, the worriers generally revert to their nocturnal instinct and commit their depredations while the sheep-owner is abed, and get clear away. Next, the owner of the worried flock has difficulty in proving his case at law when he- seeks to recover compensation for the damage sustained. Again, the owner of the dogs may not be able to pay up. Insurance against damage from such cause is not provided, and so the loss is complete—worse than the destruction by fire of property, prudently insured. A man working on finance in stock buying may thus have his asset entirely dissipated. As we have said, th: law is designed to minimise the risk by keeping down the number of dogs. And here we would say, having regard to the circumstances, that local bodies should make the registration fee as high as possible (10s being the legal limit), and the payment of fees at the due time should be strictly enforced. Township dogs may become a special menace to flock owners, and so increased responsibility rests on the local authority in the matter.” AGRICOLA.