NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS,

Otago Witness, Issue 3882, 7 August 1928, Page 12

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS,

Farm Worfc for August.

The fine weather being experienced per-

mits the pushing on of such seasonal farm operations as the harrowing of grass pad-

docks, the cleaning out of water courses, and the making secure of all gaps and gatewaj’s in fences. All carting out of farm material should be hastened while the conditions are favourable, as the busy season when cultivation will engage attention is fast approaching. There should be no very severe feeding off of autumn-sown ceeals if it is the intention to harvest a crop. Once the knots on young plants are visible there is a danger of sheep eating a portion of the immature ears of the grain crop. The burning of tussocky gullies should not be neglected. If left too late the danger of burning the entire tussock is obvious. Ewes on roots should have a dry camping place at night and be provided with some dry foodstuff like hay or sweet chaff. See that the breeding ewes are maintained in health and receive the necessary exercise and tucker requisite to ensure a vigorous condition. A salt lick is not infrequently useful. See that the hoggets (many of them are now teething) are having suitable food. Feed all ewes with lambs at foot most generously. Permit no wet ewe on the farm to be without a lamb. A few hurdles thatched with straw (lacking a fence) will provide good shelter during rough weather for sick ewes. See that all working horses obtain extra feed, and do not forget the old horses and weaned foals. Keep the pigs and the milking cows warm. Mark all ewes not in lamb, and if not two-tooths fatten them off. No good ewe flock on a farm should harbour “boarders.” If early potatoes are wanted see that selected unripe tubers from good-yielding plants are put m shallow boxes and placed in the light. Plant when th e sprouts have toughened.

A Fug for Cows.

It is possible, although the spring

season is with us. that the weather will be cold and changeable for some weeks to come.

It is a time when there is often a big demand upon the reserves of foodstuffs on the farm, more particularly in. the South Island. It is economy to provide shelter and endeavour to keep up the warmth of the animal’s body, so saving feed. Lacking natural shelter, it is suggested that use should be made of a rug for cows. In a letter to the luive otock Bulletin an Australian dairy instructor advises the use of a cheap home-made article:—“Many farmers would like to rug their cows, yet cannot afford to purchase the market article. The farmer can make his own cow rugs for little more than the cost of the bags, a ball of twine,_ and a sewing needle, plus his own ingenuity. Two bags (cornsacks or any heavy bags will do), or three

for larger cows, will make a nice rug. Split them down the seams, and join together, place on the cow, and sew together in front of the cow’s brisket; next join the back with a 4in strip of bag about 12in or 18in below the rump level, and the rug is complete. This home-made rug will keep the ,cow warm, and, after a few days’ wear, when the oil, etc., from the cow’s body has worked into the rug, it will also be waterproof. The rug can quite easily be slipped off and on over the cow’s head. The cow’s name, painted on the rug, over the rump, with tar, prevents confusion in replacing the rugs.”

War Against Biddy-bid.

The annual loss to New Zealand due to

biddy-bid or piri piri is difficult to estimate, but it must be very consider-

able. It causes damage to late-shorn wool, and in some classes of country is so troublesome as a weed as not only to detract from the pasture value of the land, but also adversely to affect the value of the wool clip, especially from November onwards. In order to combat biddy-bid the Noxious Weed Committee of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has been on the look out for some parasitical insect which will destroy jt, or, at any rate, prevent it from fruiting. The fruiting calyces of biddy-bid have four angles, each with a barbed spine at the apex. The whole forms a. large spring burr which Nature arranges shall be broadcasted by clinging to some passing animal. Biddy-bid, a species of acaena, is widely distributed in the cooler and temperate parts of the Southern Hemisphere, being especially abundant in South America. In certain districts in the Andes, especially in Chile and Argentine, biddy-bid is particularly rampant, so inquiries have been made in those quarters. Information has now come to hand that in those districts this noxious weed is attacked and prevented from seeding by an insect of the Tenthrenidid species. A Chilean entomologist, Brother Claude Joseph, of Temuco, has undertaken to send supplies of this insect to NewZealand in order that they may be tested at the Cawthron Institute. In the meantime the life history and general characteristics of the insect will be subject to further investigation in Chile. It may be too soon to prophesy, but the Department (says our informant) has great hopes that in the Tenthrenidid will be found a parasite which will assist in ridding the Dominion of one of the curses of pastoralists.

Lacerated Teats.

Heifers are not commonly troubled with

lacerations of the teats, for the reason that their teats are smaller and

higher held than those of the cow that has had several calves. The udder of the old cow becomes pendulous, and the large teats are then readilyinjured when the cow is stepping over a high sill or other obstacle, or they are torn by thorns, snags, or other objects in timber pasture, or by fence wires. Such accidents, however, may also injure the heifer’s teats. The teats are even more tender in the heifer, very readily lacerated, become intensely’ inflamed, and are difficult to milk o n that account. Unless (says an American journal) the lacerations are promptly treated, the heifer may develop the kicking habit and become a nuisance at milking time. All such lacerations are also liable to become infected by germs, and then may be most difficult to heal. When a cow is allowed to nurse two calves her teats often are lacerated by the teeth of the nursing animals. We ■wish to emphasise the urgent necessity of instantly attending to small lacerations of the teats. If they are neglected infection will be practically certain to ensue, and when it has occurred most serious effects may follow-, including shrinkage in milk yield and, worse still, severe or ruinous attacks of mastitis. The filth on the stable floor, in the yard, and wherever farm animals long have been teems with the germ know as bacillus necrophorus. That micro-organism normally is present in the intestine of the hog, and consequently will be most prevalent where hogs use the same yard as the cows. Invasion of lacerations by the germ causes ulceration, and even gangrene in some instances. Always it complicates matters, and makes wounds that w-ere flight at first take on a most serious character. There is no need of allowing laceration to become thus seriously affected. On hygienic principles, it is best to keep the cow in a clean pen for a few days when it is found that her teats have been wounded or even severely scratched. Preventive treatment is most important, and keeping the cow away from sources of dangerous infection is necessary. Local treatment then should consist in washing the teats and udder clean, swabbing the wounds with a 5 per cent, solution of coal tar disinfectant, or with tincture of iodine, after removing every bit of foreign matter, and afterwards applying a good healing salve two or three times daily.

AGRICOLA.