THE NORTH ISLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 4042, 1 September 1931, Page 17

THE NORTH ISLAND.

GENERAL.

“ The feeding of pigs and calves on meat meal has got far past the experimental, stage,” stated the Wanganui stock inspec- I tor (Mr H. Cleland) at a gathering of members of the Farmers’ Union at Maki-, rikiri recently. “ Those farmers who used ■ it in the summer brought the animals through the winter free from parasitic , troubles.” A consignment of 100 springing Jersey heifers was recently dispatched by the Farmers’ Co-operative Association from Hawera to Tancatua to the order of the Waiareke Maori Land Board. These : heifers, which looked an attractive lot, included drafts from several well-known farmers in South Taranaki and are to go into herds in the extensive group settlemeat schemes which are proving so successful in the Bay of Plenty. A Woodville correspondent says that dairy farmers in that area have experi- , ■enced a lot of trouble with their dairy herds this season, numbers of-*good herd cows- having failed to get in calf. This has been blamed on to artificial fertilisers, which have come into extensive use in the Gisborne area in the past few years. ' This, however, is not the cause of the trouble, as these should have the opposite effect. A movement to promote group settlement as a measure of unemployment relief and in the general interest? of the Dominion has been commenced by a group of ? uckland business and professional men. Ttie proposal is to form an entirely non-’ speculative company with a capital of

£109,000. The capital will be used to acquire blocks of unimproved or partlyimproved land .for development by men with small capital, who will be assisted to establish themselves upon it. “Those Wanganui farmers who made ensilage for feeding sheep are very pleased with themselves,” said Mr H. Cleland, stock inspector, in an address to members of the Farmers’ Union at AlakiriL-irj. “ This has been one of the hardest winters experienced by sheep men, and the ensilage has come in very handy to feed to the ewes.” He gave the names of several prominent sheep farmers in the district who were feeding ensilage to sheep, and the indications were that a great deal more ensilage would be made during the coming summer.

Faith in the Eltham district from a farming point of view is reflected by the latest . transaction in the land market (says the Argus). Negotiations were recently finalised for the sale of a farm of 260 acres at a price of £lB per acre. The carrying capacity of the property is approximately 90 to 100 dairy cows. The farm is situated within 20 minutes’ motor drive of Eltham. and it was sold on terms which were satisfactory to the vendor. It is interesting to note that the property was purchased by a man in the same district, who should know the value of the land.

The Waikato provided Poverty Bay stockbreeders with their main outlet for surplus sheep and cattle during the seasou just closed (states the Herald). There has been a fair demand for Poverty Baj? horses, too, in the district round Hamilton, and drafts have commanded satisfactory prices. Mr W. Wilson, the wellknown racing owner and contractor, is to take a draft of 80 to 90 utility horses through to the Waikato for the forthcoming sales, and it should be interesting io observe how the prices compare with those ruling at the recent horse fair in Gisborne, when even good animals were a drug on the market. “ Though there are thousands unemployed, and often short of food, though able and anxious to work, this does not entitle the Mayor of Masterton to say ‘ that some farmers are only too pleased to take advantage of the position, and unload men on to the community . . . after having paid the dole, expecting to get some cheap labour,’ ” said Mr A. D. Al’Leod, when addressing a meeting of Reform supporters at Martinborough. “ Where instances are not given,” added Mr Al’Leod, “ this casts upon farmers generally a gratuitous insult. Many farmers are nightly giving food and shelter to numerous unfortunates seeking work which they cannot find.”

Because of the scarcity of feed, numbers of stock are to be seen grazing on the roadside in various parts of the Wairarapa. The matter was mentioned at a recent meeting of the Masterton County Council, and again at the last meeting of the Featherston County Council, when it was stated that a well-known settler of the Lower Valley had over 3000 sheep on the roads in different parts of the county. This farmer had been threatened with impounding proceedings, and wrote to the meeting asking under what section of the Impounding Act he was liable, seeing that the sheep were being driven three miles a day. It was alleged that special men had _ been employed to keep the sheep moving with the evident intention of securing cheap grazing. ANIMAL NUTRITION. Sent Home two and a-half years ago when on exchange was carried out between the Department of Agriculture and the Rowett Research Institute at Aberdeen, Dr I. J. Cunningham, M.Sc.. Ph.D., A.1.C.. of the Department of Agriculture, returned to New Zealand by the Monowai. During his stay in Scotland and England he studied animal nutrition and was interested in animal metabolism. Research in animal nutrition, he says, dealt with conditions of low production due to faulty mineral nutrition, and its ultimate object was to increase production for the farming community. Dr Cunninghani brought with him five white rats of a special type which have been developed so as to be of great value in nutrition research. The rats have been brought from the Glaxo laboratory in London, and are pure albinos, having been bred carefully for some 20 generations. Before going to the Glaxo Institute the rats had been bred for a great number of generations at the Wistar Institute in America. The animals are particularly useful for scientific purposes because they can be bred in a way that produces extremely uniform types. In New Zealand the rats will probably be used for feeding experiments. Dr Cunningham set out originally with nine rats, but of these four died from the effects of heat in the Red Seg, KAITUNA CLEARING SALE. A successful clearing sale was held at Mr J. Al'Gillcuddy’s property, Kaituna. on August 24 by the New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Distributing Company, Ltd. The whole of the dead and live stock met with spirited competition. The following prices were realised;— Four aud five-year-old ewes with over 100 per cent, black-face lambs at foot, 14s 7d to 16s 2d: ditto in lamb to Southdown, 12s Id; black-face hoggets, 7s 6d; Southdown rams. 9s. The dairy cows averaged £9 10s. Best sorts made from £lO to £lO 15s; others, £7 10s to £9; late calvers, £3 IQs; springing heifers, £4 to £5 15s; yearling heifers, £1 10s. USE OF STOCK LICKS. The use of mineral licks is growing in popularity with Hgwke’s Bay sheepmen. Every second sheep-farm on the Hawke’s Bay flats seems to provide these licks, and it is a common sight to notice two or three of the concrete lick boxes in the paddocks. —

Where topdressing has been utilised comparatively recently on pasture lands there is probably no reason or need for the provision of tonic of this nature, but where topdressing has not been carried out pastures are frequently deficient in mineral elements which are highly’ necessary to the well-being of the stock. It is a good plan to provide feed boxes at lambing or calving time, for at this period it is particularly essential that the mother beast should be supplied with all the mineral matter which is required in the operation of production. Many

Hawkes Bay farmers pin their faith in the licks also for minimising hogget troubles and keeping the young sheep in bright, and healthy condition, and thus minimise their losses in the spring. MILK AND THE MAORI. The nutritional value of milk in a regular ration was demonstrated in valuable experiments carried out at the Hiruharama Native School. Summarising a report by Dr H. B. Turbott, medical officer of health for the East Cape health district, and Mr A. F. Roland. head teacher at the school, to the Health Department we note that “ The head teacher of the school and the Maoris of this community are so pleased with the results of this experiment that they propose to put the milk ieeding on an annual permanent basis. They intend to provide milk at school during the winter term each year. The milk rationing resulted not only in physical improvement judged by gain in height and weight and by improved resistance to disease, but also in improved mental alertness noted by the teachers, and seemingly corroborated by mental tests. The milk ration given regularly supplies missing constituents of the family dietary. The Maori diet is excessively carbohydrate. Milk may supply’ deficient protein, minerals, aud vitamins. However tliis may be, it is certain that milk has a very high nutritive value.” The help of the Maoris of the community was solicited. Mr Keeian allowed the use of his shed, aud implements, and supervised milking operations; Mr Ngarimu provided one cow, as well as a horse and harness; Mr H. T. Reedy gave ready help; and Mr Eru Mceke supplied three cows. The cows were healthy, tested animals. The primer classes were given one pint, and the higher classes half a pint daily throughout the 13 weeks of the spring term, 1930. Physical measurements were recorded before milk feeding began, half-way through the term, and finally at the thirteenth week. lu the test group 93 Maori children completed the milk feeding course, those with less than 75 per cent, attendance not being included in this number. These were matched with a control group of 25 in a neighbouring village. The 93 children in the test group showed an average improvement of 6.2-8 of an inch, compared with an average improvement of only 3.1-8 of an inch in the control group, while the weights increased by 3.6621 b and I. respectively. SHEEP MORTALITY. Comment upon the matter raised by Mr J. Linklater, M.P.. in the House of Representatives concerning sheep mortality in the Manawatu and’ Rangitikei districts ■Was made by officers of the Department of Agriculture. Air W. C. Barry, district superintendent for the live stock division, gave an assurance that conditions were not very bad in the Manawatu, and no serious complaints concerning the trouble commonly called sleeping sickness had been made io the department locally. Information was,, he said, being disseminated regularly to farmers for the control of the trouble, which was a matter mainly of sheep management. The trouble was a little more prevalent this year' than last, but was nothing new. It depended to a great extent on the condition in which ewes were mainaiued during the winter months. When there was a check in feeding conditions during that period, such as in cold, wet weather, the trouble was accentuated. There was always a certain percentage of its incidence in flocks throughout New Zealand, more particularly where sheep were on flat, rich, lowlying country. Considerable publicity had already been given to methods of prevention and control, and the services of departmental officers were always available.

Very close research, said Air Barry, had been conducted at the veterinary laboratory at Wallaceville into the trouble, both last season and this, and considerable light had been thrown on the position. It had been determined that it was dependant on feeding conditions in certain districts. and might always be expected to occur at seme time. Air R. H. Aleade, ALR.C.V.S., said the trouble was a dietetic one, most likely caused through the animal becoming excessively fat in Hie summer preceding the next lambing. The trouble had been known for years, and periodically there were fairly heavy losses. The disease had been more prevalent than usual this season. It was considered to be a fatty infiltration of the liver, leading to degeneration, and preventing that organ from functioning properly. Animals became dazed and stupid, and when their condition was discovered it was often too late, to apply remedies, while in other cases full health and vigour was never recovered. It was usually wellbred lines like the Southdowns and Romneys which fattened so readily that were susceptible. When ewes were in the fat state a cheek in feed before lambing seemed to hasten any attack, which could in most cases be guarded against by turning the stock on to fresh green pasture.