Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING SBORNE, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12,1894. TWO PESTS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6900, 12 February 1894, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING SBORNE, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1894. TWO PESTS.

The bot fly is this season attacking horseflesh in the Bay to an extent annoying to the animals and their owners. In. some localities a horse cunnot be left for a few hours without the egs;s of the fly appearing on tho forelegs or other parts. Most people use kerosene to destroy the larvae, juhl have found it a most effective remedy ; in fact, kerosene neat is a deadly enemy of all insect pests, but wo have heard that too frequent applications result in the horses' hair coming off. A veterinary surgeon recommends salad oil, which, no doubt, is a safer, but m.ire costly remedy. Perhaps, any of tho well-known sheep dips would be equally as effectivo and safe, whilst being n great deal less expensive. Up to the present we have henrd of no deaths of horses in the Bay caused by the bot fly, though it is just possible sucli may have taken place. A considerable period genei*ally elapses between tho attack and death, and nothing may be seemingly wrong with the animal in the meantime. A representative of the Wellington , Press tho other day had an interview with , Mr Kenneth Kennedy, who has devoted ; much attontion to the study of some dis- '. eases amongst stock. Our contemporary ' Btates Mr Kennedy has had a vast experience amongst sheep and other stock in ' this colony, America, and the Highlands ' of Scotland. His colonial knowledge includes about twenty-four years in New j Zealand, during which timo he, being a . J gentleman gifted with considerable powers , of observation, has, during his sojourn in , the high country in Canterbury, and in , Hawke's Bay, had extensive opportunities of noticing tho effects of different descrip- . tions of pasture, of the causes of disease, and of the best methods of combating the ravages to which stock are at ti.nes sub- ' ject. Regarding the not fly, Mr Kon- i uedy said that Ihe lrtrvpj are deposited on the horse from December to March, I under the jaws, on tho throat, and bo- j tween the knees. After a few clays they begin to irritato the animal, who then bites at the skin to which they nve attached, ! and the horse then takes them into his ; stomach, where they work all through the winter eating through tho coats of the , stomach, in some cases until the stomach I \ is completely honey-combed, when the j , horso dies. Generally, however, the j i Jarvre do not show actively at work until ■ ; tho spring. Then tho horso sometimes ' i

masses some of them, but not nil. These spread the disease among other horses, is after being on the ground for a certain time, dependent on the state of the weather, they develop into the fly state nnd the process recommences. Mr Kennedy says that the horse afflicted in the previous season is by this time usually dead. As the bot egg-laying season is now on, owners of horses would do well to keep a sharp look out for signs of the pest, in order to prevent loss to themselves and to prevent as far as possible the pest from propagating. Mr Kennedy was questioned upon another disease, from which one unfortunately cannot say there have been no deaths of stock in this district. Ho said that he had noticed by a leaflet published by the Department of Agriculture that the cause of lungworm was attributed to the ease with which sheep may procure their feed in an abundance of clover, the excess of albuminoids acting on their liver, and that the euro recommended was removal to other paddocks not so well grassed, a dose of laxative medicine, and chlorate of potash in the drinking water. Mr Kennedy stated the foregoing did not coincide with his experience, and proceeded to say : —«»The main cause of lung worms lies with the breeders themselves, who fail to recognise that their methods of breeding are responsible, to a great extent, for tho evil. For instance, breeders in the North Island, as a rule, have for years extensively bred from two-tooth ewes by two-tooth rams. At this age the animals are nst sufficiently developed to perform the functions of nature successfully. Were old rams put to young ewes, or vice versa, this objection would disappear, ,but under the existing practice a young ewe in lamb is still herself growing ; and there not being sufficient stamina in her constitution for herself and her progeny a deterioration in both ensues, which is carried on from one generation to another, each becoming constitutionally weaker, and less able to stand the strain upon the digestive organs in pastures as they become coarser, and the weakness attacks the lungs and liver, culminating in the now only too well known lung disease." Mr Kennedy went on to remark that it was often forgotten that after hill land, especially in the North Island (which cannot be ploughed) has lain in pasture for several years, ib loses certain salts, the absence of which greatly affect Bheep — especially hoggets. These salts, he said, can be supplied at small cost—rock salt being both cheap and effective—and make a wonderful change in the health of the sheep. He remarked that the pastures of Canterbury were singularly free from lungworm for n variety of reasons which do not apply to the North Island. Being asked how his recommendations would work on a small holding Mr Kennedy replied: —"Suppose a man with a holding of 100 acres, divided into four paddocks, and carrying 300 sheep. He should have his flock divided into two of 150 each, and shift them week by week, bo that the pastures would be kept clean, and with a sufficient supply of rock salt distributed in boxes in each paddock, accessible to the sheep." On large estates, the above principle, he said, could be applied on a larger scale. Mr Kennedy states that his experience in the Old Country was that under similar conditions lung disease in a mild form showed itself, and he believed that had the breeding from young stock continued there as it had done in the North Island, the disease would be quite as bad in Scotland as ib is here, but the practice was discontinued, and the disease disappeared. He remarked that merino sheep, which are • nob bred from till they arrivo at maturity, never suffer from lung disease either in the North or South Island. Mr Kennedy concluded by stating that the cure is in the farmers' own hands.