Diseases in Stock

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19622, 4 May 1938, Page 15

Diseases in Stock

Sir,—Regarding the much talked of ergot in ryegrass, I have known of and seen ergot for the last 70 years, and noticed the effect it had on cattle, horses, and sheep. The effect is more noticeable in seasons like the present. In such times you will find it very bad, causing staggers and blindness in sheep, and abortions in cows and ewes. You will find very poor percentages of offspring when ergot is prevalent. But 1 'have never known it lo poison animals. If they are bled (hey soon recover. The method we used was to pierce the soft part of the nose with a sharp-pointed knife which brings the blood freely.

I Another thing I would like to mention is constitution. We have lost the high standard of constitution of the earlier days when we had the Lin-coln-Romney cross. We must, go back to the Lincoln or the old-time Romney to regain the stamina and a more even class of wool, and get rid of the present Romney, as it is neither one thing nor the other. When my father had a farm at "Taureka," Waituhi, I he had the best .of ryegrass, and that 'was the time to see the effect ergot ihad on all kinds of stock. I rememl bcr we had a draught mare that bclcame partly paralysed in the hind | quarters, which was probably due to i ergot.—Yours, etc., F. B. W. BUISFIELD.