ON THE LAND

Taranaki Daily News, 2 October 1929, Page 15

ON THE LAND

FISHINESS IN PORK. ■POSITION OF WHALE OIL. ' MASSEY COLLEGE TO SEEK REMEDY At Massey College matters are m hand for a complete investigation of the fishy-pork complaint recently levelled against the New Zealand article on the Home market. This announcement was made at a meeting of the Manawatii-Oroua Pig Breeders on Friday last by Professor W. Riddet when the possibility-of whale oil being responsible for the taint was mentioned. Mr. W. P. Bickers said he had been in conversation with a, bacon curer of standing in the district, who had ventured the opinion that there was nodanger with any oils so long as they were deleted from the diet five weeks before killing and grain feed substituted. There was no doubt that fishiness had to be stamped out. It was pointed out that there was no pure whale oil on the market until recently, so that the taint in the pork now on the Home market could not have arisen from that food. Further, it was claimed that whale oil would not produce a fishy taste as the whale was not a firii but a mammal. Mr. Gloyn said he knew of fish meals on the market that would taint cream if the can happened to be standing anywhere near the sack of meal. Mr. W. P. Bickers thought the only way to solve the problem was to make a trial with the oil and test the bacon. Mr. J. A. Russell announced that that was being done at Massey College. WHALE AS PIG FOOD. 1 Professor Riddet stated that a pamphlet on the subject of whale as a pig food had been investigated by the Reading Dairy Research Institute (England) but as far as he knew there had been no experiments carefully carried out in connection with the whale oil. The English experiments were with whale meat and splendid results were secured from its use as a pig food with no taint. The pigs had been judged, however, when freshly killed. He-would say that fish meals with more than .four per cent, of oil in them were not suitable for pig food and without oil no more than 10 per cent, should be used. The Eng? lish investigations had been carried out under proper feeding methods and not haphazardly as was often done on the farm. Fishiness, of course, was a very illusive thing. One could find a fishy taint in butter as a result of lengthy storage. It was really necessary to analyse the whole of the circumstances. Mr. Russell thought the Meat Board deserved censuring for allowing the report to be published before having the complaint investigated. The broadcasting of the complaint had been very damaging. The board had done a lot for tlie industry but it had been a little injudicious.on this-occasibn.( Mr.' Dalziell thought it .would be. a good thing' for the pork aiid bacon industry if a pig breeder was a member of the board. Other members agreed and thought the pig producers should aim to get a representative on the board. Mr. Bickers thought that publicity might mean the discovery of a remedy quicker. It was decided to write the Meat Board on the matter. ENSILAGE INCREASES MILK FLOW. A German professor has obtained increased milk production from the use of ensilage. He fed 14 dairy cows for 30 days on ensilated fodder, and compared their yield tiring this time with that of the 15 preceding and 15 following days, during which the cows received ordinary food. He found an average daily increase during that period of ensilage feeding of 6.88 to 7.53 litres per head; but in this experiment he did not investigate the influence of ensilage upon the fat content of the milk. Another experiment was made on three cows which were separately fed and kept under observation. These three animals received, in addition to a known feed of oil-cake, bran, beetroot, and husks, during the first 1J days of the .experiment a. known quantity of dried.maize..stalks; during the next..ll. days ensjlated.,maize straw; then for nine days ensilated meadow hay of medium quality; and during the last nine days ordinary hay. The professor shows that the yield and fat content of the milk are noticeably increased by feeding with ensilated fodder, and that each is again lowered by a return to feeding without ensilage.

MINERALS FOR STOCK. EXPERIMENTS WITH LUCERNE. Recent investigations into stock health and thriftiness in the Dominion have brought into prominence the important part played by the mineral content of the leaves of pasture plants on which stock have been grazing. The influence of the application of fertilisers upon the mineral content of lucerne has been subjected to close investigation recently by Mr. B. W. Doak, M.Sc., at the Cawthron Institute,. the results of whose work are reported in the August number of the New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology. To ascertain the. effect of manures upon the mineral content of the leaves of lucerne, an area was subdivided into plots treated with applications of four fertilisers: (a) Super and lime; (b) super, potash and lime; (c) super and potash; and (d) lime alone. A control plot was reserved for comparison purposes. The lucerne grown on these plots was subjected to chemical analysis as well as weighing tests. The application of super, potash and lime produced the' greatest weight increase. The control area yielded at the rate of 59cwt per while this special mixture gave a yield of scwt. Lime by itself depressed the yield, but in all cases where lime was applied it increased the lime content of the leaves by some 12 per cent. Naturally, this additional amount was therefore available for stock grazing upon it. Superphosphate iricr</ised .'the phosphoric acid, sulphur and potash content of the ash’, but these increases were more marked whenever lime was applied with the super. Lime similarly helped sulphate of potash to increase the potash content of the lucerne. Chemical analy-

sis of the pastures of the two plots to Avhreh both super and potash were applied revealed the fabt there addition of the lime was revealed to a ■ marked extent in the' influence it exerted upon : the absorption of other minerals'.- The ‘ amounts of the .'calcium, phosphoric acid, potash, nitrogen and sulphur present were all increased, the increase being very marked in the case of nitrogen. The analysis showed the heavy annual toll taken from ‘the soil by the lucerne crop. From the area treated with lime, superphosphate and sulphate of potash, Soewt of hay per acre was taken. This meant the removal from each area of lime equivalent to 3801 b carbonate of lime; of phosphoric acid such as. would be supplied by 2461 b 44.46 per cent., superphosphate; of potash equivalent to 2721 b, of sulphate of potash, and' 351 b of sulphur. . Therefore, ■ to replace the annual removal of the mineral‘contents a lucerne field giving this yield of hay would require a topdressing of 33cwt of carbonate of lime, 2 ; }cwt of superphosphate, 2fcwt of sulphate of pd.ta’sh, and almost -icwt of sulphur per acre. Mr. Doak’s analysis showed that the mineral content of lucerne was greatly affected by the seasonal conditions- prevailing prior to the examinations made. In autumn, under normal conditions, the lime and phosphate percentages fall oft appreciably, the phosphate fall being greater in dry weather. In dry weather however, tlie lime percentage increases, and in all cases the percentages of potash and lime present Varies in versely. In view of the.' m'eyalpnt idea of the superiority of lucerne ,as a feed for growing animals and milkipg cows,, analyses of the young'gpowing shoots of lucerne and of ave rage Nelson pasture grasses were made.,.. It .was found that the' young green growth from the pastures resembled very, closely lucerne in its content of protein and nitro-gen-free extractives..'; ... The percentage of lime in the lucerne, however, was more than double that in the young pasture, the lucerne was also superior in sulphur content. On the other hand, the young pasture was four times as rich as lucerne in chlorine, and also contained more potash and soda, It has usually been considered that young lucerne owes its superiority over grass to its high protein content, but, under New Zealand conditions, it would appear that the protein content of properly-treated grass pasture is remarkably high, and that the lead of lucerne in this respect has not been maintained. Mr. Doak’s experiments emphasise the fact that the mineral content of the lucerne plot may be profoundly affected by the application of fertilisers, and that the weather also exerted considerable influence. The superiority of the lime content of lucerne, however, will always make it valuable towards improving the lime balance of a ration deficient in this essential element of animal nutrition.—‘‘Meat and Wool.”