ON THE LAND

Taranaki Daily News, 11 August 1930, Page 15

ON THE LAND

PARALYSIS IN EWES. NEW FORM OF TREATMENT. Research recently conducted by the veterinary department of the Canterbury Agricultural College shows that the percentage of deaths among in-lamb owes from ante-partum paralysis can be considerably reduced by the adoption of a new treatment discovered as a result of the above investigation. It must be borne in mind, however, by farmers that three distinct forms of paralysis before lambing are met with in practice:--(1) Paralysis due to the ewes being too fat (Mopiness). (2) Paralysis due to the absence of one or more big lambs in the womb causing pressure, etc, on the nerves of the .hind quarters. In this form the general health of affected ewes is not disturbed. (3) Paralysis due to weakness, resulting from old standing disease, or lack of food. This form is rare except when due to lack of food. In forms No. '2 and 3 abortion snould be created, and usually the animal makes a good recovery. The form of paralysis which gives the farmer most trouble is No. 1, commonly referred to as mopiness, and is associated with excess food and lack of exercise, the affected ewes becoming dull and listless for a day or two and then developing paralysis. Usually two well-developed lambs are being carried in the womb. Post-mortem examinations conducted on many cases of this kiiid of paralysis shows that in every case a fatty diseased condition of the liver is present. Occasionally the kidneys show patho-. logical change's also. Although the above ailment affecting tn-lamb ewes can be prevented to a certain extent by plenty or exercise and a reduced food supply during the gestation period, nevertheless this complaint often becomes manifest some days or weeks prior to' lambing. In the past medicinal treatment lias had no beneficial effects, but recent investigations carried out by the Canterbury Agricultural College show that the injection of an isotonic solution of glucose '(490 c.c.) under the skin and the internal administration of lib. of treacle in the early stages of the disease give very encouraging results. Of 54 cases treated to date in the early stages, 43 recovered : 4 aborted but did well. If affected ewes are left untreated for any length of time—hours in some cases—the condition becomes incurable owing to a definite diseased state of the liver. The importance of attacking the ailment in the early stages cannot be over-estimated if the best results are to be obtained. A change on to nreen feed and plenty of gentle exercise must accompany this hew metho' of treatment. When an outbreak becomes manifest the ewes should be rounded up and exercised, when all the. affected will tail off and be easily picked out. These should immediately receive 400 c.c. of an isotonic solution of glucose under the loose skin of the neck, the chest, or the flank. A 4oz. hypodermic syringe or 4oz. wound syringe and needle is used for this purpose. By using a suitable thickness of rubber tubing the nozzle of any syringe can be made to fit the needle. At the same time each mediumsized affected ewe should be dosed with a drench containing 11b. of treacle. For bigger ewes, Ijlb. may be necessary. In our earlier investigations 21b. weie given but this amount was found to be too severe in some cases. As, little boiling water us is needed to dissolve the treacle should be used, as a - bulky draught for sheep is difficult to administer and introduces the risk of choking the animal. An ideal method of oral administration of medicine to sheep consists of inserting a gag into the animal’s mouth and passing a rubber tube about Jin. in diameter down the gullet. As it is not necessary for the tube to no into the stomach, 2ft. 6in. is, a suitable length. A funnel inserted into the tube completes the apparatus. In some cases abortion or miscarriage follows the well-marked purgative effect of the treacle. Farmers would be well advised to use their own discretion in the quantity of treacle to use. In the very early stages treacle alone without the hypodermic injection has proved effectual, but the injection of glucose should always be given in bad cases. Those experiencing losses from this disease and unable to secure a supply of glucose should give the treacle without fail. Since. under normal ciucumstanceSf the liver of the pregnant ewe has an increased fat content, excess of food associated with lack of exercise will have a tendency to add further to the fat content of the liver. In this disease there is an excess of fat in the liver. A shortage of food (not necessarily starvation) following a plentiful food supply, probably from before flushing time, markedly predisposes to this disease, since in starvation there is also an increased fat content of the livei due to the passage through the liver of fat from the fat depots in the body. There is, therefore, an increase of fat in the body and there would appear to be a deficiency of sugar to burn up at this particular time. Hence the method of treatment recommended. The internal administration of treacle serves two purposes: —(1) Its purgative effect—constipation being a constant symptom in this disease. (2) It is a source of sugar. The hypodermic injection of glucose allows it to be absorbed more quickly into the body, and in this way serves to attack the ailment before becoming incurable—another source of sugar. For chemist’s use, 50 grams of clucosc to 1900 c.c. of distilled or boiled water. The above quantity should not cost more than Is. Quantity to use:—Glucose, 3 syringefuls in three different parts of the body. Repeat daily if necessary. Treacle: —11b. for medium-sized ewes; I Alb. for big ewes. If a long period elapses between the development of the disease and parturition it may be necessary to repeat the dose of treacle.

Tho syringe must be kept clean by drawing through it common salt solution. Use two tablespoonfuls of common table salt to a pint of water for this purpose. To sterilise the needle boil in water for 20- minutes and keep it when not in use in methylated spirits. Where green feed is not available and the disease assumes alarming proportions, chaffed straw well-saturated with molasses should be fed where practicable, but all ewes showing the slight-

est symptoms of dullness and irregularity of the gait of the hind limbs should be dosed with treacle if glucose is not available. For detection of diseased ewes. Exercise of a forced nature is indicated when an outbreak becomes evident, as this- procedure results in:—(I) An early detection of those affected. (2). A possible prevention of those not yet affected. CANADIAN AYRSHIRES. FIVE BULLS IMPORTED. The Ayrshire Cattle Breeders’ Association of New Zealand has now in quarantine on Somes Island five Ayrshire bulls selected in Canada by the president and vice-president (Messrs. A. M. Weir and F. Mills). Twenty-three of the leading breeders of Ayrshire cattle in the Dominion, who are members of the association, guaranteed a fund of £lOOO with which to purchase the bulls, and on their release from quarantine the guarantors will gather in Wellington to bid for the bulls, which will be offered at auction on Wednesday, August 20. The bulls are of a very high standard. The two oldest animals have qualified for Class A in the Advanced Registry of . the Canadian Department of Agriculture, which is to say that they have been approved for their excellent type as well as for their high butter-fat production backing. Most of the bulls a.rc either sired by or closely descended from Ayrshires imported into Canada from Scotland, As New Zealand cannot import from the Homeland at present, the Ayrshire Association was limited to the latter country in making the. selection. Amongst the bulls secured is a son of the world’s champion junior three-year-old, which produced 7551 b. butter-fat in a year on twice a day milking. Another is out of the former world’s champion long-distance cow, which completed her sixth successive record by giving 23,6411 b milk and 9781 b butter-fat. Another is out of the grand champion, cow at the London Show, which at the age of 13 years produced 6761 b butter-fat. In addition to being bred on great butter-fat lines, the bulls are all sired by noted prize-winning bulls and from prize-winning female lines. The selectors were undoubtedly fortunate also in securing what is considered to be the best son of the grand champion bull of Canada, Howie’s Top Grade, imported from Scotland. This bull is also out of a great imported cow, which comes from one of the most noted families in Scotland for type and production.

UTILISING PASTURES.

•WENUES OF LOSS.

In the course -of an adfiress to farmers, Mr. W. J. McCullough, of tlie field division of the Department of Agriculture, stated that one big farming problem in the Dominion to-day was the Efficient and profitable utilisation of the wonderful grass growth of New Zealand. Having solved the important problem of proper strain, top-dressing was giving the farmers a splendid growth of grass, the importance of harrowing was recognised, and the virtues of topping, wellknown, yet generally the farmer failed in utilising to full profit, the grass that he grows. The true value of the remaining good management was not fully realised, and tremendous waste occurred. Would a wise dairy farmer neglect to repair a leak in his milk can, or the sheepfarmer be unconcerned because stray dogs disturbed his lambing ewes? Visible leakages or wastage should be carefully watched for on the farm, and quickly stopped. “A large leakage of the profits of the grassland development is occurring, through want of efficient utilisation,” continued the speaker. “When the grassland farmer realises more seriously that grass must not be wasted, but that every ton should be elaborated by the herd or the flock, with butter-fat, wool, or meat, then, and then only, Will he profit to the fullest extent from the capital invested in labour and manure.

■ “The trend to overcome this difficulty is in the direction of taking advantage of .the natural maternal instinct of the breeding ewe and the dairy cow, both of which assist in minimising the problem by utilising more grass during spring and summer than is necessary in their dry period, but even then a large surplus of growth is commonly wasted. . “Often in the late summer and early autumn grass fails as a profitable fodder, simply because it has not been controlled, and therefore, does not provide a concentrate. How can it be efficiently controlled? The answer is to top-dress with suitable fertilisers, once or twice a year, harrow vigorously, top with a mower, and arrange the size of the paddocks and the number of cows so that a system of rotational grazing can be practised, whereby the animals get a change of pasture every two days or thereabouts, during the period of maximum growth. “The farmer should so arrange the grazing that a certain area is shut up for hay and ensilage, leaving only a sufficient area that can be properly controlled by grazing. As the peak period of grass growth passes the aftermath on the mown fields becomes most valuable.”

OATS AS STOCK FEED. HOME PRACTICE. Canterbury farmers have found the value of oats this winter. It appeared for a time as if oat growing under the advance of mechanical power on the road and farm would almost disappear, but their spread to other uses on the farm is helping to some, extent to offset the dccerased consumption by horses. In an address recently given in England, an authority referred to the satisfactory effects of feeding oats and potatoes to cattle. In Scotland, he said, they had been feeding cattle largely with oats, and even with the surplus potatoes too many of them were burdened with, so saving heavy bills for cake or other purchased feeding-stuffs. The results had been quite satisfactory, the butchers telling one that the oat-fed cattle were of firmer and better flesh than those cake fed, and some of the older britchers said that they were reminded of the good beef they got in the old days. The

potato-fed beef, too, was giving satisfaction to the butchers in its texture and colour. Again, in milk production careful tests had shown the large proportion of oats that could- be used while maintaining the full flow of milk, and even potatoes had been used profitably for dairy catle, and demonstrated to contribute substantially to an economical and healthy ration-. The point, of course, as it affects New Zealand, is that 4s a bushel oats and £5 a ton potatoes are a rather eost-ly feed, but when values a/e well below these figures, and in weather such as we have just passed through, the value of oats or chaff cannot be measured by a shilling a bushel or a pound a ton.

LUCERNE GROWING.

EFFECT OF FERTILIZERS.

Now that the use of lucerne has become so firmly established, all fresh Ideas on its growth, care and cultivation will be welcomed by farmers. The following remarks by men of experience should be read with interest.

Writing on the amount of minerals represented by a crop of a four-ton yield of lucerne hay, Mr. Dbak of the Cawthron Institute says: “This meant the removal from each acre of lime equivalent to 3801 b of carbonate of lime; of phosphoric acid such as would be supplied by 246 b of 44.46, 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 ' top-dressing of 31 cwt of carbonate of I lime, 2Jcwt of superphosphate, 2icwt of sulphate of potash and almost Jowt of sulpher per acre.” Mr. Doak’s analysis showed that the 1 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 off appreciably, the phosphate fall being greater in dry weather. In dry weather, however, the lime percentage increases, and in ftU cases the percentages of potash and lime present varies inversely. In view of the prevalent idea of the superiority of lucerne as a feed for growing animals and milking cows analysis of the young growing shoots of lucerne and of average Nelson pasture grasses were made. It was found that the young green growth „from the pastures resembled verjy closely lucerne in its content of crude pfotein and nitrogen free extractives. •

The percentage of lime in the lucerne, however, was more than double, that in the young pasture, while the lucerne wasalso superior in sulphur content. On the other hand, the young pasture was four times as rich-as the 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 emphasize the fact that the mineral content of the lucerne plot may be profoundly affected by the application of fertilizers, ami that the weather also exerted considerable influence. The superiority of the lime content of lucerne, however, will always make it valuable toward improving the lime balance of a ration deficient in this essential element of animal nutrition.

BLACKBERRY PEST

USE OF SODIUM CHLORATE

In the current issue of the “Journal of Agriculture” appears an article on the use of sodium chlorate in the destruction of blackberry. The writer, Mr. J. W. Deem, director of the Fields Division, says that at a recent field-day gathering in Taranaki he mentioned in reply to a question thatY.tberd 'were indications that sodium; chlorate"would kill

blackberry, but that we would not be in a position to give definite advice-as to the proportion of kills or best method of application until experiments which were under way had been going long enough to give conclusive results. This was- misconstrued by some of the newspapers into statements that we were definitely recommending its use to kill blackberry. The position is that our trials show with blackberry, sprayed last December when in full bloom, a large percentage of the plants were killed, but some are still growing and will require further attention. This is in keeping with some of the experiments in Victoria, where the greater balk of the blackberry was killed with a 15 per cent, solution of sodium chlorate when sprayed in the summer, and a second spraying in. the autumn cleaning up the remainder. There are also indications that applying the dry crystals round the roots of the blackberry might prove effective. However, as already indicated, the Department would have reliable information on the subject later on. In the meantime farmers may test the matter for themselves.

CHEESE PEST.

CLEANLINESS IN CURING ROOM’.

Cheese in dirty curing rooms freI quently becomes affected by one or both of two common pests —the cheese mitt and the cheese fly. Cheese mites- are whitish or colourless parasites with eight legs. They are very small and are only clearly visible when i accumulated on shelves or on cheese I surfaces, when they appear as masses of dirty dust-like material. These mites destroy the rinds of the cheese and proI duce a very unwholesome appearance. The female brings forth its young alive, and can fast for weeks or months during development. When half-grown 1 they can change to. what is knwn- as the hypopus, or resting stage, in their life-history. Occasionally predacious mites similar m size appear and destroy tyroglyphus mites, and they themselves either die or spread. Cheese flies frequently lay eggs on cracked rinds or moist surfaces of cheese. Their life-industry takes them through four distinct stages of development, each stage being hastened or retarded according to whether food and temperature conditions are favourable or otherwise. The first stage begins when the eggs are laid, and these eventually hatch into “skippers” or “jumpers.” Later the chrysalis or pupa stage is reached, from which the adult fly eventually emerges. The frequent occurrence of these pests emphasises the need for systematic cleansing curing-room shelves and the removal of any damaged unsaleable cheese. Eradication and prevention are best achieved by washing down all shelves, woodwork, and walls with kerosene emulsion. >