USE OF SODIUM CHLORATE.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 December 1930, Page 15

USE OF SODIUM CHLORATE.

THE EFFECT ON ANIMALS.

Sodium chlorate, > -which has been ■hownto be very effective as a poison •pray for the control of weeds, has to' be handled very carefully. Clothing which-comes, ift contact .with, the spray solution dries 7 out in a: highly ' inflammable state, and if exposed to a fire or open light will burst iritp flames. The effect of -the material on livestock is of * toxic character. It has been noticed / in America that certain cattle appear to have a particular liking for sodium chlorate, and greedily • consume forage or lick the soil upon which the salt has been aprayed; Areas of vegetation have bee|L'- s sprayed, however, and both ftheep and . cattle, turned upon them 'Without ill-effects occurring. -_•/ •■■ • From this it can ba assumed that sodium chlorate, on account of its salty taste, is attractive’to‘certain animals, aijd it would seem possible, therefore, .that some- animals might lick or consume vegetation. solely with a view of satisfying this craving and «o gather more of .the substance than would ,be the case if they-, were merely grazing normally upon sprayed vegetation.' Further information'as to the palate ability of sodium chlorate was sought in experiments • recently ;. undertaken, .at , Glenfield Veteriii&yßesearch Station, ’ wherein sodium 5 chlorate was incorporr ated with bonemeal as g, lick. A report on the experiments is furnished by Messrs. H. R- Seddon, D.V.Sc., and T. T. McGrath, M.R.C.V.S., in the Agricultural Gazette. They state thht a full-grown steer was penned and for the first fort- ■“ was offered an ordinary salt and honbmeal lick. This it took readily, the lick bCiug the usual one given-tp ; stock at this station. At the end- 6f. this' time a lick composed .of sodium. 'chlorate (two parts) apd bonemeal (one part) was substituted. iTlje animal'par-, took of the lick regularly, about an„ eunee being eaten -'each dayr' ,At .the end of a fortnight-.the steer- became ill and developed a; seVero/type , of -yauriT dice, due to actibh of < sod-,-iutn chlorate. 5 - The s symptoms becamc so intense that; : it>was' obvious :the, animal would not recover, and it was-therefore destroyed.., 5 , i - Some tests .were .also undertaken - wjt.n. sheep in-order,to determine the ’toxic, dose for this, type of apimgl, it - was found-.'that' a,-jsingle-'dose.o,f' 2oz. to 3oz. was..followed fey faW effects, death. jji itbisicate ocejirripg. Within; 24. houreu . T-fae -Steer - mentioned- .above, re-, ? w all of • sq.dium; chlorate: ' (being about; two-thirds •of an ounce per day), but the illness in its case w»s much more prolonged. The experiments show that sodium, chlorate! in iiufficieiit Amounts is undoubtedly noihonous to stock, and, further, that it’ it by no mea s us>'distasteful,/..and d-ffiay j readily fee taken by cattle’in a lick,-'or ? ;> perhaps the; spray- licked "direct from recently sprayed-'.vegetation.' . . • - Sodium chlorate.te generally used, as aJO per cent, solution, and. as it i 3 usually sprayed only lightly pvor,;yegetetion it would seem' -feuikelyithat sheep or cattle, would eat/‘sufficient of the sprayed vegetation to do harrn. If they ' took to licking the recently-sprayed vegetation, however, possiblyj they wouldgather sufficient to cause symptoms of illness; if not death It seems.

that the greatest danger is from* lcav- ; iiv’ bags of sodium chlorate about , where it may be licked -by stock, from thia accidental use of sodium chlorate 1 in stock licks, or from stock drinking unused spray which has been left in places accessible to them.. The liking of animals for this compound .will doubtless vary in much the same manner as is the case with common salt. As for sprayed areas of weeds, .the investigators state that, where practicable, abode should be removed from, them. If this is not done, watch should: be kept to see that animals do not go: about seeking out and consuming- the■ sprayed vegetation. Particular care should be taken to see that ’ ho large quantity of unused spray ; placed that stock may get at it. STUD SHEEPEXPORTS. b ' ’•" ? -,-c. . J . . ■ j". •. • r common at royal show. [ Messrs. Wright, Stephenson and Comjapy, limited' who selected a Southdown ram for Mr. Padbury of Western. < Australia have been advised that this, ram. M-ot only won in his. class but . was also awarded the West Australian Royal Championship at the Perth Show. The . ram was shipped via Melbourne, and landed at Perth, which is nine days voyage from Melbourne, on the eve, of the show. The ram stood the journey exceptionally well, and arrived in fireteliss order. It was bred by Mr. A. y; Wheeler, of Leedstown, Marton, who his exported a large number of Southdowns tp various parts of Australia during recent yeans. The ’firm has just landed from Austealia a stud' - Merino ?ram for Mr. J. Stevenson, Flaxmere,_ Canterbury. This is the second, ram imported . on Mr. Stevenson’s account this year, a special stud ram having been purchased at the Sydney Royal'aheep sales, from Messrs. F. S. Falkner and Sons, Limited, Wanranella. The latest importation is from the stud of Mr. gage Bruce, Loombah, Conwnock, New, South Wales. ■' Mr. Stevenson has met with- considerable success in his importations fr<?m Ausfrajip, and his two latest introductions ar’, perhaps two of the best types of Merinos that have been brought into the Dominion for some years. ( BREEDING OF STOCK. OBSOLETE METHODS, Mr. J. R. Mohler, Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry, Hinted States De- ’ partment of Agriculture, speaking of .the value of modern methods in livestock breeding, says:—“You can attend an automobile show, and later purchase almost anywhere an exact duplicate of the car you want, and as many as you

rnayn^ed— or Can pay for. In the case of*ljveistock, this is no| true. Animals ate riot so rieirly alike, though specimens of uniformly high quality can be produced and are being produced to a very creditable extent. The average quality, however, is stillfar below the idfal. Krom a study of an available data I consider that more than 50" per of our domestic breeding stock is obsolete from’the standpoint of most efficient production. I am confident that the estimate is conservative.” Dr. Mohler distinguishes three types ©f obsolete’animate: Those that contiiiually fail to repay the cost of maintenance; scrub and grade sires and inferior types of pure-bred sires; and anijriils' affected with communicable diseases. Ho said there are millions of euch animate. ' Livestock' gropers who follow obsolete methods include those ■who take slight interest in improving their stock, and those who are prevented by adverse wrcumstanees.