FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 December 1930, Page 15

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE.

A CHANGE OF .POLICY.

Hitherto the British Government’s policy in regard "to dealing with outbreaks of Foot and mouth disease has been to slaughter the affected animals, as well as all animals on the farm where {he outbreak occurred which were considered contacts. The Ministry _of Agriculture had set, its face against any attempt to effect cures, believing tha’t slaughter' of affected animals and contacts was the surest and cheapest way of eradicating the disease. Aji order has now Jjeen issued by the British Minister of Agriculture, udder the Diseases of Animals Acts, making provision for the treatment with serum of animals affected with foot and moqth disease, or which have in his opinion been exposed To the danger of infection., '' ~ i ? j.'? ?...• T . The London Times agricultural cor? respondent writes that the experiments with serum treatment constitute an interestiug departure from the official attitude hitherto adopted, towards thin scourge. The serum to be>, used, which is not of : Argentine origin,-.is believed to possess certain preventive,, if ngt curative properties, and it •,isi understood that the merits of the'.prepara-, tian.will be tested in-a way : tliat will reduce, to a minimum the" risk of spreading the disease or of subjecting ; healthy animals to attack, at>any ip,te Wltil there has been opportunity ,fpr. forming some definite idea of the value pf the system. Naturally ap investigation of this kind involves tfie-exercise of great care discernment, and th® Ministry' is . unlikely ,to. sanction inno--vations . that would, endanger the herds : and -flocks of the country. On the other hand,' there. is, much. to be. said for the ,ofiicial..tnal .of preventive measures com .cerning a very infectious and destruct? iye disease, . provided/ of course, that adequate safeguards - . are. observed; .against- the possible, ispread of infection beyond' -affected-' stock/-s -It is . believed that the interesting, experiments that, have, been arranged ; need peeaeion no -fear on the parf.of-stock-owners,as toetho .continuance of .rigid jegard for the .control and suppression of the infection. In - the. cases of . actual disease there will be no change of policy—the: affected animals,' will Be i slaughtered as hitherto. - Dr. C. J.. Reake.Sj.Director-Geueral of Agriculture, i who was present at. , the recent meeting of. the Board of Agriculture in Wellington, informed the board -that he .had cabled to the High Com-; inissibher for New Zealand in London; regarding the recently reported outbreaks of foot and mouth disease ;ainpngst imported stock whilst in the quarantine station at Buenos Ayres. In .hie reply the High Commissioner stated -that he was advised by the /British Ministry of Agriculture that it was no uncommon. experience for outbreaks pf foot'and mouth disease to occur’ among imported animals from Great Britain while undergoing quarantine in Buenos Ayres, the infection .being of Argentine origin and? taken into tire quarantine statipn .on fodder, attendants and pur? chasers- The period of incubation:. or, the-disease, is so short that if cattle were'infected/before leaving Great Britainthey would develop the disease on the voyage, and would not be allowed to'land in Argentina. No British stock ’have- pyer?.:bepn refused admission to the/quarantine station at Buenos Ayresi ■.on tniS“'Ecprb;'*;’ i t 7 ■ EXPORT OF SOUTHDOWN SHEEP. WESTERN AUSTRALIA iB'UYSj., Western Australia, in common":with' the.other States; of .the Common is, making a strong endeavour to ge{ the Southdown breed of sheep estab-! lished; and: in.-order to do: this is mak-i ing valuable ■ importations . from NewZealand breeders. Messrs.' Wright, Stephenson and Co., Ltd.,. have just exported two high-clans stud rams and twelve one-shear stud ew.es to customers vin Westerh Australia, .where a New.;Zealand bred fam recently won the Royal Championship. Both the stud rams and • the ewes were byed in the noted flock of Messrs. Burrell add Sons, (Feilding. The same 'firm is also shipping to Western Australia a-high class Border Leicester stud ram. This rani is from the .highly successful Kauana flock of Mr. R. J. Anderson, Kauana; ■ Southland. • - FOOD FOR THE SOIL. ‘ . TYPES OF FERTILISER. In the so-called good old days up to about the middle'of last century the substances employed by farmers to maintain the fertility of their fields were mainly of the organic nature, such as farmyard manure, bones, soot, wool waste, and any obtainable animal tefuse. - Now it may be pointed out, says London Farm, Field and Fireside, that these materials supplied mainly nitrogen’ ,and that in a form only slowly available, while yielding very little, if any, of the other two, essential ingredients, phosphoric acid and potash. The most important of all of them, farmyard manure, contains only about 51b, of phosphoric acid per ton.' Bones were the one exception; they are rich in this ingredient. As a natural consequence the soils of the country were gradually depleted of the two vital ingredients, phosphates ' and potash, crops could not be grown on an intensive system, the average yields were low, and a fallow in the course of a rotation was ' . The very valuable organic manure, Peruvian guano, introduced later, it is true, is rich in the minerals, but its supplies were quite inadequate to make good the yearly losses. The introduction of ample supplies of inorganic manures,, phosphates from phosphate rock, and from basic slag, and of potash from German mines, constituted an epoch in. the agricultural industry. Having at their disposal supplies of. the three vital crop foods at moderate prices, British farmers w<mt ahead and produced crops superior to those of any other important Taking wheat as the standard crop, the average yields in the ivorld, according to a table published in the Rothainated Report, 1925-26, a fe w years ago were as follows: Bushels per acre, Great Britain, 31.6; Germany, 29.0; France, 20.2; Russia, 10.0; United States, 14.3; Canada, 19.5; Australia, 10.1; Argentine, 10.6.

Higher, yields are recorded for Belgium and Denmark, but in those countries the areas grown are very small, and to a considerable extent spade cultivation.

Britain’s average is ateo higher for other crops, with the exception of beetroots; but, if all goes well, it is more than probable that in a few years British farmers will catch up their Continental competitors, and quite likely surpass them.