NOTES AND COMMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20890, 23 August 1939, Page 13

NOTES AND COMMENTS

Believes In Licks Mr G. T. Bones, of Kaipaki, whosi pedigree Jersey herd with an averag of ior,lb was 'the top herd of tin New Zealand Go-operative Herd Test ing Association, is a firm believer ii mineral licks for his stock. Ilf esti

mate? that he- uses one ton of lick per year, making up the mixture himself. If proof of the efficacy of mineral licks is required it is certainly provided by the great average of 4061 b of fat for Triplet Calves Born A two-year-old Jersey heifer, the property of Mr F. R. Cunningham, of Kaipaki, recently gave birth to triplets. It was a cold bleak morning when the calves were born and unfortunately the three of them were born dead. Although naturally a little on the small side, the calves were normal in every respect. Four Lambs and One Ewe Another contribution to the reports of unusual births comes from Waitetuna. On the farm of Mr R. A. Mead in this district a Romney ewe has just given birth to four cross-bred lambs. Three were alive and one dead, ali four being perfectly normal in all respects. The three lambs and their mother are now reported to be progressing very satisfactorily. Heavy Weight in Eggs Outsize? in eggs have been reported from time to time on Waikato farms, but one laid in Hamilton this week will take a lot of beating. It was laid by a Brown Leghorn fowl and weighed 41 ounces, the owner of the hen being Mr L. Cooper, of Glaudelands. Two ounces is usually regarded as the average weight of hen eggs. Tuberculosis In Cows According to Dr. A. F. Ritchie Crawford. president of the Southland A. and P. Association, there were in New Zealand 1,872,797 cows and heifers over two years whose milk was used for human consumption or for making dairy products. Only 16,‘509, or .88 per cent of the total, were tested and among these the incidence of tuberculosis was 6.9 per cent. If the incidence were the same among all cows, there were 131,095 infected Canned Grass! Canned grass, for winter eating, is the newest addition to the American cow’s bill of fare. The cans are Bft in diameter and 25ft high, and are made of boiler iron. Freshly-mown grass is hustled through a silage cutter, and dry ice is mixed with it, as it goes into the cans. The ice cools the grass, changes to gas, drives out the air, and stops fermentation. Sliding, rubber-edged tops settle down with the grass and allow the air to escape around their edges, but prevent entrance of outside air. The 651 b of dry ice wiiich is required per ton of grass costs 1.30 dollars.

Dehorning Cattle At a recent council meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of Great Britain the Federation of Wholesale Fresh Meat Traders asked whether any steps would be taken to make the practice of dehorning cattle more general in England. It was pointed out that breeders in Eire had adopted the practice very widely. The veterinary committee of the council replied that it was aware of the advantages of dehorning. but •‘could not imagine” how the practice could be made general in England.

Leaving Good Stock Grove Cutler, the noted American Polled Hereford sire of Messrs Tynan Bros., of Te Anga, is reported by his owners to be leaving particularly good stock. Of the 81 calves he left last year there was practically nothing to cull and the quality of his stock indicated that he possesses the ability to pass on his valuable characteristics. As with dairy breeds, breeders of beef cattle have their definite preferences, But Mssrs Tynan Bros, have set themselves out to evolve Polled Herefords that will provide ideal carcases for the chilled beef trade and the excellent progress they have made is indicated by the- quality of the stock on their property. Protein Necessary The value of both vegetable and animal protein in the feeding of all livestock cannot be over-stressed. This particularly applies to young stock, which lack vigour, are slowgrowing, and becomes a prey to parasites and pre-disposed to all the ailments of youth if their diet following weaning is deficient in proteins. With this proved knowledge to guide us, it should be obvious that weaners of all herbivorous animal species should be put on to short, rapidly-growing pastures during the first few months after being parted from their dams. Where such suitable pasture is not available, and indeed in any case, weaners of all kinds will repay being fed on a supplementary ration high in vegetable proteins, and containing also a small proportion of animal protein in the form of meat meal. Valuable For Stock Calves, directly they are fed on skim-milk in place of whole milk—at say 14 day? of age—require 2oz of meat meal a clay, states one authority. This amount should be gradually increased each week by about half an ounce a day until, at 12 weeks, they are receiving 6oz of meat meal a day. Lambs, he maintains, will benefit greatly by having a ration of bran and maize meal and 3 per cent of salt added to it. and 1 per cent (by weight of meat meal. The requirement of weaner pigs for meat meal in their ration is too well appreciated to need stressing, while poultry keepers now faetorily reared, nor hens be kept in full lay, without meat meal in some form comprising at least 10 per cent of their ration. When the fuil value of meat meal is appreciated by stockraisers. it will be as unthinkable to keep young animals without, a proportion of thi? valuable concentrated protein in their food as to keep them short of water. Vaccines and Footrot The Minister in Charge of Scientific Research in the Commonwealth recently announced that the workers associated with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research were investigating the use of a vaccine to prevent

li .j to gs t>g was gi\en ior rnose footrot. Two classes of foot ailments —contagious footrot and foot lameness —had become apparent, he said. In cases of contagious footrot the bacteria could not live for any length of time apart from the animal, and could he coni rolled by the methods of paring, painting the seats of disease with a disinfectant, and putting the sheep through the usual foot hath mixture on to clean paddocks. Footlameness was nM ?.-> easily dealt with, lie stated, because the bacteria were present in the intestines of the sheep and in the- soil. Fortunately, however, this type of disease would probably appear only at intervals of several years when particularly good seasons prevailed. Further work was being carried out by tlie council, he said, on the investigation of a vaccine to prevent footrot. Now that the causes of each of the two types of footrot were known and could be readily distinguished. it was quite likely that further progress would be made.