ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXVII, Issue 1, 20 July 1923, Page 62

ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES.

IN order to ensure reply to questions, correspondents must give their name and address, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith, Letters should be addressed to the Editor.

DISTINGUISHING COWS UNDER TEST.

C. F., Pakaraka :—

Would you be so good as to tell me the best plan for branding a dairy herd of . seventy cows? The object is for keeping a weight and test record, names being unsatisfactory. I thought numbering on rump would be the best thing. Is there not a paint brand that can be stencilled on and yet become a permanency ?

The Live-stock Division :—-

The subject of distinguishing cows under test has been given considerable thought, and it is still held that naming the cow is the most convenient method, and is the. one generally in use. It has to be remembered that branding a number on the animal with the hot iron or liquid branding-fluid is not permissible under the Stock Act, which requires registration of all brands. Painting the number on cannot be said to be of any value, as it is usually obliterated in a short time.

SUMMER FORAGE CROPS FOR EWES AND LAMBS. “ Inquirer,” Dromore, Canterbury :—-

Could you suggest-any crop which could be put in here during August or September to provide feed for ewes and lambs about November and December ? We have found that neither ewes nor lambs do well if left on autumn-sown oats during those months, and if . the weather is dry the grass is then going off. Rape does not do well here if sown before November, and lucerne appears to be hard to establish on this class of land.

The Fields Division :—-

Owing to local conditions your scope is somewhat limited, but the following crops may be suggested for green feed from November to January: (x.) Springsown oats (2 to 3 bushels Algerians) sown in September, with 1 cwt. superphosphate per acre, (2.) Cape barley (2 to 3 bushels) sown at end of September, using 1 cwt. super per acre. (3.) Black Skinless barley (2 to 3 bushels) sown, at end of September, with 1 cwt. super per acre. (4.) Western Wolths, 25 lb., and cow-grass, 4 lb., sown at end of September, with 1 cwt. super per acre.

LAMBS WITH SORES ROUND MOUTH.

W. G. Bonner, Rahotu :—

I should be pleased if you would inform me the cause of, and remedy for, a number of my lambs breaking out in sores around the mouth. . In one or two cases the upper lip is quite swollen, and the sore is very raw ; in others the soreness is along both the upper and lower lips ; the inside of the mouth is not affected. The paddock they have been grazing on (grass, old pasture containing rushes and cutty-grass) is very low-lying, and owing to the continual rain is very wet. I have removed them to a hilly paddock and isolated the ones affected.

The Live-stock Division :—•

The primary cause of this condition is excessively wet pasture. The tissues are softened and then injured by the grasses, thus affording an entry for organisms. As carried out by you in this case, the lambs should be removed to dry pasture and the affected ones isolated for treatment. Hand feeding should

be resorted to in the meanwhile. The parts should be bathed daily with a warm, weak solution of either Jeyes fluid or lysol, and then a little of the following ointment applied : Carbolic acid, i dram; eucalyptus-oil, i dram; zinc oxide, 3 drams; and vaseline, up to 4 ounces.

POLLINATION OF FRUIT-TREES.

R. W. Wrightson, Ohingaiti : —

I have a Moorpark apricot-tree, now five years old, which has bloomed for three seasons, but has had no fruit.. The nearest apricot-trees are three miles away. Is it necessary for me to have another tree to obtain fruit ?

The Horticulture Division :—

It is only in recent years that it has been realized that some varieties of fruittrees are sterile to their own pollen. Only by very careful observations carried out over several years can a determination be come to as to whether a variety is or is not sterile in this way. Apricot varieties have not yet had this attention, therefore we have no certain knowledge with regard to this fruit. It is, however, an established fact that even varieties of apples and pears that are perfectly self-fertile-are made more fruitful by interpollination with another variety, and it is reasonable to suppose the same applies to other fruits. For this reason we never advise the planting of one tree of any kind of fruit. With regard to apricots, it should be understood that they succeed in comparatively few places, also that they blossom very early, and frost may destroy the blossoms. If you decide to plant another tree it is necessary to select a variety that comes into blossom at the same time as the Moorpark which you have. Any of the following will answer: . J. L. Budd, Harris, St. Ambroise, and .Campbellfield Seedling.

AUTUMN-SOWN TEMPORARY PASTURES.

“ Pasture,” Christchurch :—-

Will you kindly state if it is a good practice when laying down a temporary pasture to sow the grass and clover with an autumn-sown crop of,wheat? The grass-mixture, I understand, would be sown at the time of spring rolling. Also, if I plough in 4 in. wheat-stubble as soon as the crop is in stack, and give the land a good working with the grubber, would I be able to sow rye-grass in March with any. chance of a good crop ? .: - .

The Fields Division :—-

The practice of sowing down temporary pasture in the spring on land which was seeded with wheat in the autumn is a fairly common one. A number of instances have come under notice this season, the resulting pasture in most cases being very satisfactory. The grower is somewhat at the mercy of weather conditions, for if a very dry harvest is experienced the young grass and clover plants are likely to be burnt out prior to or on sudden exposure to the sun. Though it is not the ideal method to sow perennial rye-grass on a hastily prepared seedbed after wheat, there is no reason why the resultant crop should not be good if sown not later than March. Italian rye-grass can be sown under these conditions with a greater certainty of success. .

CROSSING OF DAIRY CATTLE.

G. J. H., Owhango, King-country : —-

I am dairying on a bush farm. The majority' of my cows are grade Jerseys, and in calf to a pedigree Jersey bull. Taking conditions here at present, I seem to be as far into the Jersey as is advisable until I get more ground stumped and ploughed to provide winter feed. Two cows in the herd are - Friesian-Jersey cross, and have tested and milked well through -the season. Could you advise me if-I would -be doing a wise thing by using a Friesian bull on the Jersey cows ? The climate here seems to suit the cross.

The Live-stock Division :■ —-

We are of opinion that the use of a Friesian bull on Jersey cows is not to be recommended, principally because of the danger of the unusually large size of the head in the Friesian calf giving rise to difficulties at calving-time, more especially in small Jersey cows. However, a Jersey bull can be used with Friesian cows. With your conditions probably a better cross would be obtained by using an Ayrshire bull on your Jersey cows.

HORSE INFESTED WITH LICE.

“ Digger,” Lowcliffe, Hinds :■ —•

I have a draught gelding very badly infested with lice: will you kindly advise treatment ?

The Live-stock Division

The application of any coal-tar sheep-dip of good quality is a safe cure. It should be used in the same strength as for dipping sheep. The solution must be well rubbed in all over the animal’s body with a stiff dandy-brush, and, for preference, a warm dry day should be chosen. The animal should be dressed again nine days'afterwards, as the solution will not kill the “nits,” or eggs, which hatch in seven or eight days. Sometimes a third dressing is required. All covers, &c., which have been in contact with the affected animal should be soaked in the solution for three or four hours and dried in the sun.

CONTROL OF POTATO-EELWORM W. H., Lyttelton :—

Would you kindly inform me if potatoes slightly infected with eelworm could be safely used for seed, and if the ground from which they were taken would affect a crop planted on it next, season ? Are. there any effective preventives ?

The Fields Division

.Treatment in cases of field infection with potato-eelworm... (Heterodeva radicicola) consists in careful rotation of crops. No crop attacked by the worm should be sown on the same ground for a number of years. Plants attacked are tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbage, turnips, lucerne, and certain fruit-trees, especially the peach. The refuse from a diseased crop will carry eggs for an indefinite period, and should be burnt. Infested tubers must not be used for. seed purposes.

New Rabbit District.— Eastern Pohangina Rabbit District, Wellington Province, has been constituted for the purposes of Part III of the Rabbit Nuisance Act. :

“ Diseases of Farm Animals.”— Purchasers of this recently issued book are requested by the publishers, Messrs. Whitcombe . and Tombs, Lambton Quay, Wellington, to communicate with them, and obtain an extra page containing an important correction by the author. This will be forwarded free of cost on receipt of name and address.

British Market for Peas and Beans. The following information was cabled by the High Commissioner, London, on 7th July : Peas Maple quietly steady with occasional small business for June and July shipments ; July-August shipments sold 80s. per quarter ; Tasmanian afloat offered at 95s. ; spot trade slow ; New Zealand offered at 95s. ; Tasmanian 107s. 6d. ex store. Blue firmer, and influenced by speculative buying of Japanese; New Zealand to arrive sold at £18 ios. per ton c.i.f. ; poorer quality colonial meets with poor demand. English crop reported backward. Beans- All requirements have been met by Homegrown. English horse in poor demand, selling at 8s. gd. to gs. 6d. per hundredweight. Pigeon in better request at 1.5s, to 18s.