ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1, 20 January 1927, Page 71

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. GREASY HEEL IN HORSES. “ Subscriber,” Ashburton : I have a draught gelding with greasy heels, all four legs being affected. The heels have broken out in open sores and there is some discharge. The animal has also gone lame. I have clipped the hair short, and am bathing daily with a strong disinfectant solution. Is this correct ? If not, kindly advise me as to treatment. Also, is the trouble infectious ? The Live-stock Division :• —- In regard to the treatment you describe, there is a possibility that you are using too strong a solution, and the treatment indicated below would be advisable. In this connection it is well to know that except in very slight cases a cure is extremely difficult to effect. But even if the animal is badly affected the treatment suggested will have the effect of keeping the trouble in check and lessening the objectionable condition. As the disease is primarily constitutional, internal as well as external treatment is necessary. It is therefore advisable to give an occasional dose of physic, such as an aloes ball in a dose of from 4 to 6 drachms, according to the size of the horse. Suitable external treatment is to clip all the hair from the heels and fetlocks and liberally apply the following dressing once daily to affected parts: Zinc sulphate, 2 oz. ; 80l Armen, i|oz. To this should be added a quart of water, and the mixture well shaken before use. Any chemist will supply this. Care must be taken to keep the horse as much as possible out of wet places, and if the animal is standing in a stable it is essential to keep the floor clean and free from urine and dung. As already stated, the disease is primarily constitutional, and therefore if other animals in the', same stable are kept properly groomed and clean there is little likelihood of their becoming affected unless predisposed towards the trouble. TREATMENT FOR KING-COUNTRY LAND. J. K. C. Baines, Feilding : On my farm at Piopio, King-country, the grass has begun to show signs of exhaustion. I top-dress annually with basic slag, but the response is very weak. Could you advise me as to what manures are best suited for this light land, and the quantity to use to obtain the best results ? I have recently ploughed up 50 acres with the intention of grassing down afresh. ■ Would you kindly specify a good mixture to use, and inform me whether turnips or rape would be best sown first ? . The Fields Division : Generally speaking, super gives better results on light porous soils than does slag, and for general purposes we would recommend you to use a mixture of two parts super and one part carbonate of lime, at the rate of 4 cwt. per acre. Super alone does well, but you would probably get rather better results with a little lime added. Alternatively, you could apply | ton of lime every six or seven years and use super annually. Autumn application is usually best, as it promotes early spring growth. Before resowing the land to grass it would be good practice to take one crop of swedes, then rape, working the surface lightly when the rape is fed off preparatory to sowing grass. Sheep could be used to tread in the seed, as these soils are badly in need of consolidation. If a little bonedust or blood-and-bone were used in the rape-manure it would help the young grass considerably. A suitable mixture for permanent pasture for sheep with a few cattle would be as follows : Italian rye-grass, 3 lb. ; perennial rye-grass, 10 lb. ; cocksfoot (Akaroa), 12 lb. ; crested dogstail, 3 lb. ; . timothy, 1 lb. ; Danthonia pilosa, 1 lb. ; cow-grass (colonial), 2-Ilb. ; white clover (colonial), if lb. ; subterranean clover, lb. ;.

Lotus major (colonial), Jib. : total, 34Mb. per acre; approximate cost per acre, £1 17s. cash. With judicious top-dressing and careful management this should give you a high class ! permanent turf. ' , , ..." . . FOUL-IN-THE-FOOT, - E. H. L., Mahakipawa :- Would you please give me some information as to treatment of lameness in a cow ? The trouble commenced last summer with an inflamed swelling of the coronet of one forefoot. The wall of the h00f,., about an inch down from the coronet, cracked and opened, and eventually the'swelling burst, the ' pus being exuded through the hole in the hoof. It has healed several times, only to burst again. • • The Live-stock Division : This trouble is commonly known as “ foul-in-the-foot,” and is caused by micro-organisms gaining entrance through abrasions, wounds, &c. The condition is most often met with in animals that have been standing in mud and filth, but sometimes arises through bruises sustained on hard stony ground. The following treatment is recommended : Examine the sole and between the claws for any wounds, &c. ; remove any superfluous horn, especially at the toe ; stand the foot in a bucket of warm water to which a little Jeyes and a handful of washingsoda have been added ; thoroughly cleanse the foot and then apply a bran poultice, leaving this on overnight. The bathing and poultices should -be continued until the .discharge ceases. Then apply to the wound a pack of cottonwool or tow soaked in a weak solution of bluestone, keeping the pack in place with a bandage applied round the -head and between the claws. The animal should be kept in a clean, dry paddock. MILDEW ON LETTUCE. A. Seux, Poroti : Will you kindly give me information as to treatment and effective preventive measures for mildew on lettuces ? The Horticulture Division : Mildew infection of a. lettucd crop is best treated by lifting diseased plants and carefully destroying them. Where heavy cropping is carried, out without much rotation, all plant-waste should be burnt to avoid soil-infection. In difficult cases the soil should be given a dressing of lime, and crops immune to this disease should be planted for a season or two. PROLAPSE OF RECTUM IN YOUNG PIGS. C. Emery, Rotokohu : About a week after weaning a litter I found two of the little pigs with part of their bowels projecting from behind. I put the parts back, with a stitch to keep them in place, but two weeks after they came out again. About a month after the same thing happened to two more. The food they have had since weaning is skim-milknothing elseand their bowels are working very freely. Would you please tell me the cause of this complaint and a cure for'it ? . The Live-stock Division : Prolapse of the rectum is frequently a complication of severe diarrhoea or constipation, particularly when either of these complaints is accompanied by excessive straining. This disease is favoured by weakness, with relaxation or paralysis of the muscle surrounding the anus. Treatment consists of cleaning up the part and replacing it by steady pressure of the hand or finger. Raising the hind quarters slightly and injecting small quantities of water and olive-oil greatly assist. Sometimes replacement has to be repeated. In your case the trouble appears to be due to diarrhoea, and in this connection it is noted that you are feeding solely with skim-milk. Although skim-milk is frequently the only diet given to pigs, it provides insufficient nourishment and should be supplemented by pea-meal, bean-meal, blood-meal, or linseed-meal. .