ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 45, Issue 4, 20 October 1932, Page 247

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.

ARTHRITIS IN LAMBS.

D. S., Hinds

Can you advise me how to deal with what I take to be arthritis in lambs ? A number of lambs in the mob are affected, of ages from one to three weeks. The lambs appear well otherwise, but are so cramped in thelegs as hardly to be able to walk ' at all. They are on a big clean paddock which was spelled all winter, and rock salt is provided. The lambs are Corriedales.

The Live-stock Division :—

Arthritis in lambs is due to a specific organism which has a special propensity for settling in the joints of the new-born animal, where it sets up an inflammation with a certain amount of pus formation in the joint. The infection may gain entrance at birth through the unhealed umbilicus (navel) at the time of or immediately after birth, or more often through wounds following tailing or castrating. There is no specific cure for this disease, but experience has shown that gentle exercise, especially late in the evening and early in the morning, somewhat allays the mortality, chiefly due to the fact that the lamb on being disturbed is able to obtain the necessary nourishment from the ewe which it would not obtain when lying down. As a means of prevention, all carcasses of animals dying from any disease should be either burned or buried deeply in lime to prevent contamination of the soil and pastures. Ewes about to lamb should be placed on fresh clean pastures. Lambs should be marked and tailed in temporary yards erected in clean paddocks as free as possible from contamination from any animal affected with disease. All instruments used at marking should be sterilized by boiling, and clean boiled water and reliable antiseptics should be freely used during the operations. The tailings, &c., should not be left to be spread over the pastures, but should be either burned or buried.

COMMERCIAL GROWING OF ALMONDS. S. A. Edward, Whangarei Heads : —

I would like to know of the commercial possibilities of - almond trees whether they flourish in a seaside situation on second-class land, whether they crop sufficiently well enough to pay, and whether any particular root or stock, is necessary ; and, if so, if obtainable in New Zealand.

The Horticulture Division :—

Almonds are grown only to a small extent in this country at present,, chiefly in Hawke’s Bay and Otago for home use. Experience demonstrates that good crops of excellent quality can be grown in those areas, but to compete commercially with the low cost in Europe and cheap transport, economical methods of production and marketing would have to be evolved here. For this reason it is advisable to prove your locality with a well-chosen variety test before attempting commercial planting. Almonds require a good light soil that is well drained and a position not subject to heavy spring frosts. A seaside situation and second-class land such as you describe does not sound promising for commercial production. Good trees may be obtained from nurserymen in the Dominion.

Noxious Weeds Orders. — The Patangata County Council has declared milk or variegated thistle to be a noxious weed within that county. The Pohangina County has similarly declared gorse within its territory.