SEASONAL WORK ON THE FARM

PREVENTING LOSSES FROM FACIAL ECZEMA If warm rains fall in February after a spell of hot weather, facial eczema is likely to occur in districts which are usually affected. However, the Department of Agriculture contends that experience during recent years has shown conclusively that the disease can be prevented by shutting sheep up at a rate which leaves no pasture in the paddock after 24 hours. Sheep should be shut up as soon as rains fall and should be confined until the weather becomes either hot and dry or much cooler and the pasture visibly hardens. If the summer is hot, plans should be made for action as described. Feeding of good hay at 21b, per sheep per day will prevent loss of condition. Even if adequate hay is not available, when ample water is provided ewes are not harmed by one or two weeks' starvation. The department of Agriculture considers that it is better to take precautions too often than to run the risk of disastrous outbreak of facial exzema. If crops of rape, kale, turnips, or chou moelfier are available, they can safely be grazed during the dangerous period. The grazing of such crops is the only satisfactory way of preventing the disease in lambs, which react badly to restricted grazing. Lucerne has not proved safe, possibly because ryegrass is frequently present among it as a weed, but in east coast districts paddocks of pure white clover are safe and lambs do well on them. Bulletin No. 388, “Losses from Facial Eczema Can be Prevented”, giving details of the cause and prevention of facial eczema, is available from all offices of the Department of Agriculture.

PREPARATIONS FOR SOWING OF PASTURES IN AUTUMN Consideration should be given now to the preparation of land for autumn pasture sowing and the selection of pasture-seeds mixtures, says The New Zealand Journal of Agriculture. On ploughable land the aim should be to bring the seed-bed to a fine, moist, and firm condition for sowing as early as the weather allows in late summer or early autumn. One of the last meetings attended by the late A. C. McIntyre, District Officer of the Department of Maori Affairs, was last year's anniversary of the Gate Pa Battle. From left to right: Messrs C. Pihana, A. C. McIntyre, R. Vercoe. A firm seed-bed is essential for a satisfactory strike of clovers and grasses. If the seed-bed is loose, the clovers do not strike; it should be firmed throughout its depth. On light land it is usually necessary to roll on the furrow to firm the bottom layers and on heavy land time must be allowed in seed-bed preparation for the soil to settle. Cultivation operations should be conditioned by the weather and arranged to avoid drying out the soil in hot, windy weather.

INCREASING THE SIZE OF PIG LITTERS Many pig producers will have young maiden sows which they intend to breed from next year, and the way in which these gilts are managed can have a big effect on the size of the litter, states The New Zealand Journal of Agriculture”. Though there is a general belief that a gilt's first litter will be small, at least in numbers, attention to a few simple points in management will increase the number of pigs farrowed. Gilts should be selected from a mating of proved parents, they should be penned separately from fattening pigs when they are at porker weight (4 to 4½) months old), and they should be fed a limited ration that enables them to grow without getting too fat. For 3 weeks before mating they should be fully fed and should be mated twice at, say, 12-hour intervals at the second or third heat period. After mating they should be fed to maintain growth and condition without becoming fat. Two to three weeks before farrowing their food should be increased These methods of management will help secure good first litters and improve the sizes of litters.