FARMING AND COMMERCIAL

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1326, 2 January 1912, Page 8

FARMING AND COMMERCIAL

AGRICULTURAL YEAR.

A REVIEW. . '.VETHIUNAIIY DIVISION WOIiK. Looking back oyer . Iho past , twelve months, farmers can en 11 to mind a trail pi' droughtvand pests, which have caused them many anxious moments, hut, taken all iu all, the'year has been n successful one. In its earlier stages the year was one of the driest ever experienced, in the history of the' Dominion, and-the refill was a great scarcity of food for all kfnds of stock. Latterly, when summer weather Imight have, be.en expected, wo have been forced back,into midwinter weather The health of: tho stock .or. the. Dominion hn« .taken all round, .been satisfactory, and in. this connection farmers have a, "ood deal to bo..thankful,for in that New Zea:land has. such an excellent, vetorinarv division, which, throttles, disease the .moment it. hears of it, and so averts win! -might easily develop into huge troubles -for the former, A.-few details as to the work this valuable Department of tho *tate has done may not he out of place. Examination of Horses. 'By- arrangement ivith the various Australian State Governments the veterinary ■officers of the Agricultural Department -examine stallions for hereditan- lins'ouud- : ,ness prior to.(heir.shipment to' Australia, .tho authorities there granting certificates ivithout further ' examination to all ■annuals holding a .New Zealand certificate. • Ibis prevents shippers, here incurring anj-nsk of tho horses b-iug rejected tor hereditary unsoundness in Australia ..alter having-gone to the trouble and expense of shipping them over. - .In addition Vo this, at tho request'of the Otago, Canterbury, and Manawatu Agricultural and Pastoral Associations examinations of stallions (and, iu tho case of Canterbury, of mares also) for hereditary'unsoundness are carried out iu connection ..-with, the competition for. the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association s Cup at Dunodin,' and the ' various 'classes at tluusiiuiuier shows in' Canterbury and Palmerslon North. A suggested Bill for dealing with the question of hereditary unsoundness has been drafted by the Chief of tho Division (Mr. C. i. Itcakes), and was fully discussed both at the Dominion Conference of the Farmers' Union and the Agricultural Conference, it being received in both cases with every approbation. The horsebreeding community now appear to realise fully the necessity for eliminating as far as possible breeding stock'affected with various forms of hereditan- unsoundness, and it is satisfactory that, this movement is making such good progress. .Cattle and Pasteurisation. The general inspection of cattle for .contagious disease has been strictly carried out. during tho-year,,.and a number of affected animals have been cleared out from the herds. Iu additiou a strong effort has been made to induce dairy factories to instal plants for pasteurising the skim-milk and whev, it bo-ins recognised that, these by-products afford a fruitful means of spreading the infection ,of. tuberculosis .among calves and pigs.' A practical .demonstration.of the value of this process, in this direction' was'carried/out .at. the Cr.lcn Oroua.'dairy factory and brought to a conclusion in the 'autumn. This demonstration was most successful, and . the- results very striking, showing as thov did (hat, while the pigs which were fed entirely on tho pasteurised slsim-milk remained absolutely ; free from tubercular disease (with the exception of a few which wero exposed to other clearly demonstrated 1 sources of in-fection),-those- which were from the same neighbourhood, and which were not fed wholly,oil pasteurised skiin : miik, showed a high proportion of diseased animals. As.a'result of the prominence given to ■this question of pasteurising, some "of'the butter factories have installed pasteurisers for skim-milk, while a large number of the cheese factories are pasteurising their whey. At tho same time there .is room for a very considerable advance in this direction'; and it i,s hoped that the time is npt far distant' when every factory and creamery wjll be carrying out this most necessary and valuable process. Some difficulty has arisen in connection with butter factories, owing to the large quantities of skim-milk having to be'dealt -Hvith in a short space of time, and tho consequent expense involved; it being oecessary'in many cases to instal gieatcr boiler-power, this naturally meauing. considerable expenditure. Contagious Mammitis, A considerable amount of experiment.il work has been carried out at the Veterinary Laboratory at Wallaceville in tho direction of endeavouring to find satisfactory and reliable treatment for coutagioiift mammitis, and it is understood that experiments are now being made iu tho field with it vaccine prepared for (his purpose. This disease "is a most difficult one to treat satisfactorily, but no effort is being spared by the Department iu an endeavour to attain the desired result. Contagious Abortion. Contagious abortion, which in past years has been co serious, and the causeof great loss to sfockowners, has been, for tho time at any rate, got under to a ■very great extent. It is satisfactory to realise thai, the work of the Department in this direction has borne rood fruit, and tho result indicates clearly how much good can be done by formers' working heartily in co-operation with the Departmental officers in dealing with troublesome diseases such as this. The diseaso ■was fully described, and a method of proper . recommended, by Professor Gilruth iome.ycars since, and farmers soon realised the value of the measures rec6mtnonded; and while those who were unfortunate chough to have (be disease in their herds and have used tho treatment have almost invariably obtained successful results when, they carried it out properly, many ethers who went in for the necessary preventive measures were able to keep tho disease oA' their farms:. A special inquiry was made during the year in order to ascertain what were tho.actual condition? as regards contagious abortion in each district, and the results' of this inquiry have all, it is stated, been most; satisfactory. Commenting on (his disease as recently as November last, Mr. Reakes remarked that it. was .a matter for extreme satisfaction that, the work done during the past few years in combating the disease has given, such good results, but he emphasised the point, that.it was still necessary for. farmers to exercise vigilance and c'jire in preventing the possible reintroduction of the dsease into their herds, and to continue the exercise of preventive measures generally. Blackleg, The inoculation, of calves for blackleg for the season concluded early iu (lie year, and has just now commenced again fdr the, present season. Last year no fewer than lil.SiS calves wore the whole of the work being done hv officers of the. Agricultural Department fm> .of charge. This work of blackleg inoculation in tho affected districts has had the effect of reducing the number of deaths from Iho disease to an almost negligible minimum, tho. whole, of the mortality reparted during the year being only ;)0 animals. Bacterial Necrosis. A considerable - amount of further inyestigation work is being carried out iu connection, with a disease, described bv Mr. Tteid in the annual rpoort. of the Agricultural Department for "tillI), under tho term llicterial ueuosis. Until a few yours since this disease had always been ascribed solely to the effects of orgol, but later investigation has gone to show that ergot is not the solo responsible cauv\ An experiment, wiis conducted in tho feeding of young cattle on ergot, at the Wallaceville Laboratory, and a recent re. I'.vnt was published on the matter in the Journal of the Department. Bush Sickness. The investigation into the aiid prevention ■ of so-cVilled hush sickness is still pvocesilin'g, and it i-- understood that, a ouiisiilnrjible ;imoi:nt .of information has be2u obtained bearing on. the iiiicstiou. An interim report presented by Mr,

REV/0 AND NOTES,

I'enkes a short time ago runs as under:— "Tho'conilition known as 'bush disease.' itflnding cattle ami sheen on :•. eoiisidernblsi area of country near Kutorua. has caused trouble to'settlers there for many years pa>t, and it ■>.-> a matter for satisfaction that proper provision has now been made for carrying out a thorough investigation .into its causes, and the preventive., measures to be adopted in connection with it. The area, affected is somewhere about a. million acres, and on it cattle- and sheep develop, oiler ii period varying from five or six months upward to a year or more, a progressive nmipmic. condiliou ending invariably in death if the animal bo not in time removed to unaffected country. As. a general principle, the younger the animal the earlier it commences lo show indiea.lions of commencing anaemia; and. whilo a yearling steer may show tho firs'; symptoms in five or six months from the time 7t is introduced to the district, an older animal, a five-year-old bullock, for instance, will often hold out from two to six months longer, or even more—though no fixed period can be laid down. Occasional individual animals, continue healthy —according to report—for an e.ven more extended period. Sheep usually succumb earlier Mian cattle, and here again variations) of time are observed, these. ■ no doubt, being due to individual constitutional idiosyncrasy. .V notable fact is that horses are entirely unaffected, though liviug constantly in the district for years. It. is difficult to obtain accurate information regarding sw-ine largely on account of feeding conditions. Sonio investigation work. was carried out some years ago. but the money and general facilities provided ft being proceeded with as was necessary. At (ho same time, sonio valuable information was obtained, which has proved of assistance in the work now in hand. .Much of the affected country is.high land (well over 1000 ft.' above sea-jevcl), originally oovcred with heavy bush, ,of .which only a. small proportion has,'been yet cleared. The remainder is open country on a lower level. All is'bf volcanic origin, forming part of'tho.volcanic plateau of the North Island. The soil usually consists of pumice and other ejeetamenta from the contiguous craters. It is usually of a. light porous nature, allowing tho water from a generous rainfall to drain away with great rapidity. In places the lava has welled up from below, often presenting the form known as "volcanic necks," which remain as conspicuous stone pillars after-the bush has been cleared away, and give quite a character to this type of country. Stock depasturing upon the higher land have to depend principally upon surface wafer, as.the only rivers fnn at the bottom of deep ravines with precipitous sides. On some farms, however, artesian w.nier is provided, and it is to be noted that, stock having this water available for drinking purposes become affected just as quickly as do Ihose which have to depend upon surface water. The bush clearings bear-a luxuriant growth of herbage, principally cocksfoot: and clover, surface-sown. T.he lower open country is grassed with the usual mixture's of l'inglish grasses. The native. Horn, is identical with that of this portion of the North Island generally. I'rcv.idus work had-de-monstrated the fact that-the anaemic con.duiou was not dne to the-presence in the system of any. micro-organism'or bloodparasite, lurthe'r proof of'this'being conclusively given by tho loci, that affected animals, if removed to "clean" country, oven though closely adjacent to the allectcd area, qnick!y:>e:>m'!;ieiic'e'tb recover without any medical traaliwift or artificial feeding and . rapidly regain their npxmal condition of health ■to the bush-sick country again develop tho. trouble in due course their previous sickness having conferred no immunity. It has, in "fact, tcmu e a general practice lor settlers in (he district to arrange for the use of paddock-ng-accommodation.outside, and to move their stock .to and fro as iiecr«itv demands. Chemical Analysis. ■ In. view of these known facts, it was couriered necessary, in initiating the f'™l . n . - 1 " ( VC f! lg "' 1 ?' t0 mak » epical analyse* 0 t the .soil, grasses., and waters, also o the blood ana tissues of a fleeted animals; Jlr.B, C. Asto.,,, Agricultural Chemist, has carried out a long series of aualys.es. , Almost at the commoi.eemoiu ol the investigation a discovery was made that in sick animals one of-tho minor inorganic, constituents of tho body (copper) was present in abnormallyquantities, judging by European records and Iho symptoms of "bush disease" being similar io those shown in this particular lorm of chronic poisoniii", it was hoped that «i solution of the problem was, at jnnd. feuding experiments carried out at the. Wallacevillc Laboratory, as well as- comparative analyses made, of iood-planls, and of the carcasses, internal organs, and blood of animals from other healthy districts, tended to largely discount this theory, and it would appear that (a) cither this abnormality was olten shown by healthy animals, or ib) the Kuropean authorities' standard was too low. Kcseartli-work is still continuing in the direction of thoroughly elucidating (his point. Coincident with the chemical work, many post-mortem exumi'uatious were made of affected ajiitniils, and careful bacteriological and pathological examinations niado of material obtained from them. Baeteriologieal work gave, as before, a negative result, but, pathologically, two facts wei;e demonstrated— viz., that in all- badly affected animals, both sheep and cattle, well marked fatly degeneration of the liver existed (usual, however, in anaemic conditions generally), together, with a slight catarrhal nephritis (inflammation of tho kidneys), with, in sheep, somo ascites. 'With the exception of localised ureas.of slight congestion on the mucous lneinbriihc-o of the fourth-stomach, which iv6r6 hiet.with in the great majority of cases, all other organs were normal under the- conditions. Blood-counts shed no special light upon the subjects. The investigation, so. far as it had gone, having indicated, that tho causo of the trouble was hiosl. likely to be found in soil conditions, a series of experiments were -planned on the lilies of the application of various dressings to tho soil. The. experiments w'ere located at four centres, the land being top-drte'ed at two. while lit the other two, where tho land was fit for the- plough, cultivation nnithods were adopted. ' ( These experiments aro how in progress, iind will necessarily cover a period of some months. Jlr. J. . Kerrigan, J1.1i.C.V.5., Veterinary-Supervisor for the South Island, is now in immediate charge of the investigation, to which he will, blr the time being, devote Iho whole of his attention. Sheep. There - has been no serious mortality amoug sheep during the.year. Xcw Zealand is fortunate in not having any very serious disease affecting --beep, and what mortality docs arise is' largely due to preventable causes; in any animals,--.in fact, die as a. result of oyer nutrition. The trouble known as facial eczema, which caused a heavy mortality in tlie North Island two' years ago was almost entirely absent during Iho year, the feeding conditions prevailing being no doubt respousible for this. Strong action was taken by Ihe Department, in connection with Ihe operation of the Act relating Mo skin parasites in sheep-liec. licks", etc.—lhe, dipping regulations being strictly enforced. After conveying warnings to fanners,' auctioneers, stock agents, etc., prosecutions were instituted in all eases coming under notice where the provisions of the'law had not been observed by sheepowners unless thoroughly good reasons were lint forward. At. one stage of the year it was staled that the Hocks of New Zealand ha,d decreased by abJut 500,000 in the twelve months, but. a. later ret.irn reduced this total to 2;.1,4!)1. tears regarding a shortage of Iced following a, dry summer resulted in an uiiusuully large number of sheep being sent out. of the country. The tot ills for the .Dominion, as eiven in the la test, rr-lu'rhs. are Sl.OOIi.lill? (jf l.hcso 12.811.W arc in the North Island and.11,181,77:i in the South Island. "Until islands showed a decrease, that in the North being 10:i.::i)!i. .while the. South showed a falling'away of. 170.15.1, niakins a total decrease for the Dominion of 27:1.101. -•:-,' l.if the .sixty-live counties in the' North Island lliirly-six -hawed iiYcrwises nuiiib.:i:ing elt>,S3li,. while decreases in twenty. 1 nine counties amouuted to 1iU,139. 111 Mis

thirty-fuur -outlier,i cciunlios twenty show increases amounting to Jlb'.ll."):!; iisnin.it fourteen counties where decreases iiiuiilhm--ing .'IHS.J.'i? have, taken place. A feature of the year lias hern the amount, of now blood brought in from' the Old Country, the foremost s-hfop-mmi having been steadily drawing on the best English (locks. Fishiness in Butter. In conjunction with the Dairy Produce .Division, investigation work has been carried out in cnnnei-lion with the causes of so-ealled lishiw-s in butter, and moreivill ha heard of this at a later date. Meat Inspection, The inspection of men'l. forms an important portion of the functions of the Live Stock and Meat Division, all meat exported being inspected. .also all meat slaughtered at the public abattoirs, and in bacon factories. As showing the scope of Ibis lvork, during the year ending March 31 last, the number of animals inspected on .slaughter wn.s as under:--Partially Con- conKilled.' deinncd. demned. f'aftlo ... '.104,71'J 3,120 !i,56!l Calves ... 12,655 IlSti t ■Sheep ... 3,060.750 21.757 2.105 Lambs ... -1.0nG.2M 2,9211 :i.7SO Swine ... 107,607 .1,759 11,025 Of these, the following were slaughtered at, public abattoirs principally for-loc.il consumption, and at meat export slaughterhouses principally for-'cxpovt:— :.' ' At ' " meate.xport ■ "At . . slaughterabattoirs. houses. -Cattle- 86jSaM 117,909 Calves '. 10,147. . 2,208 Sheep 565,752 2.494,998 Lambs 104,449 • a.OOI.TSI, Swine 40,290 . .. 67,407 A notable feature is the large-increase in the number of' pigs-slaughtered for export. The comparative'figures of the past three years arc worthy of note:— ' \ ' Value. Vear. ' Cwt. .E . inOS-09 .3,52t " .11,880 '1909-10'. ;.': 2,6.92 8.552 .1910-11 l:i;706 . tt2,s:j:j ' The Poultry. Industry^ Poultry-t)irining has developed furtlier as, a commercial undertaking.during the year, and this industry appears to bo ou a. sound looting,'.and is'appealing to ft large number of people. According to the last census it is shown that tho poultry of -the Dominion'have increased .by over half a million head during the past.five years'.' The latest statistics are:— -, >'•£:—'' ''g - ■' £ E '.§■= r i- - c ' • ¥>■ J^r 4 = '-■ -*- -1 o s~ I'cr't ori I-- -j »^t*l-'—.=, * . =1>• Iss ti= >- —r.-o*. 4- •■ . ss??'i-'— t'cyixftw*! " s- I — I ic v. -i — u su -4 .« ' .»!-.¥ I ■ • -■ ■■■■ :■ ''' -t ! ic |,to>- ct *- it — -am ' i_( « J" 5 * 00 l s -F'f*? , f , -7*? :, i i S £r ' ? -.H§ — -??? .T" ' <\r\' : ' .« Is' § I £ I £r S! ; "r'£'i'icio jjf 10 I *~ Vr