Important to Stock Owners.

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 102, 27 October 1896, Page 2

Important to Stock Owners.

«, Several matters of great interest to stock owners were discussed at a recent meeting of the general committee of the Wellington Agricultural and Pastoral Association. Mr W. H. Mill ward remarked that the Gear Company had had a number of cases in which sheep which were apparently in good condition showed, after being slaughtered, adhesion of the lungs. The affection was most marked in sheep which had boon bought as stores and fattened, which evidently pointed to the fact that they had contracted the complaint when in low condition, while another reason probably was the fact of their having been sheared too late as lambs. The number of cases coming within his experience was increasing, and probably now reached 4 or 5 per cent. He should advise letting the lambs go unsborn the first year, and he also remarked that if the sheep were well fed and looked after during the winter months the disease would considerably decrease. Ho wished to make it quite clear to the general public, however, that sheep so affected were not used as food. Mr A. D. Crawford Raid all this sort of thing arose from over-stocking, and that was what the small farmer would not understand. The President (Mr A. Matthews) said Mr Gilruth, the Government Veterinarian maintained that they in New Zealand did not farm sheep as they ought, but went in for overstocking. In bis (Mr Matthews') own district, with the exception of a few who had very large experience, everstoeking was carried on to a great extent. The first year the animals came out miserable objects at shearing time, produced very little wool, and a considerable proportion died during the winter, and when they were bought as 4-tooth wethers they were miserable and small. He was convinced it was injudicious to shear lambs late in the season, and they also required exceedingly good treatment after they were shorn. If people would only keep less sheep, and feed them better, they would have very little i trouble. Mr Crawford said a lot had been said at various times about the diseases of cattle, but they need not go very far away even from Wellington to find cattle in an awful state, and yet the owners were supplying milk in the town. That was a state of thiriga that should not be allowed. Mr Hanna said he knew a property where from 85,000 to 40,000 sheep were sheared. A new manager who was appointed reduced the number of sheep by 5000 or 6000, and got four or five more tons of wool at; the next shearing than the year previous. The President also referred to the fact that he had experienced considerable mortality among lambs. The real loss did not occur when they were dropped or from bad weather, bnt it occurred when they were about six weeks old. . He had found that some of them had had sometimes inflammation pi the bowels, sometimes inflammation of the lungs, and, in otber cases, more often than not, tbekidnpys were affected. It was very hard to account for the real cause of death. -N.Z. Times.