BY THE WAYSIDE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 49, 13 March 1937, Page 19

BY THE WAYSIDE

News of Interest to H.B. Farmers PASTURE MIXTURES On some of the lighter country 'in Hawke's Bay, where permanent pastiire is sown down following a. crop of swedes or rape, the inelu- _ sion of about* three-quarters of a bushel of Algerian "oats per acre* • has proved a valuablo standby _aa an early bite for incoming dairy cows. ,*A'*,very striking example of . the.merits Of this practice was seen; in the Tutira district, where an abnndance of . oats plus rye and elovers was still on hand after * some 50 odd cows had been grazed on it for an hour or so daily during the eariier part of the spring. Chilled Beef Trade. As many ais 20 overseas vessels have left since November with cargoes containing chilled beef from the Hawke's Bay works at Tomoana and Whakatu. Kxtensive additions to these works have been made in order to handle the trade and there is a most promising outlook for the future extension of this partieular trade, pspecially when difeet loading f acilities ■ are provided* at Napier. . • Control of Ratstail.. In parts of the Poverty Bay district, ratstail is eommonly met with, especially on the billsides, on soils of pumice origin. A . little topdreSSing is carried ont in this, district, and euper topdressing and sto'cking have in many cases had a marked effiect in reducing the •ratstail.' On an L.P.K. topdressxng trial plot on a- Ruatoria farm, there is evidence that ratstail is more palatabi© with phospixate dressing and on the phosphate plots it . had been kepti down, the competition from topdressed rye, white cloyer and subterranean clover also playing its part in reducing the ratotail. Ratstail in the rest oi the paddock also weAt out with phosphatie topdressihg. Fat Laanb Raising. ^ , Fat lamh raising has deflnitely cem"e to stay as a. sideline to dairying, but it would be entirely wrong to say that there -has been, a swing ,frQm__,dairyii^ to sheep in the Waikato, pays a correspondent, It is recognised that ;the distr|ct is ossentially a dairying one and, speaking generally, is nnsnitable for wool growing. WhEe wool, of course, has proved extremely profitable to Waikato growers during the past two seasons, it wEI,'in the majority of cases, remain a by.prodnct in fat lamb production, Australia-'s Lamb Trade. In 1936 4,891,873 frOzen lamb carcases were imported into Great Britain from Anstralia, compared with 4,457,473 carcases in the previous year. Stocks of frozen lamb on hand from all sources at the end of the year were 837,000 carcases, againlst 945,000 at the end of 1935. , Shipments afloat were larger than at the end of 1935. Stocks of frozen mntton were about 186,000 carcases below the 1935, fignres. Para Costs. The Manawatu provincial executive of the Farmers' Union has decided to set up a committee to collect evidence as to what the recent industrial changes are costing primaryy producers. Butter Marketing. The London butter market continnes to lack flexibility, says a Home correspondent. Many traders are ascribing the dullness to New Zeaiand controL They are of the opinion that a removal of this control would mean a sharp recovery in values. Continental types still commaifd a preminm, but a break in prices i« expeeted" shortly. One firm attacks the New Zeaiand policy, declaring that control of any description is a bugbear to buyers. They object to a dictatorship in any shape or form. and consider that whEe it continnes there is litle possibility of any reasonable improvement. Bovine T.B. In Britain. Reports show that during the years 1920-1931 there have been 25,166 human deaths in England. due to the bovine tubercle bacElus. Approximately 40 per cent. of the cattle of England are reactors to the tuber culin test and

about '2.5 per cent. are infeetive. Udder tubereulosis is most dangerous from the human standpoint, but pulmonary tubereulosis is more important from the (standpoint of spreading the disease •among cattle. Confirming findings of eariier investigators, the report con- • cludes that infection of humans with bovine tubereulosis takes place niostly during the milk-drinkxng period of one to five years. SimEar studies in Scotland show that tubereulosis of bovine origin is even more widespread, It is estimated that 70 per cent. of the non-pulmonary tubereulosis patients become infeeted before 15 years of age, and that in 90 per cent. of these" either bone, joint, or abdominal tubereulosis beeomes manifesf. It is estimated that 80 per cent. of the abdominal, 35 per cent. of the bone and joint, and 64 per cent. of the eervical gland tubereulosis in Glasgow, Scotland, is of bovine origin. The Sheep Trek. Already this season 300,000 sheep . have left the Gisborne and Coast districts for other parte, and by the time tlie great xnovement of sheep las concluded the total should reach 350,000. These figurea are based on information setsttred from the department of Agriculture, whose officers have been very busy during the past two months inspeeting sheep on the roads and in the saleyards. In two months they inspeeted over 300,000 sheep, and found only 1586 infested with lice. A total of : 193,000 was inspected last month, and j only 750 were lice infested, none of these being among sheep on the Toads. This provides a remarkable recoxd for rleanliness, and is a distinet improvement on the position in former years. Last year the department's estimate of the number of sheep hich left the district was 327,000, and the tally for this season is expeeted to h© even greater, possibly np to 350,000.