Stock on Mangolds.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 3 October 1911, Page 4

Stock on Mangolds.

RECENT MORTALITY

In the. Agricultural .Department's Journal, Mr B. C. Aston deals with the matter of the -recently-reported mortality of stock on mangolds in the following strain:— " Following on other deaths occurring a.iiuong cafctl-o and pigs feeding on mangolds, some eight animals died on a farm in 'the Wangamri district. I visited the district on August 11 th and saw the owner of the cattle in question. 110 appeared to bo quite satisfied that the mangolds were till© cause of the mortality. He

had lost eight cows altogether, and a neighbour had lost one. The mangolds were manured with li c-wt hone, blood and superphosphate per acre, and' 1 cwt salt. He started to feed the cow. l on mangolds at the end of May. Eor the first six weeks nothing happened; then some weeks ago they started to die. On making post mortem Mr lulgnr. M. R. C. V. S., found nothing abnormal, and attributes death to a toxin.

There were more deaths among oows

to which the mangolds had been carted than among those which fed on the field on which the <yop was grown. No salt lick was given the cows, or has ever been used by the owner as a stock-lick. There has

been other mortality, of a similar nature in Taranaki. T examined some of tihe mangolds but could not. see

any trace of a fungus-

The roots

appeared to be quite healthy. After the stock had been on for six* wo; u ks the droppings were stated to be like muddy, salty water. The owner is sending to this laboratory some soil and a cartload of mamrolds. Until the roots are analysed little further can l>o said.

It is generally known that mangolds may cause scouring in stork, .and largely for this reason it: is usual hi I'-iirope to store or pit tihe roots for some months, after which they exercise no injurious effects. It isnot definitely known to what compound in tihe mangold are due these deleterious effect's, -and one is unable to Jind any record of mortality of stock ted on the roots in other conntries. 'Warrington (Watts' Die. of C'hem,' 2nd Supp., p. 1051), however, states that cattle are ir,eca l .-ionally poisoned by eating the leaves of mansoles, and quotes authorities to s.lhow that these leaves may contain of their dry matter ns much as 11 per cent of oxalic acid—a violent poison. Worley Axe, in his book on the horse, states that pitting the mangolds with the leaves on causes the formation of oxalic acid. Muir (Agricultural. Practical and Scientific) advises cutting or twistinsr off the tops before storing. Storer (Agriculture, Vol. 3, p.'-lOG) states that when grown on fertile pri.ils in France the leaves of sugar-hoot become so highly eharged with nitrates that they are unfit for foiod for ani.mals. It is said that scri'ous results ihavo occurred repeatedly on using such haves as fodder ' (l)crerainf. These leaves when made into ensilage are apparently without ill-ef-fects. On the other hand, Stephen (Hook of the Farm, Vol. 1, p. 205) states that th- leaves of t-lio mangold ■are useful especially for milci'-.-cows, but have a. scouring tendency. " T. B. Wood (journal How Ag. Soc., England 1888, p. 355." and Mature, Aug. 1807), in two researches, showed that the percentages of nitrates in the- mangold decreased on storing for two months from onethird to one-half of the .origin; l ,l quantity present. Nitrates have no feeding value, and are liable to cause derangements in dnrcstmn. By storage the nitrates are c;om:ertcd into amides, wlhich have seme feeding value, and are quite harmless. Storage also increases the nerventage ot : albumenoids and which are of the highest feeding value. The over-long storage of mangolds, however, is likely to'lead to a loss of sugar, which would more than counterbalance a slight increase in value duo to the digestible ni"fcro°*Ciiid 11 s constituents (see Storer, "AenionlVol. 1, p. 137). Potash salts, of which the mangold takes up a large quantity from the soil unless j the crop has been manured with or grown on a .soil containing salt, may also produce scouring. "J. A. Voelcker (Jouni. Roy. Ag. OC", p. 561), iu experiments undertaken to ascertain the influence of the early feeding of mangolds to iattening 'bullocks, found that 281b to 301b of mangolds sliced twelve Ji'Ours before using could be (jfiitc safely used in plane of swedes, if with them was given common cot-ton-cake, bean,meal, or a. plentiful supply of long hay; but if the quant'ty ot mangolds was raised to 351b or 401b scour ign appeared, and was not mitigated by the use 'of hay. V oelcker's experiments with sheep were not so satisfactory. Harm may be caused to male sheep by feeding mangolds freely. There is a tendency to act on the kidneys, producing increased secretion of urine and m extreme cases the formation W crystals in tl'io urethra. There was much greater irregularity at first- in the way that sheep did oil mangolds compared with those on swedes.

it will be scon t-lja.fc the practice winch prevails in New Zealand ot turning stock into a field of growing mangolds is open to criticism. The in am gold is a plant which values greatly in composition, and it is tins variation which probably accounts for many diverse statements concerning it."