Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 26 November 1932, Page 8

Farming Column

SEASONAL SHEEP NOTES.

PARASITES IN SHEEP.

What parasites have we in New Zealand sheep? Are We ill a better or a Worse condition than other sheep countries ?

External parasites consist of the sheep-kod, tfte sheep body iouse, the log louse, and sheep maggots. Sheep scab due to mange acari is unknown in this country. Dipping of sheep exercises sufficient control over the external parasites provided dipping is properly carried out. Therefore, external parasites present no particular difficulty.

Internal parasites consist of liver flukes in the Hawke’s Day disti'.ct, hydatid cysts of the liver and lungs and brain, nasal bot, and a variety ot stomach and intestinal worms. Liver fluke is now successfully combated by drenching with carbon tetrachloride in paraffin oil, and all sheep farmers in the affected area, know how to top-dress their swamps with copper sulphate, drain where possible and drench the sheep, thereby saving thousands per annum.

Hydatid cysts, the interlnediate stage in the life history of the tapeworms of dogs do not cause much harm to the sheep unless they lodge in such areas as the brain were their growth causes pressure and eventually death. Control of ; this parasite-lies' in-keeping hydatid infected carcases from dogs,’ and ift dosing dogs with arecoline hydrobrot mide in { grain doses to get rid of the tapeworm in the dog’s intestine/. Nasal bofcs are rarely narmful and they may be left to look aftffiv themselves. It is the stomach and intestinal parasites which are ; harmful to sheep more particularly hoggets which have not the resistance to invasion of the older sheep. -

The large stomach worm, haemonchus contortus, aboiit an ’ inch long, red in colour and seen in mnsess in the 4th stomach, is the only c/ne which can be readily dealt with by any known drug, arid a good dreftch will practically eradicate’ it. There is, however, another very much smaller worm of the stomach which is also frequently found far down the small intestine as well and given the name ostertagia (ircemCincta, which is particularly 'harmful. It may be seen by adding a small amount of the Stomach contents to a bottle of water and noting them as small, eyelash sized worms, white in colour, in fairly large numbers in the water. Worm drenches certainly kill some of these worms, but by no means all because they get buried beneath mucus on the Surface of the stomach and connot be got at. Further down the small intestine is another very small worm, known as ncmatodirus filicollis, which -causes tremendous loss amongst hoggets by setting up catarrh of the small intestine followed by starvation, througn inability of the hogget to absorb food, and finally death. Nothing in the drug line kills this worm for/ no drugs gets in strength to tin's area. Still further down the intestine we come to the pimply gut worm, the larvae of which form small abscesses on the wall and thereby spoil runners; the hookworffi of sheep, which feeds on the blood of the sheep and causes severe irritation and often death; a worm known as chabortia in the - coiled part of the bowel, and the ufhip worm, these last two being fairly harmless. If it he impossible to kill the worms in the lower part of the bowel by drenches, how them can the hogget be saved when once affected? The- answer lies in correct feeding. Give hoggets a short dry feed. Never out soft luscious food* before them. It makes conditions inside the hogget right for the parasite to live there. It is for this reason that the warm, damn seasons are those in which parasites are mestlv found killing hoggets. Therefo"e, the science of hogget rearing must, he studied by one wishing to breed successfully season by season. Such a science includes prevention and attention to drainage and stocking, as well as the feeding off of pasture for the hoggets.

A glaring case. An investigation into the “vast difference between the cost of manufacture and retail prices of certain goods which the (retailers are selling at a price fixed by the manufacturer, was agreed upon last week by the Dominion executive of the Farmers’ Union as being a very .necessary move. A delegate said he knew of a stock remedy selling at a standard price of £3 3s, the ingredients for which cost lid. It Ava.g decided to ask the Department of Industries and Commerce to undertake an investigation as soon as details of specific cases could be collected.

DISASTROUS EFFECT. OttaAVa Conference has had a disastrous effect on the sales of Shorthoi n hulls at Buenos Aires. Prices were 45 per cent, down from last year and 40 per cent. loAver than the price of inferior animals at Rosario recently. Under | the Ottawa, agreements Canada is to admit British pedigree stock, and Bri-

tain is to admit Canadian cattle. Perhaps Canada will provide an outlet for British Shorthorn hulls if Argentina drops out of the picture. Will it be as J

BRITISH DAIRY PRODUCE TRADE

SEASON’S ACTIVITIES REVIEWED

Since the war there has been no period richer in historical events affecting trade generally, ’as well as the j dairy produce trade particularly, than the past twelve months, states the annual review of the imported dairy produce trade. A brief resume of these events will suffice to indicate their significance. •,

The year had barely started when the news was published that the British budget threatened to show a defieit

of over a hundred millions. This precipitated a political crisis which resulted in the fall of the Labour government, the formation oh a national government the abandonment of the golfl standard, a general, election, and the institution of a genera! tariff. In the international field British dip-

lomacy was instrumental in bringing agreement between -France and - Germany on the question of reparation’s, but the still unsolved problein of war debts remain’s like a cloud in the industrial sky. 'h v ;

Throughout the whole year Britain’s export trade was hampered at eveiy turn by restrictions in file form of high tariffs, quotas, or controlled exchange, and by commercial, financial, and banking disasters in many importing countries.

On the other hand the production ot primary products expanded on a scale out of all proportion to the world s consuming capacity. Our markets iveie flooded with foodstuffs and raw 'materials which were pressed for sale by weak holders upon uitwiliing buyers at a rapidly descending .scale of prices. In spite of every possible economy, there can be no doubt that selling prices to the producer of many commodities are now. well below the cost of production, and until this lias We effect of reducing production to within th£ consuming capacity of the importing countries, we cannot hope for permanently better prices. So far as Great Britain is concerned nothing but a great increase in" otfr export trade can provide that reduction in unemployment which is necessary before there can he any material increase in the spending power of the British public.

The first ray of hope to relieve the

gloom which has overshadowed the commercial world for inahy months I came at the end of the period when the success of the British GovernI ment’s great war loan conversion scheme became assured, and British I credit was established for the time . being on a 31 per cent nnsw.” * The year closed’ on a note of 'optimism engendered by hopes'that the’ Imperial Conference at Ottawa might show’ the way to. a substantial increase in ’the export trade.of Great Britain, although in some quarters fears were being expressed that the British delegation might be persuaded, as in' the cake of h most international conferences since the Avar, to give aivay more than the relatively small purchases of the DoniiniOns entitle them to recede, and to prevent that reduction in Britain’s unemployment figures Avhich is so imperative.

Pricek on average vvere loAver, because supplies Avere almost continually in excess of demand. When Great Britain abandoned the gold standard and:the pound dropped to 16/- in value in terms of gold, it Avas expected that butter and cheese prices might rise: but the nrincipnl exporting countries quickly linked their currencies to sterling, and the price position remained unaffected. A similar situation arose when the lo per cent tariff Avas imposed ift’March. In this case the foreign shippers' affected AA T ere obliged to pay the duty and must continue to do so, at any rate so long as supplies remain excessive.

’ The yearly, average prices for butter AATere as follows; viz Danish 126/-. New Zealand 108/0, Irish 106/4, Australian 106/-. South Africa 9777, Argentine 101/6, and Russian 95/- per CAvt. Cheese averages AA'ere 71/3 for Canadian, 63/3 for Noav Zealand. 60/3 for 'Australian and 58/10 for South African. These ’prices are 12% for butter and 5% for cheese loAver ,than the average for 1930/31.

SMALL FACTOR IN CHEESE MARKET.

Australia is a very small factor in the world cheese market. Her total exports average in value little over £.200,000. Hey exports aye 19 per cent.' of her total production, Avhich ■averages - about 30 million lb., v<ued at approximately ‘£1,400,000. In ’1931 British imports of cheese included 7,600,000‘1b' from Australia, 194,000,(0001 b from New Zealand, 79,200,0001 b from ’Canada, 18,800,0001 b from Netli-jen-luinds 'vnd unspecified quantities from , Italy and other European sources. Imports from Empire sources wo’e 87 per cent, of 'the whole. The value of the total imports wlls about £9.000,000. Now Zealand, Canada and Australia send practically a'l thejr

cheese exports to the United Kingdom. The other countries send to the United (Kingdom the following proportion of their total exports : Italy 20 per cent.; Netherlands 10 per cent.; France 7 per cent. ; Switzerland 6 per cent. ; I Denmark 5 per cent.