AGRICULTURAL EXPERTS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4756, 26 September 1924, Page 1

AGRICULTURAL EXPERTS

LIVE STOCK AND FIELDS. DEMONSTRATION TO FARMERS. At the invitation of the executive of the Farmers’ Veterinary Club Mr McKenzie, of the Live-stock Division, Department of Agriculture, and Mr Patterson, of the Fields Division, Visited Ngatea on Wednesday last and gave interesting and instructive addresses to small groups of farmers who attended. The matter of sterility in dairy cows occupied the greater part of the addrass by Mr McKenzie. He said that there were many causes for this, the most common being a deficiency in the pastures. If a cow was not sufficiently nourished it would not breed. There might be ample supplies of forage, but, a shortage of certain essential constituents. If this was the cause of the sterility good results would be obtained by giving the cows daily two or three pounds of a mixture comprising 24 parts of ground bones, 12 parts of coarse salt, and two parts of sulphate of iron (powder). This should be mixed with chaff or bran, and could easily be given at milking time. Judicious top-dressing of pastures Would improve the quality of the feed, and this would improve, the general health of stock and thereby prevent sterility and other ailments of cattle.

In many cases- where the cow returned to the bull, said Mr McKenzie, there was nothing whatever wrong, ns she was in calf all the time.

Contagious inflammatory vaginitis was also a cause of -cows not getting in calf. In fact, this was one of the first symptoms of this disease. With this there was a white discharge, the passage could be seen to be a bright crimson colour, and inflamed, and also studded with water-like blisters. Dealing with abortion, Mr McKenzie said that contagious'abortion was not as prevalent as was generally supposed. In genuine cases the calf was dropped at any stage, but it had been found in New Zealand that cows usually slipped their calves at about the seventh month. This pointed to malnutrition.

No matter what the cause, stated the ' speaker, a cow that aborted should be isolated for at least two months. The calf should be destroyed and the premises disinfected. Internal treatment by washing or the giving of medicines was of little use, but good would result from keeping the cow clean, by washing around the tail, with disinfectant.. It was not advisable to wash out every cow that calved, .but those with any discharges, should be isolated and so treated. One teaspooriful of Condy’s crystals to one gallon of water was the best to use, and this could be followed by one tablespoonful of ordinary salt to a gallon of water. Man£ diseases of the the udder coul ; d be traced to neglect to wash away discharges from the vagina. Great care should be exercised in washing out cows, as considerable harm would be done if fluid was left inside. If. this happened it should be syphoned out. Bulls should also receive strict attention, and should be- washed after each service.

A cow that had failed to get in calf was killed and the womb examined, said Mr McKenzie. It was found that the sterility was caused by an inflammation of the horns of the womb possibly obstructing a passage to the ovary, but more probably causing acidity which destroyed the semen. Such a condition was not often found, and it was practically impossible of cure owing to the inaccessibility of the affected organs. It would possibly right ittselE in time if the animal was given sufficient nutriment and not allowed to run with bulls. THE FIELDS DEMONSTRATION. In the afternoon Mr Patterson, of the Fields Division, met a number of farmers on Mr G. T. Davidson’s farm. These pastures have at various times been top-dressed with different quantities of- lime and basic slag. The effect of the various applications were pointed out and the effect of various other fertilisers was explained. Wha£ Would be suitable for one farm would not necessarily, be suitable for another, as many factors had to be taken into consideration. • Mr Davidson was commended by Mr Patterson for having top-dressed with B%cwt of lime, and following this with from 3cwt to. scwt of basic slag. As a general rule these manures could be used all over the Plains with. advantage. .An increase in the amount of. pasture might not be noticeable, but the gain would be in the improvement of the quality. This would be reflected in the health of the stock. In the pasture of the Plains there was, generally speaking, too much organic matter and too little mineral matter, and fertilises! - were required to counteract this. A change was often very beneficial to the health of stock, but this was not possible with dairy cows unless the farmer had some rough feed on his section. Any sort of! rough feed, such at toi-toi, ti-tree, raupo, etc., contained a greater proportion of mineral matter than pastures, and an improvement in the health of stock would result if they we>e permitted to eat it. If the farm wa' 1 all grassed it would be of advantage to grow crops and heavily manure them. These could be fed to stock during the lean months, and the constituents supplied, by the manures would overcome the deficiencies in the ordinary grasses.

Jn reply to one of the numerous questions Mr Patterson said that he would not advocate paspalum where

English grasses would hold. No one grass, even the best in the world, was a satisfactory ration. Paspalum was a good dairy pasture, and it would grow well on wet country. For that reason it might be good practice to plant one p’addock to .utilise for feeding out upon. If this was top-dressed there would be a good growth of red clover, subterranean clover, ryegrass, and lotus major early in the spring, and good feed from the paspalum right on into the winter. When paspalum became root-bound it should be ploughed and a crop of, say, oats, planted for green feed. When this was done there would be a rejuvenated paspalum pasture. Farmers should remember that once paspalum was established it was there for ever.