STOCK AILMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 50, 27 January 1938, Page 2

STOCK AILMENTS

WORK OF COMBATING. INVESTIGATION AND CONTROL. (Contributed.) To a great many peoplo the term scientific research a.s applied to our farming problems do°.s not convey much beyond the fact that groups of men with scientific training are engaged at various institutions throughout the country in making investigations with respect to disorders of one kind or another that invade the animal and vegetable kingdom. What is not generally recognised is the intense war that is constantly being waged to preserve the balance between the laws of nature on the one hand and the efforts of man to increase the production of' the soil and the fruits of the earth on the other. Leaving aside every other consideration for the moment and viewing the incidence of disease as it affects the health, quality and economic production of farm animals only, it is found that the situation in the Dominion has now become so serious as to arouse genuine concern. Year by year stock owners are finding it increasingly difficult to curtail flic enormous annual loss to production that is made in their flocks and herds and are appealing with increasing insistence to the veterinary scientist, the research worker and the agricultural chemist for assistance. In their own interests stock owners are gradually becoming more scientificminded and the seriousness of the menace is now regarded as a national as well as of individual responsibility. To give some idea what the losses in pounds shillings and pence mean to the farmers of this country through the inroads made by disease, three of the most troublesome disorders in dairy stock may he mentioned. Quoting from official figures presented by the Dairy Commission in 1934, the estimated loss to dairy-farmers through mastitis, abortion and sterility in their herds was £2.380,000 a.nnually. Added to these startling figures the wastage caused by other complaints in cattle, sheep and pigs, the country is burdened with an annual loss representing the colossal sum of eight million pounds. Is it any wonder, then, that alarm is being manifested and that more adequate means are being sought to stem the tide of invasion which threatens the very foundations of our national prosperity? NATURE’S WAY. Perhaps the position is not so hopeless as at first sight it may appear. Old mother nature may not be so unkind after all, and is simply following her own plan of preserving her inscrutable law of balance according to the degreo in which her requirements have been disobeyed or disregarded. A brief survey of live stock development in the Dominion in the years that have passed will be helpful perhaps in obtaining a clearer viewpoint os to where transgressions have been made and also to find a workable basis of approach from which the equilibrium can be regained.

Going back to the beginning of pastoral farming in New Zealand, it is well-known that the first efforts of the early settlers were mainly centred in the clearing of virgin country and in getting the areas sown in cultivated grasses as soon as possible for the pasturage of stock. The land being rich in latent fertility and the density of stock carried per acre not unduly heavy, there was little need for concern with regard to the maintenance of plant food or the health of the animals. The balance was about right. Too much was not demanded from cither 6ide of the combination. In the course of time,, however, pastoralists began to breed animals along the lines of higher production. More and still more butterfat per cow was demanded. Sheep were concentrated in increasingly largo numbers on rich country away from their natural environment,. and it was not many years before hitherto unknown ailments made appearances in flocks and herds. In the general scheme of economy of production simultaneous efforts were made to improve pastures and increase the carrying capacity of tho land. By the stimulating influence of manures —largely of chemical origin—the density of stock has been multiplied several times over. Intensive breeding for yield, together with the production of more blades of grass per acre, has now reached such dimensions as to suggest that the limits in each direction have been reached. No one needs to bo reminded that it has been during this period of intense production that the incidence or disease has multiplied so rapidly. Unfortunately, the evidence is too apparent. What are the lessons ? In what way has the farmer failed to keep the balance between increased production and health? Has he failed to realise tha.t the quantities of food and the constituent parts thereof that are required for a cow producing, say, four hundred pounds of butter fat, are entirely different than for an animal producing only half that quantity? Is it possible that the herbage may not contain all those essential elements that preserve the health and stamina of the animal, and that nature is presenting the bill of costs for non-ob-servance of the law of balance? Again, has intensive breeding through successive generations disturbed or interfered with the natural process of reproduction ? What possibilities are these for breeding by selection to secure whole or partial immunity from certain forms of disease ?

PROBLEM OF NUTRITION.

It is pertinent to remind farmers that many investigators into troubles affecting live stock are agreed that most of the ills connected therewith are directly or indirectly associated with nutrition, or in other words errors in feeding the animals. A more outspoken veterinarian once told the writer that, from his long experience, he had come to the conclusion that the majority of the losses in stock could be attributed to.one foundation cause—that of starvation —or lack of proper nourishment at certain critical periods of the year. Until farmers greatly improved their methods, of stock husbandry veterinary science could not help them very much. They had to get down to root causes. As in the successful treatment or bush sick country, it has been found that the addition of soil deficient elements effects marked and immediate improvement in the health of stock, the thought is suggested that this principle of correction may be capable of more general application. New Zealand is not the only place where stock diseases are causing anxiety and heavy loss. The same troubles are found in all countries where the breeding of animals is carried on extensively and there is a constant interchange of experiences between research workers all over the world. Fortunately some of the worst forms of diseases that are prevalent in older lands are not in evidence here, which is something to be thankful for. All credit is freely given to local scientists and research workers for the measure of control they have been able to exercise in the past, but it is now painfully evident that present efforts require to be supplemented by a more vigorous campaign. To that end it has been announced that the Minister of Agriculture has in mind a pro-

posal whereby the service will be extended and co-ordinated. As a first 6tep towards this objective one of the greatest authorities on mastitis, Dr. Hucker, of Cornell University, America, has been for some time, at the invitation of the Minister, making investigations into this complaint in New Zealand. On a similar mission, Dr. John Hammond, F.R.S., School of Agriculture, Cambridge University, who is a noted physiologist and student of animal nutrition, is now touring the Dominion making an examination of our stock breeding conditions. When this survey has been completed these two gentlemen will furnish an advisory report based on their observation with a view to the adoption of a more effective fighting force than now exists.

All stock owners will doubtless welcome this timely assistance and will more fully appreciate the great service that is being Tendered on their behalf in the field of scientific research. To obtain tho best and quickest results it is imperative that farmers themselves must be prepared to co-operate by every means in their power.