POTASH

Shannon News, 10 August 1928, Page 4

POTASH

A NECESSITY FOR SHEEP-AND CATTLE. The following summary of conclusions arrived at by the Rowatt Research Institute and published in.the •'Pastoraiist.s' Rcvic.v, bo of interest fo readers. That the utilisation of pasture by stock is dependent on a correct balance between nutrients and mineral 1 salts. That wc have .upset the balance of nature by compelling our stock to produce, more moat, more miJK. and more wool, neglecting to furnish them with a ration which will enable them to do so without exhausting the mineral elements of their constitutions. We have changed the animals requirements from a. food standpoint/and have generally overlooked this. Consequently, we .find ourselves up against many, rightly called, deficiency diseases and the invasion of numerous parasites. This is undoubtedly the rcsult"of a disturbed mineral balance or a mineral deficiency. In ho .other way can we explain the rapid increase of deficiency diseases, such as sterility, contagious abortion, white scours, etc. For many years we have suffered from a serious mortality in lambs, especially about the time when they commence to feed on the vegetation. Often the deaths have been 20 to 30 per cent. This is caused through the miiA of the ewes "being too rich in butter-fat, and deficient in mineral salts, and the lambs are quite incapable of digesting it. A dressing of lewt. to 2cwt. per aero of potash salts (30 per cent, pure potash) given once every two or three years will restore the deficient mineral salts so necessary to the stock and the •* result will be more than gratifying. Many successful farmers in New Zealand to-day have already proved this and are now using 1 potash regularly.