FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 112, 27 September 1912, Page 8

FARM AND DAIRY.

EOT EL IKS IN' HOUSES. A veterinary Mirgeon, wrhiiig to (lie Mark Earn; Express in reference to the bot-fly trouble, remarks that preventing j egg-laying while the horse is at grass in , the summer is by no means an easy matter, because all'fly deterrents are nasty, and evanescent in their action. Odorous or nauseous substances recommended as preventive measures against the action of tin- dipiera soon lose their clTcet. and require to be constantly renewed. Perhaps the 'best plan of avoiding the attention of the fly is to closely clip away all the long hairs from under the. jaws, and around" the knees, arms, elbows and ! shoulders, keep the horse frequently and attentively groomed, and wipe the. parts over every day with a .paraffin oil rag. This need not be generally applied,'but localised on the regions of the body which are most exposed to attack. Singeing is the best way to keep down the long hairs on which the fly deposits its eggs, which are retained "by means of a viscid matter that is deposited with them. Any eggs deposited on parts of (the horse within easy reach of the j tongue should be promptly destroyed by I singeing. The hundreds of little white bodies seen on horses running at grasf throughout the summer are mostly •empty shells, and promptitude is essential to preventing the larvae reaching the stomach. The eggs are hatched in a few days, and the larv.ae are introduced into the digestive apparatus by the liorse licking the part where the larvae, crawling on the skin, cause a slight itching. Egglaying and "bat" infestation of horses running out in summer cannot be prevented without a good deal of trouble. Sponging with a decoction of walnut leaves, or a maceration of them in vinegar, is said to be a fly deterrent; but we know of nothing better than keeping the hair short about the parts selected by the fly for depositing its ova, and an .occasional wipe with a paraffin rag.

TUBERCULOSIS. j j As an object lesson in tuberculosis, Mr. Mux Henry, M.R.C.V.S., New South .Wales Government Veterinary Surgeon,' reports an instance in which a number iof apparently healthy calves re--1 acted to the tuberculosis test, which calves, when post-mortemed, were all ■found to be affected, some to a; considerable extent. One was affected on the ! pleura, in the lungs, and in the bronchial and mediastinal glands; and the others |in the mesenteric lymphatic glands. This is one of the methods ih> which Inber.ralih can be of the greatest service. Had these calves not been tested before being- turned out with the other young cuttle, the chances are,tha* they would have acted as distributors of the 'disease sooner or later; Mr. Henry adds: "One of the most economical method's of dealing with tuberculosis is undoubtedly to test the calves as they come off the bucket and before they are put out into, the paddocks, as in this way the fanner , would' be continually reinforcing Ms herd with healthy stock. For there is no doubt that a very fair percentage of ani-mals-'become affected withV tuberculosis while- they are 3*lll' calves, but show no symptoms for years after, although all the time they may act to » greater or lew. extent as- centres of infection. The loss sustained by killing any calves which reacted would' be far le&a thaw that sustained by killing adult cattle:"'

DEHOKJEEN© botes; ■I Encounters with bulls ore fch.e road or ' !'in the paddock, along with- B motor smashes and upset 'Boats, provide much , material for alleged humorous black and write artists. Mr., Primrose McCon•nelll director of. one of the- GeTernmeai ■farms, treats the subject quite seriously. In an article on dehorning, in the Government Agricultural Journal he affirms jth'at "the loss of life caused by attacks ifrom horned' bulfe is, I am aure, greater than we realise; and anyone who, like ,the writer,, has been for a few minutes 'at the mercy of a bull's horns is not jlikely to hesitate in the matter of dehorning. In Ayrshire, many fatal cases have occurred to my knowledge, not to 'sjeak. o£ itumeiroua eases. *f Serious and 'permanent injury, and yet the Ayrshire breeder continues to supply his stock with the most up-to-date means of destruction in the shape of horns."

' A settler in the Bay of Plenty recently netted £250 from one acre of onions. He took forty tons of the vegetable from ,2'/o acres of land. A sheep farmer on Banks Peninsula has already had a return of 140 per cent, of lambs. Five hundred wethers are now being fed on a very fine field of mangolds on the State Farm at Weraroa, and a draft from these was offered at the last Levin stock sales and topped the market at '26s. fid. This is interesting information, , inasmuch as mangolds are not generally looked upon as a favorable crop for , feeding fat stock to, but the present case speaks for itself. No loss has occurred through stock being fed to this crop on the State Farm, though it is reported that a large number of deaths have occurred on farms where mangolds have been fed. The entire world seems to be fighting for supremacy in the British markets. The latest mail from Moscow brings an account of a dairy started at Biesk, in Siberia, for the manufacture of "Cheshire" cheese under the supervision of an English expert. Excellent results r are said to nave been attained and the farmers' association promoting the enterprise proposes to establish twenty large dairy farms with an annual output of some 16,000 tons, o.f the . value of £700,000 to £BOO,OOO. This year an i experimental consignment of forty tons I will T)e sent to London. ■ •

Argentine lambs, says the London correspondent ot the Pustoralists' Review, are improving- in quality, and the opinion of Smithfield men is that they will work out at a standard superior to the average Australian lambs, though inferior to the best brands, and that they will arrive at a position between New Zealand and Australian.