FACIAL ECZEMA

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20493, 9 May 1938, Page 9

FACIAL ECZEMA

EFFECT ON PRODUCTION FARMING METHODS INVOLVED DEPARTMENT CRITICISED (Written for the Times) Thirty years ago—ln 1908—Dr. Gilruth, then Director-General of Agriculture, contributed his observations on an attack of facial eczema in New Zealand. It was no new complaint then—some farmers remember an attack 50 years ago- In 1935 we had a severe attack In the Waikato. It Is known that at that time some farmers lost as many as 1500 ewes. Three years have intervened and the Department of Agriculture cannot be credited with having taken any steps whatsoever to investigate either* the eause of the disease or its treatment. Because the South African veterinary service has been unable to trace the cause of the disease there, through grazing on native pasture grasses, is surely no reason why investigations should not have been made Int,.* the Incidence of the disease In Ne*v Zealand on purely English grasses All that the department ran claim is that in the Journal of Agriculture of February of this year 1 it advised that green feed should he fed during drought periods and fibrous feed during times of succulent growth. Trusting to au average Waikato season practically no farmers could possibly be In a position to do either—lndeed to do so would mean a complete revolution in the close-grazing practice which has been so successfully evolved in the Waikato during the past fifteen years. State of Bewilderment After the commencement of the outbreak towards the end of February in this year, the farming community had so little information at their disposal as to the cause of the disease that they were in a complete state of bewilderment. With no advice from the Department they had recourse to check up with one another their experiences of how the outbreak started on their several farms. Causes of the outbreak were suggested on all hands, but for a whole month every theory put up could be immediately discounted. Is it any wonder then that “drug merchants” were able to contribute their quota to the bewilderment by putting up all sorts of cures which for the most part contributed to the misery of the animals. Many experienced sheep-farmers assert, after having doctored and nursed their sheep for the past two months, that they would have been better off had they sent all their sheep to the freezing wf.rks at the outset of the disease. Perhaps they are right and they may do so immediately at the commencement of the next outbreak if the department does not realise that it Is its duty to protect the primary industries with information and advice, even if it has to collaborate with all the research officers in New Zealand, and bring down a recommendation that the farming practice in the Waikato—and possibly elsewhere—has to be completely re-organised. Close-grazing Methods The experience of the 1935 and 1938 outbreaks has been exceedingly hard on some who have built their farms up to a high carrying capacity and their losses have been so severe that they no longer feel safe In continuing with the close-grazing farming methods. Their alternative Is a curtailment of their top-dressing expenditure and a reduction of their sheep flocks by possibly one-third. It is easy to visualise how that will affect individual farmers and the community, but it is difficult to estimate its exact application to individuals in many walks of life. We have all been so accustomed to see the production in the district steadily increasing that we have been building on it. It will be more difficult for the community to pay its way on a lowered production 1 The Department of Agriculture, no doubt, has an intricate problem to face in the cause of this disease, but that cannot be any excuse for the delay in sending research officers to investigate the outbreak when it was at its height. The outbreak started In the Waikato towards the end of February. It was at its worst in the beginning of April under tropical conditions which are seldom experienced in New: Zealand —yet the opportunity passed. Delayed Action An investigating staff has commenced its work about ten weeks after the commencement of the outbreak and at a time when, evidently as a result of colder weather conditions, th#» disease seems to be easing off. Tim official statement reads that an officer of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has been detailed to assist the Department of Agriculture; surely this catastrophe to the farming industry Is of sufficient importance to warrant the co-opting of every research officer in the Government service who can be of any assistance in regard to the soil and plant problems. That there has been the need for mass meetings of farmers to secure some action, points to the necessity for a treneral livening up of the department and a closer co-operation between it and the Research Department in keeping abreast of the problems which arise in up-to-date farming methods.