H—29

Other Diseases.—A type of lameness in pigs, described as foot-rot, is being investigated in the field and at the laboratory. It appears that pigs kept in confinement on concrete are much more susceptible to the disease than pigs that run at pasture. Losses of pigs because of faulty husbandry rather than of any specific disease occur from time to time. Swine Husbandry Pig-meat Production. —In spite of changes in operation of a number of dairy factories during 1947 and 1948 which involved the drying of increasing quantities of skimmed milk and buttermilk, the sow population of the Dominion appears to have reached its lowest figure in 1947 and the number of sows one year old and upward on farms at 31st January, 1948, showed an increase of 416 to 68,354. The decline in sow numbers had been continuous over the previous eleven years. The apparent stabilizing of the sow population indicated a pig-meat production of about the same volume as last year. In all important dairy-farming districts, however, the dairying season has been an outstandingly good one, with the result that food-supplies available for pigs are up by approximately 7-5 per cent, to the end of March as compared with the same period last year. The number of pigs killed in the year ended 31st March, 1949, compared with the previous year is as follows :

Pigs Slaughtered, Twelve Months Ended 31st March (Including Estimated Farm and Rural Slaughterhouse Killings)

The drop in number slaughtered for the season up to 31st March is represented almost entirely by the lower porker kill. This can be taken as a direct reflection of the feed-supply in the two years, the dry autumn in 1947-48 forcing farmers to finish a larger proportion of their pigs as porkers. It is expected that for the meat year ended 30th September the deficiency will be more than made good.

A summary of the sow population and pig-production to 30th September each year over the past seven years is as follows :

Because of a good dairying season, particularly in the earlier months, the higher average weight of pigs killed contributed more to the increase in tonnage than did the increase in number of pigs slaughtered, which was only 0-7 per cent.

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Year. Porkers. Baconers. Choppers. Total. 1948 198,142 437,296 22,585 658,023 1949 189,000 437,332 22,276 648,608

Year. Breedingsows (as at 31st. January). Total Pigs Slaughtered, Year Ended 30th September. Pigs per Sow. Slaughtered as— Porkers, 1 Baconers, I 40-120 lb. j 121-200 lb. | 1 1 Choppers, over 200 lb. Total Weight of Pig-meat in Carcass Form. (Tons). 1942 91,338 925,982 10-1 494,126 397,717 34,139 47,987 1943 81,882 772,744 9-4 321,049 418,943 32,752 44,320 1944 77,300 740,913 9-6 254,126 464,558 22,229 43,251 1945 77,200 681,280 8-8 170,852 489,220 21,208 42,378 1946 72,000 664,275 9-3 256,821 385,782 21,672 38,437 1947 67,938 645,728 9-3 198,631 423,368 23,729 39,491 1948 .. 68,354 650,464 i 9-5 195,903 432,299 22,262 40,384