Oct. 2, 1920.] Agricultural Gazette of .Y./S^.TF. 725 



Safeguarding Farm Stock from Disease* 



(3) By Correct Feeding. 



MAX HENRY, M.R.C.V..S., B.V.So. 



Under this heading correct methods of feeding and the use of suitable 

 feeding materials are to be included, as both have a very important bearing 

 on the health of stock, and their influence has been very markedly emphasised 

 during the late drought. 



The study of dietetics is only in its infancy in this country and has not yet 

 assumed its true position of importance, but it will, like the question of good 

 hygiene, come more and more to the front as the country becomes settled. 

 There is, and always will be, much opportunity for the veterinarian to effect 

 an economic saving of no mean importance by giving advice on matters which 

 have already been worked out, and by research into new methods and the 

 adaptation of hitherto unused sources of food supply to the conditions of stock- 

 raising in this State. Scientific feeding is economic feeding with all classes of 

 animals ; its neglect here is due to tlie fact that the vast majority of our 

 stock has been, and still is, entirely paddock fed This state of affairs is 

 steadily passing away'; and with the continued cutting up of large estates, 

 the extension of mixed farming and irrigation, and more intense working of 

 the land, it will become more and more necessary to hand-feed stock of all 

 descriptions, except, of course, in those areas of the State which will for very 

 many years, and probably for all time, remain in large holdings. 



This change of conditions does not only apply to large stock but also to 

 sheep, which, if not hand-fed, will in the future be grazed by methods very 

 different from those at present employed. These methods will approximate 

 more and more to those existing in Europe and will involve a greater sub- 

 division of farms, the growing of crops solely to be fed-off by sheep, and the 

 feeding-off of several small paddocks in rotation in place of one or two large 

 ones. 



In these articles the principles which should govern the feeding of each 

 class of stock are briefly referred to, but no attempt is made to go deeply into 

 the chemical composition of feed or to adjust too nicely the balance of the 

 different food constituents required. The various diseases which are 

 commonly associated with errors in feeding are indicated, together with the 

 measures to be adopted to prevent these conditions. 



The Value of Foodstuffs. 

 It may be well to point out that undue reliance mu.st not be placed on 

 chemical analysis only in estimating the value of a food, and that the 

 nutritive values ascribed to various foodstuffs solely on that basis are liable 



