216 Journal of the Department of Agriculture. — Sept., 1922. 



Maize, Sunflower, Sorghum, and Sudan Grass for Fodder. — An 



experiment was laid down in the past season to ascertain the compara- 

 tive value of these crops in this semi-arid area for fodder purposes. 

 Owing to the deficiency of the rainfall, none of the four reached 

 proper maturity, and most of them had to be cut before properly 

 mature, in order to prevent them dying from drought. The sunflowers 

 made good early growth, and looked well in January, but they 

 suffered much more from the lack of water than the other three. The 

 Sudan grass plots, though interspersed with the others, were eaten oft 

 down to the ground by locusts, while the maize, sunflowers, and 

 sororhums were practically untouched. Consequently, as far as the 

 Sudan grass is concerned, no fair comparison can be made. Taking 

 the yield of maize as 100 per cent., the yield of sorghum was 83 

 per cent, and of the sunflowers 66 per cent. This experiment needs 

 to be repeated for confirmation or otherwise of these results. 



Maize Varieties for Fodder Purposes. — The order of merit for 

 fodder purposes of the three varieties tried was as follows : (1) Yellow 

 Cango, (2) Natal Eight-row, and (3) Chester County. Early in the 

 season the Chester County looked the best, but it suffered much more 

 from drought than the other two, and ended up by being last. 



Lice on Pigs. — Pigs are often troubled with a species of louse 

 commonly known as the pig-louse (Haematopimis suis). This species 

 is an active blood-sucker, and is among the largest of lice, measur- 

 ing one-fifth inch in length. It is a flat, oval insect, with a long 

 narrow head, and its legs end in long claws, which enable it to move 

 rapidly among the bristles of the pig. The pig-louse spends its entire 

 life on the body of the host, and attaches its eggs or " nits " to the 

 bristles. While it may occur on all parts of the body, the favourite 

 spots are within the ears, behind and in front of the ears, on the 

 breast, and in the armpits. 



Eor the destruction of these parasites, dipping, spraying, or 

 hand-dressing may be resorted to. Dipping is usually more conveni- 

 ent in the case of young pigs, and spraying for adult ones. Various 

 substances may be used as dips or sprays. Smythe recommends 

 Jeyes' fluid, diluted 1:60 with water. Other substances are creolin 

 (5 per cent, solution), and nicotine extracts, diluted according to the 

 directions of the man-ufacturers. Treatment should be repeated after 

 about a week, in order to destroy lice that may hatch out from 

 remaining eggs. The sleeping quarters of pigs should be thoroughly 

 cleaned and disinfected at the same time as dipping or spraying 

 takes place. For hand-dressing, the parts infected with nits and lice 

 may be rubbed with a cloth soaked in paraffin or a mixture of paraffin 

 and linseed oil (1:1). An ointment prepared by thoroughly mixing 

 equal quantities of paraffin, sulphur, and lard is also effective. 



If the pigs are running in enclosed camps a little crude oil, 

 sufficient to form a thin layer on top of the water, may be poured 

 into the wallow about every ten days. American pig farmers find 

 this a useful method of checking lice on pigs. Another method is 

 to tie a sack or other coarse cloth around a post at a proper height, 

 so that the pigs may nib against it; the sack is periodicaUy satur^ited 

 with crude oil. 



