] our )ial of Agriculture. [lo Jan., 1910. 



crevices to pupate. Logs, bags, or stones in the orchard should be 

 removed as they are favourite hiding places for the moths, and also for 

 the caterpillars to pupate under. Bran mash placed under the tree may 

 be of some use. Caterpillars, if placed together in boxes, devour each 

 other, sucking the contents until only the skin remains. 



SHEEP DIPPINC;. 



//. IT'. Ham, Sheep Expert. 



Generally speaking, undipped sheep, no matter how well and carefully 

 bred they may be, cannot produce fleeces to their fullest natural extent, 

 either from the point of quantity or usefulness. Of course, there is a stage 

 of inferiority of fleece when dipping may not increase its value per lb. in 

 the same wav as with some inferior bred fleece.^ skirting does not always 

 pay. But, with careful and proper dipping, sheep must be \er\- ill-bred in- 

 deed when freedom from parasites does not allow of more wool per head ; 

 further, the extra comfort thus secured means, all else being equal, in- 

 creased ability to put on flesh. 



Farmers owning sheejj with any pretentions at all to good breerling, 

 lose better prices per lb. and an increased yield per head through the sheep 

 not being dipped, and especially in a season such as the one ju.st passing. 

 The better bred the sheep are, the more the advantages of dipping are 

 seen; ill-bred inferior woolled sheep show the least benefits. 



Northern sheep farmers will find dipping more beneficial in preventing 

 the spread of lice than of ticks. Lice is the worst of the two evils. Ticks 

 are not likelv to spread,- or even appear, to any extent, in dry districts; 

 they increase most in wet winters and in timber country, and are more 

 natural to the areas of heavier rainfall. During the early summer, when 

 the wool is short, the heat and dust destroy the young ticks soon after they 

 are hatched. But this is not so with lice. The latter have been prevalent 

 in the northern areas where ticks are seldom seen, and a very small pro- 

 portion of farmers appear to realize the reason for so much wool-plucking 

 and the scraggy and " tippy " appearance of their sheep, especially the 

 lambing ewes. 



Lambs on their mothers are often just as bad in the north, with lice, as 

 the lambs are in the southern districts, with ticks. A lamb irritated with 

 lice and living on the little milk a ewe affected in the same way can give, 

 has little chance oi developing into the type of sheep one would desire. 

 Its chances for export as best quality are certainly poor. Towards the 

 end of winter, lice seem to lessen, and at shearing time the bulk of them are 

 taken off with the fleece. The shortness of the fleece at that time dis- 

 courages the development to any extent of those that remain. About April, 

 however, the mild weather and the additional covering of wool, cause the 

 conditions to be again favourable for them to breed in greater numbers. 

 Poverty is often credited with bringing on these pests; but during the 

 autumii. even when perfectly clean, sheep will be low in condition in any 

 case. It is more correct to say that sheep with lice or ticks at that time 

 must become poorer still. Sheep properly dipped, especially in powder 

 dips, will not breed lice, no matter how poor they become. In some 

 seasons, lice are prevalent in the southern districts also, and shf-ep when 

 verv neglected have both lice and ticks. 



[To be continued.) 



