Digest

Pacific

Planters '

Poisonous Weeds

IT is always worth remembering that while a weed may be poisonous in one country, it can quite easily be harmless in another.

And again, the toxicity of the plant can vary under different conditions even in the same country.

Some plants are toxic when they are young only. Noogoora burr is an example as it is toxic in the two-leaf stage only. Other plants become toxic when they are mature or flower ing, others when they are withered or dried.

A period of drought often results in the strength of the poison in a plant. Johnson grass has been found in some countries to become poison ous if it is young and it becomes stunted in growth due to drought.

Crowsfoot grass can give the same type of poisoning if there is rapid young growth following a dry spell.

Even though a plant is considered poisonous it is rarely the entire plant which is toxic. Dumb Dane, for instance, is harmless except for the sap and in many others only the seeds are dangerous.

Soil governs to a great extent the amount of poison a plant has in it.

Lantana will be more poisonous in some areas than in others.

Most poisonous plants are bitter and unpleasant for the animal to eat so there is little to fear while stock feed on good pastures and in familiar country. However, an animal moved to a new place where there are many unfamiliar poisonous weeds, and there is insufficient grass, can well become poisoned.

Poor pasture is the usual cause of plant poisoning, the animal eating the harmful plant through hunger.

It is thus easy to see why animal poisoning is more common after drought.

Some plants are so poisonous they cause death or trouble after only a small amount has been eaten.

Examples of these are Star of Bethlehem and rattlepod.

In more usual cases the animal must eat a good deal of the poisonous weed over a period of time before symptoms appear. Most poisonous

weeds are not harmful if a little bit is eaten over a long period.

The presence of a few poisonous weeds in a paddock is no cause for alarm. But, plant poisoning should be considered if the animal becomes sick in an area where the grass is poor because of heavy weed infesta tion, drought or poor soil.

Veterinary advice is best where plant poisoning is suggested.

But here is a rough guide to the symptoms: Severe diarrhoea often with blood and also vomiting and evidence of pain. Slobbering, which is often accompanied by other symptoms such as tremors. Slobbering may occur if an irritant plant has been eaten, in which case no other symptoms appear and there may be blisters in the mouth. Dumb Dane can act as such an irritant. Nervous disorders which can show up as twitching and be followed by circling, tremors or lameness. These may lead to tetanus-like spasms, paralysis, bloat and death.

In some islands of the Pacific sunburn is the commonest result of plant poisoning. It can be caused by

See your vet.

lantana, and because of liver damage the animal’s skin goes hard and cracked, becomes sunburnt, and causes the animals much distress.

Sudden death can be caused by such plants as castor bean, rattlepod, Noogoora burr, thorn apple.

It must be stressed that advice from a vet. should be sought because of the danger of confusing plant poisoning symptoms with those of other diseases.

And veterinary assistance will be necessary to determine treatment for plant poisoning, as it varies according to the plant causing the trouble.

For common lantana poisoning, keep the animals in the shade, and dose with Epsom salts —i lb for one year old cattle, \ lb for two year olds, 1 lb for cows and li lbs for bullocks. Mix the salts with two pints of water and force the animal to drink it. Call the vet.

The best cure for all types of poisoning is prevention. Eradicate any poisonous weeds you know of.

Pasture Improvement

In The Islands

AN old saying of cattlemen is “half the breeding goes down the throat”, which in effect means, no matter how good the stock, it is finally only as good as the feed provided allows it to be.

Pasture improvement continues to expand in most progressive Pacific territories, for it is becoming plain everywhere that there is value in taking steps to get more nutritious fodder from the field.

Pasture improvement also means an appreciable rise in soil fertility level and improved soil moisture con ditions and erosion control. The economic advantage of the land’s increased carrying capacity is obvious.

Aiming to increase carrying capa city through pasture improvement is the first aim of many farmers, yet this should be not the first, but the eventual aim.

Even while the pasture develop ment programme is under way, results can be expected in the way of increased production, but at the same time no increase in stock numbers is really practicable at this stage.

With the sowing of better species, fertilisation and pasture management, the number of stock carried can be increased, on the average by 50 to 200 per cent., or perhaps more.

When planning to improve pastures, it must be remembered that profitable stock nutrition means a

proper balance between grasses and legumes. Legumes, as a class, are richer in protein and mineral content than grasses, and by adjusting the proportion of grasses and legumes in a pasture a balanced ration may be obtained.

Nitrogenous foodstuffs are very necessary to growing animals, and those producing meat and milk, and these foodstuffs are easily and cheaply fed as legumes.

Neither legumes alone, nor grasses alone, form an ideal pasture. An ideal pasture should contain roughly 60 per cent, grass and 40 per cent. legumes.

Present natural pastures can be improved without the introduction of

better grasses or the application of fertilisers by using legumes capable of supplying a reasonable amount of high quality feed while thriving on relatively poor soils. An example of this is the introduction of such legumes as Townsville lucerne and Brazilian lucerne into existing pad docks of Nadi blue, Batiki blue, Guinea grass, etc.

Improvement in this manner does not provide the greatest possible gross return from a given area of land, but it will considerably increase the quality of the native pasture, and may possibly be the more economical method where finance is a major consideration, The usual method is thorough

Pastures to use

cultivation, followed by plantings of superior species of grasses and the legumes which combine best with the grass used. The use of fertilisers at planting is recommended, and in oculation of the legume seed is es sential.

For Fiji, Congo grass, Signal grass and Koronivia grass with such legumes as Glycine, Centro, Wina, and Peruvian Vaivai are suggested.

The most successful pastures in New Guinea might be Guinea grass, Elephant grass, or in the wetter areas —Nora grass, combined with Siratro, Peuraria, or Calapo.

Pastures should be top dressed regularly with fertiliser and in the early years of pasture establishment annual dressings are desirable. The top dressing means a greater amount of protein being available because growth of leguminous plants is as sisted. The grazing period is length ened and while grass growth is assisted weed growth is discouraged.

When to fertilise

The time for applying fertiliser is of great importance. Application at the correct time means that the full benefit from the soluble plant food in the superphosphate will be obtained in the shortest possible time; ap plication at the wrong time results in far too gradual improvement.

Results depend, in the long run, on the rainfall following application.

In planning pasture improvement there is no consideration more im portant than provision of adequate subdivision for the proposed pasture areas. In its absence, control of grazing and the spelling of pastures for seeding and other purposes will be impossible.

The improvement programme should be carefully planned, bearing in mind the availability of funds, the present amount of labour and equip ment and the immediate and final objectives of the programme.

One common error is to begin pasture improvement on the poorest land within the property. Under all circumstances, the areas which will respond most readily to improvement should be the first to be improved.

More nutritious feed will be avail able quicker and this will result, naturally, in quicker returns on the money invested.

If in doubt contact the local staff of your Department of Agriculture.