The Rural Voice, 1980-10, Page 3024 Perth rabies cases confirmed
Cattle rabies in Perth County this
year has been confined to two herds in
South Easthope Township and four herds
in Blanshard Township.
Dr. J. F. McLellan, district veterinar-
ian for Perth County with the Department
of Agriculture, said there's no danger of a
rabies epidemic in the county at this time.
In the early 1970's, the veterinarian
said, there were as many as 75 rabies
cases annually in Perth. In 1980. to date,
there have been 24 confirmed cases of the
disease -in eight cattle in two townships,
as well as a horse in Blanshard and a dog
in South Easthope Township.
The other rabid animals have been
foxes and skunks.
The veterinarian said the disease is
usually spread through bites since the
virus is carried in saliva and must come in
contact with the torn nerve ends of
another animal before being transmitted.
While the disease doesn't have a cure,
there are effective vaccines for dogs and
cats. While there is also a vaccine
available for cattle, it isn't widely used.
Dr. McLellan said, "There would be a
few herds in Perth County where the
vaccine is routinely used, but it's not too
common."
Farmers losing a cow to the disease
receive S500 in compensation from the
government. Since the average cost of a
oow is much higher, Dr. McLellan said
the payment is intended as "an aid to
farmers, not as complete compensation."
New seed plant opened in Chatham
The new Pioneer seed plant at
Chatham was opened by Lorne Hender-
son, Ontario minister of agriculture in the
presence of more than 2.000 visitors.
The Minister said that the new plant
would do much to boost the economy of
the area. Fifty people will be employed
full time, he said, and an additional 100
will work part time. This is without
counting the summer employment of
students for detasseling of corn plants,
which requires 2.000 young people, every
summer.
He told the farmers to be proud of the
role of agriculture in Ontario which adds
$ 4 billion to the economy in cash sales; it
is responsible for 20 per cent of all
employment thtough the work of only
four per cent of the population as a
whole.
Mr. Henderson said that the record
crop of 176 million bushels of corn last
veer is expected to be boosted to 200
million bushels in 1980.
"Corn is vitally important to the
Ontario economy, as its ripple effect
benefits many." the minister said.
He lauded the energy consciousness of
the company which has made provision of
using the spent corn cobs for fuel after a
gasification process.
During the opening, company experts
and scientists from Ridgetown College
were on hand to show field plots of corn
and soyabeans and the advantages of
certain production practices.
Their research showed timing has a
great influence on yield, both in corn and
in soyabeans. Late planted plots
invariably had a lower yield outlook than
the ones planted in the first week of May.
Density of planting also had a bearing,
more so in soyabeans than in corn. At 30
lbs. an acre.the beans stood a foot higher
in the field and had larger pods closer
together than in the plots with a seed
application of 90 lbs. an acre.
The researchers have found that
optimum density for corn is 26.000 plants
an acre•
Soyabeans can stand a lot of abuse.
Even a loss of 50 per cent of the leaves
through a later frost doesn't have any
influence on yield. Don't replant, the
experts counselled.
Ashfield farm family begins
fruit and vegetable outlet
An Ashfield Township family have
opened a new outlet called Kings View
Farms in the Kingsbridge area.
Clete and Mary Louise Dalton and their
four children started selling vegetables
from their farm this summer, and
eventually plan to expand the business to
include a variety of vegetables and some
fruit.
By the end of August, Clete Dalton said
the family had sold about a thousand
dozen cobs of corn, the vegetable that
seemed to be most in demand.
Other produce the family are
marketing includes tomatoes, potatoes,
peppers, beets and cucumbers.
Next spring, the family will also have
several acres of strawberries for sale.
Mr. Dalton said his business will cater
to cottagers in the area who don't have
time to plant and look after gardens of
their own. To meet this demand, the
farmer said his 1981 selling season will
begin sometime in June and last until
September.
New U.C.O. mil! opens at Wingham
The new United Co-operatives of
Ontario (UCO) mill which opened in
Wingham recently, a twin to the
Peterborough mill, brings to five the
number of UCO mills in the province.
• Special features of the Wingham Feed
Mill include a fully -automated system,
which will be operated by a staff of seven
people.
The mill's manager is Bill Cummings,
formerly of Guelph.
The opening day ceremonies, held on
Sept. 4, included tours of the mill,
information sessions on the services the
mill provides and a pork barbecue.
The information sessions included
discussions of flaked feed, dairy and sow
management and starting feed for beef
cattle.
Guests at the opening ceremony
included Wingham mayor William
Walden, Turnberry Township reeve
Brian McBurney,and Ron McNeil, parli-
amentary assistant to Lorne Henderson,
provincial agriculture minister.
THE RURAL VOICE/OCTOBER 1980 PG. 29