STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES,

Otago Witness, Volume 11, Issue 2280, 11 November 1897, Page 6

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES,

By Djkovek.

Weekly Stock Sales : Invercargill, Tuesdays Burnside, Wednesdays Monthly: Ashburton, Tuesdays Clinton, Palmerston, Addmgton.Weduesdays and Winton. Fcrtnightly: Periodically : Balclutha, Fridays Heriot, Kelso, and Kye Gore, Tuesdays | bum. Oamaru, Tuesdays. |

[Goraiuusioatlons or interest ts stockbreeders and dealers are cordiallj invited. All Jommuuications to reach Witness office not later than Monday mght,l Lasb week I' rematbed that I thought fat cattle would maintain their price provided there was not an over supply yarded at any sale, and I ste no reason to alter my opinion for although last week's sale shows a fall in price, ib was solely due to the 1 quantity being large. The yarding consisted of 240 head' Still, prices were good taking this into consideration, good beef being sold at fully 20 j per 1001b. Best bullocks brought £8 to £10, a few txtra prime up to £lt ; medium, £6 10s to £7, and some light beasts £5 to £6. Some of the yardingcame, it wss said, from the North Island, and local graziers growled a little tt these coming to spoil their market. I«m informed, however, thai; these cattle cams from Ak&ros, and not from the North Island, and were, of course, prime Canterbury. I don't; think that we shall be troubled down here with North i Island cattle, as the expense of transit to,lhi» marktt is too hfavy to make the businesi payable. A good many outside buyers were present, imSioating that in the meantime beef is by no means in over supply throughoub the country. The yarding of fat sheep was about 2300, and considering that there was practically no buying for export, and that only 'butchers wer c operating, prices were fairly maintained, although lower than those of the previous week Prime heavy wethers brought 15s to 16s ; good 13s to l*s ; prime ewes, 14s to 15s ; medium ewes and wethcrp, lla to 13s. The yarding of lambs wfcs small— I£o — and prices for best ranged frcm 9a to 10s 6d, but a large portion, being small, went at 6a to Bs. The local demand for lamb is by no means as strong as I have seen it. Nothing sells well except prime. Afc Addir-gtor/iast week the sale was a double market in view of "the annual carnival this week. Usually this is a big sale, and in past years prices have boomed, buyers competing to show ■what they can do in the way of bidding up. This year it was not so, and although tha yardiDg was moderate prices were ea^y&H round. About 700 lambs were yarded, mestly light weight?, *nd in backward condition. Best I brought 10s (o 11s 6J ; medium, 8s to 9* , light f j 58 to 7s. Prime shorn wethers brought 10j to j 12s 6d ; medium were in heavy supply, and sold j at 7s 6d to 9s 6d. | In Canterbury the market for both stcre j ehcep and cattle is very quiet, and very little ! bueiness is passing. Feed prospects are not as j yeb what one would wish, and gra3B is more backward than usual. In the grain market nob a great deal has been doiDg, but wheat continues to maintain a firm acd upward tendency. Oats have meantime a small demand, and prices have weakened, as ; several holders seem anxious to quit. In my j opinion there is no need for any lowering of prices, as there will be a good outlet during the aexb three months probably for what rtmains in hand. Some weeks ago Australians 'were jubilant at the prospects of the harvest ; bub it seems now from latest advices that in Victoria and South Australia the crop prospects are far from good. New South Wales seems in a better position than her sister colouies ; but even there the prospects are more doubtful than they were. Pigs of all sorts maintain tbeir price, and \ the supply of store p ; g8 is not equal to the demand. I hear that Mr MacEwan'a contemplated venture in pig feeding ab the Mataura Dairy Factory will not be proceeded with this year, as store pigs are not to be gob at vrbAfc ate ceuttdeced pay«Jule CftfciA. 1 fitt U9

j prcspecb yet of an export trade in pork, as before we enter on ib supplies must be larger and values much more moderate than at present. The business, in fact, must be done on a larger scale, and on different lines. Our Australian export trade will probably absorb all the* bacon pigs wa can produce, but thab, market is a limited one, and without a. regular export trade with Britain is established the quantity of bacon pigs ready shortly may be in excef s of requircinentp, acd then history will repeat itself — prices will fall and farmers will agaiu say that pigs don't pay. There can be no question that pig-farm-ing will never be a business until we have established a regular export trade with Britain. Nei f ber the dairy industry n.or the frczeu mutton trade would be worth geueral attention but for the British export trade, and the s&noe principe that rules theee holds good as regards pigs. Uutil we have a regular export trade the business wiil be fitful and uLccrbain, as in bhe past. Advices from Australia inform me that at the end of October the butter exported ftosn Sydney was 4000 boxes weekly and from Melbourne 16,000 boxes', with supplies increawng rapidly. This, however, is by no me&ns < qual to the previou.3 year's export. 'I he seasou is late, and ib is said that supplies will yet be beavy. We~shall see later "on. My own opinion is that the Australian, output of butter will not be as large ss in previous seasons. From Londo •>"! Glasgow the advices under date Octob. r . regarding cheese are nob ciuering, and the English make is reported at 40 per cent, over that of the previous year. ' Had trade continued good this would not have greatly affected the market, as last year both the English and Canadian make were considerably short. If the strike at Home were once settled I (should look for a change for the better. on 'the same date, a London firm says : " Butler is in large Bupply, and drooping in value. No lees tfcau 2500 tons more were imported into the United Kingdom in SaptemLer than in the corresponding month of tha previous year. E?ery inch of cold fctore is in use, and, if Victoria and New South Wales with New Zealand have a fair season prices will rule lower than last year." As I don't think Australian supplies will be heavy on the whole this season, '1 am more hopeful regarding butter, and late cables indicate an improvement. A Glasgow firm write hopefully of the butter market, and look for good prices in January and February, provided cold weather sets in, of which there were indications at the time of writing. I rf gret to hear that the quality of a great many shipments of tinned rabbits sent Home last season is adversely reported on. I fear thab the> tinning trade suffered from the froz n rabbit trade in haviug only poor and perhaps stale rabbits to deal with. These inferior shipments have bad a most disastrous efftcb en the market. Manufacturers', if not able to pub up firstclass gcoJe, should let the business alone. In tiuned goods generally New Zealand is far behind other colonies, which is nob creditable. We have, I kaow, name companies — such as Irvine and Stevenson, for example— that pub up first-class gocd.», bub all suffer from the bad shipments, »s through them the name New Zenland becomes a trade term for second or inferior quality. When we have & proper scheme for the inspection and grading of meat tinned goods should also undergo inspection. Mr Bcuce, chief inspector of sbeck in New South W*le/«, considers that racing as now conducted has much to answer for in the deterioration of Australian horses. He advocates weigh t-for-»ge racing and the abolition of two-year-old raciDg. Racing, he says, is nob needed to improve the breed of horses, while pony racing and trotting have a still worse effecb. The horses sent to India from Australia for the army have proved very unsatisfactory, and it is a reflection on New Zealand and Australia that the British Government have now to turn to South America and other places for the large supplies of horses required for India. Tae trade to ba done now in supplying the Indian army is worth a struggle to secure, and the dtmaid must increase. With care and attention I am confident New Zealand farmers could profitably provide suitable horses, and we should try to do ib. Mesars Woddel and Co. in their interesting "Aus'ralasian Dtiry Produce Review for Season 1886 1" remark:— "Of every 1001b of butter, consumed, in tbe Uuited Kingdom 541b

was imported in 1896 ; of every 1001b, 651b was imported in 1897." As there is every probability of this power of absorption continuing in an unabated degree, the Australian colonies may look forward with confidence to their future in the British markets. The New Zealand increase in butter export was 580 tons more than the previous year, and 784- tons more than the. year before. Queensland commenced its export trade with 60 tons of very fine butter. Argentina, instead of increasing her exports, stood still. This is, however, no guarantee that she will not yefc become a formidable opponent. As to quality, the report says there has been on the whole an improvement over all previous years. This applies especially to New Zealand and New South Wales butter. There are still complaints of the fishy flavour in Victorian samples, due, it is supposed, to the hot weather and drought, and pasteurisation is strongly advocated as a remedy. New South Wales is said to have made the best advar.ee in quality, two very large factories having had much to do in raising the reputation of that colony.

Regularity of supplies is strongly advocated, and I regret to say that for this season I see very little hope of improvement in this connection so far as New Zealand is concerned. Indeed it appears that we shall be worse off in this respect than before. Until absolute regularity of supplies is assured we are s&verely handicapped, as buyers of our produce have no BS»urs.nce that they will get whit they want and go for what is assured and certain iv preference.

In reference to cheese, Messrs Weddelsay the only Australasian colony exporting was New Zealand, with 2755 ton?, or about 1000 tons less than the previous year. Ou the whole, though the quality of * New Zealand cheese naß better than in the previous season, the improvement was not so great as was expected, a fact probably due to cheese being sent forward in a somewhat immature condition to catch the market, the article arriving not thoroughly ripe. Messrs Weddel do not consider the prospects of the coming season's cheese trade too favourable Iv ail the cheese-making countries in the Northern Hemisphere a larger make ii anticipated than last year, and it is only reasonable to expect lower values.

The lonic took from Wellington 17,000 boxes batter, bnfc no cheese. Some 70 tons of cheese were awaiting shipment, bub greatly to t the disgust of tbe Cauterbury and North Island producers it was shut out, there not being a sufficient quantity to fill » chamber.