STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2722, 16 May 1906, Page 7

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

■Weekly Stock Salts : I Fortnight'!/ ■ Burnside, Wednesdays 1 Invercargi 1, Tuesdays Aihburton, Tuesday* j jicnthty ■ Ad'iinjrton.Wednesdaya pp a l mer^«n Fortnightly .- Wiatop, and Wai Balclutha, Fridays kouaiti. Gpre. Tuesday* JWioduxlk : O»niaru, Tuesdays Heiiot, Kelsc, and Kyeburn.

About 170 head of cattle were yarded at Bjirnside last week. A very inferior lot on the whole — a sort of clearing sale befoje the winter. A feY gocd bullocks brought £8 to £9; medium, about £7; light. £4to £5. Cows and heifers, mostly inferior, ranged from £1 10s to £4 10s There is

good demand for prime beef, which is scarce ; but inferior to medium are in heavy supply, and hard to sell.

About 1700 sheep were yarded, mostly aged ewes and medium to inferior wathers. A few prime wethers brought 20s to 22s ; gcod, 17s to 18s; medium. 12s to 13s ; good to prime ewes, 14s to 17b 6d ; medium, about 9s; inferior, 4s to ss.

About 1100 lambs wore yarded, many inferior and unfinished among them. Free-zing buyers bid 16= to 18s for prime. Good sold at 14s to l&s ; medium, about 12s; inferior, 7s lo Bs. Competition among export buyers was keen for all lambs from medium to prime at all suitable for freezing.

At Addington last week prime 6heip Bcld at better prices than the prcwous week, but not much better than Burnside rates. There was a largo entry of lambs, and competition , for all sort?, more especially primest, was exceptionally keen. Prime heavy- lambs- or tege sold at 10s to 18s od ; lighter, 14s to 15s. Store sheep sold well. About 5000 were yarded. Forward wethers were tuost in demand, and prices showed ■an advance •of about 1b per head, while other classes sold well up to late rates. Forward wethers made 16s to 16s lid ; Others, lls 9d to 14s 7d; forward lambs, 10s 9d to 12s lid ; others,- 9s to 10s 6d.

Whilst prices of frozen nrntfon and lamb are apparently rising in New Zealand, tho reverse continues to be the ease in Lon-' don. "Tussock," of the Oantr-rbury Times, makes iho following note dealing with tl-is peculiar situation, and I agree with him : — "There is no doubt the high price of wool is buoying up the local market agaiiut the continued fall in prices and bad prospects for lambs in London, and it is a unique feature of the present season that wool firms have bought lambs largely, as well as a considerable quantify of sheep, the scarcity of wool being the incentive. The wool buyers are following the opposite CGurss to that taken by most of the farmerexporters, tho former selling the meat and shipping the wool, while the latter sold the skins and shipped tho neat. The present prospects are that tho former will obtain the better results."

The shipments of frozen meat in April from New Zealand were 221,802 sheep and 478,097 lambs. All the freezing works in the South Island are going at top speed. Islington broke the record in April, turning out in one month 123,000 carcases. May shipments will be heavy— probably 200,000 cheep and 400,000 lambs, — and. the amount of stock on, turnips hi Canterbury now iwill keep shipments at a high level in June and later.- Probably- shipments will be as largo as_ ever this season, although it was not anticipated that such would be the case. I watch for the result on tLo Ziondon market with interest.

"Tussock" also *nakes the following interesting remarks re the sheep coming to the Canterbury saleyards, which is woith noting, I think, as a feature of the enhanced value of wool:— "There ia little

cause for complaint this season of daggy sheep. Many of the ewes and lambs which come to the ealeyards have been crutched over the whole of the breech, thighs, aud belly — in some cases quite one-third of the fleece has been taken off. The high price of wool, and not any consideration for the animals, has oaueed this severe 'crutching.' It is said that over 2s «. hoad has been made by tome farmers and dealers for crutchings."

The last shipment of cheese for LonJon leaves the Bluff this wc?k for the s.s. lonic at Wellington, consisting of about 800 cases of cheese. About another 150 go fiom Dunedin. Cheese shipments this searon constitute a record, and prices paid to factories also. In making up balance sheets factories should lay by a good sum for reserve fund and for improvements in their factories. A good year like this offere an opportunity which other years may not offer. I would like to se& this course adopted, but I know directors of factories have great difficulty in persuading shareholders and milk-suppliers to adopt this course. Many of them, cad to say. would like to milk the factory dry as well as the cows. It's a bad policy, however.

The Melbourne Age is a strong supporter of Government grading, and thu6 deals with the -subject: — "At one time Victorian butter consistenrly realised 2s per cwt more than the New Zealand product. As a res-ult of investigation, the New Zealand Government adopted a compulsory grading system, which came into force in 1895. Tho quality improved, and the prices obtained soon equalled those* of Victorian butter. However, they did not stop there, but advanced till they aro now regularly quoted 3s in advance. The case quoted in Saturday's cablegram of Victorian firstgrade butter being worth only 82s ter owt as against 99s to 100s for New Zea3and, is, of course, exceptional ; but the fact stands out that since the adoption of compulsory grading the value of New Zealand butter has been increased by over £85,000 annually."

There is another reason the Age might have noted for the deterioration of Victorian butt-er whilst New Zealand has improved — viz.. that "Victoria has welcomed the home separator as a supply to factories, whereas New Zealand factories in the main have tabooed home separation, and rightly. Years a<?o one of the best dairy experts in Victoria told me that ho accounted fcr the deterioration by the increase of home separation. In Victoria some of the leading butter exporters and buyers are agents for these small separators and to sell separators was more profitable to them than conserving the real interest of the dairy industry. To force feales they buy this liomo-^eparated butter, but I don't think IF ey hold it — in fact, I am suro they <Jon"t ; they know- too much for that, — and they sell it as factory butoer of primest quality to London buyers, among whom there Pie as soft people as can be met The results are disastrous to the p">od name of Victorian butter, and the whole industry suffers.

I notice Mr Thornton, at Auckland has said that home-separated cr3am should bo pasteurised. I prefer doing away with home separation — that is, as a. supply to any well-regulated factory. Pasteurising to encourage such en evil as home separation is a mistake.

Tho supply of dairy produce in AueIralia keep? up in all the States. Queensland especially, and they arp exports to London. Messrs Sandford and Co., of Adelaide, write under date May 1: DAIRY PRODUCE. It is seldom at this time of the year that Australia, has such substantial quantities of butters available for export, for with the approach of winter the natural shrinkage takes place ; but quit* the opposite is now being experienced, the surplus in New South "Wales and Victoria actually increasing, and from tho States named it is expected there will be continuous shipments to the- Old Country right up to the next flush, so that while such circumstances exist va!uee are weak. However, in South Australia a much better tone in the butter market prevailed, prices being considerably taller for first grades than in the neighbouring States. On the other hand, an unusual percentage of second-counter and medium quality prints came forward, but such mostly met with slow sale.

The breed of Tunisian sheep mentioned in the Otago Daily Time* are attracting the attention of people. Tho wool is not a strong point, but as a breed for the production of early prime lambs they appear to be eminently desirable. Auckland possesses a flock, but I have not heard of tbe breed in the South Island. We badly need improvements in our lambs, and this question of the Tunisian breed io certainly worth investigating by experiment.

Butter is cheaper in Australia than in New Zealand at present, and considerable shipments are goingevery week from Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. The Stock and Station Journal of Melbourne, under date May 2, says that from Melbourne alone the Salamis last Friday took 30 tone and the Himalaya yesterday 63 tons. The Commonwealth is leaving tomorrow with about 40 tons.

I The same journal reports re the market : BUTTER. Supplies on the local market wer jusi about equal to requirements, and business was fairlj brisk at about the same range of values, though in some instances rather better prices were obtained. A large proportion of the State's output is being made unsalted for the London market. We quote : — Choice Westerns, lOid to lid; ether choice. 1 Bid to 9|d aud occasionally lOd; prime, 9d ! to 9Jd; secondary and inferior factory, 7\d to BJd ; separators and dairies, 6cj to BJd, ac- , cording to quality. Melbourne exporters believe evidently in helping on the butter-faking trade, Ly catering to Lhe demand for saltless butter. a.nd I regret to say some New Zealand factories are also doing so. It pays iv the meantime, but seems to me like making a rod for our own backs.