SHEEP AND WOOL.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 78, 2 April 1928, Page 4

SHEEP AND WOOL.

ARGENTINE CONDITIONS. COKUIKDALKS FROM N.Z. (from Our Own Correspondent.) IU'KXOS AIRES, February 10. Sheep and «•>•>! in the Argentine have 71"- c\|M I'h 111 <■■ i .>I ivient, years the boom whn ii inai ked tie' meat-freezing industry; ii.dei I, 11. mi. •ii the sheep farmers have iM!--.' I t >ii i• <iLth \ery bad times, with lii-aval >-iiinrt/.igeil farms left on their h mils. In tin: early d.ns large fortunes Here ln.ide in the sheep industry, but i olel.t inns are very different In-day. One ■>; the e.iily sheep farmers, who died l'ei i utly, left, about !HMI square miles of .'nod sheep country tu his heirs. Some of tins land, alinn.-L the talthest Irotn Uni'iiiis .\iies, was sold tor 2?00 times uli.it. it oiminally cost. To-day, some of the descendant* of thnijP early settlers are millionaires in pounds sterling. The fdicep-rearing area has moved steadily si ill ill wards, as the land near the railway lines bciauie tno valuable for this class of tanning. The ticezing works established at. various points in the lar smith (all In the siuithw.id of I'ueito Deseado) slaughtered (M1.35N sheep in the first live months of 1927. Tile value ot the sheep dealt with, however, shows a considerable l'.i 111 ng-t i ll' com pa ied with 1926. The Argentine Depat tinent of Foreign lxel.it ions liar, lei lived a report from their consul in London with regard to the present condition ,md prospects of Argentine wool in the English market. According to this report, th> quantity of Argentine amiol imported into the I'nited Kingdom rllll ill_r the \c.ir ending September 30, 1926, was 69.1X10 iiales. or about. 2760 tons, while for the year ending September 1927, the quantity was "8.000 bales, or about 3120 tons, equal to about 22 per cent of the total production. It- is noticeable that fieinian.N, during both pel iods, took a much larger quantity of Argentine wool than England so did France, m the aggregate. Argentine wools are in better repute than formerly in the English market.owing principally to the careful classification to which they are subjected by the export houses in Buenos Aires, in accordance with the wishes of importers, lu spite of this improvement, buyers arc not quite satisfied with the manner in which the parcels are made up, these being mostly bound uith hempen twine, which penetrates into the wool, ami is dillicult to detect in the process of manufacture until the wool is dyed, when the hemp fibres show up clearly in the cloth, as they do not take the d.\ e readily. A piece of cloth manufactured under these conditions is quite unsaleable, and must be first .submitted to a mechanical process to extract the hempen fibres, a tedious operation which requires more labour than that entailed in the manufacturing process. In consequence, the presence of hempen fibres increases the cost of production, causing English buyers to accept Argentine wool only at a reduced price. On the other hand it is pointed out that Argentine wool is freer from burrs and thorns, and compares favourably with the New Zealand product. The method of shearing is considered satisfactory and the only improvement suggested is that indicated in binding methods. Shipments of pedigree New Zealand sheep continue to arrive in Buenos Aires. A specially fine lot was lately received of Lincoln, Koinney Marsh and Corriedale, selected from the leading flocks of the Dominion. The very high quality of the Lincoln* attracted the attention of Argentine breeder*. The Corriedales were all from the famous breeding establishment of H. T. Little, while the seven Koinney Marsh rams were selected from the flocks of Messrs. Quentin Donald and J, G. Alexander, both of them breeders who have always been prominent in the list of prize winners at the principal New Zealand shows. When the sale of this lot came off there was not a large attendance, but some prominent breeders were present. The Lincolns were the first to be offered, and Kayner No. 226, the Hawke's Bay and Waijarapn champion, led the sale. The prices indicated are in Argentine currency, present exchange being about $11.40 to the £1. Kayner No. 226 was knocked down at $5200 to nil Argentine breeder. Another luru that found many admirers was Kayner 230, knocked down at $2400. Kayner 229 and Kayner 231 were considered cheap when they went at $1500 and $1400 respectively. Altogether, the 12 Lincolns returned an average price per head of $2067. There was not much demand for Komneys, and only four out of the six offered were sold, at prices ranging from $450 to $950. There were several breeders interested in the Corriedales, including two from Uruguay. Then ten rams offered sold at from $900 to $3100, averaging $1405. The top price was given for Little No. 41. South of the Kin Gallegos and in Tierra del Fuego much Corriedale blood has been introduced from N'ew Zealaned during the last 20 years. The wool produced is of fine crossbred character, Very long for its quality. Some, of tlje clips show a certain weakness of fibre, but many of them are exceedingly good and are much appreciated by Continental buyers. For the reasons already pointed out, it is not likely that Argentine sheep farmers in the near future will pay more attention to the Continental demand than to the English market. For the finer crossbreds and Merinos France, Germany and Belgium always appear to be willing to pay higher prices than England. The Argentine Government recently sent experts to Algeria to investigate the rejuvenation methods ndopted by Dr. Voronoff, which he claims increase the yield both of meat and wool, when applied to sheep.