NOTES FOR GRAZIER AND DEALER.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9886, 17 November 1897, Page 2

NOTES FOR GRAZIER AND DEALER.

Br Straggler.

Tho entries at country sales continue very small, and farmers are apparently either too busy or indifferent to take much interest in the auctions. At Rakaia and Kir wee sales laab week business was woefully dull, notwithstanding the advent of rain on Wednesday evening last. I notice that an Australian contemporary reports that Canterbury mutton was recently sold in c.i.f. in London at a shade over 3d per pound and adds that this is the lowest price on record accepted for over weight Canterbury mutton. I notice that one prominent London meat salesman in his odvico regarding the lamb market, strongly deprecates tho panic which had come over holders, and avers that there is no reason for the low prices accepted. I understand that a good many fat cattle | have recently been sent from Wanganui to I Dunedin and in consequence tho rise in price of a week before was last Wednoaday I completely lost in Burnsido. The entry [ totalled somo 240 head. [ Tho fifteenth volume of the " English j Flock Book of Shropshire Sheep," just to hand by the mail, contains the following " favourable points in connection with the pure Shropshire sheep " : —l5O to 175 lambs per 100 is the usual average—ll,666 ewes in 1896 reared 163 per lambs per 100 ewes. Tho actual produce was of course larger. Shropshire ewes are excellent nurses, and uaturo has endowed them with great milk yielding properties. The Shropshire sheep cuts a heavy fleece of wool of the most marketable description, being of good staple, fine in texture, and very dense, and is always readily saleable. The most übiquitous sheep extant, in every county in England, tho Shropshire sheep flourishes, also in the Highlands in Scotland, the humid climate of Ireland, and the mountainous districts of Wales, frequently at an altitude of 1000 ft above sea level. The Shropshire also thrives and does well in tha United States, Canada, Soutli America, Russia, France, Germany, the. Australian Colonies, South Africa, Jamaica, and the Falkland Isles, and indeed in every part of the world. If well cared for the wethers are fit for tho butcher at ten to twelve months old, and that on a "moderato consumption " of food compared with other breeds. Shropshire lambs mature very early as fat lambs and the Shropshirecross for the fat lamb trade cannot bo beaton. The breed is notoriously sound in constitution, and capable of withstanding extreme variations of heat and cold, and is one of the most hardy breeds in existence. Tho writer in the year 1396 saw a Shropshire cwo nineteen years old, hale and hearty, ' having reared thirty-three lambs, and herself enjoying absolute immunity from footrot during the wholo period. The mutton of the Shropshire ia rich in flavour, close in j grain, juicy, and contains a large percentage of lean meat, and commands the highest price in the London, Manchester, Liverpool, and all the principal markets in Great Britain. The Shropshire is a placid and contontod animal, not given to roaming and trampling down pasturage, aud has the special aptitude to make the best of the food at hand and to produce mutton at a miuimum of cost. (Note.—These characteristics are conveyed to the Shropshire crosses in a remarkable degree). Shropshire sheep have rapidly increased in favour in all the Australian Colonies, and combining as they do the most desirable points (from a wool and mutton point of view) to a greater extent than any other breed, with the minimum of objectionable features, thoy have obtained an eminent and permanent position in the estimation of sheep-breeders all over the world.—ln foot they meet all tha requirements of the present day as a successful general purpose sheep, and are therefore very profitable to farmers and graziers. The Shropshire has been largely bred for crossing purposes to produce freezera, with splendid results. The Shropshire-Merino cross produces a fine sheep and is preferred by many who have tried it to any other cross. The half-bred is a deep, square set sheep, well covered with a fine close fleece which gives a high percentage of clean scoured wool, and commands a comparatively high price, whilst the sheep are hardy and fatten to nice handy weights at a very early age.

Last week I gave some interesting information from the pen ot "Lana" in the Pastoralists Review upon the getting up of sheep for show purposes, and " Brani" In the Australasian has, I notioa, taken op a subjeot to whioh some attention might also be given at this time. He says :—

" Most people who have closely watched the judging at our leading agricultural shows i mast have arrived at the eonolnsion that if such institutions are to serve the purpose for which they were established, namely, to serve as object lessons to stock-breeders, a radical change most be made in tbe system of judging. One of the most pronounced faults of the present system is the giving of prizes to animals that are overloaded with fat. Often one sees bulb of the beef breeds brought into the ring in sash a state ot ' show condition' that they can scarcely waddle, and it is the same with many of the cows. The draught stallions are often quite as bad in this respect as the bulls. By bringing both stallions and balls into such over-fat condition, not only is it extremely difficult for the judges to arrive at a just estimate of the animal's true form, but their utility as sires is often seriously impaired, and their health is endangered. In the swine section this fault is even more pronounced than with stallions aad bulls, and some classes of sheep are, of late years, being brought out for show in a dangerously fat condition. Few experts in pig-breeding now csre to purchase a show boar or sow for stud purposes, experience having taught them that such animals are uncertain breeders. j

" The services of many a high-class stud bull have been lost for a season simply because he has been got into prime ' show condition,' for the purpose of taking a champion prize. The object for which the stud sires are shown appears to be entirely lost sight of in the show-ring, and it is a rather singular fact that what would be regarded »s a defect by the judges themselves if they were seeking a stud stallion or boll for private use, appears to be the greatest factor in gaining first honours in tha show-ring. Why this should be so I fail to perceive. It is just possible that the judges are influenced by the opinion of the unskilled majority of the triaitaci, vfa* arc attracted by the get-ap ol

the over-fed competitors, and mistake fat for muscle, and the result of over-feeding for the true frame of the animal. That the present system of judging is seriously at fault is proved by some stud-owners in England settiog apart certain animals for show purposes, from which they do not breed, while other leading sturl-breeders of draught horses, cattle, and sheep have declined to exhibit their stock (though possessed of the finest examples), pimply because they do not care to sacrifice some of their bast animals."

Dehorning of cattle (say 3 the Wyndham Fanner) ii now regularly practised on Edendale estate, the experience of the past two years ia that direction going to show that the operation is one to be commendedQuite recently over 100 big-framed, longhomed four-year-old 3teers, raised on an adjoining run, were put through the loppingoff process in the dehorning yards on one of the homestead paddock"" at Edendale, with highly satisfactory results. Indeed, it may be stud that although hundreds of Edendale cattle have now been deprived of their weapons of offence, it is the boast of Mr Donald Maedonald, manager of the estate, that he has never lost a beast from the effeots of the operation The way the knife does its work, once the animal's head is secured in the vice-like grip of the stoat bail erected for the purpose, is expedition itself. Sixty quiet cattle have been dehorned in 40min., which, it will be allowed, is fast work. In Mr Maedonald'e opinion, dehorning has a very civilising effeo I upon cattle: they become quieter and more easy to handle, and never attempt to gore ach ether as they are prone to do in the horned state. Several dairymen with large herds propose going in for dehorning now that the severe frosts are about over. The practice of dehorning cattle should be more generally adopted than it i 3 at present, but there is no doubt the proper time to remove the horns is when they are in the button stage. The operation can then be performed so easily and without danger by the application of a little caustic that it is surprising that all breeders of farm and dairy oattle do not adopt it. Messrs Goldsbrough, Mort and Co. thus report upon the anticipated deficiency in this season's wool clip in Australia :—" It is to be feared that the shortage in the clip will prove groater than was anticipated, and that the estimates of the few who were intimately acquainted with the state of the country during the past season, which were regarded a3 exaggerated, will prove to be well founded. We have hesitated hitherto in forming an estimate, as we regarded shearing returns as the only reliable data. These returns are rather behind their normal dates, or a greater total would bo available ; but so far wo have been able to aggravate clips, which last year represented over 30,000 bales, but show a reduction on the present shearing of fully 25%. These ore principally from New South Wales and Northern Victoria, and from widelyseparated districts, nob selected in any way, but a simple comparison of clips, which are now complete, with the same brands last year. It is hard to realise the heavy shortage this foroshadowa, for upon this basis tho deficit from New South Walos alone would appear likely to exceed 200,000 bales; yot there is no reason to suppose that the statioos responsible for the returns have been exceptionally unfortunate, for the districts are varied, and they present generally a fair average indication of the season. Future returns may modify the figures, but thoy, on the other hand, would require to be exceptionally favourable, of which there is no indication so far."