NOTES FOR GRAZIER AND DEALER.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10267, 9 February 1899, Page 2

NOTES FOR GRAZIER AND DEALER.

. p By Straggler. The Now Zealand Refrigerating Company are at present having extensive additions and alterations made to their Buroside works, Doncdin, which will enable them to cope better with the requirements of their business. The improvements are in a forward state, and are expected to bo completed within about a month. The additions comprise » new holding store, three freezing chambers, a hanging or cooling room, and an engine room. All of these, with the exception of the last-mentioned room, are contained in a two-storey wooden building, the engine room being built of brick, and will bo filled up with a new 70-ton Hercules plant, capable of freezing 2800 sheep per day. Tne now freezing chambers, in addition to the old building, will give the works a freezing capacity of 2500 iheep per day, besides a large quantity of rabbits. There will also be storage for 36,000 carcases of mutton. With the view of making the works still more complete, the company intend to erect a shed for the purpose of cooling, grading, and bagging oil rabbits frocen at the works, and this shed wiH be-co.ir.ected with the freezing chambers by a tramway. A good deal of interest was taken in a parcel of Queensland greasy merino lambs' wool that was sold in Melbourne recently, and ma considered to be one of the best lots of Queensland lambs' wool ever seen «a MefixMirte. It excited unusually brisk TOupetition, and was bought at 9£d. To wool-growers it will be interesting to note that tbe«| lambs are the progeny of Vermont ranuibied by Messrs McFarland Bros.,of Btriip. Of late «§i a breed of hornless shortborne has beaa working-its way into mech-pTomineuce-iji the United States, under Ifee name of the polity* Durham. It is-now to have for hornless breed of Hereford*, which v, attract attention under tiie Jitftuo of the "Emmtn.' ft*<ww breedKwxHmtbetf*n», Ji*#d, and

i —^_^^^^__—————^——————^—^ i -- . . , , . , Fireside) is due to the enterprise of a Kansas enthusiast, a Mr W. \V. Outline, who conceived the de:i of founding a strain of hornless rierefords by having a polled calf of the breed dropped in his herd some years ago. This calf was a fre.ik, and made his appearance in a herd made up of crosses of Herefords and shrirthu'ng. When Mr Guthrie found the original calf, which hud all the markings of the Hereford with the square build of the shorthorn, and w;is hornless, he called him a t-hrce-quarter Hereford and one quarter shorthorn. Fran , that start, crossing with shcrthovns. r»nd again with Hercfords, he has bred out and back again until lie has now thirty or forty of the cattle. He dnos not call them polled" Herefords, beca-uss they urc evidently not pure bred. liofcrring to the tick plague. Mr J. V. Chatawjy. the Queensland Minister of Agriculture, said recently to a representative of The Argus: —"When the tick first began its ravages in what is known as the dirty district, and which \s yet but a very small area of Queensland, the*bulls were cleaned right out. Now hundreds of young bulls, from immune cows, are being sent up, and live through it safely. This immunity lias raised an interesting point, which we are just now endeavouring to silve. Noticing that the calves of immune crws are themselves immune, the question naturally occurs whether this arises from soma quality transmitted from the cow to the calves, or whether it is that the young calves, being amongst the tick from the time of birth, are not troubled by it. They have incoulated a number of cows in Sydney ,and there is every reason to assume the inoculation has been successful. These cows have since calved, and the. calves will be sent to some of the worst tick country in Queensland, and the results watched. Commenting on the action of the manager of the Longe-renong Agricultural Collage in asking the Victorian Council of Agricultural Education for permission to get rid of the longwool sheep on t».e farm on the ground that "they jump like kangaroos and burrow like rabbits, and are a great nuisance," "•I3nmi" Eays: —"There is surely something wanting when an institution at which the pupils are supposed to be taught the arts of agriculture and live stock husbandry is found unequal to carrying on the ordinary practice of ninetenths of the farmers of Victoria. Had any representations been made to the effect that the kdeping of merinoes on the farm would be of greater additional advantage than keeping longwools, one would have understood the request being made and its being granted. But this is not the case, the longwools are a great nuisance, and for this reason the manager wants to get rid of them, and the Council agrees to this being done. Now, ue crossbred is the farmers' sheep in Victoria and, as a rule Victorian crossDreda on farms are of inferior quality; indeed, a large proportion of them are "of very indifferent enaracter. There is no branch of live-stock industry which is ih> as backward a state as the breeding and raising of crossbred sheep on Victorian farms. Instruction in the breeding of this most profitable description of sheep, so as to produce really, good animals, is mero necessary to the rising generation of farmers than the ordinary work of tilling the soil, of which most farmers sons can learn but little at the College." Koch's serum treatment for nnderpast in Africa lias proved a failure, as the immunity secured at first was very transient. The presont treatment is to inject- anti-toxin serum, and at another distant point of the body a dose cf blood from a diseased animal. This vaccination hag answered well for two years, and seldom results in fatalities. In the Live Stock Journal Almanac for 1899 are exhaustive reviews of the past year from the standpoint of each of tae chief British breeds of sheep. Mo3t of the writers of these reviews adopt a cheerful tone, and render a good account of the past season, notwithstanding its difficulties and drought. Southdowus are said to have sold better 1898 than for several years past, the pre-* dominant feature of sales of that breed being the large number of eyres often sold at remunerative prices. Rather more demand than usual was found for Southdown rams fee crossing purposes in Kent, Norfolk and Suffolk. The Hampshire down breeders had all the worst of the drought to contend with, their district being hit probably as bad or harder than any. 2<evertueless the long list of sales made showed that satisfactory prices were made by them. With regard to the trade in Shrcpshires it is observed that a large number of rams and ewes have been purchased 'at the various sales for export, the result be-

ing a far better clearance than lias been experienced for some years past. Mention is made of the record price of 320gs for a ram having been established. Of Oxford downs it is reported that they are growing iv favour in many parts of the world, and they were shown last year in larger number's in Scotland, where* Uiere is a strong demand for them.' The sales of Suffolk sheep were also extremely satisfactory. There was a big dcj viand for ram l;«mbs for crossing purposes from Scotland. Ireland, France. Germany, and the Argentine. Of Lincolns it is reported that, although the year had been, in some respects, one of the most remarkable in the annals of the breeds—notably, by reason of the ICOOgs rani—it can scarcely be said to have been altogether as satisfactory as 1897. Notwithstanding the high prices made in some cases, there was noticeable, taking the trade all round at public auctions, a weakness in prices, which indicated that tne supply had •rrown in excess of the demand. The foreign demand, though stftl very good—export certificates for 4907 rams and ram lambs, and 716 ewes and ewo lambs were issued —was not, quite equal to the previous year. As regards Wensleydales, shearling ewes made proportionately, the most money, and altogether the year was a good one for the breed. The Almanac also contains an article br Professor W. Brown on British sheep in Australia and Canada. By the aid of a number of diagrams the writer sums un the results of his experience and observation with eight of the leading breeds of sheep. He places them all in their .order of merit—according to his judgment—under thirteen qualifications. For instance, under the heading of adaptability to changes he puts the Leicester first, under '"power to improve others generally the Lincoln, under "maintenance of characteristics" the .Southdown, under "prolincne?s" the Oxford Down, and so on. Summarising the result? under all the headings he puts- Southdowns fivst, and Lincolns and {Shropshire.? e.jual second. One point which is interesting is that of "commercial patronage, or, demand for the breed. In Canada the Herder Leicesters and the Cotswolds are placed equally first in this respect, and in Australia the Lincolns are far ahead of the others. Kritish and Australian wool was, says the Liye Stock Journal, greatly improved by the introduction of merino sheep for which Spain was famous. The late Lord Sonizrvills encouraged the breeding of marinos in Enp-tond by crossing them with native breeds, but it was George 111. who really introduced the merino into Britain. The first specimens, procured from Spain with gvonl difficulty, arrived in 1788. and they were followed by a flock of a choicer strain.in 1791, which was presented to the Xiii" by the. Comtessc del Comps de Alange, t<i whnnl His Majesty sent, "as a return gift, eight fir.c English coach horses. At the King's first sale in 1804. eight merinos were sent to Nov.- South Wales by Captain MacArfchnr; and Lord Somerville's some years later, averaged £50 each for 200 head. The descendants of the merinos imported by "Fanner George" were for over eighty years in the possession of the Sturgeon family, of Grays, in Essex, and. at the dispersion of the flock in 1894, Mr L. A. Macplierson (who is well known in Canterbury and Otago, having spent mam- years in New Zteahnd, and still ha* interests here—Ed. F.), of Pe-Isall, purchased a number for his estate in Staffordshire. In the earl , - days, howevei , , breeders and graziers .objected to the merino on account of shape and lack of symmetry. Great difference of opinion exists to this day as to the utility of merinos on British pastures, and the quality of their wool in the moist climate, but they were really too slow iv maturing as mutton compared with English breeds. Ultimately Lord Soniervillc crossed his Rycland and Southdown sheep with pure merinos, and, established a reputation for Anflo-merino wool. But the importation of fir.c wools from Australasia led sheep owners to stick to the indigenous bread;? and develop, if possible, early mutton producers. Their efforts to improve English shoep have been crowned with success both in regard to meat and wool. The London correspondent of the Pastoralists' Review, writing on December 9th, says of New Zealand mutton that "about 127,000 carcases have arrived in the monthCanterbury.* have been an exceedingly dull market, though a fractional advance "is recorded on the quotation this jday month. The feature of this trade has been the scarcity of heavy sheep, in consequence prime 641b to 721b sheep arcs making all but as much as the 431b to 641b class. Three weeks ago Southlands, Dunedins, and North Islands were practically on a par as regards price, say 3|d per lb for the best, but in the ensuing fortnight secondary New Zealand sheep dropped 3-16 d per lb, owing to the market being rather fully supplied. Today there is per lb between prices for bsst Canterbury, and the same quality secondaries. Salesmen report that a good deal of the New Zealand mutton lately received shows signs of the old fault, want of freshness from storage on the other side. There have been no complaints on this head for months past till now. The chief practical disability attaching to this meat it that it is undoubtedly tallowy; one only has to cast an eye upon the carcases in the market to see that. And then, again, this condition gives a useful handle to the people who overdo the claims business. As far as the forward market is concerned, we are now between seasons, and there are no transactions to be heard of in mutton or lamb for the new season! It is suggested that the date when the carcase is frozen might be written on a tab tied on. This would be evidence, too, to the ship, that the job had not been hurried over unduly. "No doubt Canterbury mutton is affocted at this time of the year by the quantities of Continental mutton offering here, the grade which goes immediately before it. When buyers can buy good Continental sheep cheaply they go off Canterbury largely ; but the tendency of the time is towards a more or les3 close approximation of Canterbury and secondaries. As long as the sheep frozen at the Christchurch works were all bred in the district, and the old distinct superiority of the sheep maintained, buyers were content to give the premium required over other sorts. But now they ask why they should be expected to give to |d per lb more for Canterbury sheep than prime secondaries, when apart from the question of mark there is hardly any difference in merit between the sheep. And of course they know that large numbers of the sheep treated at the Christchurch works are railed from other districts. The tendency I allude to is a progressive one. Messrs Henry S. Fitter ana Son report that they are constantly getting complaints that Canterbury meat cuts dark in colour. My idea is that in the future, when we see Canterbury sheep enjoying a substantial premium over , prime secondaries, scarcity will bo the cause. Stocks of New Zealand sheep are not heavy, nor are there, as far as I can learn, heavy stocks on hand of any kind of frozen meat. I hear that another lot of Wellington prize sheep are to be sent here. It ia pointed out to mc that it would be better to present the prices upon a standard of valuation here rather than sales; for a buyer might give as much for a dozen 801b sheep as for a small parcel of 60s. This might suit Mm as an isolated transaction, but it would poseibly convey a wrong idea when reported to NewZealand. I hear also of a new method of transacting the forward trade in North Island sheep. A contract is made,- say, for six I months ahead, for sheep of certain weights, but the price is not to be fixed till i the ship arrives at llravesend. The lowest i quotation prevailing during the preceding month for the seller's c.i.f. transactions, plus l-16d. per lb, will be the price. Has there been one steady price, that will be taken without the l-16d." The opening of the retail shop at Cardiff by the Christchurch Meat Company is thus referred to by the same writer:—"lt is important to get frozen meats into the best shops, and in this direction the establishment to be opened at Cardiff in a few weeks by the Christchurch Meat Company -will be likely to effect good. The shop is in Queen street, the best part of town, and is being fitted up in first-class style. Staffordshire tiles and every other requisite are .being used. It will- be one of the smartest shope in South Wales. Nothing but Canterbury mutton and lamb, and the best beef, &c, will be sold, and the object of the enterprise is to advertise the virtues of Canterbury mutton in general, and "Eclipse" in particular. The shop will not be run so much to make a profit as to raise the tone of Canterbury mutton, and so influence butchers in the district to buy it. Fair prices will be charged, and no cutting business done. At present there is no Canterbury mutton tola in the district, though

lamb la well known. .Advertising, especially by circular, will be resorted to in connection with the shop. One large butcher has doubled his trade in Canterbury lamb this season by judicious advertising, I hear. A stock of Canterbury mutton will be kept at the Cardiff store, so the shop will be an excellent centre to work from. The AgentGeneral and others believe that a great deal of River Plate meat is sold as Canterbury, and it has been suggested in the interests of this shop that Mr Reeves should insert a notice in the local papers warning butchers '■ against the practice, which is illegal. Not a biid idea if lie likes to take the responsibility of the step. Such :; m>tice would at least 1 cause buyers to ask themselves what meatthey arc buying, and it would make meat sellers* careful! A good many country butchers don't know the dVstineSion." ar.d simply regard : the word Canterbury as a- generic term for ! frozen meat. The Christchurch .Meat Company arc pioneers in this enterprise, for if it 1 results in success the other companies stand to gain. One thing is obvious, viz.. that to effect the desired purpose really good t*-nical 1 Canterbury mutton must be sold. There is only 4d per lb now between best Canterbury ! j ar.d best Plate, and Cardiff is one of the [ Plats preserves."