OUR FAT SHEEP SUPPLY

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 10756, 8 September 1900, Page 5

OUR FAT SHEEP SUPPLY

CANTERBURY'S CROSSBRED FLOCKS

THE REPORTED SCARCITY

(BT OTJR CO_-F.RCI.A_ EDITOR.)

to our main workable sheep stocks, that is, the crossbred flocks from which the chief supplies of fat sheep and lambs are drawn for the frozen meat trade and for local consumption, we have obtained through the courtesy of Mr Hoklerness, chief of the local Stock Department, the returns of crossbred and longwool sheep (other than the purebred flocks), and the figures should prove interesting. The returns are made for the province of Canterbury and for that portion of the Marlborough province as far north as Kekerangu, just beyond Kaikoura. It may be mentioned that during the past four years merinos in Canterbury have decreased "from 1,522,773 in 1897 to 1,457,656 in 1900, but this year lambs show an increase over any of the previous three years, there being 223,780 as against 212,599 in 1897, the next highest year. Ths following is a return of the crossbred and' longwool sheep (other than purebreds) in Canterbury on April 30th for each of the years mentioned: 1897 1898 1899 1900

Breeding Ewes ... 1,759,111 1,598,409 1,640,349 1,825,145 Dry Ewes 212,332 240,833 257,569 103,671 Wethers 559,004 496.536 655,167 383,559 Lanfbs 1,034,378 1,032,099 737,133 818,337

Totals 3,564,825 3,368,237 3,290,224 3,130,712 This shows a shortage of 159,512 crossbred sheep on last year's returns. We had on April 30th, 1900, 487,230 dry store sheep in Canterbury from which to draw supplies for the factories, or, if lambs are included, 1,305,567; as against 912,736 dry store sheep, or 1,649,875 sheep and lambs on April 30th,, 1899. This shows a shortage of 425,506 wethers and dry ewes, or a total shortage of wethers, dry ewes and lambs on April 30th last of 344,308, as compared with the, same date of the previous year. It will ba noticed, however, that this year an addition of 184,796 has been made to the stock of breeding ewes, and' this accounts to that extent for a lesser number of ewes returned on April 30 th as dry. FREEZING WORKS' RETURNS.

In order to arrive at the position in which Canterbury now stands as regards its crossbred sheep stocks, it will be necessary to deduct from the store sheep returned those killed at the four freezing works during the four months that followed April 30th. SHEEP. Bel- Isling- Fair- Smith--1899 fast. ton. . field. field. May ... 16,982 23,233 -8,263 25,993 June ... 27,327 30,664 19,630 21,397 July ... 40,936 16,993 19,915 26,562 August ... 24,534 25,670 22,157 50,273 Totals ... 109,779 96,560 69,965 124,225 1900 May ... 17,532 32,673 8,730 24,100 June-, .... 20,298 24,435. 11,048. _S,_4l. July ... 12,697 9,051 5,249 16,993 August ... 11,729 7,045 589 7,013

Totals ... 62,256 73,254 25,616 74,647 The total killings of sheep for the four months of each yearpfeie thus: —

1899. 1900 May ... 74,471 83,035 June ... 99,018 82,372 July ... 104,406 43,990 August ... 122,634 26,376 Grand totals 400,529 235,773 LAMBS. Bel- Isling- Fair- Smith--1899 fast. ton. field. field. May ... 23,18G 28,341 12,948 37,352 June ... 12,517 24,305 7,786 23,369 July - ... 5,668 17,990 4,907 8,230 August ... 963 3,167 1,128 -,402 Totals ... 42,884 73,803 26,769 75,413 1900 May ... 22,439 31,255 23,549 32,640 June ... 15,133 13,655 10,253 29,302 July ... 5,203 2,561 3,182 8,394 August ... 475 144 713 345 Totals ... 43,250 47,615 37,697, 70,681 The total killings of lambs for the four _tontha of each year were thus: — 1899. 1900 May ... 101,827 109,883 June ... 67,977 68,343 July ... 36,795 19,340 August ... 11,720 1,677 Grand totals 218,319 199,243 THE PRESENT POSITION.

j The total numbsr of sheep and lambs I killed at the four freezing works for the j periods under review were in 1899 618,848, j and in 1900 435,016, showing a decrease this i year of 183,832. From last year's total, j however, about 100,000 —(perhaps somewhat j less) —must be deducted for sheep and lambs that came Tip from Otago and Southland, and from this year's figures about 5000 must be taken off on the same account. This will leave 518,848 Canterbury sheep and lambs killed in the winter months of last year, and 430,016 killed during the same period of this year. The dry sheep and lambs on April 30th, 1899, were 1,649,875, and this number would be reduced by the supplies that went to the factories to 1,131,027 on September Ist, 1899; the dry sheep \ and lambs on April 30th, 1900, were 1,305,567, and deducting the killings at the factories during the next four mouths, it leaves on September Ist-, 875,551, or an apparent shortage of 255,476 as compared with last year. Adding the breeding ewes to the' dry sheep and lambs, we find that there were on September Ist, 1899, 2,771,376 crossbred sheep and lambs in Canterbury, as compared with 2,700,696 on September Ist of this year, or a shortage of "70,680. This shortage lias, however, been reduced to the j extent probably of 25,000 or 30,000 store sheep j that have come into the province since April I 30th" fron? the south, Marlborough and Nelson, North Island and Chatham Islands. On the other hand, more than this number' of store sheep must have come into Canterbury in 1899 after the returns were made up on April 30th. Local consumption has not be-an taken into account, as it would be practically about the same in each year, probably a little larger this year, and would not therefore appreciably affect the proportionate totals.

THE BREEDING STOCK. The most satisfactory feature of the Canterbury sheep returns is the large addition that has been made this year to the number of breeding ewes, and they now stand at a higher total than in 1897 3 the year before such a large number had to be sacrificed by boiling down on account of the very dry i season experienced in the summer of 1897J 98. This increase must be discounted to some extent, however, by the fact that for three years there has been no boiling down of old ewes, and tne proportion of these must I therefore be unusually large. The'death rate i in the immediate future is therefore likely to bs much above the average, though the remarkably fine winter we have just experienced will keep it down for this year. The increase in tbe number of breeding ewes is partly due to the,fact that on a number of large front hill stations, especially in Amuri, Kaikoura, and Mackenzie Country, the owners are reducing their dry sheep with a viewto increasing their breeding flocks.and instead of fattening the lambs or holding theni till two-tooths, will sell them as stores, to be finished off for export on rape or turnips on the plains. The mimher of lambs returned on April 30th last was larger than the year before, in spite of tha heavier killing, and tliis was due oi course to the excellent lambing t_u__g-out Canterbury last &9*_ob.

Various efforts have been made lately to account for the falling-off in Canterbury this winter in the supplies of fat sheep, both for export purposes and for local consumption. It is difficult to arrive at a very definite conclusion as to why there should be such a scarcity this season, there is no doubt that the heavy shipments during the first half of the year were the principal cause, there b?ing 266,888 more carcases of mutton and lamb exported up to June 30th than was tbe case during the corresponding period of last year, mutton showing an increase of 79,338 carcases and lamb 187,549 carcases. The next important cause of the shortage was the comparative failure of the turnip crop in Canterbury this year, owing to the prolonged dry speM of weather at the end of summer and beginning of autumn. £ MERINO AND CROSSBRED FLOCKS. In order to enable our readers to work out the present position of Canterbury in regard