ADDINGTON MARKET.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20920, 29 July 1933, Page 16

ADDINGTON MARKET.

WEDNESDAY'S SALE. The healthy tone at Addington is being maintained. Fatteners arc ii'nv receiving something like a return for their stock. The top pens of no fewer than a dozen drafts made over 21.; a head, or a Rood -t',cl a ib, nnd if was a very moderate type of wether thai failed to reach the even 20s. No fewer than It drafts of ewes realised ov>r 22s for the« ton pens, and here again moderately good ewes sold round about 17s Gd or 18s, with only tiie inferior sorts down to \2a to 14s. A very heavy proportion of the prime nntvy er.me from below the Rangitata, and many of them were practically show sheep, b'.n provincial farmers were also well up in the price list. The :tt)s realised for a pen of seven wethers from T. l'> Garrick (Pleasant Point) is the highest figure recorded sine" last National market, The sound character nf the sale suggests that southern sheep wdl continue to come forward until local fattening conditions improve. The following is a comparison or. prices with those ruling at the corresponding sale 12 months ago, and shows the substantial increase on the rates then ruling. .ii.iv ■.:; .ink '.'>;. I'''::■-'. I!':::;. \Vrtlinr> l'.\. pi-illi" !;.\v.y If, l* lr, so I'rmi.' hfnv . . 14-1 io Ji;-': "t •', l" -< Prime medium weisht . . i:: Io Itl is,', t.> 21 j Ordinary .. J 1 to 121 1-Vi to 1 * Licht •• 8-i to 10 KJi to 1j Ewes— Ex. primo heavy to JVj Primo heavy .. 103 to Ki 17 J- to 21 Prime medium weight . . 95 to 105 l<i to 17 Ordinary . . 51 to 8 3 1 to U Light . . 3 to "> 71 to 10i ' Store Sheep. The. demand for ewes continues strong. Apparently the prospects of lamb and wool are promoting more confidence, and as we arc passing through the winter very comfortabiv, there is a disposition for farmers to buy. Conversely, there is less inclination to sell, and the result is that only a few lines of ewes are coming forward, and of these only odd pens are out of the ordinary. Sound-mouthed ewes that were worth 6s 6d to 8s in the autumn are worth, on to-day's prices, 12s to 14s, a decided appreciation, even with the cost of mating and feed allowed for. The condition of the ewes was not a factor in the demand to a very great extent. Some fairly forward wether lambs sold well at lis, but the few ewe lambs on offer were moderate. Farmers are not disposed to quit such a potentially valuable asset as ewe lambs. Ewes— Good 0 and 8-th Cor. . ■ -- ~- l«-i to J<i Medium t and 6-th 3bd . . to 10 Ord. 4 and 6-th Jhd . . t" 12 Ord. 2-th Sbd to 111 - Ex. Rood 2-th Jbd - • - to 22 Good H.m. Jbrl to J2 -- to It* Ord. s.m. ihd 0\ to 9.', 1) to 12 S. and i'.m. . . to 0 - Lambs — Medium owe .. —■ to 1 0 Good wether . . ■— 0 lo 1 1 Medium wether 71 to 8 —■ Fat Cattle. Beef is more in demand in midwinter, and this possibly accounts to some extent for the absorption of the heavy yardings this last few weeks. At the last threw sales th'j, average has been 415 head, .which would have swamped the market a few weeks ago. There are two other factors operating towards the good market, one, particularly on Wednes-

A FINE TYPE OF AYRSHIRE. A 10-year-old cow, champion of the Ayrshire breed at the recent Highland Show at Dundee,

I day, being the all-round quality of the entry- Apparently most of the "keg-meg" cattle have been absorbed. The other is that the high. prices of mutton are diverting more attention to beef, the natural winter demand always strengthening about National time, but it is to be feared that the North Island invasion will be substantial this season. As a matter of fact 200 head had been arranged for shipment for Wednesday's and the National market next week These will be weighty bullocks, probably all of which will now be forwarded next week, and with the show local cattle and southern consignments there is certain to be a great exhibition of beef .Most of the good beef last Wednesday sold at 22s to 24s per 1001b, young prime sorts a couple a shillings more Many vendors suffer under the delusion that when they read of 24s or 25s per 1001b their entries come under this classification. The extreme prices invariably are for two-year to two and a-half year sorts that have been brought straight on from the mother, and butchers will always pay 2s to 3s per 1001b more for this class than for big prime cattle.

farmer can afford not to topdress his pasture.-:. A Long Life on the Land I was born in New Zealand nearly 80 years ago. I have spent a long life on the land in several different localities (widely different) in this country. What I am writing will, I hope, be of some benefit to the Peninsula farmers. I have increased the carrying capacity of a worn-out pasture on a dairy farm without any cultivation apart from harrowing, 400 per cent. This was done with lime and super. I have seen the carrying capacity of a little ten-acre farm in the Nelson district (this was a worn-out pasture with no other grass to be seen but fog and red top; increased from two underfed cows and a horse, to 12 head of big fattening cattle. This was developed without cultivation or fresh seeding into a luxuriant clean sward of English rye and white clover by a complete mixture of lime and fertilisers. 1 have seen the carrying capacity | of a farm in the Waikato increased I from less than a ewe to the acre to fattening six ewes and their lambs per acre. This was accomplished with lime and super. I have increased the carrying capacity of a 300 acre farm in the Bay of Plenty from 120 sheep and 20 head of cattle to 600 sheep and 80 head of | cattle. This was done by using basic j slag and super only. I have known a worn-out hill pasture, similar in configuration to the hills of Banks Peninsula, the carrying capacity of which had dwindled down from 2\ sheep to one, sheep per acre restored to carrying the original 2-. sheep per acre. . I could quote numerous instances, some of which I have taken part in,

I Waipu brown lop and Chewing's fesI cue are fighting grasses and will grow anywhere. All of the grasses mentioned arc early seeding grasses, and when they have seeded they become dry, unpalatable and indigestible. The ewes will go practically dry soon alter these have seeded, resulting in a stunted lamb. It is preferable to be overstocked than understocked with these grasses, but they are far more profitable than fern, which is the alternative when the English grass is not systematically fed with lime and fertiliser. People are only now realising that the English grass is an alien in this country. It cannot be sown and become a'permanent grass without fced- ! ing. The English soils are very ! different from those of New Zealand, 'containing much more of the chemical constituents —food for the indigenous English grass. The fern menace is a very serious problem indeed throughout all of the wettest localities in New Zealand. Where the rainfall is high and Ihe hills steep and poor, by far the best policy is'to let the fern severely alone. It is not possible to eradicate it where it, has become established on wet, poor, steep hills. My experience has convinced me that an English grass topdressed sward will carry three times more stock than a soil exhausted inferior grass untopdressed sward will carry. Therefore, topdressing English grass should be an economically sound proposition. Where it is not possible to topdress the whole farm, I strongly advise the topdressing of all easy sunny slopes. This will be a great help to the stock, which will then, in a measure, topdress the balance of the property by dropping the chemical constituents of the grass they have been eating over it.

Steer?. — z .<:. y Ex. prime I ieavy — to IP, . to 1" Prime heav v . . 9 to Hi 94 to Hi Trimo mc idiura weight 74 to 9 T\ to ''i Ordinary 5 J to 63 54 to 7i Light — to 5 — to 4i Hei f org— Ex. prims -—■ to 101 — to 9 1 < Prime 7 to 8i S : i to 7:1 Medium 5 to 64 3S to 5i Light — to ii — to yj Cows — F,x. prime — • »0 9 1 — to 8 i Primo 6 5 to n 5 to 7 Medium 4 to (i 31 1o 45 Light and a?eci — to ■>\ — to 34