ADDINGTON MARKET

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22593, 24 December 1938, Page 13

ADDINGTON MARKET

KEEN DEMAND FOR LAMBS LITTLE INTEREST IN STORE SHEEP Vendors at the Addington market would be well pleased if the sprightliness of Wednesday’s fat stock sale could be taken as a reliable criterion of the 1939 prices. Apparently the city is going to have its lamb this Christmas, as the buying by the trade was exceptionally heavy, a very large proportion of the 3000 entered being secured by the butchers. Butchers did not worry over the prices they paid on occasions, and there were quite a few sales that must have been in the vicinity of 83d per lb, whilst the bulk were 84d. The export limit also was temporarily extended in many cases, and a good farthing more than the schedule was paid. In the matter of quality the penning was probably one of the best at a pre-Christmas market for some years. As the list of sales in Thursday’s paper indicates, numerous pens made upwards of 255, and Is to 2s more, on occasions, which, on the basis of Bid, points to the weights being good. It is understood that the North Island price for export has been reduced a farthing per lb, so that Wednesday's sale must be considered a very satisfactory one. Fat Sheep Considering the heavy entries in the fat sheep section at recent markets and the big penning of 6500 on Wednesday the fat sheep sale was a good one. The penning w r as comparatively small in the early morning, but after 8 o’clock lorry loads of sheep came in from all quarters, and there was quite a congestion, in the deliveries for two or three hours in the forenoon. .It is rather a striking development recently the extent to which lamb and sheep are being transported to Addington by lorry. There is no doubt that lorry transport is much i speedier. The stock can be loaded into the lorry on the morning of the sale 40 or 50 miles away and are at the market in plenty of time. Over the early part of the sale on Wednesday there was an advance on the rates of the week before by up to 2s a head, both for ewes and wethers, but after the first race there was a slipping, and at the finish the average of prices was about on a par with those ruling last week—really a little weaker. The surprising feature of the sale, however, was that the demand was maintained right to the finish m spite of the fact that there were only a few buyers around the pens. Exporters were in the market for wethers, and paid a fraction more in cases than they did the week previously. Values in comparison with those at the corresponding sale last year are:

Store Sheep The entry of store sheep was naturally a small one, and comprised for the most part wethers. Some good ones from the Chathams, which could have been in the fat pens, brought up to 19s Id, and the others from the islands sold at from 17s up. The market the preceding week was crowded with light-conditioned and travelled wethers, and the prices for these naturally did not compare with those of the Chatham wethers on Wednesday. On this basis the market was little different. Fat Cattle The National market in August _is the outstanding one for beef quality at Addington as a rule, but Wednesday’s offering contained a proportion that would have compared creditably with the National class. The difference in the two pennings as a whme, however, is that this week’s yarding contained practically the usual proportion of medium cows, whilst the showing of these is at a minimum in August. For the good mediumweight cattle on Wednesday there was a free sale, wiVn an improvement in value of about Is 6d per 1001 b. There was no change in the other classes, except that cows tended to ease to some extent, particularly the aged and poor-conditioned sorts.

The fourth goodwill tour of South Australian farmers to New Zealand will take place early in the New Year. The party will leave Adelaide in the Stratheden on January 28. and will transfer at Sydney to the Awatea on February 3. After visiting both islands, the party will return to Australia in the Maunganui by way of Milford Sound, arriving in Melbourne on March 3.

Dec. 21, Dec. 21. 1937. 1938 s. s. s. s. Wethers— Ex. prime heavy to 372 to 263 Prime heavy .. 315 to 345 22J to 24i Prime medium-weight 28J to 31J 19 to 211 Ordinary 26 to 28 17 i to 182 Light to 255 to 172 Ewes— Ex. prime heavy to 282 to 23 Prime heavy 25 to 27 185 to 205 Prime medium-weight 20 to 24 155 to 13 Ordinary 17J to 19 115 to 15 Light to 17 to 11

£ £ , £ £ Steers— Ex. prime heavy to 172 15 to 174 Prime heavy 14 to 162 to 164 Prime , medium-weight 13 to 14J 132 to 15 Ordinary 92 to 122 10 to izs Light to 94 TO J.0 Heifers — Ex. prime .. Prime • • 9J to to 13 11 10 to 134 to 112 Medium 8 to 94 72 to 92 Light 64 to 8 to 74 Cows — Ex. prime .. to 134 to 122 Prime 74 to £U 7 to a* Medium 54 to 72 54 to 6'i Light to 52 to 5 4