RECORD LAMBING LIKELY

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23203, 14 December 1940, Page 6

RECORD LAMBING LIKELY

HEAVY INCREASE ESTIMATED PERCENTAGES GENERALLY HIGHER A record lambing will result this

year in spite of a reduction in ewe flocks if the estimate made by the Department of Agriculture and published in the latest issue of the Abstract of Statistics turns out to be accurate. Over the last five years,, the Government estimate has invariably been lower than the actual tally of lambs tailed, so that the record seems to

be almost assured. The.estimate of the Dominion percentage of lambing this year is 90.21 per cent., against 85.26 last year. This percentage should give a total lambing of about 17,500,000 from the 19,727,657 breeding ewes which were recorded as being in New Zealand at the end of April. The actual number of lambs tailed last year was 17,229,569, and the record for any year was the 17,340,914 produced for 1938, when ewe flocks were somewhat lower than they are at present. Lambing in Canterbury this year has been good, but in view of the excellent winter and favourable early

spring, it has not been as heavy in many districts as might have been expected. An indication of this was given recently at Lincoln College, where the College flocks returned 1 a percentage slightly below the average. In some districts, however, particularly on the lighter plains land, lambings are reported to have been exceptionally good. The following table gives the number of breeding ewes and the number of lambs tailed in the last six years, the figure for lambs tailed in 1940 being the Government estimate: — North Island

Actual Number of number of Year. breeding ewes lambs tailed 1935 .. 9,697,231 8,470,405 1936 .. 10,300,826 9,387,749 1937 .. 10,570,388 9,401,496 1938 .. 10,735,829 9,034,385 1939 .. 10,889,802 9,476,647 1940 .. 10,917,684 South Island 1935 .. 8,115,186 7,226,212 1936 .. 8,368.135 7,478,272 1937 .. 8,761,689 7,939,418 1938 8,928,037 7,914,594 1939 .. 9,070,497 7,752,922 1940 .. 8,809,973 Dominion 1935 .. 17,812,417 15,696,617 1936 .. 18,668,961 16,866,021 1937 .. 10,332,077 17.340,914 1938 .. 19,603,866 16,948,979 1939 .. 19,960,299 17,229,569 1940 .. 19,727,657 IRRIGATED WHEAT An elaborate field trial to determine whether spring-sown wheat on irrigated land can compare with autumnsown without water is at present being carried out at Temuka by the fields division of the Department of Agriculture in conjunction with the Wheat Research Institute. If the experiment shows that spring sowing is possible, it will vastly increase the acreage that may be profitably cropped by making the light land in the irrigation areas available for wheat. At

present on much of this lan 6 wheat is a somewhat risky crop. In describing the experiment to the Wheat Research Institute this week, Dr. F. W. Hilgendorf said that the experiment was also being used to determine the proper manorial treatment for irrigated wheat. Dr. O, H. Frankel said that there was a possibility that nitrogen might be used with advantage where if. is now not possible to use it successfully. AMERICAN WOOLBUYING

There appeared in the cable news this week a statement from an authoritative source that wool consumption in the United States at present is running 32 per cent, above normal. This huge added consumption, stimulated by Government orders for clothing the new American army, may do much to ease

the world wool situation, which is at present on an entirely artificial basis. Britain is now the buyer of practically all the exportable wool entering world

trade, and in spite of heavy military consumption and an acceleration of exports, must be piling up tremepdous surpluses which might be embarrassing when the war ends. The United States is, next to Australia, the greatest producer of wool in the world, but imports are generally also required. According to the latest overseas advice, there are rumours that the United States will buy the South African clip this year conjointly with Great Britain. American purchases in South America

in the season just ended were very heavy indeed, and beside this, shipments have already been made of part of the Australian wool for storage under the plan which requires the United Stales to take the equivalent of 830.000 bales of Australian wool. United States flocks total about 52,750,000, which produce the equivalent of about 1.500,000 bales, and a record flock increase is' expected from the heavy lambing in the United States this year. United States buying

of outside wool is very erratic, as is its consumption, which has varied between an amount insufficient to absorb the whole domestic clip*and a total of 2,800,000 bales, or nearly double the domestic production. Competent judges estimate that imports this year will be heavier than ever before. It is also expected that Canada, where war-time business is rapidly expanding, will also import more than the normal amount of wool. While valuable markets have been lost to the world’s wool exporters, particularly on the Continent, others appear to be expanding to offset the loss.