FEED POSITION BRIGHTER

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27688, 18 June 1955, Page 5

FEED POSITION BRIGHTER

MILD MAY WEATHER BRINGS RELIEF The mild weather in May gave some relief to a winter feed position that earlier looked most unpromising, says the monthly report of the Department of Agriculture. In most districts May was an unusually fine and mild month in the northern half of the South Island, but on the West Coast it was wet and stormy. Wheat sowings are well advanced, especially in South and Mid-Canter-bury, where the bulk of sowings have been made earlier than usual and in excellent conditions, the report states. Most districts report estimated acreage the same as for last season, though sales of seed appear to have been lower in the Christchurch district. Occasional rains have interrupted sowings in Marlborough. South Canterbury reports increased interest in oat sowings for chaff and green feed. Early sown crops are making good progress and some feeding off of greenfeed crops has been done. Greenfeed barley crops have progressed satisfactorily and in Canterbury are being used for early feeding. , Excellent conditions have prevailed throughout Canterbury for the lifting of main crop potatoes. In the Waimate area, yields are slightly lower than last season and there is a higher proportion of seed to tables. Very few sales have so far been made. Elsewhere in Canterbury digging has continued with yields about or slightly above average. Sales have been slow and very little grading has been done. In South Canterbury earlier sowings of peas for the quick freeze industry are progressing satisfactorily. Further sowings have been made during May. In the Christchurch district some sowings of field and garden varieties have been made, and strikes have been good. Aphis damage is affecting South Canterbury brassica seed crops and some will have to be ploughed up. Growth is backward and strikes uneven.

Grass Seed Crops Newly sown grass seed areas in Canterbury have made good growth and are receiving early grazings. Harvesting of red clover seed in South Canterbury continued throughout May under favourable conditions. Yields are above normal and quality very good. Most of .the seed crops in Mid and North Canterbury have been harvested and yields generally have been good. The harvesting of cowgrass in Marlborough is virtually completed. In Canterbury there are still some crops of lucerne to harvest. Most districts report better than average yields for crops harvested in May. Growth has been good on subterranean clover areas in Marlborough. Newly-sown stands of lucerne have established well. Cereal green feed crops have done well, and are coming in useful for early grazing, especially in parts of Canterbury where pasture growth is not meeting requirements. Winter root and brassica forage crops have been fairly severely affected by insects and in some instances by dry weather, but most should fulfil winter requirements, unless the winter proves unusually prolonged. Newly-sown pasture areas in Canterbury have made good growth and are now providing useful feed. Fair growth was made by established swards during May, but widespread grassgrub and porina infestations are reported, and there is not likely to be any surplus winter feed. In Marlborough and Nelson, rains and mild temperatures duripg May have resulted in exceptionally good growth, and pastures go into the winter in good condition. Growth has gone off quickly on the West Coast and under the exceedingly wet conditions, pastures are pugging badly. There is some mildew in greenfeed barley crops in South Canterbury. Aphids, diamond-back moth and white butterfly have caused more than usual damage to winter root and brassica forage crops. Grassgrub and porina infestations are widespread in Canterbury. though owing to the mild weather in May they have not caused as much damage as might otherwise have resulted.

THE WEEK NEWMARKET SALES The size and efficiency of the Newmarket stock sales m Melbourne greatly impressed Mr R. McGillivray, who has just returned from a trip to Australia. “There is no other place in the country to match Newmarket,” he said. “It is said to be the biggest public sheep sale in the world and the biggest cattle sale in Australia, and yet it is situated within two and a half miles from the centre of the city.” Sheep and cattle came from all parts of Victoria and from much of New South Wales and South Australia, he said. The selling had to be done rapidly because of the volume of business, and it was said that the average time of a sale was 45 seconds. “If they cannot finish within the limit, a bell rings and the unsold pen is left until the end of the sale; so buyers have to make up their minds rapidly, or they miss,’’ said Mr McGillivray. The sale was on three days a week and all the time there was great bustle, often well into the night. The sale started on Tuesday morning and. all the previous night the drovers were at work filling up the-pens, and on all occasions when stock were being unloaded, ordinary people gave Newmarket a wide berth, as stock took precedence over all other traffic. “Newmarket is a world of its own,” he said. “It has its own traffic staff and its own police, who wait at the yards all the time and generally keep order and look out for stolen stock. It has its own telegraph office and handles up to 400 messages a day. In the year ending September 30, 1954, 4,793,710 sheep and lambs passed under the hammer, and in the same period. 389,299 cattle were sold. Some of the cattle passing through the yards are of exceptional quality. Some graziers are in a big way in the cattle business, and an executive of the yards told me that one grazier sold from 200 to 300 fat cattle each week for seven weeks in succession at an average price of £5O a head, or a total of over £70,000 for the period. Nowadays big business and the buyers are real professionals who can sum up the value of any pen in a few minutes as there is no time to wait.

“The future of Newmarket is uncertain. There have been several attempts to shift it right out of the city and many prominent Melbourne people will tell you that only Melbourne would have tolerated it so long. It occupies a large area of building land and the day seems not far distant when this will be taken for housing, but the price will be high.” WOOL AND THE ATOM Science was still revealing the miraculous and unique qualities of wool, said Mr M. F. Bretnall. Dalgety’s wool manager, in Sydney this week. At the Nevada atomic proving grounds in the United States only a fortnight ago, it was discovered that wool offered the best protection against atomic radiation, and was infinitely more effective than any man-made or other natural fibre. United States dummy soldiers, clad in several thicknesses of pure wool cloth of light colour were declared to have shown the best chance of survival both against radiation and thermo heat waves. It was for this reason that the United States Government rejected the use of any fibre except pure virgin wool in the new uniforms now being issued to the United States forces, both combatant and non-combatant. It was probable that both Russia and China were also aware of the nuclear insulation properties of wool.