WOOL AND MEAT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 489, 23 April 1909, Page 8

WOOL AND MEAT.

•SqUESTKINicFJjOeFICIAL CBADINCr ; :- ThQ • questibn : 'of.:.Departmciitar inspection: 'and'- ; increased attention- - among ; Now.- Zealand ■ farmers.just-iOw.-r.'Wliether such;treatment be 'considered,practicable ■'.and. finally- desirable'or not,"thorn;kno. doubt■ thatithe advocate'for: the -system; have; - some ■- strong arguments .to use. .In regard /to.wool,; the neid,;of : . better -sorting .lists been, frequently emphaSisW : 'fronv several ';quart-ers.; Unetly the demand for improvement; Has come from The;enthusiasm of the farmers for elaborate sorting and,classing '- has, perhaps,- been somewhat subdual by .tne-frequerit.,instance3 ; quoted of ... wool, vinsbrted.ibringirigVas.much as it would have brought - if: elaborately, classified-or more— and-;viceiVersa.- 'i Putting aside the possibility, of the'farmer being wrong m;his estimate of what' his wool 1 would have .brought if ditierently^^packedr•aid.'.takirig;:his:.conclusion, as accurate.' his'cbntehtiQn:;BtiU. 'constitutes a grading! ■ • For! if buyers pay as mucWfor.ilWpack'ed wool as they .pay, tor wool which, they say,is-worth-more'money;'to ithera.'ilthe obvious; explanation-: was 'well-packed and which .packed{badly. .; : ■\ Grading, would. : abolish -..this ..uncertainty,and' Higher'prices' for well-packed wool/should: iiaturaUy follow;-.""■It i would'.mean,.periiaps,\ 'thatt-ffie" OTOer■ of ,a big / flock,, who. could afford'to'employ agood classer,-.and who had enough wool to bo nblo to class property, would get bettor grades than the small man owning but a few,hundred sheep. Iho disadvantage of tho small man, however, would probably not be emphasised by grading, for to a certain extent, it may bo assumed that the buyers (in their own minds) already grade tho big man's wool as safe, and the small man's as'doubtful.- Thus it tvouM happen that if tho small man's wool-were officially marked-"first grade,"'he would stand to get a better price than if ho had offered it on its merits ungraded. Although buyers make- somo attempt to oxamino the wool in tho sheds before sales, the extent" of their examination is certainly limited, and the occasional instances reported of purchases cancelled becauso tho clips in tho bales were found to' contain each a kernel of what'the buyers dall "ruboish show that something could be .done by grading. No doubt tho sheep-owner will need to know* that ho will get better prices for his wool 'graded before ho will become enthusiastic for tho practice; and perhaps the circumstances outlined may go some way in that direotion. ', ' 'As to the practicability of grading- an article that is offered in so many different "qualities!,', and lengths of fibre such as wool, thoro'may bo room for differences of opinion. Good-and bad wool ' cannot be classed,so precisoly as good and bad butter, or even as good and bad hemp, where, howover, tho resomblanco is greater. But grading 'that indicated tho 'condition of tho wool and tho quality of the packing,,leaving tho buyer himself to judge the fitness ot tho fibre for his particular use, might conceivably improvo tho competition for Now Zealand wool. A farmor could then tako troublo with'his packing, confident. that the increased prico would repay him. This seems to bo the view of some of tho Auckland sheepowners,' as reported iu this column yesterday. Mr. M'Kcnzio-exprcssed that viow when ho said that "some people who did not class their-wool at all, and took no pains to arrange it, (did just as well as those who did. If'there wero Government graders" (ho added), "the men who, took the troublo to classify their,wool would get the benefit of it, and classified wool would bring the best' price." '' ...... In regard to meat, tho question 01 inspection will bo discussed at Farmers' Union conferences shortly, and as all theso things—whether for good or for como back upon tho producer, it is essentially a fanner's matter."•'•lho closest,approach to the quesi tion yet noticed is contained in a remit'from tho 'AVaikato branch of the Farmers' Union to tho following effect:—' , , "That owing to the difficulty experienced in Great Britain of satisfactorily inspecting frozen boneless meat, tongues, tails, kidneys, etc.,' ,also frozen moat " generally;, and their 1 occasional rejection on that account, Jit, would bo to tho in--1 tercst of Britain'and' New Zealand that ''' all meat for,'export" to'the United Kingdom from Now Zealand bo inspected at the freezing works by inspectors appointed by tho 'Brftish authorities, New Zealand to bear,tho cost, 6uch inspection to bo final so far as disoaso is concernod, the Homo authorities retaining the further right of, inspection with regard to , jtho condition of meat on arrival."