A Slump Sale

Evening Star, Issue 23325, 22 July 1939, Page 3

A Slump Sale

We should scarcely have recognised it as a saleyard but for the score of oars parked by the side of the road. Nothing could have Keen less like the stark ugliness of town yards, for this place was tucked away in a fold of the fulls; a small clearing, like an oasis in the bush, and second growth through which we had been driving for miles. The forest grew all about, while below the narrow, valley opened up until, across green fields and. cultivated land, you,had,a view of distant sea. I'or ■most of the year the peace of this gfebn and pleasant place was undisturbed; for perhaps eight' days of the 365 it became the centre of a bustling activity. A cheerful scene in prosperous tunes, since thfesa remote kaleyards servo a large and growing district of backblocks farms. Here, when prices are good,and stock in demand, come a profession of ears'from 1 the plains, bringing buyers that know, that the hardy Atpbk ■ gfown on these hills can bo .counted free of disease, and that they •vtillj, flourish' exceedingly on good : topdressed pasture. Usually, too,_ there is' a proportion of dealers, willing to take a risk and buy hoggets and calves here, to ho taken out'by lorry to the railways and there turned oyer at a better price. To-day these were absent;. it would’ be an optimist who would hope for a quick profit on any stock; at the moment. ' Prices are too Uncertain and the; market ‘too dead tet attract speculators. ‘-■''iThere were farmers, of course, in force'. They had come over bad roads; their old-fashioned • and serviceable carsj lxjgh in the 1 clearance, muddy up tpvtheJKub of the wheels, were lined rip by-iho fence; On -the grass, well »W*y ;froin the language. or the saleyards,’ their - womenfolk were -camped; gljid of an, excuse for a day’s outing, they, had brought sandwiches and thermos- flasks; if the occasion held its anxieties,-they, did. not show it. At feast] they-had escaped from monotonous Tontine and had a chance to exchange bulletins with .their neighbours. All knew that on the, result of this Sale hung the winter’s budget; a small difference in the -price of, lambs means a good or a lean year* soon they would tinow tfye improvements they iad; Wanted for so long,-the small homo comforts,- the dothes they had planned to buy, woqld he theirs this year or whether once more ’ they would have to‘say cheerfully: .“ Oh, well, wo can always wait; prices are,sure to im-pf-ovd next season.” For that is what they-’h'ave been saying for a good many yuars. now; jit will ..probably -be found epgraVdd upon -the hearts of:all sheep farmers and-their wives when' they are dead' and have ceased—butnot till then-i-td look forward, to better times. "•Tosflay- no: hopes were .very high. ■ Pfices hkd slumped during the early ' afttumil' to an; abyss : selclonu plumbed 'before: '‘.The eczema epidermic of last y4hr,;-;with, the, fear complex it had eng^rideifed,'the shortage of feed due to a i ‘‘dry : ‘autliiun. jthe .uncertainty of eyfef-ything : in the world—all these factors .were contributing Towards a slump df; tho mpst - vicious variety. • Nobody, it is true, seems, concerned about the fact Sive the'farmers and their wives; it-is one of ■thbs'e/lecorous and inarticulate, slumps That are - the specialty of .t«e';Sheep ifarmer. Why is. it, they sometimes ask themsellves,that the Pfpers . arfe filled with the, trials of the dafrk’ farmer,' and . very real - they are, so-littld is heard of the poor sheep-.farmer? ■ Is'he peculiarly inexpressive off., simply, because; of his comparative isolation._ foolishly uncooperative? ' Or. is it. just that cverybpd.Viis so used to hearing that “wool is '*down ’ ’ and sheep not wanted ” that this hhs ceased .to be news, even to-the,people most interested? ‘[Sou would-not have seen much sign tewiay, nor have noticed apythmg-veiy muOh amiss, unless you were *' accustomed to ’the atmosphere of the saleyard;’ then, even a blind man would hake known that there was a slump on, for the air was filled with it: No one talked much 'about it, but the depression fwas so ‘heavy as to be ahpost tangible. -It was there in the type of hardy-jokes < that, the men exchariged, for the point of, most seemed to lie in the prospects'of the speaker’s immediate bankruptcy, his hopes of

Written by M.E.S., for the ‘ Evening Star.’

ultimately receiving the old age pension. The women, too, seemed to derive a grim amusement from a comparison of their returns this year and Inst, as set against the rise in all necessities in the same period. The auctioneers were obviously affected by the depression in the air. Both were good men in a brisk sale; neither possessed that rare quality that makes, an auctioneer capable of carrying off a bad one, of jollying bidders along, of treating the situation with just the right blend of sympathy and common sense, carrying the whole occasion on his own shoulders and somehow turning it, if not into a profitable sale, at least into a cheery one. Such auctioneers are few, and their value is above rubies. To-day they were unfortunate in their start, lor bidding opened badly, a pen of excellent wether lambs changing hands at seven shillings. “ Last year 1 got 16s for worse ones,” said the owner; “ but I’m short of feed and it’s better to sacrifice them than watch them die of starvation in the winter. Who’s to say that prices are ever going up? ” No one, from the character of the bidding as the sale continued. Old cull ewes were bought, presumably for boiling down, at two shillings; fair breeding ones changed hands at 15. Wethers were not wanted and the buyers took them eventually little more than half their usual price—conveying the impression of doing the poor backblockers a favour. They were loaded at once into lorries, and taken to the plains, where a few weeks on good feed would make , them profitable enough. Meantime the monotonous drone went on,-. “ That’s the best offer, Mr A. What about it? Shall I meet the market? ” Mr A., conscious of an emptv bank account and bare pastures, has no choice; somebody, even at a slump sale, will make money from his loss. I ,:Eyen an. outsider felt sorry for the i farmers, watching stoically while the sheep that they had breed so carefully, tended, so well, and of which they had such high hopes, were disposed of at a price that would hardly meet interest for the winter. And how were they going to live during those lean months to which the sheep farmer always has to look forward P Some of , the men, glancing across at the picnic ' party of women, dreaded the moment tyheu the sale would be over. Not that they would say very much; it is not the way of the women of the bush to complain or bewail their lot; but the men hated the sight of disappointment in eyes that had grown tired and old waiting for a little comfort, even a little security. 1 Meantime, there was nothing to do but grih and bear it—particularly, to grin. Everyone was in the same boat; one didn’t grumble in public, unless jhumorously. Jokes might be a trifle forced, but they must be attempted, i When B. saw his cull lambs going at 3s 3d a head, we would grin stoical}, y and say, “ Ah well, that’ll keep me in Cigarettes for this month and the buyer must of course make the traditional reply, “And me in cheap fertiliser for the winter.” When a couple of young bachelors are offered 15s for their weaner calves, hand-fed and well eared for, , and refuse it, a voice calls out, “And what are you going to do with them? ” Nonchantly comes the reply,Put them in tho spare bedroom and put off Aunt Dorothy,. till the spring.” And so it went on—the monotonous chant of the auctioneer looking for bids, his irritable, “ What’s the matter with you? Deaf and dumb, the lot of you: who’ll make it another sixpence? ” And, when nobody would, the inevitable, “ Well, Mr A., what shall I do about it? ”

“ Well, Mrs A.]” quoted one husband as they drove home later; “ What shall wo-do about it? We’re overdrawn at the bank- and there’s mighty little to live on this winter; shall we give the farm_ best and shall I look for a job on Public Works? ” Thereupon Mrs A. knowing Iter cue of old. regards the question humorously; finally, being pressed for a serious reply, says, as she is expected to do, “ Walk out? What nonsense! We’ll hang on and wait for better times.”

, "They arc likely, it seems, to wait long.