ON THE LAND.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3711, 21 December 1912, Page 9

ON THE LAND.

ADDINGTON STOCK MARKET. LPBESS ASSOCIATION TELEGBAM] CHRISTCHURCH, Dee. IS. At the Addington dive stock market there was a large yarding of all classes of istock in consequence of it being practically a. double market. there was a good attendance. Store sheep sold well, except wethers, which were easier. There was a keen demand for fat lambs at about late-rates, and the fat sheep sale opened well, and was firm throughout. Pigs were easier. There was a good demand for store- and dairy - cattle. Store Sheep.—The yarding of store sheep was larger than at several recent sales, and was comprised chiefly of shorn wethers of different ages, al-

though two-tooths predominated, me remainder were composed of shorn ewes with lambs, the- former being mostly aged. There was a fev lines of dry ewes, rising from 2-tootli to full mouth and a few small pens of merinos. A feature of the maikot was the first- line of shorn lambs offered at Addington this season. There was a large attendance, and a gooo all-round sale, although the increase supply of shorn wethers had the effect of steadying the market and checking auv further advancing. Values for this class of sheep were slightly easier than at some recent- sales. Young ewes, either with lambs or otherwise, sold remarkably well, but ewes of uncertain ages changed hands at prices slightly more in favor of buyers than recent rates. A line of lambs which were in forward condition made °3s 8d Quotations were: \Vethers

2-tooths 13s 6d to 16s 9d, according to condition, four and 6-tooths lOd, 1,4 d two and four-tooths 16s lOd, j others 13s lid. merinos very forward 13* lid. ewes four and 6-tooths good 17s :3d. two-tooths medium IVs 4d, two four, six and eight tooths 13s 9d, good fresh sound month lines 1/s, ewes and lambs (all counted) aged ewes 9s 6d to 12s, younger sorts 12s bd to ids, woolly ewes 24s 7d, woolly merinos 10s . Lambs. —There w as an entry of 2113 lambs, the bulk of which were well grown and in prime condition. There were, however, a number of lots that were drv in the wool and lacked finish.. The entry included consignments from j Ivaikouva and Oamavu. There was a very keen demand on the part of j butchers, who bought the bulk of the yarding, exporters being only able to 'get- all those within their limits. A j special line of Border Leicester cross . lambs from Mr. M . R. Aright (Ail- ; Icugliby) made 24s to 3Ss Id. The j range ‘of prices for ordinary prime : ■ lambs was: 18s 6d to 21s. and lighter < 16s to 13s. The average price paid by ; 1 exporters was about 18s, but they only j took about 200. ! Fat Sheep.— There was a- heavy

yarding of fat sheep, in about equal proportions of wethers and ewes, and the Quality and condition was generally good to very prime. There was a good demand till almost the end of the sale, and prices were very firm throughout,- though heavy sheep did not sell quite so well as last week. There was a fair amount of business done i'or export, and graziers were on the lookout for unfinished lots. of young sheep. The range of prices was: Woody wethers 23s to 2 , s 3d, woollv ewes 23s 3d to 21s 6d, woolly merino wethers 18s 3d to 20s 3d. woolly merino ewes -Os to 255, prime shorn wethers 18s 6d to 245, lighter 17s Id to 18s. prime shorn ewes 18s to 235. others 13s 8d to_l7s 6d, shorn merino wethers 14s to Ls 10d. Fat Cattle. —Two hundred and twenty-five fat cattle- were penned, as compared with 24 , at the previous sale and 180 on December 14. Iho quality of the beef offered left little to be desired, being uniformly good. The great majority of the-steers realised prices from £8 upwards. The sale fluctuated somewhat at various periods, but values. taken all round, showed no change from those ruling a week earlier, the price of beef rang- i ing from 26s to 34s per 100!b., ac- i

cording to quality. fcteers realised ; .■£o os to £ll 2s 6d. extra to £l4 2s i 6d. heifers £6 os to £8 10s, extra to £l2 15s. and cows £6 to £lO 15s. _ 1 Store Cattle. — There was a f air yarding of store cattle', including a 1 mixed consignment from Southland, j Probably as a consequence of an ! abundance of grass there was iga n a 1 very keen demand and high niiecs ruled for all descriptions. 5 earl lags made £3 fifteen-months sorts £3 11s, two-year heifers £4 12s to £4 15s, two and a half year steers £o 19s, and cows £2 to £2 ss. Southland cattle brought the following Two and a half to three-year sorts £5 19s, two and a lialf-vear olds £5 2s 6d, twoyear olds £4 9s Od. and fifteen to eighteen months sorts £3 3s to £3 15s. . _ . j Dairy cows were in keen demand,

and made 94 to £ll 15s, and extra £l2 17s 6d. . There was a medium entry of tat pigs and the demand showed little change from 'the previous week. Choppers made £3 5s to £5 10.3, heavy haveners 5Ss to 655. and lighter sorts 49s to 55‘S, these being equivalent to 4|d per lh. The host descriptions of porkers made -12 s 6(1 to 47s 6d, and lighter sorts 35s to 4Os (equal to old to s.]d per lb). Store pigs wore in full supply, hut the demand was weak and offer's not reaching owners’ reserve a considerable number wore passed. including one line of 80. No largest sorts were offered. Medium sorts realised 30s to 345, and smallei sorts 20s to 295. _ Weaners were not in demand and prices ranged from 11s to 20 >, according to size.

farm and station.

! at all, because these kinds are now ! practically available for the greater I part of the year! The variation in ! cimate between the extreme north 1 and the extreme south of New Zealand ! ought to enable the New Zealand lamb fateners to spread the season over a j much longer period than they now ' do. 1 There is not only the matter of climate, but there is also tlie selection J of breeds and the method of breeding to further admit of the prolongation of the lamb-raising season. I There is also tlie question of feed and if growing lucerne acts so satisfactorily in the Argentine, is there j any valid reason why it should not ' also be equally effective in New Zealand and Australia in the way of seI curing regularity of supply.

ferent state of affairs from what existed twenty years ago. ! As to who is to find the money to provide, fhe storage, and who is to bear the cost of storage, there is no question but- that this has got- to he done by the people in New Zealand, but- no doubt- the cost will be reeov- . ored ultimately in the form of better returns at this end. the benefit of • which, owing to the keen competition > there is in New Zealand, is hound quickly to reach flic producer. Whether the money for extending the stores in New Zealand is originally found by the freezing company or the ship-owner does not seem to be a matter of much moment : tlie same problem has been solved dozens of times before when the- meat works and shipping of the Dominion were brought into existence. Surely storage tan be similarly dealt with. Third.—As to the idea that ho’ding large supplies in New Zealand might be taken advantage of by Argentine shippers, one can only characterise the suggestion as absurd. It may be taken for granted that the Argentine! - pursues the even tenor of his way. so far as exports are concerned, without flies lightest regard to either Austrax- r /

1 tin or .New /calami. It is only wnen [ the goods reach the British market j that the competition is really felt. . j Rut nil the time the Argentine has an : j advantage over both Australia and ( j New Zealand, because they do spread i j their supplies over tlie whole year, j Whether it is climate, or skill, or busi- : ness common sense that produces this ' ! result is not for the buyer here to de- ■ : termine. All lie knows is that lie . j much prefers to have continuity in his i supplies, and will shape his operations ; i accordingly. Australia- and New Zealand have the option of cither : getting their business into line with the Argentine or of being content to occupy a place inferior to that which they might occupy. Fourth.—The correspondent says that “until some further crops can i>e grown which will enable sheep to he fattened over a longer period of the year it seems to be impossible for Australia (and presumably al'so for i New Zealand) to regulate their ship- ! meats better.” But why is it that fodder crops cannot be grown differently ? The climates of New Zealand and Australia are much better than the climate of England, where a continuous supply of fat stock is made I available for tlie markets by tlie met-h----1 od of feeding, and wo have still to

learn that the New Zealand soil and climate are in any sense inferior to those of the Argentine. Fifth.—The closing argument of the article to the effect that the correspondent had noticed that as a ru’e. “unless producers have the entire command of the market, tiie less they attempt to influence it, the better,” is merely begging the question. The producers are not called upon to influence the market, but solely to pro- i pare their goods l’nr the market so that they can secure the best returns* for thernsleves. The final regret that “Australasian lias not the entire command of the frozen meat market” seems on’y like a lazy man’s reason for doing nothing. The Argentine producer lias no control over the handling of his frozen meat; it is entirely in the hands of companies which are

practically British-controlled through--1 out, and yet their business is better regulated in all respects (except perhaps the production of “quality” of lambs and mutton) than either the Australian or New Zealand trade. In the previous issue of "the “Review,” Mi- Gilbert Anderson oontri- j bated a reply to the New Zealand correspondent of the “Review,” but it will he seen that some of his arguments are far from being sound. Both I vriters ignore the point made that the Argentine shipments are not regulated by holding the meat in store, hut by competing the cstancieros to hold sheep and cattle on the hoof until the buyers require them. Mr Anderson writes:—“Your Now Zealand meat trade correspondent in : yours of July sth, seeks to justify the | irregular shipments from that coun-

i try; In doing so he not only fails ! to' follow the arguments which I give but ignores the facts as to the methods if any in which the New Zealand trade is conducted. His justification is that “the business of the farmer is to raise and prapare his lambs or sheep for export.” If the New Zealand farmer adopted that attitude, and consistently followed it, Ahen the subsequent argument of your New Zealand correspondent would hold good. The trade then would have a chance of being conducted on proper lines, and with the best business methods. That the shipments of New Zealand lamb and mutton aro notoriously irregular is taken as a fact! That the South American supplies are regulated . and shipped to meet the requirements of the trade all the year round seems also to he admitted. “Your correspondent, however, 'starts with a wrong premise, which vitiates his subsequent arguments. The New Zealand farmer is not simply satisfied to grow and freeze his

nig w* wu rr'» ' j These, however, are matters which ' must be dealt with by the-men in New Zealand. All the Londoner can do is to point out the advantages which will i accrue to him from this end if he can I arrange to cover a greater period of j the year than is now covered by dej liveries of prime New Zealand lambs at Smithfxeld and the other market of the country. i Second.—lf no other means can be devised except that of storing after being frozen, then the storing ought to take place in New Zealand, not in London. But the great things is to secure a regular, steady supply for as long a period as possible every year, the largest supplies to come to hand here in April or May, June or July, when the demand is still largest, although the tendency is steadily increasing year by year for the demand for lamb to be continuous—a very dif-

Istock, and sell it to the exporter. In contradistinction to all other eoiui- • tries, he not only wants to bo a farmer, and grow and fatten lambs (which he does well), but lie aims at doing the export and business part (which lie does badly). “To show that these things are so one lias only to point to the fact that he forces his consignments on to a weak market, and every few years creates a slump. “The New Zea’and farmer of all tlie countries exporting frozen meat is repeatedly seeking to reform the trade at this end, but he resents and refuses to adopt the suggestions sent out for needed improvements at the place of export. One has only to mention, the various attempts to form companies to supply the nublic direct and other schemes proposed to carry out the farmers’ so-called intents by business regulations. Lately we have had the representatives of the New Zealand Farmers’ Association proposing to lease from the Port of London Authority a dock and largo freezing stores exclusively for the New Zealand trade. All these various proposals and schemes are impossible unless there is a regular monthly supply to keep tlie shops and stores going. This the New Zealand farmer is not likely to bring about. •‘On the other hand, the Now Zealand farmer ships largely on consignment ; the exact-.figures it is impossible to give. An examination of the manifests of any New Zealand steamers shows the large number of broken lots with different marks and number of fanners’ lots. Further, it- is the irregular shipments of farmers’ consignments which have always in the past been blamed for breaking down the market. “In contradistinction to all this the South American shipments come regularly each-and every month. The business is in the hands of firms and agents, who control it on business principles. Customers can obtain regular supplies for their shops. Freights and insurances are arrangedon a much cheaper basis, and there is no complaint as to landing and storage of frozen, meat.

“It- has been pointed out- that shops which were opened to sell New Zealand meat only have been forced to take South American meat owing to there being frequently no New Zealand meat available. These shops are bound to sell the article which is regularly supplied rather than disturb the continuity of their trade. “The argument that South America has a more varied climate cannot hold good, for New Zealand shipments show that from the time that the first shipments for the' .season are made from the Bluff there is a difference of four to five months.

“From the London point of view, what the trade demands is more control by tlie freezing companies, which already control the freight. First, that all small lots should be pooled into lines of not less than 500 carcases and that the freezing companies should control the shipment and sal* - Jf these lots. Increased storage capacity should be provided by tlie freezing companies in New Zealand, so that f.'-o shipments from each works can i:• made in regular, not equal, monthly quantities. Lambs shoo’d lie sent to ineex the demand here lor - large quantities. April to July-—which Corre; ponds with the farmers’ seasons in' New Zealand. And the balance of the shipments should be spread over the rest of the year. Mutton should lie shipped regularly in every month of ihe year. If the trouble is taken to look up the old returns of the New Zealand shipments it. will be seen that they were more regular formerly. The increase of shipments has not resulted in their being spread, and tlie original ideas of the founders of the trade have been sadly departed from. The trade here demands Now Zealand mutton and lamb all the year round, and if New Zealand wants to get the best average results it will ! only he obtained by adopting business methods. Let tlie farmer he satisfied to grow the stock, hut do not let him block the business man.

“As to your correspondent’s statements of what Now Zealand is producing. there is nothing; wonderful when the climate, etc., is taken into consideration. and nothing to what Great Britain is doing. With no larger area and worse climate, she carries more sheep and produces more lambs. The trade looks for consdierable expansion in New Zealand, which, with regulated supplies, would tend, to steady prices and ensure constant demand for New Zealand meat in Great Britain.”