The Price of Sheep.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 9 February 1912, Page 3

The Price of Sheep.

1)1(01' EXPECTED IN OANTEIIBUIIY. (Dominion Message.) CHit ISTCHU RCH, Feb. 7. A rumour that there is likely to be a sharp slump in sheep prices has been going the rounds lately, and n representative of the Press made some inquiries regarding the matter from several of tlio leading auctioneers in Chriistehurch. From the (statistics supplied by the Depart-ment-"of Agriculture it appears that the sheep fanners of the Canter-Imrv-Knikoura district started the se;a»e.n with 373,025 less sheep than in the year ending April 30, 1910, and this figir.e also approximately represents the total shortageovev the whole dominion. The lambing season of 1911 was decidedly Tjelow the average, taking the whole dominion, though in a few districts it was as good as, mul in some isolated cases better than, last season. Obviously this points towards the possibility of the shortage continuing if the exports arc kept up to anything like the usual standard, and they probably will be as there is abundance of feed. The season looks as though it would be an excellent one for fattening, and so far there seems little reason to imagine that the Home demand will slacken off to any marked degree. It must also be remembered that a good many station* in Canterbury have had very severe losses of sheep this winter— a loss that has only lately been properly realised. It has been argued that exceptionally large consignments of store sheep will be sent into Canterbury from the North Island, the South and the Chathains. which will more than make up the deficit and tend to weaken the market. Up to the present time the drafts sent.in have been, if anything, rather under tlnan over the usual quantity. On the whole, it may be said that the prospects are very good, and the worst that now seenv- likely to happen is that there will be a weakening, not, however, amounting to n slump, in the store market when larger quantities of this class of sheep come on the market in the course of the next two months or so.