FARMING AND COMMERCIAL

Manawatu Standard, Volume LI, Issue 42, 20 January 1931, Page 5

FARMING AND COMMERCIAL

TALLOW AND HEMP.

HIGH COMMISSIONER’S REPORT.

Tho Department of . Agriculture has received the following cablegram, dated January 17, from the High Commissioner for New Zealand. London: —

TALLOW. Quiet demand at auction 406 casks offered and 168 sold. Not much interest shown except for mixed fair to good. Prosont quotations for spot arc: —Mutton: Fine, 28s per cwt: fair to good, 25s to 265; dark to dull. 22s to 235. Beef: Sweet and/or mixed, 25s to 295; fair to good, 23s to 24s 6d; dark to dull, 21s 6d to 225. Mixed: Pair to good, 23s to 24s 6d; dark to dull, 21s to 225. Gut, etc., 20s to 225. HEMP. Manila market weaker under continued selling. “K” grade January-March and February-April shipments sold at £l9 10s. Sisal: Market quiet and easier; closing value No. 1 fair averago quality, afloat, £l6 ss; second grade, £ls 10s; JanuarvMarch shipments, 5s more. New Zealand: Nominal value, January-March shipment, high-fair £22, fair £2l, common £l9 10s. Consumers not interested in view of low prices for other fibre. No first hand sales reported.

FEILDING STOCK SALE. Tho New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Ltd., reports as follows on last Friday’s Foilding sale:—A heavy yarding of all classes of sheep came forward and a very small yarding of cattle. The sale for sheep was dull owing to falling markets and partly, no doubt, on account of the very heavy rain which fell during tho latter part of the sale. Wo quote the following range of prices:—Fat ewes, 5s ,to 6s 6d; fat hoggets. 13s to 14s; rape lambs, 6s 6d to 8s; medium b.f. 1/tmbs, 4s Id to 5s 9d; small cull lambs, 2s Id to 3s lOd; forward aged ewes, 2s 6d to 3s 3d; small 2-th ewes, 10s to 11s 7d; small 2-th wethers, 6s 6d to 7s 3d. Springing heifers, £4 to £5 10s; Jersey bulls, £2 to £3 10s; very light fat cows, £4 to £5 9s.

“BEST TYPE IN THE WORLD.”

NEW ZEALAND LAMB PRAISED. Complimentary reference to the type of lamb raised in New Zealand was made recently by Mr R. P. Allen, Comonwealth Chief Veterinary Officer, in a report on the requirements of the export trade. “As New Zealand produces the best type of export lamb in the w-orld, Australia has not far to go to get a standard,” he said. In conformation this lamb has often been likened to a prime 601 b porker, having a thickset body well covered on the shoulders and legs (inside and outside), the latter showing a U shape instead of a V shape when hanging on the hooks. The carcass should not carry an excess amount of inside fat, and the most favoured is the one ranging from 321 b to 361 b dressed weight.” The breeders to produce the above in New Zealand were largely confined to the Down type, and to the Border Leicester or Romney Marsh, he continued. In order of popularity they appeared to be Southdown, Dorset Horn, Border Leicester and Romney Marsh. The llyeland was also reputed to give somewhat similar results to the Southdown.

“Regarding ewes, several aspects must be considered the most important being what is available,” he added. “Owing to their numbers, it is always possible to buy Merinos, and, for tho immediate future at any rate, this breed will have to be used largely in Australia.

“Merino ewes as meat producers cannot be considered altogether satisfactory from any point of view, but the position can be considerably helped by judicious culling and the selection of large-framed animals -with some conformation about them . It is to be realised that fat lamb raising is a specialised business, and that careful selection of ewes is paramount. “Concurrent with the care given to selection of breeds, etc., the question of a good food supply for the prospective mother is of vital moment. Any check in the mother’s condition will most certainly be reflected in the condition of the lamb at birth and the quantity and quality of the mother’s milk supply. Of no less importance is the necessity for an adequate and wellbalanced food supply for mother and lamb after birth.

“Given the above, the production in many parts of Australia of wellformed nice, sappy lambs, with a maximum of bloom, should not be difficult, and their appearance on the United Kingdom markets at a certain period of the year (October to December) should make for very payable prices.”

The Otago-Southland freezing works which usually open in the first week of the New Year, are delayed on account of the late season.

Growers of potatoes and onions in the Pukekohe district are receiving prices for their produce which show quite a different trend from those for most other lines of primary produce. Whereas many lines of farmer’s produce are selling at prices .well down on those of this time last year, rates for potatoes and onions are considerably higher. In January of 1930 the market was glutted with potatoes, which were selling slowly at from Is 6d to 3s a bag, or around £5 5s a ton f.o.r. Pukekohe. To-day the market is very firm, with Pukekohe asking up to £8 10s a ton and merchants selling at £lO a ton through Auckland stores. Prices of onions are also higher than they were this time last year.

WELLINGTON STOCK EXCHANGE. YESTERDAY’S BUSINESS AND PRICES. Only two sales were recorded on the Wellington Stock Exchange yesterday the market showed signs of weakness. There were very few bids for shares; gilt-odged securities were in demand and even tor these buyers wero inclined to reduce their pffers. For the 4/ per cent. New Zealand Government stock, 1939 and 1938, there was bid £96 10s, or 2s 6d less than last week; the 5} per cents. (1941) wero steady at £96; the 4j per cent, bonds, 1939 and 1938, were.lower by 2s 6d at £96 15s. Wellington Racing Club debentures were firm at £lO3.

Bank shares were very stow with a poor demand. Commercial Bank of Australia, ordinary, were in demand at 14s cum. dividend, with no sellers. Bank of New South Wales at £26 15s were 2s 6d lower, National Bank of on sale at par, and for English, Scottish and Australian Bank sellers asked £4 12s. There was little business offering in other shares. Auckland Gas were in fair demand at 23s 2d, and Wellington Gas, ordinary, at 27s lid with a salo at 28s. New Zealand Insurance were steady at 40s 9d cum dividend. Huddart-Parker, ordinary, were offered at 26s 6d, or 3d less than on Saturday; Wellington Woollen, ordinary, were on sale at £5, and Westport Coal at 25s 6d. Burns, Philp and Coy. were down 9d at 275, and British Tobacco wore 3d lower at 27s 3d. Dominion Investments were steady at 21s 6d; Howard Smith, ordinary, were wanted at 7s, but sellers asked 10s 9d. Taranaki Oil wero up Id at 3s, and Mount Lyell wero steady at 17s.

YESTERDAY’S QUOTATIONS. Buying and selling quotations at yesterday’s final call on the Wellington Stock Exchange aro as follow: —

The following sales wero reoorded at the final call,on the Wellington Stock Exchange yesterday: Wellington Gas, ordinary, £1 2s; Staples and Co., £1 15;.

FOREIGN EXCHANGES.

LONDON, Jan. 16.

The following rates on foreign exchanges are current to-day, as compared

PRICE OF SILVER. LONDON, Jan. 16. Silver.—Cash, 13 11-16 d per oz.; forward, 13 17-32 d.

PRICE OF GOLD. LONDON, Jan. 17. The price of gold is 84s lljd per oz. The price on January 12 was 85s Ojjd; on January 7,85 s OJd.

UTILISING HERBAGE. VALUE OF MIXED GRAZING. Experiments at Cockle Park, (England, in which the effects of manures on pasture are measured by the livo-weight increase of the! grazing Btock, have shown that there is a much better utilisation of horbage by cattle and sheep together than by grazing sheep alone. Live-weight increases over a period of years have been approximately twice as- great under the first system as under the second. Grazing experiments so far reported from Cockle Park have been concerned principally with' sheep alone, so that the results of a mixed grazing trial, carried out by the Leicestershire Agricultural Education Committee as part of tho research schemo of the Royal Agricultural Society, should bo of special interest. The soil on which the trial was conducted comprised boulder clay at an elevation of 400 ft and when taken over was in a poor and badly-grazed condition. In 1923 five 10-acre plots were put down and after a year devoted to a uniformity trial, various phosphate manures wero applied, and a six-year mixed grazing programme instituted.

It w’a3 found that basic slag (30 per cent, phosphate) applied at the rato of 13cwt to tho aero, gavo tho most successful result, there apparently boing a slight advantage in giving this amount in two dressings of 6jcwt three years apart instead of applying tho whole in the initial dossing. Finely-ground North African phosphate, given in ono dressing at the rato of 6Jcwt to the aero, was found to bo less effective than basic slag, while the feeding of cotton cake to stock on plots which received half the standard dressing of slag gavo no cash gain above that produced by tho full dressing of slag alono. A noteworthy feature was that systematic grazing and surfaco cultviation worked a considerable improvement in the herbage apart from manuring.

Buyers. Sellers. N.Z.' GOVT. LOANS- £ a. d. £ s. d. 4i p.c. Insc. Stk., 1939 96 10 0 — 4A p.c. ditto, 1938 96 10 0 97 0 0 5i p.c. Ins. Stk., 1941 96 0 0. — 4i p.c. bonds, 1939 and 1938 96 15 0 — DEBENTURES— Well. Racing Club ...103 0 0 — BANKS— Aust. of Commerce ... — 0 17 6 Commercial of Aust. (ord.) English, Scottish and *0 14 0 0 Australian — 4 12 National A’asia (£5) — 5 0 0 New South Walos .... 26 15 0 — New Zealand ' .. 2 9 6 FINANCIAL — Goldsbrough Mort 0 17 0 — N.Z. Guarantee Corp. (ord.) — 0 6 7 GAS— Auckland 1 3 2 — Christchurch — 1 5 6 Gisborne ■ 0 11 0 Wellington (ord.) 1 7 11 1 8 2 INSURANCE— National — 0 14 0 New Zealand 2 0 9 *2 1 6 MEAT PRESERVING— N.Z., Rcfrigerat. (10s) — 0 1 4 TRANSPORT— Huddart-’Parker (ord.) — 1 6 6 WOOLLEN— Wellington (ord.) — 5 0 0 COAL— Westport — 1 5 6 TIMBER— National — 0 8 6 Leyland-O’Brien — 1 5 9 BREWERIES— Staples and Co — 1 15 9 MISCELLANEOUS— Burns, Philp and Co. British Tobacco (ord.') 1 7 0 — 1 7 3 — Dontal and Medical ... — 0 11 9 Dominion Investments 1 1 6 — D.I.C., ord (10s) — 1 0 6 Howard Smith (ord.) 0 7 0 0 10 9 National Electric — 0 12 0 Newton King (pref.) — 0 12 6 N.Z. Drug T3 0 0 YVairarapa Farmer* (pref-) Wilson’s Cement — 0 12 6 — 2 0 0 OILTaranaki 0 3 0 0 3 6 MINING— Waihi 0 14 7 — Mount Lyell 0 17 *Cum. dividend. 0 —

with par: — N. York, dol. to £1 .. Jan. 16. Par. 4.85 13-32 4.866 Mntree.1, dol. to £1. . 4.8613-16 4.866 Paris, francs to £l . 123.855 124.21 Brussels, bel. to £1 . 34.835 • 35.00 Geneva, francs to £1 . 25.075 25.221 Amsterdam, florins to £1 12.06J 12.107 Milan, lire to £1 .... 92.744 92.46 Berlin, marks to £1 . 20.43 20.43 Stockholm, knr. to £1 18.135 18.169 Copenhagen, knr. to ii 18.165 18.159 Oslo, knr. to £1 18.165 18.159 Vienna, schgs. to £1 . Prague, knr. to £1 !... 34.525 34.585 164 164.25 Hel'fors, marks to £1 192J 193.23 Madrid, pes. to £1 . 47.85 25.221 Lisbon, esc. to £1 .... 108.25 — Athens, drach. to £1 . 375 375 Bucharest, lei to £1 . 818 813.69 Rio de Janeiro pence milreis to 4g 16 B Aires, p. to peso . 344 47.62 M. Video, p. to peso . 33£ 51 Calcutta, p. to rup. . 172 18 Shanghai, p. to tael . 154 — H.-Kong, p. to dol. . Hi — Y’hama, p. to' yen .. 24 15-32 24.58 Batavia, florins to £1 12.072 12.107