Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1933 HIGH QUALITY LAMBS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 63, 10 February 1933, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1933 HIGH QUALITY LAMBS.

The slieep farmers of the Manawatu will congratulate the Wairarapa upon its success in the fat lamb competition promoted by the Meat Producers' Board. In the initial contest, last year, this district was awarded the North Island Shield for the best group of fat lambs suitable for the British trade, and though it did not receive the first award in the prizes for the best pens of three lambs, it shared in the judges’ allocations. On this occasion the Wairarapa district has been awarded the Shield and, as in the previous competition, one of its breeders has received first prize for his pen of lambs. Manawatu has taken a third award. Once again the exhibits have attracted much favourable comment from the authorities at Smithfield market, and one has gone so far as to address a little criticism to English sheep farmers on the results achieved in New Zealand. These lambs, he says, furnish an object lesson, and English breeders would be better occupied in trying to market similar lambs than in trying to get Empire meat disfigured by marking. The reference is to the proposal of the National Farmers’ Onion, addressed to the Ministry of Agriculture, to have a distinguishing mark placed on all imported meat. A committee has been hearing evidence on the matter, including objections on the score of cost to the producers, and the damage to the meat itself by marking. A report will be furnished to the Meat Producers’ Board upon the quality of the lambs in -the latest competition. No doubt, it will indicate whatever faults, if any, there are in the consignments, but meanwhile the cablegram conveys the satisfactory information that a very high degree of quality is being maintained by the Dominion’s producers. The lambs entered from this district in the initial competition were eulogised by the judge when penned prior to slaughtering, and in December last, when he again acted in this capacity, Mr Cornford noted an improvement on the previous exhibits. The competition must, therefore, have been verji keen, with a similar improvement in the quality of the lambs from other districts, notably the Wairarapa, Southern Hawke’s Bay, and Hawke’s Bay which shared the Smithfield judges’ awards with the Manawatu district. Manawatu’s prominence in both years in this competition gives cause for a large measure of satisfaction, for it indicates the marked suitability of the district for raisinglambs of the best quality and the fact that breeders are keenly striving to produce only the type that the British consumer desires. The institution of the competition has provided keen rivalry among producers of the various districts, and this must react to their advantage by the production of highest quality lambs. Since the voluntary scheme for restricting imports of meat was introduced by the British Government in November, prices have risen on the London market. For instance, on November 5 lambs, 361 b and under, were selling at per lb; on January 14 last the ruling value

was TJd per lb. Unfortunately, this rate has not been fully maintained, there having been a fall to 6£d per lb according to the latest advices, while lambs, 37 to 421 b, which rose from 4Jd to 74d per lb between November and January 14, are now quoted at 54d. Other classes of meat also are above the November figures. The benefit to the meat producers has been considerable, and its maintenance will mean a sum which will considerably offset the low values of recent months.