THE STOCK MARKETS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 121, 21 April 1938, Page 5

THE STOCK MARKETS.

JOHNSONVILLE SALE. SHEEP IN DEMAND. ‘ A large yarding of cattle and an average yarding of sheep came forward at the Johnson villc sale. Very few prime heavy bullocks came forward, the majority of the yarding being medium-weight bullocks with a few pens of light and unfinished sorts. All prime quality bullocks met with a good sale, with prices showing no alteration, while bullocks lacking quality were hard to sell with prices showing a drop of 5s to 10s on last week’s. The yarding of cows and heifers was of good quality, with a keen sale for heavyweight cattle, while lightweight and unfinished cattle were easier from 5s to 7s, 6d per head. There was a larger yarding of vealers and runners than usual. Prime quality station vealers met' with good competition with prices firm on last week’s, while small calves lacking quality met with little competition. Vealers and runners ex dairy were not sought after. A good sale resulted for all weights of cows ex dairy. Only a few pens of heavy wethers came forward, the balance of the yarding being chiefly lightweight black-faced two-tooths, ■with a few pens of' unfinished Romney wethers. Good quality sheep met with keen competition with prices showing no alteration, while light and unfinished wethers ' were 6d to Is per head easier. AH'classes'of ewes met with a good sale with prices showing little alteration. The penning of lambs was of indifferent quality, , only a. few prime heavy lambs coming forward. These met with a ready sale with prices Is to Is 6d per head above .export parity. Quotations are as follow : Prime extra heavy bullocks, £ls to £l4 12s; prime, heavy bullocks, £l4 5s to £ls 19s: heavy bullocks, £l3 15s to £l2 Ills; light and unfinished bullocks, £l2 2s 6d to £11; extra prime heavy cows and heifers; £lO Is to £l9 2s 6d; prime heavy COW 3 and heifers, £8 12s 6d to £8 ss; cows and heifers, £3 to £7 2s 6d; cows, ex dairy, £6 10s to £3 18s; runners, £4 Is to £3 ss; vealers, £2 18s to £2 Is; small calves, 30s lo 10s. Prime extra heavy wethers, 28s to 27s 3d; prime heavy wethers, 26s lOd to 26s 3d ; medium wethers, 25s 9d to 24s 3d ; prime extra heavy ewes, 22s to 21s ; prime heavy ewes, 20s lOd to 20s 3d; ewes, 18s 8d to 15s 8d; heavy spring lambs; 25s 6d to 24s 3d; lambs, 23s 6d to 17:. LEVIN MARKET LEVIN, April 20. Due to the holidays the entries of stock *t the Levin sale yesterday were much Smaller than usual. The demand for the limited offering was strong. All stock sold well at full late rates. Pigs. —Light porr.ers, 23s to 355; medium, 383 bd to £2 6s; heavy, £2 8s to £3; baconers, £3 10s to £3 17s 6d; weaners, 4s to 10s 6d; slips, 11s 6d to' 15s; light stores, 17s. Sheep: Fat wethers, 23s to 265; fat ewes, 18s to 18s 6d; fat- and forward lambs, 13s 3d. Cattle: Light fat cows, £3 10s to £4 10s; medium, £4 17s fid to £5 9s; heavy, £6 to £6 12s 6d; prime heavy, £7 2s 6d to £7 ss ; vealers, 37s 6d to £2 17s 6d; line of ten heavy vealers, £2 12s to £4 2s; store cows, 35s to £2 13s. ADDINGTON PRICES. ’Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, April 20. Entries at to-day's Addington stock market were about half the usual size. In practically all major sections of stock there was a solid improvement in values. Store sheep.—About 3500 were penned, a third of which were Chatham Island ewes. These sold at an advance of 2s 6d a- head on last week, the best of the four, six, and eight-t-ooths making 23s and the next quality 225. Other two-tooths made to 28s. Wethers sold at 18s 6d for forward sorts and up to 16s for others. Fat lambs: A small entry of about 500 head, which sold up to Bsd under butchers’ competition for best quality. Fat sheep: A skeleton entry of about 1600 head,' resulting in good ewes being better by up to 4e a head and wethers sold at from 30s to 335; tops, to 35s lOd; medium, 25s to 28s; good ewes, 22s to 245; a few tops, up to 31s; general class, 15s to 18s. Fat cattle: Only 310 were penned and there was a keen sale, with an advance of about 25s a head for best steers and 15s for cows and heifers. .A pen of steers sold at £l9 12s 6d to £2O 12s 6d; good prime heavy steers,. £ls to £l7; light, down to £10; best heifers, to £11; rows to £ll 2s 6d ; rough sorts, down to £5 15s. Best* beef made from 35s to 38s a 1001 b, good 32s to 345; and rough down to 245. Fat pigs.—Porkers sold unevenly, but with little change on last week, and there was no change in tile value' of baconers. Porkers made from 35s to 59s 6d, or from 61 <! to 71<1 a pound. Baconers made from 55s 6d to £4 10s 6d, an average price ©f 6d to 6jd a pound. STORTFORD LODGE. Per Press Association. HASTINGS, April 20. With the exception of fat cattle there was a short yarding in all sections at Stortford I.odge. However,, there was a general easing in values, the fear of facial eczema greatly affecting the sale of sheep. Belter class fat cattle dropped by 10s to 15s a head and second quality pens were down by. fully £l. Quotations are as follows: Prime bullocks to £l3: best ©owe to £10: medium cows and heifers £7 15s to £3 ss : light £6 5s to £7 10s; Jersey cows to £5 10s. Only 150 store cattle were forward and these sold very firmly, 20-month steers making up to £8 19s. Store sheep sold draggingly and prices were down Is to Is 6d a head. The presence of a number of pens of lambs showing the obvious first signs of facial eczema helped- to give an apprehensive atmosphere to the sale. Rest wethers made to 24s Id, one.-year ewes to 20s 6d, store ewes 8s to 12s 6d. Lamb sales were hard to make, V-best wether lambs bringing to 17s 6d, good quality, lines in forward condition 13s 9d to 15s 6d. Unmistakable' signs of facial eczema were also -.in evidence in the fat sheep sale and ewes eased b.v 6d lo 9d a bead. Wethers and lambs remained at late rates. WESTFIELD VALUES. Per Pres; Association. AUCKLAND. April 20. Primest cow beef showed a small improvement' at Westfield to-da.v. All other classes yvere traded at lain rat os. The average yarding included a fair assortment of good quality. Extra choice ox sold at 39e a 1001 b; choice and prime, 35s to 38s: unfinished. 27s to 355: prime cow and heifer beef, 30s to 365; unfinished. 23s to 295. Extra licavv prime steers brought £l3 to £l4; licavv. £ll 15s to £l3--10s; medium. £ll to £l2 17s 6d: light, £9 15s to £ll 12? fid; unfinished. £7 5s to £lO 10s; extra licavv prime cows and heifers, £9 to £11: licavv, £7 10s to £9 7s 6d: medium, £6 10s to £8 ss; light. £5 to £6 7s 6d; unfinished, £3 5s to £4 17s fid.. . .' . Calves were supplied far iri ''excess of the demand and valucis receded to the level of two weeks ago. failing to maintain the 'temporary recovery of the met calc. The quality generally was good. Burt-tici-6 realised £2 to' £6: heavy. vealers. £3 15s to £5; medium, £3 to £3 125.;. light, £2 10s to £2 19s; smaller. £1 sa. to £2 6s; unfinished, 12s to 345; bobby and rough, 3s to 16s. Sheep were chert in numbers, the qual-j ity being patch}’, with facial eczcrna largely in evidence. Good stock advanced slightly, ewes being in strongest demand. ~Bxtra heavy prime wethers made 32s to 34s ocl; heavy. 29s to 31s fid; medium 26s 6d to 28s fid: light. 23s to 265; unfinished, 15s to PPs- extra heavv maiden cues, to 275; extra heavy' prime, 22s 6d to 2c. 9d; heavy 19s

10 21s 6d; medium, 17s to 18s; light, 15s to 16s 6d; unfinished, 2s 6d to 14s. Fewer lambs were offered, but only prime grades maintained firm values from 15s to 270 3d, smaller and unfinished making 5s to 14s 6d. All prime . baconcrs, porkers and stores met with spirited competition, values tending to improve. Unfinished sorts were firm. The Quality in the medium' yarding was of a good standard. Choppers made £1 lo £4 6s; hcavv baconcrs, £4 3s to £4 9s; medium, £3 17s to £4; light, £3 7s to £3 15s; heavy porkers, £2 13s to £2 19s; medium, £2 4s to £2 9s; light, £1 18s lo £2 3s; smaller and unfinished. £1 4s to £1 14s; large stores, 16s to 28s; slips, 10s to 18s; weaners, 3n to 12u. Baconcrs averaged 6id to 6Jd a lb, and porkem 6d to 6id. BURNSIDE SALE. I’er Press Association. DUNEDIN, April 20. The entry of fat cattle for Hie Burn- | side stock sale to-day totalled 324 head I against 350 the previous week. .There was an improved supply of prime mediumweight beef, but despite thin prices were firm on late rates. Only at the end was there an easing in the demand. Extra prime heavy bullocks made to £l9 7s' 6d ; prime, £l3 7s 6d to £l4 7s 6d; medium, £lO 7s 6d to £l2 7s '6d; light, down to £8 10s; extra prime cows and heifers, to £lO 7s 6d; prime, £8 7s 6d to £9 12s 6d; medium and light, £5 5s to £7 ss. llccf sold at £1 18s a 1001 b for extra prime, £1 16s for prime, £1 16s for prime cow and heifei beef, and £1 7s for poorer quality. A medium entry of stores was forward, best, four-year steers realising to £ll Us. The yarding of fat sheep numbered 1459. compared with 1670 a week ago. Some good prime ewes were included, and these were firmer, while wethers brought late rates. Extra prime heavy wethers made to £1 12s 9d; prime, £1 5s to £1 8s; medium, £1 2s 6d to £1 4s; light and unfinished, 19s to £1 Is 6d; extra prime heavy ewes, to £1 7s; prime, £1 to £1 2s 6d; medium, 15s to 18s; light, 10s 6d to 13s. There was a small yarding of fat lambs and competition was keen, with the result that prices were firmer by Is a head. Prime heavy lambs realised to £1 9s 9d ; prime medium, £1 2s 6d to £1 4s 9d ; prime light, £1 0s 6d to £1 2s 3d ; unfinished, 16s to 18s. Tile penning of fat pigs was small, and the sale was keen throughout, baconers bringing up to £4 4s and norkers to £3. FARMING NEWS. RURAL RAILINGS. The country in tile Pohangina Valley has a very fine appearance at present with pastures, and crops are making big headway. In the low-lying country, however, there are miniature lakes all the way up the valley. On the subject of facial eczema in sheep a Tirnu settler writes to the Waikato Times: —“Take fi deep, narrow notch out of the top and bottom of each ear, close to the head, and I think you will find the facial eczema in sheep wlii disappear.’ The pastures in the Pahiatua district arc in good order generally and as yet no supplementary feeding has been done to any extent. Autumn conditions have not been good for lamb fattening, most farmers experiencing light draftings. It was reported at the annual meeting of the Otorohanga group of the New Zealand Co-operative Herd Testing Association that numbers of former dairymen were going out of the business lo take up sheep-farming. This year there were 1760 herds and 11,000 cows under test as against 1898 herds and 118,000 cows last year. In recent years many farmers have experienced considerable difficulty in finishing off pigs toward the end of the season. However, there is some hope for the industry now that pig-keepers are being educated to the value of supplementing the dairy farm by-products with a little concentrated food—due primarily, to the work of pig recording clubs and the Department of Agriculture, educational pro-, gramme, says an exchange. With the" arrival of autumn it is . considered advisable to complete all matings of sows before the .end of April. Even this leaves no margin to finish off the second litters of the year before winter. The system which is always being advocated, and has proved so successful, is to farrow the sows early Junc-July, carrying nothing but sows and their litters through the winter, thus laying the foundation for greater baeoner production, which must be the policy if New Zealand is to expand her pig industry, observes an exchange. ■ ■' The district of Wellsford (Auckland) has recently suffered from a plague of caterpillars. On one farm on tile flats, the owner estimates that on 60 acres of his land the crawling pests have cleared off every blade of grass. They first appeared after tho heavy rains and floods m February and then multiplied with extraordinary rapidity. They invade a farm overnight and when they have cleared the flats they start up the hillsides, leaving brown desolation bfchind. When crossing roads the moving mass suggests the illusion of an earthquake, as the surface wriggles in microscopic waves of millions of living crawlers. No remedy apart from fires and sprays has been even partially effective and the farmers in the district are suffering serious loss from the visitation. The best treacle for animal use is the black treacle which, if given in doses- of one pound, acts as a gentle laxative for cattle, and answers well in cases of leu water. It is used extensively in cases of coughs and colds in horses, and if a horse or cattle refuse to eat food with powder in it one mixes the powder into a paste with some treacle and smears it on to the lips and longue. UxAgam u-cacie is olten used as a convenient recipient for making up balls. Sheep require about five or six ounces and a pig about two or three as a purgative. It is usual to nnx 11 with water or gruel, or it may be given in a mash. A favourite country dose tor an ill cow is one pound of black treacle, a tablespoonful of flowers of sulphur, mixed up in a warm bran. mash. J Ins makes a useful aperient, and cooling dose for an ordinary sized cow. Folding sheep on turnips or swedes alone has. in my experience, resulted in considerable losses, writes Frank Booth, in; an English agricultural journal. One year I remember losing 18 out of 180 in less than a month. We had been drawing for market each week and the flock was put on turnips in the autumn. About the third dav they - started “biting in the earth and the trouble began. Five died in the course of a couple of days, and they were those animals almost ready for market .\\ e opened up one of the carcases, and the trouble was obvious—a solid mass of chewed root and earth. Later, inflammation set in. and the animals filled with gas; ultimately the flanks burst The flock was then taken off roots m the late afternoon and run on some good pasture, being returned to the turnips between 7 and 8 o’clock the following morning. With the exception of the usual root glutton, the trouble stopped.