WITH THE SHEEP.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 14 March 1910, Page 5

WITH THE SHEEP.

THROUGH PART OF THE DISTRICT. ANOTHER SKIN OF DEVELOP MENT. BUYING AND SELLING.

"Eight and nine I'm offered. Eight and nine. gentlemen. Eioiit anmi Nine," cries the auctioneer. He is standing on a sheep pen, and arouiul him, leaning on the rails, are. somo hundred or more farmers. Somo of them are Jiot buyers. They are. anxious sellers eager to see the price go up as the auctioneer makes the most of the sheep he: has to dispose of. There is all the difference in the world between a sheep sale and a wool sale. Of course the latter stands out in all the glamour of an annual affair, whilst the former is, in the proper season, an evCnt of frequent occurrence in scattered places, but what is meant in this connection is that the mode of procedure is quite different. In the wool sale I lie buyers, in an agony of gesticulation, yell and screech themselves hoarse, and ill the end often speechless. But at the sheep sale the case is quite different. A nod of the head or a movement of tho eye puts the price up a penny or so, and so the sale goes on.

A FEW HEASONS. Throughout all the sheep country of this district these, sales are held by Bisloy Bros, and Co., and tho dwellers of the town may ask (ho reason why so much interest is taken in them. There is, of course-, every reason why tho sales should he held. One. of the advantages is that it brings buyers from other parts, and whereas in the old days the strangers could often make: almost what terms they liked, now the price- it kept up for the. reason that local buyers, sheep farmers, and all, are always ready to pick up iv good line if it is going cheap, and so the price is kept up. The farmers themselves are to no small extent keen buyers also. There- are many reasons why they should be, and also many why they should bo sellers. It is this way. Say a farmer finds he has a few too many sheep for tho fattening facilities he is in possession of, he, in most cases, decides to dispose of some of his sheep, and they are accordingly penned awaiting the auctioneer's "hammer." Wonderingly they wait. Possibly they have never seen so many people before. Until mustered a few days airo most of them have had their homes away on the lonely hills. Far from tho blare of the trumpets, the whirl of tho wheels and the roar of business they were born and where, they have lived thoir lives. Possibly on still evening strango sounds have come to their ears, but attention was only attracted for a while. But now what "does all this mean, and then .again, how attentive everybody is! .Sheep, as well as school children, areknown to have bad teeth, and many of them are made to show theirs, for tho mouth contains many secrets. If tho teeth are bad tho farmer has very little use for the sheep, for it is generally unable to eat enough to fatten,.and so, except there is plenty of good soft grass, the demand for these is not very keen; but it has other uses, as will be seen later on.

ALL SORTS. You must not always expect to find a prize lot of sheep at sales. Some of them you will think the farmer may as well havo left at home, but in many cases that is tho reason why he has brought them. On tho other hand, of course, thero aro good sheep, and some, of tho best aro offered. Others again aro very fair, and of average all-round quality and price. Thero are "black shoep" amongst all families, and in all Hocks the "weeds" brow up. And these the farmer "culls" from the best, and off they go to the sale, Even in the. best of flocks the "weeds" occur, and this is easily understandable. In some instances it is due to maternal neglect. A woman's "lender care" may cease in unmentionable cases towards her child, and so it is with the sheep, and in tho latter case weeds are tho result as a rule, if it is not so always in the former. And again, there is scopo for a Darwin, a do Vries, or a Mendel to explain the reason for the inheritance of the defects of ancestors three or four gererntions distant. But, however, the firmer is well aware of the fact tnat ho must "cull," and tho "culls" go cif to the sale. Not always, however, for he may have himself facilities for profitably disposing of them in othe. ways. Tho prico for this lot is of course eXCß.'iingly low. But there are t'armo i who may have in mind a nice stretch of, grass, or a paddock or two of rap o , which would fatten the sheep and enable them to securo a profit in a few weeks, and so another penny or two is put on the price, and tho bidding goes up accordingly.

OTHERS ALSO. But tho buyers are there; for many reasons. Some have just bought new farms and they are looking for stock to put on the land, and these mostly look for lambs and good sheep. Some of them do not, however. Perhaps a man many have a farm away back where it is not essential that every sheep should bo a real paying one. Then he often goes in for a line, of old ewes which an older and more established farmer has culled from his (locks. He thinks be. will be able to secure another lamb front (hem, and fhis, together with tho skin from the. ewe, should well recompense him for his expenditure in this direction. It was a fine sight at Tapawera on Friday afternoon. There was the appearance of small agricultural show. Vehicles and horses were, lined up in one paddock, whilst iadjojining istopd (tho sheep in a long row of pens. Eager faces bent over the rails as the sale proceeded, and the whole scene was a sure indioik tion of the growing importance of tins district from an agricultural point rf view. And it was not as if it wi-.s tho only sale in the* vicinity. Only that morning at Kohatu similiir interest had been displayed, and at Thorpe on the previous (afternoon sheep were being eagerly sought after. There is excellent grazing country round about, ajid that business is to be done tho sales very dearly demonstrate. Messrs Bisley Bros, and Co. have now sales from Takaka to Murchison, and the enterprise shown is clearly a good thing for the district.