SHEEP.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1024, 16 October 1891, Page 26

SHEEP.

TIIK SUFFOLK BREED. Our illustration this week gives a capital idea of a prize Suffolk Rain. Tho Suffolk sheep resembles very much the Hampshire breed, but it is not quite so compact and low set, and tho short hair oil tho face and ears is black, and it extends down the back of tlio head, so that the ears are not surrounded with wool as iu the case of tho Southdown. It was originally bred from the hardy, horned, black faced Norfolk sheep, by oross* ing with the Southdown to givo compactness and early maturity, and also with the Hampshire to maintain size and weight. The brood has been so recently formed that uniformity of typo has not yet been secured. Flocks in the Eastern counties of England partake strongly of tho old Norfolk characters, viz., dark face, light bone, and active habits. Those to tho West of England are, as a rule, kept on bettor lan i ; they have lighter faces, greater aptitude to fatten, and get up to greater weight. . , The Suffolk breed was not recognised as of sufficient importance to form a class at the Royal Agricultural Society’s Shows until 1886. Since that time it has now developed strides of advancement. A Suffolk Slmop Society has been organised with tho object of protection and improvement. Tho animal they have under their care is possessed of great strength of constitution and character, and abundance of bone and flesh ; and the objects before them ought to be to equalize and refine the typo by judicious selection. One of the principal breeders of the Suffolk is Mr Joseph Smith, of Thorpe Hall, Hasketon, Suffolk, who nt sevoral shows has been one of the principal prize takers. Thi ram of the illustration was one selected from his flock. The champion prize v inn jr in 18S5 was Sailor Prince, bred and owned by Mr Edward Gittus, of Snailwell, Suffolk.

The London butchers speak highly o. the j mutton from this breed of sheep. It is improbable that any of the breed are seen in this Colony, but it is just possib’e that they I would make splendid freezers. At a meeting of the Suffolk Sheep Society, held at Newmarket (England), on August 14th, a letter from Mr M. 13. Streeter, of Brooklyn, TT.S., was road, in which it stated that steps were being taken start a register of Suffolk sheep for Canada and the United States. Mr Streeter added:—-‘I have succeeded in obtaining for tho breed a full class at the New York and New England Agricultural Society Fair, to be held at Albany, New York, in August, with premiums offered of nearly £25. Country Society has recognised tho breed ever since I imported my Suffollcs; but I think the above named organisation is tho first large Society in America to give thorn full recognition.” Mr Streeters first importation of Suffolks was in 1888, when a fine rani lamb—Washington 863, by Bismarck YI. 356, and a few ewes were procured from the well-known Hasketon flock. FOOD FOR SUCKING COLTS. The following is to be observed for sucking colts :—The animal must be taught to eat such food as will assist in producing bono, muscle, and frame, and this is easily done when one has sweet skim milk in which to mix the extra food. Bran is one of the best foods to grow good muscle and sound springy bone. A colt may be induced to eat a little bran with a few oats mixed in, which is easily done if the colt is two or three months old. Also a little fiaxsoed jelly, made by boiling flaxseed fifteen or twenty minutes in eight times its bulk of water, will assist materially in the growth of the foal. When the colt learns to eat flaxseed jelly, it usually becomes fond of it. Begin by taking a handful of bran and a handful of oats and mix two tablespoonfuls of tho flaxseed jelly with it, and get the animal to eat this once a day at first, and thon after a week or ton days twice a day. Perhaps it would be as well to teach the colt first to take the bran and oats, then

add the jelly. If this plan is skilfully carried out, increasing the food as the colt increases in size—rapid nud even growth will be the result. Tho flaxseed jelly should not be omitted, as it will materially assist in keeping the digestive organs in an healthy condition, and in giving a fine development to tlve whole frame. HYBRID TURNIPS. Tho cuUure of hybrid turnips might well be carried on to a greater extent than it is. They are the result of a cross between white turnips and swedes, and so admirably has the cross succeeded that we have to a great extent in these hybrids the good qualities of both parents combined, while the inferior qualities are mostly absent of. As an instance, they grow much more quickly than swedes, produce heavy yields, and being only a short time in the ground come in as second crops. This is a great consideration in these days when one crop fails to pay the rent. The flesh of these roots is wholesome for both sheep and cattle, but if not consumed before frosty weather sets in hybridare liable to be frozen. TIME TO SOW. The best time to sow is early in January.- The ground should be well manured for the previous crop, so that it may be good enough for the turnip crop afterwards, since the ground should not be dunged just befortputting in the turnip seed. Such quick-acting artificials as bone dust, guano, or even soot answers well. Ground should be dieply ploughed and worked into a One seed-bed t lit same as for swedes. There should be plenty of mould. Onca the plants are

established a good crop may be looked for. Seeing that hybrids occupy the land so short a time, it is essential that rapid growth be promoted. From 2Jlb to 31b of seed should be drilled per acre, on the ridge for choice, after which the ground should be lightly rolled. All the ground that is ridged in the day should be drilled in the evening, so as to take advantage of any moisture there may be in it. Fly attacks hybrids the same as they do swedes, and I fiud quicklime the only useful remedy. It should be sprinkled on the plants as soon as they come up, as the pests soon commenoo their work. v There must be no delay in WEEDING AND SINGLING. Sat out the plants from lOin to 12in apart, according to the quality of the land, being careful always to leave the best plants, as this greatly affects tho yield. Both horse and hand hoes should be kept at work to keep the weeds down. After the weeding and singling, the plants should go ahead, if not give a second dressing of soma active artificial. A. good crop of hybrids will produce from 20 tons to 30 tons per acre in a showery Beason, so that a crop of hybrids will keep the swedes from being oaten until after midwinter. For my own part I prefer swedes lying in clamps until the turn of the year, when they become so mellowed as to bo at their best for stock feeding. For marketing purposes, hybrids make a few shillings per ton loss money than the best swedes. These turnips have an . advantage for feeding dairy oows, as

they do not. mrke butter strong. For fattening cattle, swedes are preferablo at any season. HOW WOOL IS SOLDTHE LONDON WOOL EXCHANGE. ■ The interior of the Coleman Street Wool exchange, on the opening night of a series of auctions, presents a somewhat remarkable spectacle. A few minutes before four o’clock the buyers, catalogue in hand, begin to stream in from the vestibule from the pavement outside, and from adjacent offices, each making for his appointed seat, The general situation and probable course of the market here been more or less discussed during the day as the representatives of different sections of tho trade have met each other while valuing the wool at the various warehouses, and now everyone seems intent upon business. The room is ampitheatrical in form, and though there is no sharply defined division of the various classes of buyers, yet a certain rough grouping is noticeable, the Home buyers mainly congregating in the ‘ horse shoe ’ on the ground floor immediately before the auctioneer’s box, whilst tho surrounding raised seats are chiefly occupied by the representatives of Continental houses, the Germans being mostly in front of tho Auctioneer, and the French and other buyers occupying either wing. There is no special place for American buyers, hut the trained eye of the Auctioneer knows well where to look for bids suited to United States requirements. A spacious gallery, which is on a level with the street, the room being well shaped, is usually filled to overflowing on the opening night by merchants, such wool growers as may bo in London, and a miscellaneous assembly of spectators interested in the growing or the manufacture of wool. A minute or two before four o’clock, three representatives of the firm

of selling brokers, usually partners in the firm, enter the auction box, one to fill the post of Auctioneer and the others to render such assistance as may be necessary, and to record tho sales as made. As the hands of the clock approach the appointed hour there is comparative silence, but the auctioneer’s 1 Lot 1 ’is usually drowned in a tempest of shouting such as scares the uninitiated auditor and makes him fear the place has suddenly caught fire, or some equally serious calamity has happened. ‘ Catching the Speaker’s eye ’ in the House of Commons or in the Legislative Assembly is a mere trifle compared with catching the auctioneer’s eye or ear at a London wool sale. _ According to the conditions of sale, the highest bidder is to be the purchaser; and this seems a very simple arrangement, hut an - onlooker would probably find it very far from simple , to select from a crowd of men bawling and wildly gesticulating, the one who first bid the price which proves to be the highest offer for the lot. The selection is usually made with great discrimination and impartiality, but from the .nature of tlie case it must often be Quite arbitrary in its character. In any. case it had to be made with great rapidity, and, even then, shouting for the next lot so? 16 ’ times before the hammer has fallen. What to the casual spectator may seem a climax in the confusion arises when a string of lots representing, say, coarse New Zealand crossbred is being offered. Probably there will not be a variation of more than a id per lb in the value of twenty or thirty consecutive lots; and as biddings over Sd in London advance i at a time, it is as like as noi that only two prices will eventually appear in the catalogue as the rates paid for tlio whole string, say 8d and 8-J-d. The Yorkshire buyers are the main competitors for these lots, and they have, most of them, been endowed by Nature with strong lungs. Possibly twenty men want a lot at B£d, whilst not one willgiv

a fraction advance. That, by general acknowledgment, is the value of the lot, and it is simply a question as to who is to have it at the price. ' As the shouting becomes monotonous, individual buyers rise in their seats, wave their hands, flourish their catalogues, or jerk towards the auctioneer with their pencils, in tho hope of arresting his attention. When once the successful bidder has been singled out, the rest collapse, only, however, to rise again and make a fresh struggle for the next lot. A great noise, however, does not necessarily imply an animated market. Whst sellers most like to see is the solitary bid above the level at which the majority shout, and with wools which embrace the competition of different sections of the trade this more frequently occurs, as business in one district may be rather more profitable than in another, and thus enable the extra price to be given. For animated bidding all round the room a good-sized desirable lot of what is known as Port Phillip or Sydney grease affords the best example. • Then the demonstrations in the horse shoe are out-vied by sonorous shouts from the Germans at the back, and the excited bids of the Frenchmen on either side. Many bidders, with good reason no doubt, cultivate a somewhat artificial tone of voice, in order that their offers may the more readily be distinguished from the rest. It thus often happens that above a storm of shouting one sharp, shrill voice can be distinctly discerned, and its owner naturally stands a better chance than his neighbour of attracting attention. Whilst there are some wools usually taken by one branch of the trade, and others which are clamoured for all round, there are some few having special characteristics, which are recognised as being adapted to the requirements of particular well-known buyers. In cases of this kind lots admit of a double valuation. The market price is a certain figure, but if ‘ so and so ’ is buying, the lot is expected to make id or Id more. If two such men get upon a particular lot it is a lucky thing for the owner. Apparent anomalies in the prices realised for particular lots may often be accounted for in this way, anomalies which shippers frequently find it difficult to understand. It i» almost supetfluous to comment on the value of American competition in forcing up the price of special lots, as this feature of the s ileroom is as marked in the colonies as in London. The holders of orders for the United States have a pretty good idea of what their competitors’ limits' are, and sharp tusßlos frequently occur for tho possession of particular lots, resulting in those limits being strained to the nlmiat. In some cases there may be a differenca of Id or even 2d per lb in the price realised for a lot owing to American competition, the last three or tour bids proceeding exclusively from holders of United States orders. A ‘Yankee’ wool is thus valued on a different basis from one that is not of the special quality, or is not sufficiently light in condition to attract the attention of American buyers. Perhaps, however, the prices realised for lambs’ wool present the greatest surprises. Of lambs themselves, it is alleged that they are ‘kittle cattle to drive,’ and it is equally true, that their wool requires extra care in handling. Possibly a lot of bright, lustrous, free lambs’ wool may have taken the fancy of, let us suppose, two special lamb buyers. The ‘room’ ceases bidding, we will say, at 10L and it looks as though the lot was about to bo knocked down at that price, when one of these men, in an indifferent manner, calls out ‘half’ just before the fall of the hammer. His rival adds ‘ eleven, 5 which is followed by ‘half,’ ‘twelve,* ‘half,’ ‘ thirteen,’ the lot ultimately being so'd at 13d, or 3d per Ih above the level at which this duel commenced. Any account of the biddings at Coleman street would be incomplete which made no reference to what is known as the ‘ last buyer’s privilege.’ Of bidders at a price, tho buyer of the previous lot has the right of claiming the one under offer if none of the other competitors will advance. If, however, the right has been once claimed and a rival advances, the privilege becomes void, and cannot again be asserted. This right may prove a valuable one, more especially in the case of a large lot of low-priced greasy, one which many buyers will want at a certain price, which, however, no one is likely to exceed. If, therefore, such a lot is preceded by a comparatively small one, a buyer may think it worth his while to purchase the small lot at a figure, say Id or 2d per lb beyond its market value, in order to increase his chance of getting the large parcel. This kind of thing, however, sometimes leads an eager buyer into trouble, as it not unfrequently happens that after giving a price for even a fair sized lot, out of proportion to its value, he miscalculates the buying power of his neighbour, and, having claimed his right as last buyer, has the mortification of finding that another bid is forthcoming. The derisive laughter which runs round the room after an episode of this kind does not improve matters so far as the feelings of the chief actor are concerned, and he doubtless wishes he had left the small lot alone. The occupants of the gallery call for a passing notice. As already stated, on the opening night of a series, they are very numerous, and of the representatives of the leading importers, it may be said that one of their principal objects in being present is to obtain a 3 speedily as possible reliable information regarding the state of the market for the purpose of

telegraphing to their colonial branches or agencies. Each is desirous of despatching his message as promptly as possible, but opinions may vary as to the point in the catalogue at which it is safe to treat the market os * made.’ Usually, however, between 4.30 and 4.45 a general stir takes place, and after hurried consultations the sellers’ representatives hasten back to their respective offices, there to compile the messages which on the following day are read with such keen interest on this side of the world. DISEASES TRANSMISSIBLE BY MILK. At the Seventh International Congress on Hygiene recently held in London in one of the sections, Dr Klein read an elaborate paper on * Infectious diseases of the cow in relation to epidemic diseases in the human Bubject, in which he contended that in several of the epidemics of scarlet fever, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the throat, and diphtheria, which had been proved to be due to the drinking of the milk was not due to contagion from a human source, but that a pathological condition of milch cows played a prominent part in giving to their milk the power to produce specific disease iu the human subject. In short, that the cows themselves were the Bource of the contagion. In the discussion on the paper Dr H. E Armstrong of Newcastle upon Tyne, Dr G. Turner of Hereford, Dr JBostock Hill of Birmingham gave various illustrations of outbreaks of diseases caused by milk, which appeared to support Dr Klein’s conclusions. On the other hand Professor Crooksbank contended that there was not the least evidence to support Dr Klein’s theory that these specific diseases ia the human subject ever arose from eruptions or skin diseases of the cow. -

Dr Osterlag, Berlin, said that most countries had till now paid but slight attention to the sanitary question of the milk supply, and had contented themselves with forbidding the sale of adulterated milk, or of milk from diseased animals, without taking proper steps to ensure obedience to t-beir orders. A praiseworthy exception to this was to be found in the Italian law of provision supplies of August-3rd, 1890. It was the undeniable duty of the State to see that only pure milk entered the market. The consumer was not in a position to guard himself against the manifold dangers which attend the consumption of milk. Milk might contain the most harmful ingredients, in spite of while colour and sweet taste. Such milk could only bo banished from the market if the milk supply was controlled by Government officials. Only pure milk could be tolerated in the market ; that is, milk obtained with the greatest cleanliness from healthy animals, and possessing normal physical qualities and a certain degree of strength. For sanitary reasons the following kinds of milk must be excluded from the market:—(l) Milk which, without being necessarily prejudicial to health, was peculiar in colour, la- to, or consistence (nauseous milk). (2) All milk that was prejudicial to health, or which was suspected on good grounds of being so. To the first group belonged colostral milk, blue, red, and yellow milk; farther, slimy, thready, bitter, salt, as well as abnormally smelling milk, and milk that had been made impure by mud or other substances. The milk of animals that had been fed on poisonous fodder, or that had been treated with certain medicaments, and of those suffering from tuberculosis, malignant pustule, cow-pox, aphthae, or generally ill in consequence of some process inducing ulceration or ichor, must be regarded as prejudicial to health. The possibility of milk being of a hurtful nature was suggested in all the other feverish ailments common to milkyielding animals, as also by tlio different forms of inflammation of the udder. Again, milk which has already been drawn might become infected by immediate contact with sick persons (typhus, cholera, &c), or through being kept in rooms where such persons were. Finally, through being carried in unsuitable (metal) vessels, injurious substances might find their way into the milk. In order to guard against these dangers it was requisite that all animals kept for milking be examined by a veterinary surgeon from time to time ; (3) that the owners of dairy farms be bound to provide only good undamaged fodder ; further, to give immediate notice of the illness of any milch cow to the attending veterinary surgeon, and, until he gives leave, not to send the milk of the diseased animal to market; (4) that the business of milking be performed with the most punctilious cleanliness, and that no person suffering from any infectious illness be employed to milk ; (5) that the mixed milk obtained by milking be cooled and stored in special rooms, not in living or sleening-rooms ; (6) that it be transported only in suitable vessels ; (7) that during the prevalence of aphthte only boiled milk be brought into the market, whilst all milk which must be considered nauseous or injurious be excluded from the provision market. Likewise at the outbreak of any epidemic in a house where dairy-farming was carried on, the sale of milk bo forbidden; (8) in obtaining the so-called ‘ milk for children,’ especially strict regulations must bo carried out as to the feeding of milch cows, cleanliness in milking, and the cooling and proper mode of transport of the milk.