THE CHRISTCHURCH RAM FAIR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3774, 12 March 1874, Page 3

THE CHRISTCHURCH RAM FAIR.

The following particulars are from the

Press :—

The ram fair, held under the auspices of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association, came off on the Cth inst., and a fine day contributed to . mako it tho success whijh it undoubtedly was. Considering the speciality of this description of show, where few but those directly interested in the matter are supposed to be present, the atttndanee was very good; nearly all our wellknown sheep-breeders putting in an appearance, as well as several visitors from other Provinces : notably Mr Beetham, from Wellington, whom wo beg to congratulate upon his purchases. The sub-committee,- consisting of Messrs .T. T. Ford, H. E. Alport, J. T. Matson, H. F. Gray, E. Mitchell, W. Henderson, and R. Wilkin, to whom the arrangements wero intrusted, deserve great credit for the manner in which their duties were performed. The number of sheep penned was far in advance of that of last year, lhe total being over 1200, and the following, so far as we could ascertain, is an approximate list of the different breeds :- - Leieesters, 39ii; Komney Marsh, 170; Cots wold, 32 ; Lincoln Leieesters, 48i">; Shropshire Downs, 14; Southdowns, 2:5 ; Merino, 50 ; and Lin-ohis, 81. Tliese numbers must not be taken as, by any means, accurate, as not only were some of the sheep entered in the programme absent, but a gioat many were exhibited which were not catalogued. Taken as a whole, the show of shcepin the long-woolled classes was exceedingly creditable, while the number of merinos was small and uot remarkable as a lot for quality. The bidding at the sales was scarcely so brisk as we anticipated, but ifc \v-.\s a noticeable fact that there was no lack of spirit in the competition for i-eally good sheep, whi'e for some iudiffereut lots the auctioneers had to discourse most eloquently to elicit a bid of a few shillings. While on this subject, we may say that it is to us a matter of wonder that some few breeders should send rams to this fair when they arc so evidently consciousof their inferiority, as proved by their being willing to take for them prices whicli they could usually obtain forgoodfat wethers. It had been arranged tbat the auctioneers were to. sell in halt-hour spells, and having drawn for turns, Mr Newton, of Messrs J. T. Ford and Co., opened the ball at a few minutes past eleven. Were we to follow the course unavoidably pursued by the auctioneers, we should load our readers into some confusion ; we prefer therefore to follow the catalogue as printed. Mr Mitchell in his "preliminary" stated tliat he had let and sold all Mr Every M'Leau's rams, and proceeded to offer 8 Leicester rams, the property of Mr Recce, and bred by Mr Murray, of Otago. Of these, 3 fell to Messrs Wright, Thompson, aud Wilkin, at L 7, L 5. and L 5 respectively, the rest of the lot being passed. Lots SG-59 were 5 fine Leicester rams, bred by the Hon. M. Holmes, and prize-takers .at Oamaru. The pick of the pen was purchased for L 57 10s by Mr Wilkin, on behalf of Messrs Bethune and Hunter from the North. The second ram fell tn Mr Marsdon for L3O, and 2 to Mr Grigg for L2G each, the other being passed in at L 25. Lot 60, one Leicester ram, bred by th>> Messrs M'Lean, passed at Ll4. Gl and G'2, two pure Leieesters full-mouthed, bred by the Hon. M. Holmes, passed at LiO each. 03 and 82, twenty Leicester rams, two-toothed, brod by the Hon. M. Holmes, elicited a bid of IA lUs each, but were passed in. 83, a Leicesterram, t.vo-toothed, bred by Mr Tolmie, followed suit, as did lot 81 to 89, six Leicester rams, two-toothed, bred by the Southland Company. Lot 90 to 101 consisted of 15 Leicester ram lambs, by border Leicester ram, bred hy tbe Hon. ___, Holmes. Of these 5 brought L 3 10s each, aud the other half-score L"3 5s each, the purchaser being Mr Macgregor. Lit 189 to 188, 9 Lincoln rams, bred by the Hon. M. Holmes; passed at L 6 each. Lot 189 and 19*, 2 Lincoln rams, bred by Messrs Sutton, of Southland, passed at L 9 each. Lot 191-197, 7 Lincoln rams, two-tooth, bred by the Hon. At. Holmes, and first and second prize takers, attracted a great deal of attention, and were disposed of in the foll-wina order :—No. 1, to Dr Webster at LBS ; No. 2 passed at L 35 ; No. 3 passed at L3O; Nos. 4, 5, and 6, to Mr Beetham at L 32 V's e;ich ; No. 7 to Mr White at D 2 10s. Lots 240-241 comprised two Komney Marsh rams bred b.v Dr Webster, and were passed at L2<». 242-246, 5 Romney Marsh rains, bred by Mr Tolmie by

nVebsteHanunmnOTebster ewes, were passed at LlO each. For lots 2-17-250, 4 Shropshire Down rams, bred by Dr Renwick, Nelson; and lots 251-268, 18 Southdown rams, bred _by Mr D. Max, Nelson, thero were no bids. Mr Aikman further succeeded in disposing of two Merino rams, prize-takers in 1871, to Messrs Rhodes and Wilkin for Lo each, and also two Leicester two-tooth ranis, bred by Mr Tolmie, for L(i each. Lots 422-423, two two-tooth Leieesters, the property of Messrs Hay Bros., bred from the Southland Company's sheep, 1 fetched LlO to Mr Mincheu, and the other L 7 10s to Mr R, Wright, ln a pen of three twotooth Leieesters, also the property of Messrs Hay Bros , one brought L3O at Air Gritfg's bid, tho second Ll2 10s, and the third LlO Us, the purchasers being Messrs Drury and C. _ .Fairweather, respectively. Mr J. E. Brown's ten Leicester rains were purchased by Mr Johns, at tho modest sum of 10s a-head ; and the next pen of 1 Leicester ram, tho proporty of .Mr Amos, and bred in Tasmania, foil to the same gentleman for 15s. Lots 588 and 589, two 2-tooth Lincoln rams, from the Southland Company's sheop, belonging to Messrs Hay Bros., went one to Mr Beetham at L 32 10s, and the other to Mr Gammack, at L 22 10s.