THE RURAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19582, 11 September 1925, Page 4

THE RURAL WORLD.

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

By Rctsticus

Uu [ltems of interest to those engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, with a view to their publication in these columns, will be They should be addressed to “ Rnsticus,” Otago Daily p J Times, Dunedin, and should reach this office not later than Wednesday L- --of each week.]

Rgreisorn is a winter' crop that is very highly spoken of in this district, but does not seem to be well known in the North Island. * * * -* Partridge peas are selling moderately well at the present time, being worth tis fid a bushel, f.0.b.. South Island, and the supply is not large. ***■*■ The plough is the forerunner of all implements, and the mainstay of thorough cultivation; therefore, the ploughing should receive careful attention. The'production of eggs in the Dominion Ist steadily increasing, in spite of the higs price of fowl feed and the small profits of the poultry-keeper. Even the best-managed herds do- not escape occasional ailments, and by havingthe means of cure at hand a farmer may save himself from considerable loss. * * * * Any soil not acid is well supplied with available calcium, or, as we say, with lime. An acid soil also contains calcium, but usually in less amount than in nonacid soil. «■ * * * In Britain, the application of a complete manure produces the best results in tin average case, but the general conditions are quite different from what they are in New Zealand. * * * * Fat cattle again went up in price at Burnside sale on Wednesday and touched the highest figure reached this season. It is said by a buyer competent to judge that up to 70s per 1001 b was paid for some beef on Wednesday. Mr R. Hoberts( Glenesk) sold a nice truck of bullocks and heifers. Two bullocks brought £27 each, two bullocks £25 each, two heifers £2O each, and one bullock £ls 12s fid. Messrs Kain Bros. (Stirling) also had a good truck for ward. Two realised £26 17s Gd each, two £24 I7s fid, one £22 ss, two £2O, and one - £lB 2s fid. Fat sheep sold well, up to 58s being paid for extra prime wethers. Mr C. M. Love (Moa Flat) again topped the market at this figure. Mr John Christie (Warepa) also sold a truck of specially nice wethers, which realised the following figures:—Ten at 52? 9d each, 14 at 46s 3d, seven at 435, and 19 at 44s fid. * * * * A meeting of the council of the Clydes- - dale Horse Society will be held In the Otago A. and P. Society’s board room on Wednesday evening—September 23 is tha evening before the Otago Horse Parade. A meeting of members of the Clydesdale .Horse Society will also be held after the parade. Several important matters will be discussed. * •» * * The Taieri Agricultural Society’s annual show will be hell at Outram on Saturday, November 7. This society has made great strides since the show was shifted to Outram, and during the current year has spent £l3O in improving the grounds, the improvements consisting of levelling the grounds and the erection of cattle pens. There Is every reason to believe that good entries wjll be forthcoming, and that draught horss will again be a feature. Some recent purchases will be seen on exhibition, for the first time in Otago. * * * * The Otago A. and P. Society is making a special appeal to breeders in connection with the summer show which is to be held on November 18 and 19, the same week as the opening of the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, and hopes to ma.ke this shoxv one of the features of that week. It is fully expected that there will be a large number of distinguished ' and interested visitors present at the opening of the Ex hibition, .who will have the opportunity of seeing’, at the Exhibition a magnificent display of our primary products, and also the prominent place that our New -Zealand •manufactures hold in the Dominion, Any display of our primary products cannot be considered complete without an exhibition of live stock; and, consequently, the committee* with the .approval of the directors of Exhibition, has decided to give visit'dffe an opportunity of inspecting, at the show grounds, Tahuna Park, the class of sheep, cattle, and horses that are now being produced and for which numerous inquiries are being received from other countries for exportation. * * » * Mr J. D. Wyllie. Newfields, Softon, has accepted the position of judge at the Otago A. and P. Society’s annual Clydesdale Stallion, Parade. All animals entered for Messrs Wright, Stephenson and Company’s Challenge Cup must be registered in the Clydesdale Horse Society’s Stud Book and certified to by a Government veterinary surgeon to be free from hereditary diseases. Stallions will be examined the day previous to the parade in the Otago Farmers’ -saleyards, find only the owner, his grodra, and class stewards duly appointed by the committee will be admitted. • BAD FARMING. DAIRY FARMERS LAX. SOIL FERTILITY NOT MAINTAINED. It must b© admitted that there is something radically wrong when we hear of agricultural industries not progressing as they should in a young country such as New Zealand. It is true that this cry of non-progresstveness is not general. Compared with what is being done in older lands, where forming has been followed in the same districts for centuries, it seems absurd to learn of land deteriorating and the soil being exhausted. Particularly is this so in regard to dairying, for the industry, if conducted on sound lines, has the groat attraction of being capable of maintaining the capacity of the land and returning to the soil almost all that has been taken from it. Lands originally fertile and devoted to dairying should, if properly handled, go on maintaining their capacity for centuries. Good farming entails adherence to methods that will maintain the fertility of the soil, and for that matter continually improve it to a certain standard, also securing the very highest return in the way of production. If the soil is becoming exhausted it is certainly only due to neglect on the part of those who have had charge of it. Rich and fertile originally, there is no reason, other than neglect, for deterioration. There is nothing new about the science of maintaining soil fertility. Today agricultural teachers are laying great stress on this matter, especially in the newer countries, because in those countries men handling naturally rich soil have ig- ' nored the teaching of older countries, and have greedily attempted to take all from the soil, and have made no provision for the future. ... Maintenance of soil fertility is a great question in America, where some of the old farming districts have been abandoned because the soil was said to _bc exhausted. Men moved on to new districts in preference to taking the trouble to establish and adhere to a system of farming that would bring back life and fertility to the soil. Consequently authorities have given emphatic and particular attention to the question of soil fertility. But them is little new in what they teach. They are bringing home again the lessons that have been influencing the farmers in older countreis for generations untold. In the old world there ate farms being tilled today that have been constantly worked for centuries. There has been no exhaustion of the soil, because it meant starvation. It is time that our land workers in the older settled- districts of the province abandoned the easy-going, careless methods of the past and followed now the lines adopted by Old World farmers. If they want the soil to maintain them, they will have to play their part in maintaining the soil. As the lessoned capacity of the soil is due to neglect of the soil, so the low earnings of some dairy herds must be due to neglect properly to maintain and improve the herds. In the general average there is great room for improvement. Consideration shows that a large number of animals are being milked that- are not returning a fair profit, if any profit at all. Until they are cleared out the dairying industry is loaded unduly. Testing and'cnlling are the principal remedies. and here, again, the experience of older

countries points the way to our farmers. We cannot ignore such experience, either as a State or as individuals. The community loses when the land is neglected and not put to its fullest use, and that is the case when the soil is neglected or is running an inferior class of stock, while for the individual farmer such a course simply represents a slow but sure process of extinction. EARLY LAMBING. MORTALITY AMONG STUDS. Although the lambing season will not be general in the Otago and Southland districts for some months yet, a fair number of stud lambs have been bom in the Palmerston and Oamaru districts. Owners of stud sheep provide for the early lambing of their stud animals in these districts to enable the lambs to have a chance at the shows with the Canterbury stud lambs, where the season is about a month earlier than in the south. The cold, wet weather has, however, affected the percentage of stud lambs in some parts, a fair number of lambs having succumbed to the cold; So far as flock lambs are concerned, the mortality has been comparatively light considering the unfavourable weather experienced during the past 10 days. The lambs are reported to be strong and healthy despite the poor feed available for the ewe flock. HIDES AND CALFSKINS. A WEAKENING MARKET. It would appear that.- calfskins, in common with hides, have weakened considerably oft the American and - Continental markets, with the result that the prices for these products are now low. Calfskins have declined rather suddenly, and prices are expected to go still lower. Light calfskins do not. appear to be wanted by the trade at present, and speculators are inclined to be panicky. The position has been that dealers in calfskins have been endeavouring to force the market upwards, and have been holding very large stocks both on the Continent and in America. In the meantime the demand for calf leather, particularly light calf leather, has continued to weaken, and tanners now do not require any great quantity of these skins. This means that the demand is now more than over supplied, and that the big speculating dealer will bo faced with heavy losses on unsold stocks. The calfskin aeason is now in full swing in the North Island, although it will be a week or two yet before it is at its height in this province. In New Zealand competition has been extremely keen, and the dairy farmer has received very satisfactory prices for all, skins marketed to date. It would now seem that calfskin prices will bo on a lower basis if oversea conditions are.to be accepted as a guide for buying prices in New Zealand. SOUTHLAND FARM NOTES. EFFECT OF SNOWSTORMS. HIGH LAMBING MORTALITY. (From Our Own Correspondent.) INVERCARGILL. September 10. The phenomenal snowfall during the week end was followed by heavy rain on Monday, and a light half inch fall of snow on Tuesday afternoon and evening. As a result the district is saturated, and lowlying land along the coastal area and within 20 miles of Invercargill has carried a considerable amount of surface water during the past three days. It is xvorthy of note that the heavy fall was limited to the coastal area. In the up country districts of Southland only a very light fail was experience!. The maximum depth recorded was at Tokaniti, where 14 inches of snow fell. The unusual conditions prevailing have^had the effect of further delaying the sowing season, but there is now every indication of a spell of fine weather, and work is already under way. The most serious aspect of the snowfall was the effect on early lambs. Although the lambing season has fortunately not yet got fully under way many farmers had a fair number of lambs out at the beginning of the week, and the mortality amongst these was high. Representative farmers in the Morton Mains district stated that the loss in early liunbs owing to the snowfall was perhaps 2’CTper cent. At the same time they considered that the percentage of- loss might easily have been higher, and -the farmers in the district had on the whole got off lightly. This may be taken as a conservative estimate. It is safe to say that these figures would apply to practically all farmers ■within the area mainly affected by the heavy fall who had lambs already out. MORTON MAINS DAIRY FACTORY. In moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet-at the annual meeting of the Morton Mains Dairy Factory, one of the most successful factories in the southern district, the chairman (Mr A. H. Shoat) said that the season had not been such a bad one, and the prices had kept wonderfully oven. In perusing the balance sheet the shareholders would notice that no money had been paid to the bank except for depreciation. It was decided to reopen the factory on Monday next, and also to pay out Is 6d a lb for butter-fat for Septembor-Oetobor make. At this meeting it was also resolved to discontinue the practice of supplying butter to consumers, the directors considering it would be more satisfactory if the local storekeeper was given the total retail xvork. This decision by no means establishes a precedent, as other factories are deciding and have decided to adopt similar measures. It has been found that the retail sales to suppliers are not at all satisfactory, and the factory managers cannot be expected to give the necessary thorough attention to this work in the height of the season. OTAUTAU DAIRY FACTORY. At the annual meeting of the Otautau Dairv Factory, the chairman (Mr J. Low) briefly reviewed the work of the past year, which had been simplified by the sale of the output f.0.b., instead of consigning. The result had been fairly satisfactory. Referring to the auditor’s reservation that too much had been deducted for depreciation, he was of opinion that they were pursuing (he safest course, and one which was in conformity with their agreement with the bank. The directors’ recommendation that, aVlividend of 7i per cent, be paid on capital was discussed at length, and finally it was resolved that a further payment of Is Bcl be paid to suppliers on bulter-fat. A further motion that a dividend of 5 per cent, be paid was carried. HERD-TESTING. Speaking at a fanners’ meeting on Tuesday an Otautau man stated that an effort was being made to form a herd-testing association in the district, and a canvass of suppliers bad been made, with I lie result that 12 suppliers had signified their intention of guaranteeing 500 cows. A further canvass xvas being made, and when this was completed it was expected that the association would lx l complete. lie mentioned that those who had promoted the object were endeavouring to form the association with the largest herds possible. NORTH CANTERBURY LAMBING. (Per United Press Association., CHRISTCHURCH, September 10. Bad weather has led to heavy lambing losses in North Canterbury this season. One farmer in the Hawarden district has lost over 100 lambs from the effects of the weather this week. There are many similar cases. Lambing is now general over the plains, but at "present it is impossible to ascertain the percentage of lambs as most of the returns have not come to hand.

WOOL VALUES. THE AMERICAN POSITION. FACTORS INFLUENCIN'G PRICES. A report- by the Australian .(Commissioner in the United States (Sir J. A. M. Elder) on Australian wool has 'been received by the Minister of Markets in Melbonrne, and Included in a bulletin issued by the commercial and industrial section of the department. The Commissioner states that the position of the wool market in Australia continues to receive much publicity, and still quite undue emphasis is given to recent high prices in an attempted justification of the unsatisfactory condition of the wool manufacturing business in America. Sir J. Elder expressed the opinion that the relatively high price of wool had little or nothing to do with the situation the causes of which wore almo.'i entirely local. "In this country,” ho says, "wool from the raw condition to the suit of cloths passes through a great number of hands; In many cases it is handled by the buyer of the raw wool, the wool scourer, the wool tops manufacturer, the cloth manufacturer, the commission agent or dealer, the clothing manufacturer, and the retail shopkeeper. “This custom has been in vogue for a great number of years, and as each of these persons must have his profit, the costs by these means materially increase. It is a rare thing to find a retail house engaged in all operations from the purchase of the raw material to the selling of the suit of clothes to the customer; it is a fact, nevertheless, that a beginning has been made in that direction. "It is not possible to state the value of the raw wool in an average American suit of clothes. In such a suit Australian merino forms only a part, sometimes not even that; other Australian wool and other foreign wools, American -domestic wool, rags and the like, are all used in the manufacture of the cloth. I put the -price of the raw greasy wool in an average suir at 12s; this price is based on the highest point the market reached in 1924. A very tew worsteds are made, mainly from Australian merino, but they arc not wanted at present. Worsteds are out of fashion, as they do not lend themselves to manipulation of this character in the same way as do ‘woollens.’ When worsteds are reestablished in public favour there will be a heavier demand for wool. The proportion of wool in some of the so-called ’woollen’ suits is, how-ever, relatively small. The cheap ‘woollens’ selling at a high price this season are known to contain from 25 to 40 per cent, shoddy. The substitution of reworked wools from rags, etc., is considerable, and is extending, its growth being stimulated by the higher prices of wool. Tailors- clippings (his year jumped from 150 per cent, to 200 per cent. This practice of using tailors' clippings to cloth tends to limit wool con - sumption; it is anticipated that the present heavy demand for reworked wool will continue. “The average price of the cloth which is made either into a ready-made suit of clothes or a suit to measure ranges from £2 to £2 10s. “A comparison of the prices of the readymade suit of clothing before and after the war shows that the retailer has more or less retained his high ratio of profit, the result being a vastly increased price for the suit of clothes being paid by the purchaser. The ready-made suit of clothing in this country is a very fine article; the material is good, and the tailoring is excellent. The cost of a made-to-measure suit is from £2O upwards. “To-day the retailer is not prepared, to the same extent, to anticipate the public demand and order supplies ahead, fie now prefers to cater for that demand when_ it arrives. This attitude on the part of the retailer ha; its reaction on the commission agent and on the jobber, and in the long run it appears to mo that the last-named will be the most seriously affected. "Summing the situation up, unsatisfactory as it undoubtedly is at present, I am convinced that this is only a phase through which the business is passing, and (hat it is merely an experience which other commodities have already gone through. The American people have to be clothed; the mills have to run; America is prosperous; the rate of wages ie more likely to advance than to decline, and the general prosperity therefore will increase. The concentrating in one hand of a number of those manufacturing processes, and the more direct dealing between the manufacturer and the retailei, will greatly reduce costs All these things will have a most beneficial effect on the situation of Australian wool here, and I have no doubt whatever that all concerned will emerge from the present difficulties sooner than seems at the moment possible. There is no occasion for pessimism, and I see no reason to doubt the good prospects of Australian wool in this country.” Sir J. Elder added that he visited Philadelphia. to inquire into the position of Australian wool in connection with the spinning of worsted yarns in the knitting industry.* Despite the unsatisfactory condition- of affairs in that particular trade at the moment, the prospects for Australian wool in U.S.A. wore satisfactory. The quality of American wool was poor, and the supplies diminishing owing to the spread of agriculture. The trade looked to Australia for its future supplies, with the possibility, of course, of South Africa becoming an increasingly important source as well. There was no question, however, that Australian merino wool was looked upon as the best which the world produced. “I asked for a comparison between Australian and South African wool, and the following arc the main points in connection with which Australia unquestionably leads; The all-round quality is better. The classing is much more carefully done. There are scarcely any ‘black hairs’ in the Australian wool, whereas there is a considerable quantity in South African wool. The term ffilack hairs’ applies, 1 of course, to black wool. The packing is more carefully done. There is a lesser quantity of extraneous matter in the Australian wool, which therefore scours better than the South African wool Australian growers should, in their own interests, exorcise the very greatest possible care in the classing . of the sheep, in order to continuously improves the quality of wool, and as far as practicable eliminate black hair. They should continue also to exercise fho greatest possible oaro in the packing and the general get-up, in order ihat Australia may continue to lead the world in her woo 1 production in all its phases.” AN AMERICAN VIEW. GROWER AND MANUFACTURER. “The price maladjustments between wool and its manufacture®,” says the National Bank of Commerce, in New York, "has been the most conspicuous feature of the international wool situation during the 'ast two or three years.” Continuing, the bank says in the August issue of Commerce Monthly:—“Ever since prices recovered from the low levels reached during the period of violent price liquidation following the spring of 1920, wool manufacturers have been forced to operate on a high raw wool market, and profits derived from advancing the raw material through the successive steps in manufacturing have been meagre. High textile wage rates have contributed greatly to the difficulties of the industry, especially in the United States and Great Britain. A largo wool crop in the Southern Hemisphere lart season, nairt of which failed to find buyers a! ruling prices, resulted for the first lime in several years in an accumulation of supplies, and offered some promise of relief from high raw material costs. A dramatic decline carried wool values in this country to a point more than 50 per cent, below the peak levels established in the winter. However, despite the realisation that consumer resistance forbids the steady marketing of anything like a full output ot the world's wool textile mills op the basis of the extreme values for wool lately seen, raw wool prices have advanced shandy from recent lows, and there is little evidence that stability is in sight. "The wool manufacture is face to face with the question of whether its physical plant has outrun the supply of raw materia! am! demand for woollen and worsted good, based on prices for raw wool resulting from the failure of the world wool clip in keep pace with world population. A special pha-o of the problem is the question as to whether the equipment for worsted manufacture which can deal onlv with new and unused fibres, is out of balance with the woollen industry, whose raw materials include not onlv so-called ‘virgin’ wools, hut their bv-products am! a host of siibstitiit-s an well. WORSTEDS IN DEMAND. “Kor some 10 years or more before 1914 wool manufacturing was expanding both in the count rie.T. where the industry was most advanced and in those countries where the existence of a domes! ie-wool supply or other favouring influences was stimulating a local manufacture hitherto little developed. By

1914 tiie leading wool-consuming countries wore more heavily equipped, for worsted than for woollen manufacture. This development coincided with u period of great increase in wool supplies and low wool prices, particularly fine wool prices. Reliable estimates place the increase in world population between 1900 and 1925 at about 20 per cent. While complete figures are not available in regard to expansion of wool-manufacturing equipment during that period, such evidence as there is indicates that manufacturing capacity increased as fast as, and probably faster than, population. On tho 'basis of expanding population and a higher standard of living the world over, the total accessions to mill capacity do not seem alarming. Unfortunately, (here has been no commensurate increase in wool supplies. “Pre-war expansion in wool manufacture followed upon a- period in which vast new areas were opened to sheep grazing in the Southern Hemisphere and in the United States. According to Ihe best estimates available, the (rend of wool production had been strongly upward for some 50 years, the period of expansion having come to an end by the beginning of the war. Prom 1914 to 1919 or 1920 tho trend of production differed greatly in the various wool-growing areas. In tho last three or four years there has been a considerable increase in wool production the world over owing to the stimulation of high prices. “Unfortunately, as conditions are to-day, markedly lower prices for wool would probably result in a material reduction in supplies. World flocks are now much smaller than in 1914, and suitable range is impossible to secure anywhere in the enormous tracts and at the relatively low prices characteristic of the last century. Furthermore, grain production has developed rapidly in Australia, Argentina, and tho United States in the last 30 years, and the trend toward a diversified agriculture has prompted an increase in the area, under various other crops. Expansion of the cattle industry has also tended to discourage sheepraising in many localities. Moreover, the costs of wool production are much higher than before the war, and are not likely to decrease substantially for some time to come. Even more difficult than the problem of increasing wool supplies as a whole are those encountered in the production of fino wools on a profitable basis for the grower, yot at a price low enough to insure a wide market for fabrics made of them. INFLUENCE OF SPORTS WEAR. “It is abundantly evident from even the incomplete and not altogether comparable material available that’for somewhat more than 15 years the loading .wool manufacturing countries have been more heavily geared for worsted than for woollen spinning, and that that condition still prevails. VV ith lower wool prices it is quite possible that tho tremendous Vrcrfd capacity for worsted production would not bo in excess of demand. Unfortunately, worsted manufacturers have borne the brunt of the high wool values since they cannot employ anv of tho useful reworked wools and wastes which have been a boon to woollen manufacturers in reducing raw 7 material costs. Worsted mills have been further disadvantaged by the vogue for woollens which the sports habit has introduced. “ For tho wool manufacture as a whole the next few years undeniably present, many serious problems. The evidence is that during the last 15 years supplies of wool have failed to keep puce either with population or with wool manufacturing equipment. Rapid changes in style and merchandising changes of sweeping character have injected into the wool manufacturing business additional highly speculative, elements. Therefore, those industries which have a certain suppleness in shifting production with the shifting of popular demand, and which can reduce costs by more efficient management, agreements with their labour, or by judicious admixture of reworked fibre in their products, will probably receive tho bulk of the world's business in wool fabrics. The desire for economic self-sufficiency at present manifest in many parts of the world would scorn to favour those industries which eniov a wide home market, as compared with those which are dependent on export.’’ CARRYING THE WOOL. THE RAILWAY DEPARTMENT’S ACTIVITIES. The new railway policy of seeking business’ is bringing practical results. In tho Wanganui mid contiguous districts, department, canvassers have been interviewing woolgrowers, and even at tide early stage (ho results of this now 7 excursion into tho commercial sphere are, it. is stated, more than gratifying. The licruros published below, whieli n.ro official, indicate the approximate numbers of bales to bo railed from the districts mentioned : 1925. 1924. Feilding 16,200 7760 Halcombo 870 190 Greatford 1,070 930 Marten ... 1,800 646 Turnkina 1,000 860 The increases alone disclose ample evidence of tho producer’s sympathy with the department’s policy. On all sides the canvassers wore well received and ample encouragement was extended WORMS IN SHEEP. No one w 7 ho has had arty experience with sheep need be told about the trouble stomach worms will cause in a flock Prevention, through the rotation of pastures, is the best practice, but it is not always possible Some strongly recommend the copper sulphate treatment. Flocks treated in this way are kept off feed for twentyfour hours, and then animals arc dosed, regardless of whether they s 7 liow signs of worms or not. Dissolve 2oz of copper sulphate in a pint of hot water, then dilute bv adding one gallon of cold water. Mix thoroughly. For lambs three months old give two-thirds of a fluid ounce, for a lamb six months old fluid ounces, for yearlings 21, fluid ounces, and for old sheep 3i fluid ounces. The following precautions must bo observed :—Use copper sulphate of a uniformly blue colour without white crusts. Do not. guess at weights or measures. Do not allow the sheep it drink water for several houts after dosing. Feed may bo given two hours after the medicine is administered. Tho general practice is to give a light feed in the evening, no feed the next morning, then dose in the afternoon, and withhold all feed for two hours. An overdose is indicated by purging or symptoms of pain, when the sheep will lie apart from the flock. Place animals so affected in tho shade, and give them one teaspoonful of laudanum in a glass of milk. A stomach tube reduces tho danger of choking when tho sheep are dosed and permits faster work than the drenching bottle. —Farm and Ranch Review. MEAT EXPdRT. CONTROL AND CONTINUITY OF . SUPPLY. Just as Australian dairy producers have found it wise and necessary to follow New Zealand's lead and set up an authority to control exports and regulate supplies in England, it. looks as if the meat producers will eventually find that their interests will best be served by following (ho sister dominion in this also. That, at least, is the trend of Mr .1. B. Crain sic’.s conclusions from his extensive investigations in Great Britain, as he hints in a letter to the Australian Meat Council. At time of writing Mr Cramsie had just completed a 3000 miles motor trip through England and Scotland, during which he made inquiries in all the principal cities and towns as to Australian beef, mutton, and lamb, and its distribution and disposal. In many of the principal cities he saw supplies of Australian beef, but, on account of the shortage of supplies this year, no mutton or lamb. The irregularity of supplies and the small amounts sent forward in some years made it almost impossible to get the Australian production well known or advertised in any of the principal centres. In contrasi with this, the control of shipments enabled New Zealand mutton and lamb to be available practically the whole of the year. This, he says, is certainly in the iniefcsts of the producers and exporters of that Dominion. In interviewing large, numbers of people commercially interested at tho different centres, Mi Cramsie found them unanimous in stressing the difficulties of dealing in an article or articles which were not regularly on tlie market. It appeared to him that, continuity of supply, together with standardisation of the article, would do a great deal in placing Australian meat on a proper footing right through the United Kingdom, and keep it before the consuming public.