THE RURAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21431, 4 September 1931, Page 4

THE RURAL WORLD.

Item* of Interest to those engaged 1 with a .’view to their publication in They should be addressed to “Rustl

1931-32 SHOW SEASON i FORTHCOMING EVENTS. September 24.—Otago A. and P. Society's Horse Parade. : November 5. —Ashburton. , . November 6.—Rangiora. • * November 11. 12, 13.—Royal ■’ Show at f Christchurch. November 17. —Waimate, November 19, 20.—North Otago, , at ;■ .Oamaru. November 21.—Taieri. at Outram. November 24, 25.—Otago Summer Show. ; at Tahuna. • . November 26, 27. —-Clutha and Matin,- at ■; Balclutha. I‘-. A Comprehensive Review The thirtyrfirst annual review of the pastoral/'industries of .the. Dominion _by Gould, Guinness and Co -> dealing with the 1930-31 season - lias just been published. It is-characterised by its customary thoroughness and detail, ahd touches expertly ion. practically. . every avenue of primary production, and export in the Dominion* /"pealing ."vrith the/year in retrospect, the -review,states:— • ’ k* The present : -year ?will undoubtedly go down in historic the worst slump year for this century, both in New Zealand and most other countries, that New Zealand has experienced harder times in the past century - ', is remembered only by the few, whose ’influence has been insufficient during recent years to persuade our legislators to {cVrb ft^e A country s extravagant spending, of,'borrowed money. We make no apology for, our annual reference to the exceSSive-cxpenditure in New Zealand on sp-calldd,essential services and public .yr&lfc.'. .by* -.Government,. because, ok will, be shown later :in fhiis^tewnw > Vprdsperily.-in this country in the. necessity to cut our coat according to tlie cloth? • We haVeriiustWseen the close of one e| the mostV.wrisaitisfactory seasons, for farmers that..ihy,-£>f,'‘the present-. generation rcmemb'Wi vvThis - wa» not f because weather .Unfavourable, nor because there Wggiiib*' demand for our meat; in actual fact the demand in some ways was better -than ever; but because the value of meat, wool, pelts and practically all the by-products fell to such ■J an extent that the buying price of lambs, in many cases, was below the cost of production.”

Japan in the Mairk&i-;; v---•With respect to, the wool market, the review says: “ If it had not been for the dramatic about halfway "through the season, we fear thatf- • for the whole of. the season/: wpiUd have Jbeen ’ very poor as there'doea. not seem'‘to, be any confidence yet at the ifiradfor.d • end of the business. It is all satisfactory to ;r hear that the Japanese buyers . in the market again next year wanting a big weight of wool;' - and'.,if ’fthis eventuates we may 100k’ fof War Litf :a‘ ■ better average realisation this year. The Japanese were qiiicM- to/ realise that they were ; not likely .to be able to buy wool always at the very low prices which have been ruling, and they were out to capture the trade which Bradford appears to have lost.”

Local or London Sale* An . interesting paragraph deals with sales thus: “There are those who are of opinion. that powerful .interest's at the other end of the world have been making a" big bid to get growers ,to ship their Wool to London, where,it,could be, picked up as wanted at thb buyer’s own price. If such an attempt has been made it does not appear likely to succeed, as in spite of low prices, .values obtained locally have, been above London right through the season. When it_ is also , realised that .the grower gets his money -14 days after a local sale, instead of -'getting, when shipment is made, an advance subject to usual bank charge, and to undergo months of racking r -anxiety as to .the fate of his clip, to v'eay nothing of kwhat refund may have to flbe made on the; advance, it can be readily .-understood why ' such a large proportion •of the Dominion clip is sold in the land of gits production. understand •-that Japan does not operate in -London, the cost-Pf transport is cheaperfrom New Zealand than from London, Japan is evidently going to be |a big factor in the future.”

.Queensland Royal Show The beef Shorthorns are making steady •progress, studmasters keeping in close i-touch with the world’s needs and following the lines of British breeders as regards type, character, 'even fleshing, and pearly maturity. Most of those on exi?hibition were built on the right lines--i-short legged, thickly fleshed, and well up where all the prime cuts come

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

By Rusxictrs.

n ■ agricultural and pastoral pursuits, these columns, will he welcomed, cus,” Otago Daily Times, Dunedin.

from. Both the championship and reserve ribbons were won by Mr J. T. Scrymgeour with Netherby Royal Challenge and Netherby Royal Reservist respectively, two great bulls that cover, a lot of ground. Closely pressing them was Mr Anthony Hordern’s Milton’s Marksman IV, a pastmaster bull that was much admired for .his rich roan colour, as well as -his excellent build. Milton’s Lovely VI, a very big beefy cow, carried off the female championship for Mr Scrymgeour, and the reserve -ribbon went to Wilson and Al'Dougall’s Fairy, XVII of Calliope, a heifei- that was marked down by many good'judges for future recognition., ihe youngsters were particularly pleasing, the judge describing them generally -as' ■ more of the stamp of the cattle at Home, than I have eder seen before.” ' : > Dairy Produce Markets The dairy producers of the Dominion have faced the worst market conditions since the end of the war (says the annual review of Messrs Pyne, Gould, Guinness and Co.). It is true that during that time prices have on occasions reached a level nearly as low, but never have those lower prices been consistently down for such a lengthy At the commencement of the year under review. New Zealand finest butter was selling in London at round about 120 s per cwt, which was the lowest price, reached during the preceding 12 months. It was not anticipated that prices could improve to any extent owing to the stock position, but no one was expecting the drop within a period of three months of 20s per. cwt—and yet this actually happened., A mild recovery set in duriiig March, when prices recovered' to about 110 s per cwt., and with slight fluctuations, this price remained" steady, for^the balance of. the season, . with. ; little" - prospect of, any material ;ipptpverhent; s t What these low prices mean, can-be - best illustrated by a comparison with. " peak ”, prices in 192021, when, first-grade creamery butter was purchased'.iby the Imperial:Government at 280 s per. cwt. Well might the dairy fanner think of the “good, old days.” Cheese. Market c "-,iv: Cheese prices (the review continues), which usually alter in sympathy with butter prices, were rather slow to move on their downward; way, but once started made a longer journey. At the commencement - of. the' season; London. prices stood at 72s per cwt and steadily. declined to 68s, in , December, the lowest price level reached for 15 years. This record waa'Sbon'.d.ver taken, however, and what is. probably the- lowest, value ..for New Zealand, cheese’, since/the (establishment of The industry was- madein May, when on. the .London market cheese sold at 46s per cwt. ' ' set in a little later which Was sustained, and ’at the end of July the,market:was firm at 60s per cwt for-white,, with-a premium of 2s for coloured.’-,'.’ ; Sydney.' Stud Sheep Salea

An interesfang -and. comprehensive return, recording • the'results of the annual auctions sales of-‘-stud sheep in Sydney, has been compiled by Mr D. P. Withers. shows thafrduring the past 57 years 228,994 ram’s have been sold for £2,536,417. an ■ average of £ll Is 6d per head. Many of the most famous sales of merinos have been by private treaty, and are not included in the above. As regards the other than merino breeds, the averages obtained are as recording the respective popularity of the various breeds in the estimation of buyers. For instance, during the past three years the all over averages obtained for rams have been as follows; ■. -.1 „ ■ ■ £ B. d. ~

This year the Southdowns made the top average, but there were only a few of them.’ In 1929-30 Dorset Horns were highest, blit none of that breed were offered this year. The Land Market v . Though naturally land-."3ias .-hot been moving to any great except where sales have place as the.-result of the farmers'‘ to'-carry _ on otvihg tiii the unfavourable conditions ; which have existed during the past year, still we have been able to effect several good sales where pressure of circumstances did not enter into the matter (says the annual review of - Messrs Pyne, Gould, Guinness), While-it was not to be expected that prices could; compare favourably with those obtained of late years, they were in our opinion quite good and represented a saner view of land values, which everyone, who is in-any way connected with; land admits have; been; too high, and to, a very large extent responsible for the difficulties under which farmers are to-day labouring. The Government are tackling the job of revaluation, and those counties which have so far been dealt with show a substantial reduction. It may be that these reductions still leave values on too high a basis for taxation purposes or even for sale purposes, but it has to be remembered that, much as we object to a tax on land instead of income from the land, the money to run the country must be found, and everyone able to, has to bear his share. The revaluation is a step in the right direction, however.

Otago Dairy Factory History In the August issue of the Journal of Agriculture, the Dairy Division has the following interesting comment to make with, regard to the early dairy factory history of Otago in respect of which there has been some friendly argument between Otago and Southland: — “Fresh information has recently come

I into pur hands concerning Otago s early ' dairy history, and whether or not this nullifies the pioneer claims of Edendaie, Fleraington, and Greytown, it certainly provides interesting matter. we have learned that Air' George Farquhar was , manager of a cheese factory established at Pukekihi (Highcliff), Otago Peninsula, as far back as 1876. We have confirmed the fact that the date was certainly not later than 1878, and so far as we are aware there is no reason to question the accuracy of the date of 1876 .which Air Farquhar gave. This would appear toi he the first co-operative dairy factory m New Zealand, pre-dating Edendaie by several years. The company shipped cheese ,to Adelaide in 1881, the shipments being made by a man named Darling, who ran the Adelaide Wineshop in Dunedin. Ihe first shipment was lost in the wreck, or the Tararua, which took place on April 29 1881. The factory was adjacent ,to the Highcliff Church, and was a brick ' building with a wooden lean-to. ine i factory ran from October to March .or each year. After about 10 years of opera- ! tion as a cheese factory the factory ! -changed to buttermaking, the butter I being collected from the suppliers in granular form and milled. ihe old Highcliff factory.was equipped with revolving shelves for cheese curing, a- system which is still in use in Southland to-day. Ihe price received in the first year ot operation at Highcliff wag lid, and in the second year lOd, per pound of cheese. « Harbour Cove also had a factory established not long after Pukekihi, This, we understand, was co-operative, and ran about three years, “.When the foregoing information, was collected Air Farquhar was still living,at Dunedin.” ' ; ■ L ' 1 > ■ .

-Gorriedales—• .» x 9 16 0 Southdo'wns .. .. ’.. 7 2 0 Border Leicester .. 5 16 1 Romney Marsh .. . • 3 10 8 Lincolns . . .... 3 .0 2