STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2206, 11 June 1896, Page 5

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

By Deotbe.

Weekly Stock Sates : \ Fortnightly '} Burnside, Wodneadaya J^t^J™**" Aohburton, Tuesday/ S ore ' ??*&% m Addington,' Wednofd'y* Om^ *%*%^ Invercarglll, Tuesdays. Monthly: Periodically: Clinton, Pdlmerstoa, Heriot, Kelso, and Kye* and Winton. ) burs. [Oommunlcntlons of interest U itookbreeden tml dealer* *n ojrdlalij invited. All jommantmUoas to r«aoh Wltaeii o»«« not later -than Monday aizht.l There was a very small yarding of oattle Im&' weak (116), and out; of the whole yarding only about 50 head could in any way be classed as beef, and they were all oa the small tide. Price 3 were of coarse fairly good. Prims beef is scarce and likely to ba so, the condition of c ttble generally boing poor, and yesc by jtu this is increasingly the case. We need to make' a fresh start in breeding up on proper lines. C wttla-feedmg will never ba much of a business till wo do so. The yarding of cheep at Burat>ide was in round numbers about 2700, with hardly a pen of prime wethers in the lot. Half of them were good to medium freezes, and these brought whdt I consider surprisingly good prices— l9s to 12* being about the pries given for good freezars. The balk of the yarding were store sheep, and showed signs of going off condition a little. As there is an active demand for all fair store sheep, these found ready buyers ab fair rates ; ia fact, the margin apparent bßt<veen stores and fab sheep is, as is usual, generally very small, to I pce3unn that buyeri of stores anticipate aa improvement iv tho pries of freezers. There will, I think, be a good price going for prlmo froezors, bub I am not so sure about the prospects of second quality or madium sheep. The London market seemi always blooked with this class of mutton, bat hardly ever are really prima sheep in over supply. Latest London reports indicate that prices of food products are adv&acing, and that ! the l&fce glut of supplies may shortly change inta somewhat of a scarcity. In beef this is mosb noticeable at present. All accounts iudi« cate short supplies of primes!; mutton ; indeed, ■ I think this must bo the oase, for the quality of the mutton shipped this year will certainly not break the record, though perhaps we have not shipped as much really poor stuif sa in previous years. Soaae time ngj I no&ed that Glsbarna sheep* owners had in a small way, aud with nob the very bes 1 ; of plant, started a co-operative freea* ing work*, as they were determined to bs tha slaves of the existing monopoly no longer. They started, as I have said, oa a small scale, and on strictly cooperative lines, 118 share* holders subscribing 4055 shares. They have improved their plant generally, and hay« attended to the by product department, and smca the 9th of January have dealt with 23,871 freezers aud have boiled down 24,489 sheep. ' The results are VBry encouraging, the price o£ 1 skoep having been improved by 2s a head, at any rabe, on rates previously ruling, and had they nob started thus in self-defonoe one hardly knows how low sheep might hava been in Gisbotno. It has pat heart into the sheep* owners of the district, and the basiness will na doubt increase in strength and usefulness ; and it ia apparent that ib should extend, as the only difficulty was the small size of the works, which restricted their operations, and the co< operators could not freeze the number of sheep offering during two or three months. Thay, how« ever, gave every applicant a fait proportionate share of the space available. Already plant is ready to hand for increasing the output. Slow and sure has been their motto, and that this is the right coarse to pursue there} can be no doubt. I certainly wish them success. They are on right lines, and will undoubtedly beafiA

all concerned. They migb.'t ba. im'tated in many places with advantage, and I must say that it is very surprising tha ebeep'farmers of Hewitt's Bay, quite close to them, and reputed to be the mo3t wealthy and independent iv New Zealand, have submitted j so tamely, and for such a long time, to the bpggarly prices they receive for their good Bheep. Let us hope that the lesson taught will cot be lost on them, cor on other farmers in similar sad plight throughout New Zealand, for the Gisborne sheep-farmers have, I think, proved that the co-operativa system of freezing works managed and owned by farmers is the tight method. This would be a much better move for Milton than the proposed woollen mills.. The grain market keep 3 up, and will do so unless large quantit'e? are rushed on the market for sate by auction without proper reserve. The whe»t market in Melbourne is bound to advance and supplies be wanted there, though perhaps they will hang oat as long as they can. They are doing thoir best ia this direction at present, but are bound to come on the Nei7 Zealand market shortly. Ojti have advanced in Sydney, and the demand is 'good. A little patience and firm holding for a fair price, and tbis will be more apparent shortly. Stocks of butter and cheese in New Zealand »re, I thiuk, not more than sufficient for local requirement", and prices are firm and bound to advance, and we shall certainly have a fair demand for cheese at a high rate ia July. Australia reckoned on cheap cheese and butter from New Zealand, but as we can u?e all we have they will be disappointed in tbis respect. Price 3 would have been better in Sydaey era this but for the folly of New Zealand producers in sending consignments in la r ge quantities. With Australia celling f o.b. here is the right linß for us. Csnsigamcat business invariably is disappointing. A London paper has the following, commenting, I suppose, on Mr J B. MacEwan's late visit to Victoria :: — •' That a high official should have a fuil-joundiog title is a cardinal tenet of writers of fairy tales and comic operas. In real life, however, it sometimes hippens that a public functionary of the greatest importance has a trumpery and unimposing name. Thus we observe that the Victorian Government have just borrowed the New Zealand Government's cheese expert. Cheese expert! Is there no 'antipodean phrase-maker to improve on this 1 balditude ' ? Our own suggestions are ' tyromarit'* or ' tyroglyph,' or more picturesque s ill would bo his Mitiness Baron Fromsgio." Thft name "expert" stiuks in the nostrils of good men in the dairy line, as we havo had all sorts and conditions of men coming io New Zealand and posing as experts both in the dairy business and that of frozen meat. In many cases" they hava brought the name into contempt, as all their qualification was a decided development of the " gift of the gab." I don't think the head of our dairy staff likes the name, as when he first enme among farmers they I ■would say to him, with a broad grin en their faces, "And so you're another 'expert,' we you j 1 " However, we have had some good men, call them what you like, and Mr J. B. MacEwiß has convinced these be has come in contact with that he has both practical and theoretical knowledge, and, beat of all, can impart what he knows so as to be understood. I shall call him a tyromant or a tyroglyph when next I meet him. I shall stand clear, however, for they say he was a good footballer, and I am not much of an athlete. I am a givat believer in the good done by ths farm cemp- tilions for the Lawes's shield, and also in the fhld competitions for turnips and other crop?, end they should be far more widely participated in by our farmers. One thing strikes dip, however— viz., that the aim and object, which I take to be the attainment of Bound and profitable farming, may be defeated nnless the f Aruser winning can show that he has made a fair profit out of his farm. It is just possible tbafc a wealthy farmer may apend a lot of money for the honour of winning the shield ' in improving and beautifying his farm over and »bove wh»t a prudent man dependenc on his farm for a living could afford to do. I think it would not be a bid thisg to make it a condition Jh*t competitors should ihow a set of proparlytudited accounts, setting forth the results, profitable or otherwiie, of their farm work, and that * certain number of points should be allocated for this p»rt of the work. The keep-

ing of books on proper lines would be an education, perhaps a revelation, to many farmers, for in some cases they doii't always kuow where ' they a p e and what is proflfc and what loss. | Nothing very elaborate would be lequired. A i titnpla form of accounts conld ba issued for all competitors. Whab will pay is the true test after all, but no doubt clem, sound farming is & factor in making good results Still, there it a danger of these competitions goiog bejoud this, and neglecting the value of practical results ia £ s d, which is a very irnjortaub part I of the bu-iiies;, as without happy results in this respect no f-orrrtiug 1 , however neat and beautiful, is good fnr<ning. ! The report of the National Dairy Association is a long one, but it b no doubt intsrasting to dairymen. It advocates co operation very strongly, and I shall be gUd to hear that tha result of the conference will be bo draw those interested more closely together, and if only this can ba effected, further good results are bound to follow. The report leaves muoh uasaid as to tha great need of the improve meat in the business at the stirt— that w, ia the cova and the milk — although it gives a fair indication that it is on these lines iaaproveannt is needed. So far as I can judge, the ninke of both butter and cheese has bean advanced greatly, but in my opinion cows have deteriorated, and their quality and oondition, and the way they are troated, are not nearly so good us was the ca«e 20 yews ago. No doubt the factory sjsfceni is wsponsib'e for this, as the resulting development of the export trade has caused the busiaess to rapidly expand, and many have gone into the cdw iudustry thinking it was a mere question of milking away and nothing else. We must get rid of all this sort of slipshod business, and carry on in, the right way. I think that a* yet we are far off the track, and musii begin again on proper lines, imitating those who have all along made cow-feeding pey.