STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2253, 6 May 1897, Page 6

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Br Dboveb.

Weekly Stock Sales : Invercargill, Tuesdays. Burnßide, Wednesdays Monthly : Ashburton Tuesdays Clinton, Palmerston, Addmgton, Wednesdays anfl WintO n. Fcrtniqhtly: Periodically: Balclutha, Fridays Heriot, Kelso, and KyeGore, Tuesdays J bum. Oamaru, Tuesdays. f CCommuaicntlons of interest to •tookbreeders and dealers ure ordlally invited. All joinniunioatloni to reach "Witness offloo Hot later than Monday night.l The yarding of fat cattle at Burnside last "week w»8 215, about three-fourths of the number being fair to good beef. Only a few prime, bullocks brought anything like decent priceE — £8 103 to £9 10s. Butchers seemed quite indifferent, and bidding was dull. As for the bulk of the yarding, consisting of poor to fair store cattle, no one seemed interested, and the Bale was a poor one. In Canterbury, beef, unless of really prime

quality, is neglected. Values in Canterbury > Beem slightly lower than in Otago, the present ' quotations for prime beef being— Otago, 18s to 20s per-lOOlb ; Canterbury, 16s to 18s per 1001b. In both markets, inferior and medium beef brings 135 to 15s, with the supply exceeding the dernl&d. The yarding in the fat Bheep pens was nearly 3000, a large portion of which were fair to good forward store sheep. The demand for prime freezers seamed equal to that of last week, and nil such were well competed for,- bringing 11s bp 13s, both ewes and wethers. The feature of the market was, I think, the long prices going lor forward stores and turnip sheep, the prices given being within Is to Is 6d of those of prime freezers. The margin left for graziers' profib seems a small one indeed. Of course at the end of this month it is understood that freights on frczen mutton come down per lb, and this

will make a margin no doubt. Shippers and the

freezing companies are pressing the shipping companies to reduce the freights now (duriog May), but so far the shipping companies decline to give way. They may yet do-so, however, and as the companies and buyers will have the earliest intimation of any reduction, 'farmers will have to keep a watchful eye on them, as any anxiety displayed by buyers to buy fat sheep during May will probably mean that the shipping companies have reduced freights in. May instead of June. I

believe some freezing companies have intimated

their intention of not shipping frozen meat till — -June 1, and this may bring shipping companies to^terms. If not, we may expect a somewhat aull market during May, as all freezing companies are pretty full and cannot carry much more stock unless shipping continues. I don'c pretend to any gift of prophecy, and must say that the frozen meat trade and its ups and downs would be too much foi even a good prophet; but I should just like to aay that the prices now being given for store sheep are higher than the outlook for the frozen meat trade warants, and I think farmers should not go too far in such speculation. Last year during the winter and spring we had some very fall prices going for all sheep suitable for freezers. A keen competition in buying was . carried on by rival shipping companies, each desirous of freight for their iteamerp, and other farge buyers followed suit. At the time I expressed my surprise at the prices going, and stated then that they were beyond fair value. These purchases have, I believe, resulted in heavy losses to the buyers, the sheep in London ■elling slowly at in most cases less money than jhey cosb in New Zealand, and all leaving little or nothing of a margin for freight. I can hardly believe that the same buyer* will rush oh the market again this year and compete so keenly

as to raise prices bsyond true value ; so tha, in my opinion, farmers should go a little easier on store sheep t.L<m they seem to be doing.

MrTwopenj'a mission to London has come i to an end so far as investigat'ons in Britain^ and meetings of his Australasian Frczen Meat Committee are concerned. Mr Twopeny'a indnstry, perseverance, and ability have excited the admiration of all that have been assc- : ciated with him. He returns now to report to his Australian friends and, if possible, to arouse them to complete oi-gauisAtion, as he must ! by this time see that it rests with us in the csionies to orgasise and combine. In the words of the editor of the British Australasian, , "If the work has to be done, it must be taken ; in hand by colonists pure and aimple, and ; carried on independently of the London i agencies. That the right sort of commituee, j workiDg on right lines, would do great good can- | not be doubted." >

The following remarks on Mr Twopeny and his mission by the editor of the British Auetralasian are clear and to the point, and show that our course is to tackle this matter ourselves in a loyal, unselfish, and patriotic way, as I have often before advocated : —

Mr Twopenv has done remarkably well in bringing and keeping together such a representative body of gentlemen connected with all departments of the frozen meat trade, and, in fact, it is felt and expressed on all sides that he has executed his mission in tho most workmanlike manner. As far, then, as ho is concerned, Mr Twopeny will go away with flying colours. On his arrival in the colonies he will deliver his report, and if the colonists have the courage of their convictions, they will then complete their organisation, which at present is in a sadly demoralised state, and proceed to action. Bub one need he an optimist to entertain this hope. With Mr Coofee in opposition, aoy such expectation is futile. It is apparent that wh&t has occurred has been one of those occasional deviations from established usage prompted by the pressure of depressed conditions of trade. Ten Anglo-Australian merchants and bankers have been discussing academic problem?, such as the c.i.f. trade, concentration of shipments, &c , &c, at a round table, aud still we are t\o nearer a solution of the one important problem — bow to raise prices to a permanently paying level.

No harm, of course, has been done ; the difficulties stand out all the clearer by being discussed, and Mr Twopeny has a fine opportunity of lowering the record in the way of delivering a full and interesting report to hie clients. One thing ie abundantly clear — that the committee as a whole will be extremely glad to be released from their duties. Excepting two or three of the members, none of them entered with any spirit into the proceedings ; some were indifferent, others passively hostile ; while, again, one gentleman approached the question with a degree of cynical pessimism which would have been enough to damp the most si'denb souls. It is understood that Mr Doxat does not believe in any movement of the kind being either necessary or workable ; but to his credit be it said that he threw a useful amount of every into his chairmanship, and kept the committee well to the pointp. The great amount of difference of opinion existing between the various members indicates surely the fate which must attend a movement of this kind ; these are not differences of detail, but are vital questions. How could such a committee work for the common good of the trade ? This was the function set for them.

A useful lesson may be learnt by producers in the colonies from this state of affairs, whether in the meat or other industries. If they wish their interests protected in any special way over here they will have to take up the contract themselves. The fact is it is putting too great a strain upon weak human nature to expect that a body of London merchants, bankers, and company directors, whose interests are widely dissimilar, and who mostly would object to the existence of any committee at all, as it might interfere with their business methods, should find common ground to legislate for the good of the trade at large. If the work has to be done, it must be taken in hand by colonists pure and simple, and carried on independently of their London agencies. That the right sort of committee working on right lines could effect good I cannot doubt. Look at the West India Committee and its achievements ; it would bs difficult to enumerate the particular instances in which the interests of the West Indian colonists have been defended to their advantage.

I suggest that our A. and F. Society or the Agricultural Conference to be held at oar great winter show invite the Minister for Lands and the Secretary for Agriculture to a conference of representative farmers to consider this question and acb. We have talked over it now in London and in the colonies, and nothing has been done because no one has power to act. In London Mr Reeves has well used his time in investigating the question, and has, I have no doubt, stated his views clearly to the Goveca-

\ ment. I am also quite sure that the Govern- | ment are quite williDg to act through the \ Agricultural department, and are willing jto go a long way in co-operating to J place our export trade in produce on \ proper lines, At such a meeting as I suggest that abominable nuisance and bar to all proper progress, the "political hatchet," must be i buried and kept out of sight, and the meeting , confinel strictly lo its own business. We may x rely upon it that the Minister for Lands would 1 willingly give effect to any properly devised • scheme and institute the needful legislation which is required. Farmers aud producers may rely on it that without Government aid ; and cc-opsration nothiDg will ever be doce to ! improve matters for us in London. We have among leading men interested in the trade at i this New Zealand end those who will in their ! own interests and against that of producers ' continue to treat this matter, or approach the question, with cynical pe-simism, or passive or active hostility, as was the case in the NathanOrbell conference. By tho bye, I have again to j ask where is the report that the Wellington I conference who poured cold wator on the I Nathan- Orbell scbetnes was to bring up? Has < anyone seen it ? The ability of the sub-com-1 mitbee who were appointed led us all to expect some good and effective sen* me to be sketched i out ab least.' A*s yet, however, we have got | nothing at all, and some say we won't geb ■ anything.

Mr Samuel Lowe has delivered a most excellent address al the Royal Colonial Institute on the dairy industry of the colonies. It is now being published in the Witness, and as the address itself and tho discussion upon it are both able and jnterestiug, I hope all farmers, dairymeD, and cheese and butter makers will make it their business to read it carefully. I do nob say that those who have all along been familiar with the teachings of Professor Robertson, of Canada, our own Mr MacEsvau, aud the reporba of the National Diiry Association will find anything stattlingly new in this paper, but it is none the less a valuable contribution, dealing with all-impartant top'c3. The subjects dealt with are —

1. Improving dairy herds. 2. Adopting a system of winter feeding. 3. Confining the manufacturo of butter aud cheese entirely to the factory 6ystam. 4-. Careful study of discoveries in bacteriology. 5. Pasteurisation of milk or cream for buttermaking. 6. Establishing dairy schools, experimental stations, and higher education. All these points have been advocated amongst us and in measure given effect to. The charm of Mr Lowe's paper lie?, th&n, not in its originality, but in the able way he has treated the points he wishes to advocate. I sincerely hops that his paper will be read widely, inwardly digested, and, better still, largely acted on. I was going to give a summary of it, bub am convinced it will be better to let all read the whole for themselves. As will be seen, Mr J. B. MacEwan complimented Mr Lowe on his address, a3 did also many other able men, scientific and practical. lam rather shocked to see the poor show colonial cows make in milk production as compared with the average British cow. The New Zealand avsrage production per cow per annum is 330ga1, New South Wales 274, Victoria 291, Canada 340. Two hundred and twentysix thousand cows in 10 dairy counties of Scotland average 620g*1. It ia agreed on all hands that we shall have to take lower prices as production increases, but in this matter of the improvement of our cowb in connection with the yield of milk, there is such a large margin that if we take proper advantage of it I see nothing to fear. Mr MacEwan in his speech made a remark we have heard from him before, but as there is a lob in it it will bear repetition. He said that a Wisconsin man representing a famous dairy estate remarked at an American dairy convention that 11 If cows were able to speak they would shout from one end of the country to the other for a better breed of dairy-farmers." Would the New Zealand cow say the same, I wonder ?

All the markets seem to keep fairly lively. Cheese is moving slowly, but butter is in active demand owing to speculation, and there cannot now be much bo deal with. The grain market is brisk both in wheat and oats. I notice a considerable amount more of weathered oats coming to market than I should have expected in such a good season as we have had all round.