STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2284, 9 December 1897, Page 5

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

By DfiovEß.

Weekly Stock Sales : Invercargill, Tuesdays Bufnside, Wednesdays Monthly: Fcrtniqhtly: Periodically : Balclutha, Fridays Heriot, Kelso, and KyeGore, Tuesdays burs. Oamaru, Tuesdays. [Communication* of Interest U iloelebrcedera and dealers »ro cordially invited. All communication] to rcaob Witnesi offies Dot later than Monday uigbl.l The yarding in the fat cattle pens last week at Burnside was about 200, only half "of which were good to prime beef ; the balance were only stores. For prime beef the prices lately ruling were well maintained, buyers of this class of meat being present ftona the north. Prime beef btougbt fully 20^ par hundred. Lower qualities did not sell well, about 15s to 16s being the rate. Stores were neglected, and in nnuy caees faikd to find buyers. With moderate yardiugs I expeci; to see the price of prime beef fully maintained, but have no hopes of seeing any improvement for inferior.

The correctness of the remarks I made last week regarding the danger of over supply whilst the freeziog works are closed were . fully proved at this week's market. The supply was in excesu of requirements,, and a drop in price of about 2s per head was the result. But that butchers were out of stocks owiDg to the previous two weeks' small yardiugß the drop iv price would ha\*e been evea greater.

Shorn sheep are sow coming in heavy supply from tha north. A large line of shorn ewes, good to prime, brought 7s 6d to 10a ; prime shorn wethers, 10j to lla ; prime wethers in the wool, 14s to 15a. Until the freezing works open we may expect to Fee lower rates ruling unleas the yardinga are very mo Jer&te.

The yarding of lamb.* was about 500, and prices ruled about Is 6d less than previous week, when the supply was about 250. At the present time lamb is in favour with town householders, but only a very moderate quantity is required. Best lacnb brought 10a to lls 6d ; light and medium, 6s to 9a. Until the freezing works open in January the yardings are almost sure to be in excess of requirements, and prices will probably fall.

In Canterbury, I am glad fco say, they have had some rain, but col by any means as much as one would like. The market for store sheep is dull and depressed. At Addington some shorn crossbred wethers brought 7s 9d ; a line of ewei (tshorn) and lambs, all counted, SJi lid. The supply of lamb is srnaH, and both butchers and exporters competed eagerly for the small yardiug of 500. Best freezers made 10s 6d to lls 6d ; good butchers' lambs, 83 to 10a.

The yarding of fat shetp wae also small, and exporters and butchers kept prices up. Beat freezing wethers (shorn) brought 10s 6d to 12s ; best ewes, 9* to 10a. A few show lots of prime wethers brought up to 16s.

Prime beef appears to be scarce in South Canterbury, and buyers from that district operated at Addiogton.

Supplies of fat cattle continue to come from the North Island to Addington, and the prices — ruling £7 10s to £9 — appear, to satisfy North Island graziers even after the considerable expense of steamer freight and charges.

The Qotbic will be here shortly, and I hope to see another shipment of chilled beef made from the North Island. It seems to me a great pity that this trade is not persevered with, for at the present time there should be no difficulty in putting a few hundred carcases of prime beef on board ; and if the results of previous experiments go for anything, it would pay graziers better, I think, than shipping cattle to Addington market, and the North Island has, I am sure, much to gain by persevering in this chilled meat trade, which, if properly conducted, may eventually do ruoro good to them than the trade in frozen mutton. They coald excel in beef, but all unbiassed persons believe that they never can expect to excel in frozen mutton. In all export trade we must now arrive at a conclusion as to what our climate and surroundings allow us to do best, and then do that. Trying to imitate or cornpeta with another province or colony in a certain line for which onr climate and soil are not suitable will only result in harm to us all.

It appears that Argentina has refused to allow stock to be landed in that country coming from Australia, and Australia to them means New Zealand aleo. For some time we have flattered ourselves that in Argentina we had a market for stud sheep and cattle, but I am afraid ire must; now give the idea op, Ibe pte-

sent restriction against our stock landing is not the main difficulty, for that m'ght be got over. The fact of the matter is that for us to send stock there is something like " sending coals to Newcastle," as is shown by tlis paragraph published in last week's A. and P. News of the Witness.

I have frequently calied attention to this matter, and now London reports re frozen meat go to show how rapidly the River Plate meat is improving in quality, whilst New Zealand is not", I believe, maiutaiaing her past reputation. It ia just as well th«.t we should at once recognise tbat in Argentina we have a moat formidable competitor. Don't let us be foolish enough to despise an opponent, as i» often done, with disastrous result?. Undoubtedly we mvut iio'w set ourselves to improve our stock and maintain our reputation. Argentina has not only good stock, but it has also imported the best men from England and Scotland to manage the large farms and estates, and money seems to flow to that country from Britain to develop its resources. Despite their oft-recurring rebellions the English capitalist pours in his money there, and looks upon that country n% a better field for investment than New Zealand or Australia, where the loud t»lk abcul social pests aud the wickedness of capital and capitalists seems to have soared tbe British capitalist. Money is plentiful enough here for mottgageo.'&c, but the money that is poured into Argentina is for the development of the country and its resources, and I wish there was more of this eorfc of eutorprise now io New Zealand. Some of our legislation will have to be altered before it comes perhaps, but; the idle talk of ignorant and irresponsible politicians has done more harm in this respect than actual legislation.

As has betn already noted in the Witness, eoine time ago tti« North BriMsh Agriculturist published an aiticle under the heading " A Land Flowing with Milk and Honey " dealing with dairying in Denmark. This article undoubtedly touched upon thu weak spot in the Danish sjstem — viz., the insanitary condition of byres there. - In the correspondence which ensued some of tbe best Danish authorities admitted that to a certain exe at the statements are not without reasonable foundation, and also say that they are glad the matter has been called attention to and tbat it will at once be remedied. The article, however, exaggerated the facts of the case, and wats apparently written to please the British agriculturist, as it tended to bring Danish butter into disrepute. It was indeed to some ex'enfc on all fours with Mr Digby's statements regarding New~ Zealand^ mutton being diseased; and was no doubt made with tbe same motive in view. The best Danish authorities nave, as I have said, admitted that improvement in sanitary matters is needful. In England and Scotland I believe that a Danish inquirer could find quite sufficient material to make the same statements. The article has been replied to effectively, and several statements shown to be very highly coloured, aud in some cases untrue. Mr Berry, the Danish Consul in Scotland, writes giving statistics from various countries proving that the statements are incorrect, and that tbe death rate per hundred thousand from typhoid fever is : Eugland and Wales, 17"5 ; Scotland, 17 ; Urban (Denmark), 14. He concludes a very warm letter thus: — "Your assertion that the people of Denmark regularly drink sewage water ia beneath criticism. Altogether, for the man who ' only desires to have the truth brought out, 5 your persistent inconsistencies are not excusable. I proposed to you to have samples taken by the chemist of the Highland Agricultural and Pastoral Society of Danish, Scotch, and Irish butter and let him analyse them for tuberculosis or any other disease germ£, and offered to pay the half of tbe expense.- You have not responded. Does this look like a desire to have the truth brought out ? Since I meb you I have been making some inquiry, and find 'that it is not the practice in Scotland to require milkmaids to wash their hands or the udders of their cows, as is generally done in Denmark ; neither is it usual, as it almost invariably is the custom in Denmark, to have the milk pasteurised before churning. I would like Scotch or Irish milk filtered, as is common in Denmark, and ascertain the comparative filth. It is only the continued misrepresentation in a Scottish journal regarding ' the production of an important Danish export to Scotland which induces me, in my official capacity, to request you to insert this letter.'' I have given" the matter some attention, and it seems to me that the North British* Agriculturist has been somewhat precipitate in its remarks and finds it difficult to withdraw from an untenable position. When British, (Uumuea.

not to mention colonial, have arrived at th« state of perfection attained by the Danes it will be time enough to find fault in their procedure. It would be- much better to pick out the strong points of their system and try to emulate them than 'to seleot weak ones and try to comfort ourselves with the knowledge that our neighbours have faults as well a« ourselves.