STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2295, 24 February 1898, Page 6

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

By Deoveb.

Weekly Stock Sales: ; Eurnside, Wednesdays j Ashburton, Tuesdays ! Addington.Wednesdays Fortnightly: Balclutha, Fridays i r Gore, Tuesdays j Oamaru, Tuesdays.

Invercargill, Tuesdays Monthly : Clinton, Palmerston, and Winton. • Periodically : Heriot, Kelso, and Kye burn.

[Oomtausicatious of interest to stockbreeders and dealeri are t cordially invited. All jommuuioutious to reach Witness office ! not later thau Monday night. l There was an over-supply in the fat catblo market at Burnside last week, 220 being yarded. Prime beef, however, was not too plentiful, and did not suffer in price, besfi buliccks selling at well up to £9. There was a drop in price of medium beef, of which kind this over-supply was mainly made up, £5 Lo £7 being about the rate, and several lots remained unsold. Inferior was hard to quit at all. At Burnside aud at country sales one always sees a number of so-called dairy cows, the majority of which are culled oat of dairy herds. These uaprofitabi-3 at'itnals go thg rounds o£ many dairy herds, are always being found wanting, aud are a dsreufc loss to all who own them, even for a short prricd, b&irg in fact not; worth their " tucker "to s-nyone. 10 v/iuld ba wise if all farmers, whoa culling unprofitable cows, would act on the suggestion made by a correspondent in the Wyndham Farmer and try to fatten them ofF for beef, using thespeyiog knife biifore doing so. In the Wyndhiißi district I believe great attention h»3 for some time been paid by farmers to fche improvement of their dairy herds, the Wyndham district being a very live one in dairying. Farmeis' clubs should advocate that ifcbs made a point of honour among dairymen not to offer as dairy cows cattle cul'ed as unprofitable milkers. It is impoaiug a sheer waste of time and trouble on their oeigbbours. They can be gold for fattening without doing harm, but to let them go the round of one's neighbours to be tried as milkers is imposing on several farmers more pecuniary loss than the cattle are worth. Before the winter ?et<> in any cattle found to be suffering from tuberculosis should be slaughtered. Mr Walter Riddell, of Inchclutha, has already set an example, and I know of others who have done the same. Mr Riddell has slaughtered 16 head on the advics of Messrs ~ Bruce and Gilruth, and all werf found on examination after death to be affecbed by the disease. It is said Mr Rifidell will receive half compensation from the. Government. I sympathise with him, as I do with all- farmers who have their cattle affected with this dire disease. Still, I am certain that it is wiser for all dairymen to lose no time in following Mr Riddell's example, aud before winter sets in. Such cattle cannot eventually pay, and the sooner the present loss is faced the better. The Clnfsba Leader says the disease ii somewhat preval«nfc in that district. I am of opinion, I regret to say, that it is prevalent in almost all districts. In Taranaki slaughtering diseased cattle has been carried on for a considerable time, many hundreds having been killed. Good results must follow, as it will have a good effect in Britain and go a great way to popularise New Zsaland produce vrhen ib becomes known that the greatest care is taken to ensure freedom from disease. Ido nob mean to say that cattle in New Zealand suffer more from disease than in B'itain, for one has only to read tho British agricultural papers to see that tuberculosis and other diseases are prevalent there, and that leading men are advocating strong measures for its eradication. Still, with this before them, these »<»rae papers often allude to our meat and produce as diseased. No doubfc the writers ki.ow well that these statements are raere bumbug in view of the diseases prevalent in Britain. The object of suoh writers is to discredit our producs with the idea of pleasing the British agriculturist, for they must be aware that though it may please, it cannot help him. They, like ourselves, must face the trouble. Lst us not be the last to do so. On the whole, I think we are in a position to do it n'.ore quickly and effectively than they RRtfe f and the sooner the better. The Burnside market last week' was oversupplied, and only the very best freezing sheep commanded anything like decent prices, and even these prices, considering the quality of the sheep, were not what one would wish. Very I prime crossbred wethers brought up to lls, 9s L to 10s being about the rAnge o£ besb freezers.

Export buyers had fully 1200 really good shf ep to bid for, but they took it easily, and prices ■were disappointing. Anything shorb of pritne mutton met with a very dull sale, and butcheis' good «heep went at 6s to Bs, while eooie prime crossbred ewes brought up to 9s. The yardrng of lambs consitted mostly of lia'f-fata and Btores, and these met with but- a poor sale, as might be expected. Why they are sent t» Burnside in such quantities puzzles me. It seems sheer waste. Many of these ■would, with a few weeks' proper feed, return good prices ; now they are flung away for very j little. The few prime freezing lambs offered brought good prices, which showed no falling off, 9i to 10s beirg readily bid. i The Burnside Works are receiving fair quan- j iities of prime lamb for freezing, and are, I am told, very particular in rejecting anything uiifit. They appear to be determined to m«k« and maintain a good nsnae for " Danedins " this year, and they are in a position to do to. I hear that several Canterbury buyers hfcve t&ken fair lots of Ot.ago and Southland lambs, sxfcd are sending them to our local works, ] instead of railing them to Christchurch. as in years past. Prices for prime lamb, especially the earlier shipments, must, I think, rule higher ia London thau for j'ears past. The supply will be very Tnucb less all over. North Maod aud Canterbury shipments are evidently lighttr, and prime lamb does not appear to> ba over- plentiful iv Otago and Southland. It will be better for all if the lamb-shipping season could be aaade a short one this year. — At Addington prime freezing wethers continue iv very small supply, and prices are well maintained at 11s to 12s 6d. Some northern sheep brought up to 12s Id, and a fibe line of 300 rrossbreds from Little Hiver brought 12s 8d ; while some very prime Shropshire .Down ewes sold at nearly 13s. Butchcr&' prime : crof-sbrad ewes brought 9s to lie?. Maiden ewes ! v/f-re taken for export ut 10s 6d to Hi 6d. Export buyers seem a. little more active there than Tiere, and Burneide prices, making all allowance for quality, do not eeem on a par with Adding- j ion rates. Prime lambs contieue in sborfc supply at ActiiugtoD, a^d sll prime freezers sold readily at 10s to lls, while butchers' lambs brought 6a j to Bs. ! Tbe entries of etore sheep a*; Addington continue heavy, mostly, however, consis'icg of sged eweß, indifferent wethers, and lambs. <Uood breeding ewes bring 4-s to 6s 6d ; well forward wethers sell readily at 9s to 10a 6d ; small wethers in good forward condition about 7s 6d ; forward lambs, 6s to 7s ; all backward and inferior sheep are at a discount ; boiler?, lid to 2s. Let us hope to see a good clearance of this last kind. Mesers Weddel and Co.'s review of the meat ■trade says that for tbe first six months of 1897, according to the report of the London health ■officer, there wes a marked improvement in shipments from New Zealand, for in 37 vessels entered eight only had any meat damaged to such an extent that ifc had to be condemned, and in these veg?els only 233 carcases and 311 paifc carcases were bad, compared with 3854during the corresponding cix months of last year. Shipments from Australia do not show so good a record, for oub of 45 vessels that arrived during the first *ix months ■of 1897, 19 had meat condemned, the se'zures amounting to 1374 carcases and 734 part carcases, and 30 qu&rters of beef, a total of 214-8, a 8 compared with 3532 in the previous halfyear. It is to be noied that River Plate meat during 1896, and up to 30th June, 1b97, bad a -clean record, with no seizures. This is not surprising, as the voyage is shorter ; still I •expect to see New Zealand on as good a footing yet. It is quite evident that the shipping companies have made great improvements in tbe carriage of New Zealand meat, and I don't "think it is in directing attention to the shipping altogether that the weak spots in our trade will be remedied. lam rather surprised, therefore, to see that it is to this point only that the Xiondon Frozen Meat Committee have directed thair attention. Notwithstanding the greatly improved carriage of the meat as recorded, Messrs Weddel and Co. in the same report say that the great bane of the trade this year ? as well aa in the previous two or three years, ±t»s been the number of more or less faded, offcoloured, dry, and sapless carcases marketed. -This detracts from the reputation of betterconditioned New Zealand meat, and indeed 'has often given the meat a bad name. Evidently this is caused, as I have often urged, mainly by the very imperfect and unsatisfactory -means of discharge in London, and also by the imperfect organisation for proper distribution. -As to the discharging, the present method is a lots to vessels and to shippers alike, entailing exposure and handling to an undue extent. JHesars Weddel say: "The schema of a sorting shed at the docks, mooted five years ago,

has been revived aaii agi,iu shelved &s impracticable." I fcrut t this is not the csse ; but", judging by the cables, the London committee, while they may believe in the msxim that •'charity begins at home," are just like other people with regard to reform or faultfinding. Generally we want to reform our neighbours. We fiad out their faults, instead of finding out and remedying our own. I hope th^ committee are doing something with regard to landing and distribution afc their cad, bub of this the cables say nothisg as yet. They say it is desirable that "Lloyd's" surveyors at the chief ports should inspect the steamers by which, the meat is Carried, as also the refrigerators and insulation, with a rigid inspection of the meat. This seems to me a rather belated suggestion, unless there is some special virtue or ability in Lloyd's surveyora, for as a matter of fact all this has been regularly done for years by our underwriters' surveyors, who are always in attendance at each shipment. They are competent men, and have the confidence of the insurance companies for whom they act, and who have a very large stake in the question (I am not aware that Lloyd's have any larger stake than the general body of insurance companies) . Seeing (hat the policies issued cover a'<l risks after shipment, the surveyors will nob let anything doubtful pass if they know it, and have on occasions sent' back large quantities of msat to the works when thoy considered it unfit in the least degree. I do not think we can especb any great results from the London committee unless they have some better suggestions thau this to make. I am glad to sse thaftbe Ohristchurch Meat Company's report deals with ths trade in a osaniier worthy of that well-eonducie** company. They allude to the want of organisation and co-operation amougsfc shippers and sellers, atid say that without these the best results c-snnot be obtained i»t Home. The Canterbury farmers, I am pleased to Bee, have coutributed l*rgf>!y i.o the share capital to extend the works at Islington and Timaru, and the capital is to be increased tor enable the company, in conjunction with the growers, to take such action as may be deemed advi§ab]e to arrange in London for an organisation likely to secure the naosfc fa.vours.ble sale of frozen meat. I hope that farmers will respond, and thiok our freezing works in Otsgo and Southland should follow suit. When the day come 3 that our frozen meat companies shares are held in small but many holdings spread over the •whole country I shall hope for better times in the meat trade. In Otago and Southland oar meat works are not up to the standard of the Christchnrcb Company's, but it rests with the farmers here to follow the example of the Canterbury farmers by taking shares and a deeper interest in them, although thiß is perhaps a bad time to urge farmers to take Hhares in anything.