STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 6

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES

By DnovEa.

' Weekly Slock Sales: Invercargill, Tuesdays Burnside, Wednesdays Monthly : ni \vT ll T Clinton, Palmeraton, Addiuglou.YV edneadays an __ W inton. Fortnightly: Pr> iodically : Balclufcha, Fi idaya | Heriot.Kelso, aud Kye- ; Gore, Tuesdays | burn. Oamaru. Tuesdays. | [Comiuuaicfctious of interest to stockbreeders rdil (ie*'eri ars sardlally invited. All jom.iiuaient,ioris to reaoh Witucsi o!Bo« aol liter than Monday nizht.l The yarding of cattle at Burnside was about 220— a moderate supply in view of there bs»iDg uo sale i his week. A larger number of priaio cattle could easily have been sold. There was an absence of Jubilee beef, most of the cattle being on the small side . The sale was a brisk one, all gocd beef bticg smartly bid for, and prices advanced fully 203 par Irai, light aid . inferior beef being neglected, as uoual. The j best of the yardk<g brought £3 10s to £9 12s | 6J. All good beef of lighter sorts brought £5 • to £7. Frinie beef has not been in over supply for some weeks, and I expect to see pries well maintained. There appears to bs v plentiful supply of medium and snaall-sizsfi beef, and I think lower prio. s must rule for this class. The following from the Scottish Rirnapr will, i I am sure, icteresfe readeis. Now that many i of our dauy-f.iim3rs see the value of winter i dairying nnd keeling their cows so as to ges • the-^fuil profit, I should be glad if I could geft some records ou the same linos so »s to sea what: progress w« nr-i making. Ths shorthorn continues to improve as a milker stHoaae, and, i so far as I can see, is the favourite : — A MILK HECOKD. We give below the milk record of the herd of Lincoln red shorthorns belongiug to Mr John Evens, Bartoa, near Lincoln :—: —

There was a. yarding of over 4000 sheep at Buroeide, and country visitors may reat assured that there will be no famine in town during the Jubilee week. About 1200 ot the yarding were prime mutton, and there was a very big supply of the "old identity" ewe, soma of them in splendid condition, but on the heavy side.

I Butchers kept matters lively at the beginning of tiia Fale, bideling for prime meat and prime crossbred wethers up to 12s 6d. Later on, however, when their requirements were met, the bidding was not go brisk, aud prices even for prims went back a liltle. Primes!; freezers brought 10s to Ils ; good, 9j to 103 6d. A very large portion of the ewes sold at 6s to 7s 6d. The yarding of lamb 3 was about 1900, aboub half of which were fak to prime, the balance being medium and inferior, and for these there was no demand. Butchers 'lou'fc want; i hi? kind, j and generally go for the best only. Prime iatnba,, i were in very am ill supply, and brought 9s to ! 103 ; fair quality, 7<3 6d to 83 61 ; smsll, 5s to j 6s 63. ' Tae wheat market is decidedly strong and I firm, and there ssems no lack of buyers, ! egpecially for prime, well-saved lines. The oafc market is not quite so lively yet;, bdj the tioia i for improvement is not yefc come. I anticipate good prices for both carsals right through tha j season. From all sources I hear tha 1 ; crops are not like'y generally to corns up in yield to wh">.t was anticipated, and with tbe kuown shorfcigq in very distriefc-s usually 3'ipplyiug great quanti us, there seems li:tle doabfc tha 1 ; tba Jubilee year of Obaso will, among othef pleasant memories, leave a recollection of good prices for whaat and oats and other food btuffs. The- sheese market at Home is not what one would lik. j , bu'j my iwlerj will remember that j I h*ve all along exprcssad the opinion th*t is j must rale low, owiog ro the largo over-supply jin Canada aud other place". jFjsc'o.-wb, I Ihluk, j now realise the fact that about 3^d f.o b. will be tha return on H im : consignments. Fortunately there ha 3 for some time been a brisk Australian demand, anel shipments have be- 11 ve.-y haavy ; iv facl, I havj never known fuob haavy shipments as thi 1 time of year ia any previous s.a : oa. Factories are now all uelting at prices which, although low, will give a better return than London prices will. Shipmtnls for Home are getting vftry much smaller. The danger is that too large a supply may be heli back, as tha Australian m»rk.e') and ta-3 iocul requirements arc not cqisl to abserbin^ a very large q.ian. u iiy. Some time ago there >?as coasidsrableioqaicy for bubterfrom Australia, but business has ended meantime at the inquiry stage, aud up to d%te our in&ko has geaerally g;ue Honv, srhera tiia market continues good at present, although it stems evident thit in April, when spriog butter arrive* in quantities froai Ireland and the Con - -tinent, prices mu33 go dawn. In Naw South Wales supplies are heavy, and as mucb a? 5000 boxss a week are said to have been going into cold store therefor five or mx weeks. Ia Melbourne storage to fcha cx l en ! ; of about 3000 boxes a week is going on. Meantime nothiug is doing ia cspsrfc !o Australia, but la f er oa lsfi us hope matters will itaproye. Supplies of butter are plentiful in the North Island, aad I largs lots are now in cool store thsre. In O;ago I snd Southland butter is s circa, but large aupi plies are now coming frjm the North Island. I Wiiticg under da'e 4-th February, Messrs i Wed^el find C"«., of LondoD, say : — "There is nothing very encouriging in the frozen msat trade. Inquiry continues almost wholly for small sheep, which are firmer in consequence. Light weight Canterbury* are in compar<itiv> ly small supply, and 1 avo beta making more money, sheep averaging 53ib b?mg worth 3^-d | to 3£d per 1b ; some very prime as h:gu &•> 3|d ; j medium weights, 3Jrl to 3| 1. Owing ti lank of demand heavy sherp continue to accumulate : 681b sheep make 3§d ; outside weights ovar 701b are slow of sale ab-^|J t-> 2^d. "About 100 show sbetp from Wellington, ex EiiHutaka, were on yiew ai SmithSsld, tnosL of them cf exc-fcllanb quality, woll bred, ani in prime condition. A good many were ov^r fat, and therefore not the cHss of mutton to make fcop values afe Smithfield." Ib i 3 evident; that a change in our mods of brseJing mu»t take place i if this represents the* requirements of the trade I we wish to eater for. I Messrs Weddel and Co. report tho arrival of the It-ingatira ivith 2000 new season Wellington lambs, some of which averaged 6d pc r Ib. Australian best were bringing 5d to s£d ; secondary, 33 a to 4£J per Ib. I The Otago Daily -Times of March 21 says :— j On Saturday afternoon a-t Timaiu 150 ; local sliarviholder^ and s>tockgrnwoi\j, by I invitation of the Christcuurch IMcit Com- ! pany, inspscted a " Xew Hercules" refri- ! S<;iator and recent additions to the Tiiiiaiu j Freezing Works, which now have a capacity of 40CO carcases a day. Afterwards the company lunched ou the grounds t.s the guests of the company. Mr Gilbeih Andor=oj, minagius: director, pointed out that it was the duty of local growers to suppuri the company, and stated that if they supplied 40CO carcases 1 a day the company coult freeze for nothing, I making sufficient dividend of the bj -iii'oducts f.om offal. The exports la3t year were about a q muter of a milliou of caicases, and several speakers averred ihat this could easily be trebled. Mr Anderson spoke of the need for combination to improve the management of sale? in London, and also to secure separate sales and insurance of Cants; bury produce. I only wish that in Otago and Southland vre were as much up-to-date as they are ia Cauterbury. It rests mainly with settlers to com., bine and so support our freezing works, that they may be able to bring their machinery and general working up to the same high standard. The progress of Mr Anderson's company is due largely to the widespread sapp:rt and interest taken by farmers generally. A town resident, somewhat dubious about the benefits conferred on the country by the rabbit export trade, recently wrote to a squatter fiiend asking for his opinion on the subject. So intereiting were th 9 views expressed in the reply that the recipient has handed them to me, and I make no apology for finding a place in this column for the following extracts from the letter :—: — As to the general matter of the factory question, I can only say that views adverse to their absolutely unapproached efficacy as desbrovera simply cannot be honestly held by anyone who has lived near one for a few ytars. Ifc is the only means ever invented of getting all landowners, large and sinsdl, lo work with a will^ Every other without exception means thaf '

two-thirds — the smaller the worse — devofcfi themselves not to work, but to satisfying the inspectors ; a very different thing. Come and stay with me for a we?k and I will send yoa ! back thoroughly alive to' the blessings conferred j on the community by the establishment of ! rabbife factories. Factory open, and every • living soul, including the boys aud girls, going ' fisresly after every living rabbit — even going their rounds a.l midnight and again at 4- and 5 ani — and this on every farm. Result : A j clean district in two or thee months ; factoryclosed, or non-existent, or gone into fiheep j tinniag, or gone "bust" — it is all the ! same. Oae-third working on, the other twoihirds jjsfc shaving the law or hoodwinking the inspectors : result, the inevitable one. Do yoa think the New Zealand farmer i? the man to keep the goose alive for future golden eggs — especially when the gcose h perfectly free to fly over hi 3 neighbour'? fence the next day ? If he could catch every rabbit on his farm in one day when ! hoy are 51 a pair, do you think he wouldn't do io ? — iu in^ny instances steal ell his neighbour's as woll ? Do you thirk 1 j wouldn't!, fop instance, who have often paid \ £2000 a year for poisoning, end Icsb another i £2000 in wool and lambs ? The anti-factory j shibbsleth is a town view purely ia general ; ] when it 13 a country viow ib is held where there j has uevc r been a factory. I wish you could see ! this district, especially the farms of some of • my neighbours during the periods (at one time I i'requc-ni. and long) when the factory wa3 finan- ! cially unable to go on, aud see the enormous \ relief it gives when ifc eloea etarfc. There ia j nothing within a hundred miles of it fpr olearj ing one a district and giving ihe grass a shew. ! People talk of poison as * though ifc killed j rabbits out, and was therefore disliked. Both ! idens are pure delusions. Poison ia a miser1 a bio anil hopeless dc-vice, as 20 years jotj ot i<-s nf3 haveshow'i — ho»v c\n Ihi? be denied ? And if yoa wouid fiud us a poison that would do more than at least relieve a district from the worst cff.c l 9l 9 of rabbits for just a few weeks (sud no poison ba>? ever done more), do you reallysnd honestly think we landowners would say, "No, thanks, we will have the factories jirri lijp isb'.-its"? I don't think any sane persoa v tally \>z\\* vas ifc. They go ou glibly repeating iffijial shibbileths that emanate from a dfp'U-tiflfc.ifc which becomes utterly useless where a factory smarts, for no kind of compulfion is t-ver wanted then, and which consequently fear.3 and denouuees them, nnd inuliirTei vicious prosreutions at the factory \ dcorg. But do they, or you, reaiiy believe such j lubbish? OZ course, if you will belie vs that; some yoisos or other exists which wi'l c'.<-ar out the ral'bit?, I can understand th^t ; but there is no »uc'a poison, and how the idea gets among you tcwa people that fchere is — while for at lease 20 years we in the country fc&va beea spending hundreds of thcuannd-t of pounds in poison under the eyes of s'-vartm of inspeckrj — ! J caiiuot imagine. Nor can I t.ivierst&uri how P'Opl& go on believing (1) that the average New Z-j.-x'.aad f-irmor wonid ciir&o his rabbits for future prcfi 1 ; when he can get 5d s> pair liv all he c itches low (and wLen tbe r?sfc may all ba on his neighbour's lanJ wbeu hs wants them), eveu ie rabb'ti were as on & property as Artificial manure, or (2) thfcfc there is some rays fcaricus means ia fxistor.ee — poisoner soraeihuig — \(y which people could hill oat rabbits j if they oniywould, but they w. n'r. Onghfc ?ou not to be very seriously convinced you are right belore you oudemo a system which (1) fcives ecrMojmeiit to many thousands ia thia country, (2j rescues thousands of tons of rnea^ for tha luimau race which w)u!d ctherwisi rofc on fche hillsides, (3) fcrraa au apprecir abie addition to the en; litre's »xp«rts, (4) use 3 large quantities of timber, Hew*re, machinery, ooal, aud other commodities— and so on ? Ought jou not to be able to absoluUly demons'rat- tha<-, say, tbe Duuback di»tr!c% which has a fae ory, is more rabbity than the Clyde distiior, which has none— the fact being that throughout tha year there i 3 an average of 100 thu-e for one here ? j The 1-tter to my friend ia »U through a ! wholesale condemnation of the views I myself have expressed on thia ques'.ion, but it is none the less interesting on that score. The subject; is a difficult one to deal with, anil ia discussing I ie I wju'd just say that it is not fair to bring in j the qaestiou of what bs?n*fi: the rabbit Mb to I rabbi .era and others. When it has b.-en decided by the country thafcfc'ao fiozsa rabbit trade is of such vAlue that poisoning must nob interfere with ifc, lubbiters' views will ba valuable, ■ but until then his opinion must be taken cam ff ratio salii. My opinions are not those of j town men, but arc came to ifter conversations ! wiih settlers cf experi«nc9 in districts both whtre thsro are factories and where there are n0... Oae fArm°r who h*s had considerable experience writes as follows : — No one can foa: a moment imagine that the people employed in trapping are going to j kill or attempt to kill that which gives the/a I steady employment; a"; a very remunerative Wige. It is well known tha 1 ; trapi can be set lo cabcii only fuil-g own rabbits and that 80 uer cent, of tlioss caught are Lucks, leaving jusl enough males, to propagate with the increased number of does, so making them more heilfchy and prolific. As to the argument that valuable meat is wasted by poisoniDg rabbits which is sometimes urgfd, all I can say i^ that rabbibs would be bstfcsr left to rot than used for food, as a very larga proportion of them are full of hydatids and tapeworms. We have insptetors for seeiag that meat for consumption and export is free from disease, yet we ship Home hundreds cf tons or rabbits, much of which is far froii free of disease. Hans in the Lake districts that were given over to iabbit3 have been cleared practically by pollard poison, Toxa, and the natural enemies, and never a trap was used. Most cf the country supplying the rabbits for ficezing is within easy distaiics of the railway. I can speak with certainty as to this, as I have a lob of back ground that was never trapped, aud ifc ia thoroughly cleared by poison. I made this statement to my friend (naming a well-known large farmer), aud he said he found exactly the same thing on his property, and satisfied himself that trapping only kepfc the pest in good health. My opinion is that so long as the rabbit is of value so long will he bo with us, as ifc is against human nature to "kill the goose," as even if he doe 3 fly over your neighbour's fence for a short time he will certainly come back, and probably bring his family. In Canterbury I notice they onk ; ndly ta'.k about; Scotch rabbits as the worst sort. The rabbits are, I should say, almost old identities ; at any rate, some old identities imported them. I have carefully looked'through the biographies and histories in the splendid Jubilee number of the Daily Times and Witness, bub it ia not recorded there w\(;h whom is to He the honour of their imporfcat^. Rabbits, in the opinion of some people, are apparently going to be a valuable export, and possibly a great industry. Perhaps we ma?

get the " old identity " who imported cr introduced them to own up now.

oi six years the average stands :— 'M cows ISOO averaged 740 gallons per cow :io „ 1891 „ 72.) „ P. 4 „ 18*2 „ 795 , 3S „ lSi>3 „ 732 „ 39 „ ISO 4 „ 831 „ 1.5 „ 1&03 „ 867 „

Names of r , , , ! Cows. Calved - 1 I Cilf. ] Total Yield iulb Day., in , Milk! .Daily ■Yield Yellow Beautj Jan. 10 Bounty .. Jm. 22i JCiok Jan. £21 riam Jan. 3r| T'anj' . . .. Feb. 2| Star Keb. 5 O. Star... . Mar. 1U Oxcntnbe . .Mar. 23 Deer .. April ] Is^itt April 1 Caw.slip .. April 7 Little Oar . Apiii 16 Ccir-FoK .. April 17| Coa- Kox . April C(ij Mar Fox ... Afay 14! Molly May 14, Jiiirlon. . . 'June 11 F rat-Fox . (June 2 (Jross . . . I June 11 JMottv . . . 'June 12 Up Horn „ June £0 'J'win Fatchen^June 23 Breast 'June £5 Back Horn ...July 11 Kuddy... . 'July 20 Tfurdi . . July 27 l<'leet .. . An" If Piofifc ... . Aug. 17 llawcling .. Aug. IS Jluby Sept. 19 Waid 'Sept. 27 Shy Kept. 28 D.urymaid ...'Oct. 1 111 'Oci-. 6 Neave (1 ...0ct. IS .Spotted . .'Och 2!- 1 Itcepliam ...Nov. 8 Young Red Nov. 23 Michal II ..i Nov. 25 Bail 'Nov. 'M Pronii c „ !Dec. ]fi Whitehall jDec. 28 Ytllow Gell ...'Dec. SO, 3rd 4th I 2nd I Sri I Ist 3rd Ist 3rd 4tU 4:h 3rd 3rd 2ad 2ad '2 ad 12tb :-.rd 3rd 3rd 7th Ist 3rd 3rd Ist Ith 4fch 4th 6fh 4 th sth sth 3rd sth 3rd i .ltd 4th ! Gth | 4th Ist 2ad Ist I 4th i Ist ' | 5.912 8,53;) 10,097 9.H51 5,002 8,258 SXSi 5 702 g,o<:o 10,351 11,405 6.775 4,515 8,370 10 SI!) lO.fWl S 66>) 5.245 10.570 11,702 0,104 5.555 4,(353 7,50) 5.473 7,8 J 5 15,531 13,025 a no 11,791 ns's 11,73') 8.83J 10.551 ! : 7,p5t l III.BGS |12,7d(i 4,538 9,33(3 10.2f0 1 B.S7S 1 4 000 29S I 260 I :63 I 2*4 , 2ti7 ! ro3 i 302 ; 3 3 ' 325 329 350 273 I 239 | 31' i : :-Xis :;!3 315 ! 3 43 372 31(5 301 231 273 341 3^5 420 ■m 323 329 3^6 381 315 Sfi'i £37 ■USA 3 in 23!) 322 30S snr> 257 1 I 19-9 I 32 1 I 27-6 32 i ! 22-1 2(57 17 4 17 ti £S-6 31-4 32 5 24 3 188 25 S 29 6 32 9 &5 2 312 31-4 13 3 2S-4 £.3 0 16 9 22 0 23 -2 24 5 S6-9 30 7 £S2 35 S 28-3 SOS 217 28-9 277 43-4 40 5 )3 9 28 9 33 3 30 3 18-3