STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES,

Otago Witness, Issue 2369, 27 July 1899, Page 5

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES,

By DabvEß.

! Weekly Stock Sales: I Fn-tniijidly: ' Burnside, Wednesdays I»vercargUl, Tuesdays , Aehburton, Tuesdays Monthly: | Addington, Wednesdays Q\ inton) pp a lmerston _ . . „., and Winton. Fortnightly: Balclutha, Fridays Periodically : Gore, Tuesdays | Ifeiiot.Kelso, and KyeOamaru, Tuesdays. bum. cordially invited. All communications to reach Witness uffio not later than Mondv night, l i The yarding of cattle at Burnside was 170, only a few being prime bullocks. These were briskly competed for, and sold at from £8 to £9, being an advance on the previous week's , rate. The bulk of the yarding were half-fat j and generally unsuitable for butchers, and the I disposal of these dragged considerably, sales only being made at a sacrifice. The present weather and the state of the turnip ground make graziers indifferent, even when low prices rule. I notice that the medical superintendent at the Christchurch Lunatic Asylum, in reporting on the results of the testing of his dairy herd with tuberculin, expresses his surprise at the results proving a very large number of his herd to be afFected with tuberculosis. The cattle, he says, were in good condition, and still they reacted to the test. He alludes to the same results in other asylums, and suggests as accounting for it direct infection from patients working on the farm and among the cattle in the byres, etc. The doctoi of the Chriatchurch Asylum seems at a loss to account for the marked prevalence of tuberculosis among his cattle as compared with those of private individuals. The question is whether the stock of such private individuals were subjected to the same rigid tests as those conducted at the asylums, where Government inspectors had a free hand in dealing with cattle owned by Government. If, as I hope we shall, we are to stamp out tuberculosis among the cattle in the colony, the first step to be taken is to stop breeding from cattle affected with I tuberculosis or any other hereditary taint of disease. All bulls and breeding cows should ,be tested. This, with the destruction of cattle affected at present, which had already gone on to a considerable extent, would soon have a ', good effect. The main thing, however, is to | be careful in the matter of breeding: " Prei vention is better than cure " at any time. The • Prencli Agricultural department is believed to j be one of the best in the world, and they have I for years prohibited the importation of any stud cattle without a proper certificate that i each animal has been tested and found sound iin every respect. So strict are they that ' several cases are reported of very high-priced stock purchased from the best herds in Britain having subsequently been rejected and refused entry to France owing to failure in passing the required test. If any good is to be done, the measures adopted must be thorough, and no loose methods of administration will be of any permanent benefit. Nearly 3000 sheep were yarded, and the sale, owing to Canterbury buyers being present, was a very brisk one, values for prime wether 3 being well maintained. Prime wethers brought 15s to 16s 6d, and some good ewes up to 14s. There was a heavy supply of ewes, medium to inferior, and as butchers now supply themselves mainly with best wether mut1 ton, the outlet for these is far short of the ( quantity yarded generally, and we can look for no improvement in price for them. The supply of so-callecl lamb was about 1000, and all suitable for freezing brought from 12s 6d to 15s. Butchers don't require much of this class of meat, and it is fortunate the export buyers seem still eager for all suitable to hand. Pigs of all classes, but more particularly bacon pigs, are in short supply both here and in Canterbury, an.d njriceg t high as at

present are, will probably go still higher, as all curers are ready now to take more pigs I than they can obtain. In. Canterbury prices of freezing sheep and lambs continue slightly higher than at Burnside, as usual. Supplies of these continue light, but there, as here, inferior ewes are plentiful, and meet with a poor demand. In store sheep the main demand is for breeding ewes, and these continue to bring high prices — viz., from 13s to over 16s, according to age and condition. The sheep returns show that both in. Canterbury and Otago the number of sheep is considerably short of what it was, and that | generally speaking we are understocked — j more, I am afraid, in young sheep in propor- | tion than we ought to be, owing to the lively j condition of the lamb and teg-mutton export trade. All authorities on the wool trade speak •j hopefully of the prospects of future markets, and it is generally believed that the production of wool in the immediate future will not overtake the demand, continued droughts over a large portion of Australia- having &o depleted the usually large flocks of the sister colonies that at least a year or two of favourable seasons will be required to bring the snpj ply up to what it formerly was. Added to i this, trade all over the world in woollen goods ' is brisk, and there is room for an increase of supply yearly instead of a decrease. Everything at present, then, points to a higher level of valtTes for sheep than has been the case for some years. If farmers are to attain best rssults, something should 1 be done to strengthen their flecks by retaining more young sheep, and breeding carefully and systematically. I In fact, more attention will have to be given j to sheep-farming and a little less to the more | exciting pursuit of sheep-dealing. j Our old friend Mr Tom Mackenzie will soon be here again, and will, I hope, be able to secure a seat in Paz-liament, as it will without doubt be to the benefit of the whole colony that lie should do so. Mr Mackenzie is, in my opinion the very kind of representative required by New Zealand, and especially by the country constituencies. His views on many subjects are similar to what I have tried to give expression lo in these columns for some years. As soino readers may not have noticed his speech at the valedictory banquet given him in London as reported in last week's Witness, I will recapitulate some of the leading points. He was complimentary to the shipping companies, whom he acknowledged had assisted him in endeavouring to put the colony's products on the Home market in the most favourable manner; but he spoke of other things which required to be done. Among the most important of these were the proper and honest handling of the produce, and the question of honest assessment of damage, about which he said the insurance companies manifested the moat absolute indifference, if not criminal j neglect. Usually when any of our leading ! men have gone Home to look into trade j questions of any kind, they have come back i with Lombard street conservative ideas as ! to the impropriety of any Government interfering in trade matters. Not so Mr Mac- . kenzie, who said that commercial progress showed that the old order had changed, and that the political economy of 50 years ago was now partly obsolete and unworkable. All Governments who took a proper interest in trade matters were successfully interfering and if those in power were to devote theinselvei more to practical business rather than waste time on abstract questions it would Ibe more to the benefit of the colony. Mr • [ Mackenzie also alluded to the question of a discriminating tariff as between the colonies and the mother country, and his views are similar to those expressed on several occasions by tlie Hon. I\lr Chamberlain and other great i ' statesmen. 1 | There were two ideas at present, said Mr 1 j Mackenzie. One was that the tariffs fixed , ' between Great Britain and her dependencies . ' should be the samo as between outside nations. The other was that there should be mutual concessions between the mother coun- ' try and her dependencies. He was strongly ■. of the latter opinion ; the way to build up what was essential to the prosperity of the i Empire was by mutual concession. — (Ap- . plause.) After all, the State was but an aggregation of families. And, as in family 1 life, the head could often extend concessions ' to younger membera, who in turn could reci1 procate. He thought, too, that the time had quite arrived when the interests of the colonies demanded representation in the Imperial Parliament.— (Applause.) It was contended that if that were the case, taxation would have to be levied. The colonies w.ould : probably be quite willing to consider that.

But at the present time it was not essentia] to Great Britain that taxes should be levied l upon the dependencies. There was here an overflowing- Treasury, England -was able t€? add to her navy and reduce her national debt* and with such financial prosperity it was inexpedient, to Bay the least of it, to endeavour to place undue burdens on the younger countries. — (Applause.) Evidently Mr Mackenzie's return to th« colony and his electioneering address will bcf of much more interest than the usual stale political stock-in-trade of candidates, and it j is to be hoped that others will follow suit. j We don't want politicians who have but on« i idea — viz., to get or retain a seat in Parliament either by pandering to publicans ot prohibitionists. We want practical .business; men of experience to develop the resourooe of the colony, and Mr Tom Mackenzie, in my i opinion, fills the bill. | Mr J. E. Scott, secretary of the National j Dairy Association, informs me that the committee have agreed to sign, a fortnightly contract with the shipping companies for the export of dairy produce. ~~ This is a step gained, and one that will put us more on » ; level with Australian competitors. j The butter market, which lias been dull for ' some time, now shows signs .of life, and large lines of stored butter, which. previously wera almost unsaleable, are now being taken for , London at from 8d to Bid. Cheese is dull of i sale, but will improve, as stock? are not heavy*