OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2409, 3 May 1900, Page 7

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(Feom 1 Otjb SjboialvOobbespondent.) ; ■' : ' > - -BRADFORD; March 2. .

SELLING" AND BUYING SHEEP. There is much skill required in selling any pioduct of the fa,im. It is a kind' of -skill, that can only be acquired by close obtervation, long experience, and a love for the occupationengaged in. 1 The animal or product may be presented to the expected buyer in such a man- ■ Her as to" disappoint him and prevent a sale, while a really inferior property may bo so presented as to. please the buyer and make a satisfactory sale.™' 1 There ,is nothing dis?honest or ' even questionable in thua putting •the best front on- one's property, whatever it ; may be, so as to make it appear desirable and satisfactory, i The farmer who has sheep for sale should , .Jceep those iik a separate flock. They Should be, selected* &at m culls* but aa jjpfrih the at-

. tention of the buyer. The culls should be* sold as culls, and even as culls they will always ! lealise tKeir actual value. But if sold with r btiperior animals, they will always tend to '. drag the price of good sheep down to their ! own level. If a purchaser wants cheap, in- ! ferior sheep, you will have the culls ready for I him, and he may buy them, particularly if he I resides in a district where there is abundance of green grass. Sheep always appear to advantage on good pasture. They will then always be well i filled and clean, and the contrast of their j frames to the surroundings will' greatly imL prove the. appearance of the flock. If running in an overstocked paddock or field, where there is, scarcely a blade of grass, the forlorn sur- ! roundings will not afford any tempting sight to the would-be purchaser. '■ The sheep selected for sale, no matter whether to be sola on the farm or sent to market, should be classed as evenly as possible as to quality. A flock of even quality sheep will sell with ease at market value, while if they have to be sorted out they will not be so easy of gale, neither will the average price obtained be so good. In the one case the purchaser might very liksly ta\e the lot, although at first he might not have been inclined to take so many. If any of the si eep are suffering from scour, they should be , removed, as very little sometimes influences a buyer to the extent of sixpence ncr head. The appearance of the flock is its clean health bill, ' wbich the intending purchaser quickly notices, so that if a few of the sheep are not up to the standard, the whole lot suffer. ■Should ' there be quite a number of sheep for sale, it will be well to keep some of them in, the' background, or at least not with" the fleck offered for sale. ' It is not always desirable 'to give any intimation that one is clesir'.ous of selling more than a surplus few, and" if any -more is wanted, it is very easy to bring forwjird> another lot for inspection, but without ahy"anxiety to sell them. The purchaser, ort.the other hand, has always to be on his guard. ,It is not always wise tcKbuy the first lot of sheep that is shown. The buyer must always take it for granted' that 'the be3t side of the flock is shown to him. , He may be' easily satisfied as to age by examining' the niauth', for an old sheep will show long-, thin teeth. Still, if the mouth of an bid sheep be good, it may be a desirable animarl^if you have plenty of soft, riutritious grass for fattening purposes. A good-mouthed sheep, may prove a profitable '-animal up to about pix years, although, as a rule, it is not advisable to buy when over three years. The capabilities of, a sheep must not be calculated wholly by its age. The pasture it grazedv upon until it was' two to three years may have made ' it prematurely' old, while the very opposite conditions may make it for use really 'younger by two or three years than the other. The condition of the fleece should be examined by the buyer. The length of the wool on the flanks and rump must be looked to. .-■lf the- intending buyer is not experienced in sheep, it will pay, him to take a good judge of stock with him to examine the flocks and advise' as to actual value per h,ead of the sheep.* When examining the -mouths of sheep for age, the' kind of soil they ar« grazed upon, has to -be taken" into consideration. -Sandy land' wears 4he front teeth very quickly, and thu3 a) sheep may "appear .older tha» v it"r,eally -is. It is a- good plan for beginners tq^ attend "auction sales of 'sheep,-, and 'note carefully- the reason why' certain sheep realise Higher prices than others, and; having gained* this- knowledge,, then fix your ideal-, and endeavour, "When either buying • or- breeding, to secure" sheep of a similarly profitable type: , -CURRENT' WOOL VALUES.* The^ wool market still continues to drag along in a very^ quiet way witlT hardly anything changing hands save what passes on account of forced sales. Practically speaking the. market is at a standstill, and nobody is anxious to do new business until they see hoy London shapes next week. It cannot be said that expectations are great, but the reverse, and many anticipate some easing, while to-day much uncertainty about the future prevails. Mediiftn crossbreds are likely to come in for as "• much support as anything owing,, to the khaki craze, while the general course of -merinos is downwards. The salvation of the whole trade continues to be that the industrial situation on all aides is busy, and there con- j 'tiuues to be a scarcity of hands throughout the entire textile trade." ■ The consumption j of merino wool is hardly so 'great as it was, but it is made up foh by the other grades. The following table shows the full, course of prices during- the past month, and the figures given represent the general asking prices of merchants to-day :

Description) of Staplei , & I « I 52 S3 i Linooln-hoggs „»• r« Lincoln wethers Deep-grown hoggs Deep-grdwn wethers ... White super hoggs . ... White super rwethers ... lush hopgs ' ...'•• ' ... 'Irish wethers " Pick. Shropshire- hoggs ... Pick Shrop. wethers • ... Or.clinary half bred hoggs Ord'i tfary half bred ■wethers- j. Wiltshire Tiown tegs Wiltshire Down- ewes ... Ordinary 60%, Buenos Ayrestopa Ordi nary 60's, colonial topa Super 60's, colonial tops - Ordinary 40's, colonial tops Ordinary 365, colonial tops Turkey average mohair . . . Cape firsts, mohair d: 9i a9 81 81 Si 10 ' 9 I2i in - d. •9 8. •9 8i 8f 81 10 9 121 'Hi 6. ' 9 .8 8h 8» 81 ;.si 10 Si 12 11 d. 9. 8 ..8 -•84 12 11 ti. » 8' it "1 9J -8* 12. 11 d 9} 91 9 9 9 15 i 9 35 15 [ a 26 8* 14£ 14^ 8i 14* 27} 26 25 24£ 31 i 30 30 29* 29 33 32 31 3D 30 m 12 111 m 11J ii 191 IOJ 21 19 lOh 20J 19 10 20J 39 I 10 !8>