STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2427, 19 September 1900, Page 6

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

By Oroveb.

Weekly Stock Sales : Fortnightly : Jnvercaigill. Tuesdays Burnsic'e, Wednesdays ' Ashburton, Tuesdays, Monthly: Addingtdn, Wednesdays Clinton, Palruerston and Winton. Fortnightly: Waikouaiti Balclntha ridays ' PiriMically : . fiore, Tuesdays 'I Heiiot.Kelso, and Kye« Oamaru Tuesdays I bura.

The yarding of cattle at Burnside last week was 221 head, -and a few from Southland exceptionally good brought £11 17s 6d ; several other lots £10 to £11; smaller bullocks, £8 10d to £9; fair quality cows and heifers, £7 10s to £3 10s. Beef is worth from to 26s per hundred— a most satisfactory price. Dairy cows are selling at Exceptionally high pr.ices. In the Wyndham and' Edeiidala districts at some clearing gales good milkers brought froia £5 to £9* 13s 6d> The very satisfactory prices paid by dairy factories, for milk last season, ■with the assured prospect of fully -equal- prices for the coming season, have enhanced the value of dairy cows very much, and of course have raised the value of land in those districts.

At the end of July prices in Jfondon for frozen beef were not quite so good. Tl era is nothing in this to discourage us,, as it is quite usual for a fall to take place at this time of }"ear, as heavy arrivals from Canada and the United States over supply the market, and during the hot months of the/year the demand for beef considerably lessens. ■ We may look for good prices fpji all beef arriving from. October to April. New Zealand frozen beef still tops the market. As the demand is generally for more hind-quarters than fm equarters, ,'I think a good business mi^at I>e done in tinning fore-quarters. Iti ihi-s tidiness of tinning meat I consider wo arc not T.p-to-date as a lule. We have the best meat in' the world, and yet America beats us badly in tinned goods. There is no reason why this should be so, and I hope to see the frozen meat works at Mataura, Burnside, and other places turning out a _ class of tinned meat that will take the lead as frozen beef has done.. Considerable expert knowledge is required icy this business. A man who can solder a tin, is not necessarily a meat preserver. We could easily get some of the best men in this line from America, and the sooner we do this the better. I don't like to hear of the £> Westrahans" calling New Zealand preserved meat "Canned Dog." We can, and we must, do better than this.

The sheep sale at Burnside was again a most satisfactory one, the yarding being about 2300. Best crossbred wethers brought 19s to slightly over 20s; good wethers about 18s; best ewes 17s to 18s ; medium 15s to 16s.

Reports from London indicate that the market for frozen mutton considerably weakened during the last fortnight in July, owing partly to the hot weather then prevailing, which similarly affected all classes of meat. But part of this lowering of prices is undoubtedly due to the heavy arrivals clumped on the market all at one time. This is a trouble we ought to remedy by more regular shipments'.

A leading firm, reporting on the last fortnight in July, says of New Zealand frozen; lamb : — Receipts have been heavy, amounting to no less than 107,397 carcases from New Zealand, and a downward trend of values has continued tluoughout the fortnight. It is not chat the trade in this department has been so seriously interfered with by the hot weather, as in the case of both mutton and be-ef, but: with such large quantities arriving just as the ''seasoi'" is about to close, the numerous con.->

The "Superlative" raspberry is the finest raspberry in cultivation. Obtainable only from NuiMo akd Bl.uk. Only a few left, so order earfe

signees are apparently nervous of being left with- considerable stocks after the bulk of tne season is over.

, TJiere is a most interesting article in a late number of the Australasian Pastorales' Review on "Horse-breeding for Useful Purposes," by Mr V. T. Bowling, of Lue, New •South Wales, from which I cull the iollowing: —

• One of the most important factors in the breeding of horses is the possession of suitable country. A limestone country of good quality is certainly the best. Ido not mean by this the limestone country of the west, but undulating or even mountainous country, with a fair proportion of stones and good flats. The stones are necessary to give horses good feet, while the act of ascending or descending hills or mountains develops the muscles of the thighs, loins, and back. Horses bred on perfectly level country, however good, can never develop like those bred in hilly limestone country. They are inclined to be flat-footed and slack-thighed, and when they come into the trainer's hands and are put to ordinary work their feet are always a source •of trouble. If a man desires to start brooding horses on a large scale he must first of all -fix; his type ancl select his horses and marcs accordingly. For the purpose of breeding the most useful land of animal for general purposes it would be very necessary to be particular in the selection of mares, and everyone knows how difficult it is to obtain good, sovmel, short-legged, well-made mares, if possible with good known performances, either for endurance or speed. The sire should be selected on the same lines ai.d tjhe results carefully watched. "Unless the sirs lias proved hinuclf beforehand as a first-claps stock-getter it is impossible to say what ni ■ stock will be like, no matter how good the ircares may be; but if the horse has been a pronounced success his progeny out of such mares as I have mentioned cannot be a failurs. I am a great believer in the Arab stroixi, provided the sire is a pure Arab and not a Persian Gulfer, or what is termed a "country bred"- in India. Numbeis of animals are sent down here for sale as Arabs which are certainly not pure, and therefore great care is necessary in selecting animals to sea that they nre first-class. A good Arab sire is sure to get something fairly good out of anything, and if strong, compact, roomy thoroughbred mares are put to such horses the result must bs satisfactory. The stock v.-iil be of good j size, showing abundance of quality, with wen- i .clerful poweis of endurance, ancl be fit for almost any kind of work. Again, a very c!e'sirablc cla«s of animal for country, town, or > station work may be produced by the Aiab from carefully-selected, good, stout marcs, -withovit naich breeding, suitable for spring j -cart work, and although it may seem strange and be too great a wrench, it is beyond doubt a fact that Arabs on heavy draught mares will even produce most -valuable horses, suitable as gunners or for work of a similar character. The writer gives his opinion regarding trotting'horses thus: — Select sires and dams as thoroughbred as possible for. breeding purposes, and then .go on selecting your be&fr 'again ancl again for ' whatever purposes you 'may require hcrscc — -whether they 'be racehorses, enrriage horses, hacks, cavalry chargers, or trqUers. _ By selection 'you^ can breed up to anything, and have the very best of its kind. For instance, you can breed a trotter that will last a day, "and not >curl Ut> at .the end of 25 miles, as most of the so-called trotting horses of the present day, tared from English hackneys, or Ecglish ancl American trotting sires, are inclined to do. It is well known that many of the best ancl fastest trotters in olden times were quite thoroughbred. The best -horses I have ever ridden or driven — either long journeys, after stcck, on' camp, up or down mountains, through the roughest and most sciubby country, over fences, or hunting — have been, if not altogether thoroughbred, .possessed of a good deal of blood, or have been, thoroughbreds combined with a distinct Arab strain. The following shows Mr Dowling's opinion aixrat the breeding of thoroughbreds, and his remarks on the influence of the turf are, I consider, to the point, and apply to New Zealand as well as to New South Walese