STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES. BY Drover.

Otago Witness, Issue 2456, 17 April 1901, Page 6

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES. BY Drover.

Weekly Stock Sales : Foi tn ijh tly : „ „ ,, T , , Invercargill, Tuesdays tfurnaide, Wednesdays Afihburton, Tuesdays Monthly: Addington, Wednesdays Clinton, Palmerston, Winter, and WaiFcrtniahtly : kouaiti Balclntha, Fridays Pet topically : Gore, Tuesdays I Heriot, Kelso, and KyeOamaru, Tuesdays | burn. The yarding of cattle last week at Burnside was about 140 head, very few of which were prime bullocks. The yarding consisted mostly of light unfinished steers and fair to good cows and heifers. The demand for prime beef is well maintained, and price.", if anything, show improvement. Some few prime bullocks brought up to £10 10s : others, smaller, £8 10s to £9. Some good cows and heifers up to £7. Ihe lighter cattle wont at low rates — unfinished steers from £5 to £6 10s, and graziers who bought them should do well with them in a month or two, as feed is plentiful, the gra°s holding out well, and turnips generally a fair crop. Beef (frozen) in London from New Zealand still holds pride of place. The comparatively small lots landing go into a gieat many hands, and it is not easy to get a lelia-ble quotation. But Burnside beef sells well, and the quality is reported as continuing of a most satisfactory kind. The market for Australian has dragged a little owing to considerable quantities of stale beef (long stored) being marketed. This stale beef has a most prejudicial eifect on the market, and so far as New Zealand is concerned, airangements should be made to avoid storing and the selling of stale beef. Stale mutton is bad, but I think beef suffers more by unduly long storage. The River Plate people, with their well-organised selling and handling arrangements, set us an example. They keep selling on arrival, and even with inferior beef keep prices ahead of Australian stoied. About 1500 sheep were yarded, and the market was anything but a good one. A very few prime pens of wethers sold at 17s up to 19s ; others at 15s to 16s. Ewes were in heavy supply, and not in demand at all, and very low prices had to be accepted to clear them. Many of the large butchers have stipplies bought ahead, and are not operating at Burnsicle. and freezing buyers are not prepared to buy at anything but lower rates than have been ruling. It is to be hoped that the yardmgs for some time will be small, or there will orjobably be a further fall in prices. Nearly 600 lambs were yarded, and for the very few prime among them export buyers gave 13s 6d to over 15?. The lest of the yarding were a poor lot, and sold in a dragging way ai 8s to 11s, butchers not caring for this class of meat in any quantity. I hear of several drafts of up-country store sheep for sale, but at present buyers seem to hold off. Past experience has shown that these up-country sheep sometimes do not thrive in the low country. Breeding ewes are, however, always saleable at fair prices. At Addington prime beef selh at from 20s to 22s per hmndied. Secondary beef is in heavy supply, and sells at 17. The yardings of fat sheep consist as a rule of ewes, mostly infeiior, which sell slowly at about 10s. Freezing buyers aie not willing to pay high prices, even for prime wethers, notwithstanding the fact that they are scarce. A few sold at from 17s 6d up to 18s 6d. There was a yarding of 2500 fat lambs at Addington, and freezing buyers seemed as anxious as ever to secure them, prices running from 14s to slightly over 16s for best quality, and it appears that some sellers did not consider tlie-.o prices good enough, so about 800 were withdrawn and sent to freezer on owners' account. They evidently have great faith in the future of the market, as the piices given were, 1 should say, good enough. Pigs are selling well, piime bacon pigs being worth fully 3|d per lb. Australia has been lately taking a good dcpl of bacon and ham, and considerable quantities have gone to London, which ha- cleared the surplus. Although I don't think London shippers C an look for high rates, th:o London export is a great benefit to the industry, and all bacon, faetones should persevere and keep sending to pi event a glut here. In tho long run this wiU pay, as pi ices during tho winter will then be kept at a payable rate. Nrariv 9000 store sheep were yarded al Addington. mo-tly ewes, v\ethcis beirg very fov. Aged and inferior cwei aie veiy liaid to quit, and there arc always plenty ot them about. Bleeding ewe*, are m deuund. The

following are borne of the sales recorded: — Four tooth halfbreds, 19s 6d ; two-tooth crossbred^, 16s 6d ; two, four, six, and eighttoolh crossbreds, 14a 6c! to 16s 6d ; aged ewes, 10s 6d to 13s ; aged merino ewes, 6s to 7b; good two-tooth wethers, 15s to 16s; inferior, 12s to 14s : 600 'merino wethers brought 7s 2d ; good forward lambs sold readily at lls 6d to 13s ; backward, 10s to 11s. There is a dullness at present in the grain market, and millers are not operating to any great extent. I hear there are rumours of a ruptuic of the combination of millers lately in foice, and this perhaps tends to unsettle them. There is little doing in oats just at present, but when shipping is more plentiful I look for greater life in the market. I am glad to note that on the whole the harvest has been well saved, and ceitainly the good weather lately prevailing should enable all to get their harvest in. But I still notice stooks about, even on the Taieri Plain, which, I think, is not as it should be among high-class farmers. Taking the ciop all over, I think the yield is not over an average one, but rather tinder. I am glad to see that a good many farmers have stacked this year, instead of threshing out of stook— a course vvhic'i, I think, will pay them. Later on during the year oats will bo wanted constantly tor the Cape, China, and other places, and there will, I think, bo a steady market. At present rushing new gram into the market is unwise, and must be unprofitable, as only speculators will buy at veiy low rates in any quantity. The Rmgatira has sailed for London, \ia South African port.*, and be-ides a large London cargo has taken the following for South African ports : — FromWellington — For Capetown, 200 sides pork; for Durban. 395 boxes butter, 80 ca?es cheese ; for optional ports in South Africa, 2080 quarters beef. From Lyttelton — For Durban, 50 cases tinned butter, 146 sacks of oats, 50 oatmeal, 791 bran, 75 flour ; for Algoa Bay, 150 case? butter ; for Capetown. 500 sheep and lambs, 21 ciates of poulti y, 448 sides pork. From Timarn — For Durban, 100 sacks ofoats; for East London, 975 sacks oats. From Port Chalmer ; — For Capetown, 10 carcases sheep pud lambs, 1332 quarters beef, 9 sides and 4 carcases veal, 20 crates rabbits ; for Durban, 309 ca=es butter, 169 bags and 256 cases boned beef, 788 ca*es tinned meats, 700 crates rabbits. 500 sacks barley, 23 crates poultry ; for .East London, 25 sacks oats. This, although not our first steamer of the newly-arranged service to South Africa, is really the first to ta'te a fair sample of our pioduce for the various ports in South Africa, and I hope to see further lots in the next steamer, in about four weeks. We must pei severe if we aie to wrest a fair share, of the trade from. Melbourne and Sydney, and dhert it to direct tiade between New Zealand and South Afr-ca, which is what we much need. Australia has got a long way ahead, and has developed a trade in all produce, already having been shipping regularly for some yeaiF. To show what Australia has already done in frozen meat with the Cape and other ports, the Australasian Pastorabsts' Review, speaking of the Australian frozen meat trade for the yeir 1900, says: — When the vast trade which has sprung up with South Africa, Manila, Vancouver, and others ports is taken into consideration, there is considerable reason for satisfaction with the present position of the Australian branch of th<* fiozen meat trade. We give m the following table the declared shipments to various ports : Mutton. Lamb. Beef. C'ic'ses. C'rc'ses. Qrtrs South Africa .. .. 269,256 6,407 212,495 Manila , 19,770 — 48,107 Vancouver .. .. 12,925 120 0,115 China 5,351 — 13,223 Mediterranean Ports and Giraltar .. .. 17,535 SOO 4,500 324,837 7,327 284,536 Besides the above 'shipments very large quantities of beef and mutton consigned to London were early last >ear landed at Durban and Capetown, so great were the demands by tho Imeprial authorities on account of the army, and while it is now impossible to get at the quantities landed, we are not ov erstatmg them by putting the figures down at not le=s than 50,000 tc 60,000 carcases of mutton, and quite as many quarters of beef. These figures, added to the above table, show what a valuable tiade this has been to Australia, and also what a lehef it has been to the London maiket that openings for such large quantities of meat have been available. Though the South African consumption may not maintain its present proportions altogether m the future, there is eveiy probability of a corsiderable outlet existing for some years to come. For the pie sent the demand is still active, and, as large quantities of meat are going forward, it is possible that the exports in that direction will almost be as heavy for this year as last. The Australians have indeed jufet cause to be proud of the development of this trade, and I can assure readers that their trade in grain, dairy produce, tinned meats, etc., is just as large in proportion — perhaps larger — and much of it is New Zealand produce shipped as Australian. I cannot at present get the figures of this part of the trade, but I know I am not over-stating tho matter. One thing to be regretted is that wo have not been able (o send cheese in any quantity to South Africa in the Rangatira, because there is, not sufficient offering to fill a cool chamber. Government should arrange v ith the shipping company to supply a 'mall cool chamber for chee c c for an experimental shipment by next steamer. Pome time ago the War Office inquired from Government re New Zealand chee=e, but as yet nothing has come of it. I think this is ? matter that Government should push. It would be a great thing for New Zealand to secure the War Office orders for cheese and butter, and I venture to say we could give them satisfaction.