STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2467, 26 June 1901, Page 16

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Bt Dbotkk.

FortniijhUy: Invercargill, Tuesdays Monthly: Clinton, PalmeroW, ' Wintor, and "Waikouaiti Periodically : Heriot.Kclso, and Kj ebura.

Weekly Stock Sales: Burnside, Wednesdays Ashburton, Tuesdays Addington, Wednesdays Ftrtniqhtly : Balchit.ba, Fridays Gore, Tuesdays I Oamaiu, Tuesdays I

Nearly three hundred head of cattle were yarded la«t week, the supply not being excessive, as owing to the holiday this week it has to do for a fortnight's supply. Prices were good, and some of the lines of bullocks first class. Best brought from £10 10s to nearly £12, and some very prime heifers from £8 to £9 10s. At this sale the price of prime beef was from 25s to 26s per hundred — a most satisfactory one. Prime beef will, it is expected, bring high prices right through the w inter.

Witfi regard to beef in the London market, it is evident that exporters are suffering from the bad management oE our mutton and lamb export trade. Weddel and Co.. reporting under date 17th May, say arrnals from Australia totalled 1381 quarters. New Zealand 11,007, River Plate 7578. The market is weaker, particularly for forequarters. This is attributed partly to warmer weather, and partly to rather heavy stocks of Plate and New Zealand beef on hand, but is chiefly the outcome of the cheapness of mutton. And the cheapness of mutton is. of course, due to our method of landing immense quantities on the market all at once.

The sheep sale, unlike the cattle sale, was a disappointment, the supply being o\er 4000. E\idently many thought that it would be a good thing to catch this fortnightly market The result proved' that too many h?d calculated on the same idea, and the result wa3 a lowering of prices. Export buyers took some, or the results , would have been more disastrous.

The large supply of lamb's, nearly 1200, was mainly taken for export at from. 10s to 12s 6-1, town butchei'o doing veiy little, as they find their customers won't take teg mutton for lamb, whatever Home buyers will take. All I can say is that if this meat is sold in London as lamb the reputation of New Zealand lamb must inevitably suffer.

The reports from London regarding our frozen meat are not cheeiful reading, and tend to show thai our miserable helter-skel-ter arrangements in shipping will go far to ruin the trade if they are not improved upon. Weddel and Co.. reporting on May 17 re the pievious fortnight, say: — '"Ariivals have been heavy, amounting to some 162,826 carcase?. There is serious congestion of stocks in cold store*, and difficulty is being experienced in arranging for warehousing recent arrnals. An unusually wide margin also now exists between small and hea\yweight mutton, owing to scarcity of the foimer and excessive supplies of the latter description. Best Canterbury 48-561b sheep are worth 4d per lb ; 64-721b sheep aie very slow of sale at 3d to 3{d : weights o\er this about 2.id per lb. Speaking generally on the frozen meat market the same report says : —

A more disheartening position than that now prevailing m the frozen meat markets is haidly possible. Stock 3of mutton are rapidly accumulating, and a further considerable diop in quotations has not brought about any greatly increased demand. Fairly large sales of lambs are being effected, but theie is still room for improvement if the consumption is to keep pace with arruals. There is but little inquiry for frozen beef, and the heavy arrivals fioru the Bivei Plate n>uie than countei balance the small leceipts from Australasia. Values of fores have given way sharply during the past week, while quotations for hinds aie the turn easier. In partial explanation of the depression which at piesent exists in the meat markets thioughout the country, it is interesting to note that the imports of all kinds of meat between Januaiy 1 and April 30, 1901, show a great increase over the impoits during the corresponding period of 1900. Beef (fresh) shows an increase of 102,573cwt ; mutton (mc'uding lamb), 133,281cwt ; poik (fresh), G3,62sc\vt : rabbits, 2075cwt ; bacon, 80,823cwt , beef (salted), 12,O13cwfc; hams, 21,590cwt, pork (salted), 912cwt; suncLics, 10,656cwt. The only kind of imported meat which «ho\vs any falling off is tinned meat, ni which the iprln^+'au

amounts to only 270cwt. The total quantities of dead meat ot all lands imported during the l lr =t fcmi months of the pA^t three years aie as follow=-viz., In 1883, 5,530,065cwt , w 1000, 5 503,-i4Gcw t , in 1901, 6,230,722cwt.

The C. C. and D. Company, under date May 17, say: —

New Zealand Mutton.— 2oß,9lß carcases have been received, bringing the total since Januaiy 1 to 687,091, or 11.579 more than last year, refutin" the generally-accepted notion that shipments would be in much smaller volume owing to reduced stocks in New Zealand. With the very restricted demand that has obtained m the Home markets for seme months, it wouH have been a boon to shippers had consignments come on a smaller, more manageable, scale, and the present disastrous condition of the market might have been avoided. Stocks on hand, doubtless are heavy in numbers, but not more than have frequently before been handled without any great fall in values, but the drawbacks now are the xvnsellmg character of the bulk, from size and weight, and the much-les-sened demand. For months past the high rates luling for New Zealand mutton induced many butchers to substitute the cheaper River Plate which has, very generally, given satisfaction to consumers, ancl which now seems likely, in the futtire, to compete successfully with New Zealand. The higher-claas shops doubtless wi'l lequire a number of Canterbury sheep, if they come prime, of small size, and handy weights, but demand for these is limited, as they now come, and Noith Island and Plates will suit many buyers. Values of small, light-weight, good Canterburys do not show any very great iall — 4Jd to lid per lb can still be made for a limited number , 60lb sheep sell from 3|d to 4'l per lb when offered on the market, heavier, 651b and upwards, are almost unsaleable, about 3d per lb is ouiside value. Dunedins are seldom maiketed. North Island mutton, under 641b, makes at Smithfield 3Jd to "3ld per lb. The slump m values has been in heavy carcases, 651b to 85lb, with which the market is glutted, and which have sold at 2|d down to 2.d per lb.

This is what Mr William Nelson said to the Otago Witness London correspondent: —

"'We have nothing at all," he said, "in the &hape of any attempt at keeping up the continuity of the trade on the other side. All the sheep-farmer thinks about is to get. rid of Ins sheep the moment he thinks he would like to get rid of them, and, however much we may talk to hint, we cannot induce him to gi\e a supply of mutton all through the year to allow something like a uniform trade to be conducted. He leckons that it is our business to do the best w r e can. The result is that he pours in about iour-fifths of his sheep within six months, causing a glut at or.c time and an equally disastrous deficiency during the ensuing six month*.'-'

"When invited to suggest a remedy. Mr Kelson declared that there .na» no practical suggestion to be made. " Sheep-farmers," he remarked, '' might do a good deal to help us if they would only spread the delheries of sheep over a greater length of time. In many cases they cannot, but in many eases they can, but they won't. In the North Island the bulk of our sheep are frozen within four month*. We have a very intermittent trade for another four, and no trade at all for the remaining four.. The re-ult is that freezing charges are higher than they need be, for all our buildings and machinery ha\e to be far in excess of what they otherwise would be if the work wore spread over the year. Thus the result nf the tiade as at present carried on is that we have to have enlarged storage capacity, which is both expensne ancl bad for the meal, which must necessarily deteriorate after it has been fiozen several months.

The fact is Xew Zealand fanners have not lately felt the consequences of our methods, or ralliei want of method, in conducting this trade. They have been getting big prices, and the loss is falling meantime on someone cl«e. This will not always be so, and perhaps we .shall have to wail for the day when they do feel the pinch before they will wake up and take any real interest in this matter. It may, however, be rather late then, a^ evidently our great competitor, the Rner Plate, i- going ahead. Tc show this, the C. C. and D. Company leport as follow a : —

The report and accounts of the Sansinena Frozen Me-\t Company foi 1900 must be, for the shareholders, most satisfactoiy, showing a irofit of 639.682d01, with a capital ol 2,000,000d01, allowing dividends of 25 per cent, to be paid, and after providing foi liberal depreciations, adding to the already large reserves 175,000d01. New stoics have been equipped in London, and additions made to existing works in Argentina. Land has been acouired^for new wciks at Dahia Blanca, and buildings and plant will be erected with all possible despatch. .The report speaks of the results of the year's work as highly sahofactoiy, attributable to the high pi ices luhng for frozen meat in England, and to Iko lessened imports fiom Australia and

Xew Zsplancl. ancl notices with gicat =8 traction the acknowledged supeuonty of the Ai> gci.tme meat over Australian. The wheat maikct is impi-c^ing. and e=pcrially 1= there more inquiry for pnme milling. The oat market is al«o decidedly impicning, and there is a steady demand for all good shipping lines I look for contined implement. There are plenty of =pecu!afoi- leady to buy at latest quotation-. The meeting of the National Dairy Association on Friday, the 28th m-1., should be interesting, a« b°teral subjects of importance will be di-rus=ed. Among the re~t may be mentioned thr> question of shrinkage on cheese for export. Owing to the fiitlion that aiose at grading po-ts dining the pa=t season, m the matter o( iraiked we'gUt* on cheese ea=rs, and for the 1 i.rpoce of obtaining reliable data, a senes of (.xpcimients ha\e been conducted at the Wyndham da>rv factory. Some of the cheeses vera weghed on "day of manufactuie, and others at 3iion_3 ages, rc-woiglung taking place weekly for the four following weeks, so that results as tabulated weie lecoided of the shrinkage at diffeient stages of matiuity, which can be lehed upon as being acciuate." The weighing was done under the supervision of Mr James :Uiliie, president of the National Da-ry Association The temperature of the cuimg mom »^ kept at 65deg throughout.

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