STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2572, 1 July 1903, Page 7

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Br Dbotss.

WeeHly Stock Sales: ' Fortnightly: iTT j j Invercargiil, Tuesdays Akhburton, Tuesdays Monthly: Addington,Wediiedd*rs CliDton, ralmen^ou, ■Wintor, *nd WaiFortnightly: kouaiti Bilclutha, Fridaya Fmodiealhj : Gore, Tuesdays F Hetiot.Kelso, and Kje^ Oamaru, Tuesdays I bura. At Bumside obout 120 head of cattle were yarded, mostly of medium quality. Bo=i( bullock? brought about £11 ; medium,. £1 10a to £9 ; good ows and heifers, £& Fc £11. Prices show a ree of 10« per head, and it seems evident that higher prices wil] yet rule throughout the winter. About 2500 sheep were yarded, mostlj medium, quality, but all tokl readily at good prices. Fair wethers, 18s to 19s sd, prime, up to 21s ; bett owes, 17 to 19b ; and heavy, up to 20s 6d. Butchers tco& very medium ■ ewes and' wethers at from 12s to 16e. The demand for sheep ~by Canterbury men is very strong. At a sale at Clinton last week ! about 1500 sheep were sold at very high i prices. Buyers from Canterbury were present in large numbers, Jid could* hrve taken 30,000 oi 40,000 if tVy had been obtainab'e. The open season in Canterbury h;ia been unusually good for fattening, md many sheep are still wanted. F.\ve3 or wethers sell readily; in fact, anything tb:.t may reasonably be expected to fatten is eagerly bought up.

At Addington prices for fat shec.p are- on a par with those at Burnsi'Je. Mencwethers for freezing bring 16u 3d to 20s. Enormous prico? ruled for togs and prime freezing lambs; tegs brought frox-i 17s 3d up to 31s ; freezers, 13s to 17s 6d. Beef rules at 27s to 30s. Mr H. C. Cameron is now in the colony, and' it will be noted that, so far is he has disclosed his echeme for open shops for the sale of our meat :n: n London, it is on the lines indicated by mo in these notes some time age — viz., as an rhertising agency tc educate tho British public as to tlw quality of New Zealand frozen meat, and by no means on the lines supposed by anme of our press writers — as nsttiug in competition with others to run prices down or as a Government money-making concern. In Decembm. 1901, Mr Cameron- issued a report, and I am of opinion that if the adwee given by him then had been taken and arted on by our freezing companies tlxe-rf 1 would now be not «ur'i necessity for Mr Cameron's present schema. I am, however, fairly 'onfident that Mr Cameron will make out a gord case in. fiveur of the adoptiou. of his scheme. Some of th& freezing companies may oppo.»e him, for tlify may desire to net in their own interests solely and emulate the firm of James Nelson and Sons (Limited), whore dealings last year in Argr-ntine moat resulted in a n^t profit of £307,101 oa a total capital of £635,000, or about 60 pf-r cent. Very nice this for J. X. and Co., hut I wonder what ths mf>at producers in 4rsrp«tjna think of it. Tn the declurntion cf dividend* not oiio halfpenny was given by way of bonus to those who supplied the sheep, none of whom are shareholder". A liberal bonus might reasonably havo been given. New Zraland farnrns would hardly stand t'ais c ort of thing: but 1 am of opinion that unless they take a more livciv inlrrptt and pV.rc mi tho business thp (Lay may comp w'lon they v.'ill b& an rrmeli iiihl< v lip whip an tho Argentina supplier^ seem lo be.

j Last week I wrote advocating lectureships at our University to' aid farmers in theii stuuy of veterinary science, and suggested: a wrt of technical se.iool during the winter months. Since then I have made some in- - ve«tigation6 r and find that already a, gocd deal is being done towards providing- this , iMwt useful education for our farmers, and am glad to see that in several direcl'ons • efforts are being made. First of all, let us sea what our Agricultural Department is ■ doing. At present the Department of Agriculture is open to provide a course of 'l2 to 15 lectures on elementary veterinary science of. the first aid typo wherever the [ local FarnW Union or Agricultural and j Pastojal Society C an provide 15 students ; who would pay a fee for the courea of £1 J Is. Members cf a society oi union could • attend «h» course for 10s 6d. Tho money , would belong to th» union or society, who i coulo use it for the purpose of expenses, I purcha-se of anatomicail charts, books etc and so form the nucleus of a library The payment, however, is insisted upon by tho department m order to ensure only the. attendance of those who really desire to ' I?*™/ n • kc «™«» would bo somewhat oa . the following plan: j 1 and 2. Elementary outlines of anatomy and physiology, horse aad rununaata 3. Special lecture on foot of the toise, the proper beann- surfaces, and the anatomical structure and uses 1 of the different parts.' 4. Tubercnlesa, and demonstrations of common, simple diseases of the h.rse— bowel and luiig complaints, et-. 6. Milk fever, etc., ire cows; contagious abortion; coniagious infisHnmation of udder. 7 and 8. Special anato: ty of the- uddar of tho cew, more, ewe; milk formation, and come of j the- simple diseases of the. udder. 9. Anthrax. 10. Difficult calving, foaling, and lambing; diseases incident to parturition. 11. Simple diseases of young animals. 12. Some common diseases of sheep; black under (contagions), blood poisoning, extrusion , of vagina, sturdy, biaxy, dietetic diseases, etc. 13 and 14. Parasitic diseases of ho^-aea, cattle, sheep and pigs. 15. Dentition of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, as a. means of ascertaining age. Such. a. simple course of lectures must, I think, be of great benefit to any who are interested in live stock, aad could be supple mented by many more again oa simple ; every-day matter*. These lectures could be illustrated by the diagrams which liave b»en specially prepared for the purpose. Air AVilkic, Government vet., was occupied for four month* (Ocrobs* to February ' last) in drawing- from anatomical preparations for this purpose A very large number of special dissections were carried out, and some hundreds of sketches made. Finally he completed four huge works, each s (in x 40in, and three- oi these have now been lithographed by the Government printer in excellent style. The three completed are 1. The skeleton of the horse (half life size). 2. The foot of the horse (five drawings in colour). 3. The udders of the cow, mare and ewe (four drawings ia colour). Those axe accompanied by an explanatory key describing in simple language the anatOT*iioal parts and their functions, writicai by Mr Wilkie, and are specially illustrated. Wherever a technical term has been obliged to be used, the meaning and Latin or Greek derivation is given, as an aid to memory. The fourth drawing is of a ewe, life size, and: is semi-diagrammatic. It shows a longitudinal section, and exhibits the different parts of Che head, nasal chambers, brain, lrontal sinuses where the sheep bot lives, tongue, gullet, windpipe, important large blood \es=els, muscles and ligaments of neck, etc. The chest shows th« heart and great vesec-Ls of circulation, entrance jf bronchial tube* into the lungs, thoracic duct bringing the frosh nutriment to the Wood, etc. The abdominal cavity shows the kidney, bladder, great blood vessels, liver, and a lamb lying in the uterus, with a diagrammatic representation of the mode of transference of nourishment from the dam to the lamh before birth. This drawing is now about to be reproduced, and will be accompanied by a long, descriptive key. especially illustrated to elucidate further he structure of certain part?. I think with the aid of such lilasirations as these diagrams ■some useful lectures might be given, and it may safely be said that this offer, which was inaugurated by Mr Gilvuth, 16 such a one as has never before be p n made to the farming community in any part of the world. ?\fr Wilfeie has gone to a. good deal of trouble with tho <.li avungts, a- 3 lie r.wo<pnsed the fact that they would tend to fl^sisr, matters. I may that wherever such a co«r=e> of locttire-s a< is proposed is arranged for. the Faimorfr 1 UuifTti or agricultural '•ociely under whosi au'pit-r^. t!i' v v.ii.id b^ given wou'd N* responsible for the provision of a hall, any fri'uh specimens v.kic-. tni^nt be required, at'veTtving, an.' the 'olkc-tion cf fees winch tho department mi-jht impo3C, but vbid.

would be at the disposal afterwards of the j union or society.

In connection with the above movement it ie interesting to note tha> the Farmers' Unions iv Southland havo ai -«d with the High School Board and th^ j-xiucation Board for lectures on veterinary eoienee by Mr A. M. Paterson, M.R.C.V.S., and on Agricultural Science by Mr F. W. Hilgendorf, M.A., B.So. The lectures are to take place at Gore amd Invercargill. I believe thoroughly in the principle of a scale of fees for attendance at these lcotures, and I am quite certain that those in earnest on. the matter will not grudge them. It will be a great advantage to the lecturers to know that their audiences are really in earnest. Nothing is so disheartening to a lecturer as a more oi less apathetic audience, cmd with free lectures this class might be largely copresented, coming from mere ouriosity or the want of eomething else to do. I uu^c that all these lecturco will be largely attended by a body of earnest students, and later on the larger scheme I advocated last week will be easy of attainment when the proper time ifl deemed to havo oome. Indeed, I look upon the present movement as the foundation of a veterin&rj college for New Zealand, which will also be an accomplished fact in days to oome, and po-sibly •« the not diataut future, for New Zealand must always bo well up in the van of pruguts in *\ll matters pertaining to agrioulture.