STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES,

Otago Witness, Issue 2630, 10 August 1904, Page 7

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES,

By Droves.

Weekly Stock Sales : Fortn'ghtly : Burnside, Wednesdays luvercirgil, Tuesdays Ashburtori, Tuesdays Vavthlv Addington, Wednesdays rr . J/o '-" l f • Clinton, Palmer«top, Fortnightly: Winton, and WaiBalclutba, Fridays • kouaiti. Gore, Tuesdays Periodically Oarnaru, Tuesdays Heriot, Kelso, and Kyebura. About 170 head of cattle were yarded ! last weak, and prices remained firm at previous week's quotations. Best bullocks brought £10 to £11 10s; good, £9 to £9 10*; light to medium, £6 to £8; some good cows and heifers sold at £7 fro £8 10s; light to medium, £5 to £6. Under date June 24 Messrs Weddel and Co. report re the boot market in London as follows: — Beef. — Receipts have been fairly heavy, consisting of 4185 quarters from New Zealand and 18,733 quarters from the River Plate. The beef market has undergone no tangible improvement. Argentine chilled beef has been plentiful, and selling competition has brought prices of that description to a level which makes frozen beef difficult of sale. Notwithstanding this, values are maintained, and the market is steady for hinds, though weak for fores. New Zealand beef is sold at 3d per Ib for sides, fores being worth 2£d and 2gd per Ib, and hinds 3gd, but for hinds, without fores, up to 31d per lb can be obtained. Present marketings of Australian beef are indifferent in quality and condition. Fores cannot be quoted at more than 2d and 2|d per lb, and hinds at about 3d and 3Jd per lb. River Plate fiozen beef has sold badly owing to the competition of River Plate chilled 15eef, fores realising no more than 2Jd and 2§d uer lb and hinds about 3^d and 3id per lb. Later cable reports indicate a slight ima vement. Supplies must shortly increase

now from Australia, and although if, uiaj' be some time before their quality comes up to their average standard, quantity always tells, and cheap inferior meat ha= a tendency to lower tho market, especially if in heavy supply. About 1700 sheep were yarded at Bui inside last week, and prices show a decline. The export buyers are done for the season, and within a week or two the works, both at Burnside and Oamaru, will close down for this season, and probably open in November, or later. The Canterbury freezing 1 companies, owing, I suppose, to keen rivalry, still keep open, but cannot, I think, be doing anything like piofitable business at present. Probably the market will remain steady ior a time, as supplies of sheep arc not likely to be heavy, but if we have anything- of a large yarding m any one week we may expect to see prices down by two or three shilling's per head. Best wethers brought 21s to 245; good, 19s to 20s; medium, 17s to 18s; best ewes, 20a to 245 ; medium to good, 18s to 19s. About 400 lambs and tegs sold at from 14s 6d to ]8s 6d. '» The following Is from Weddel's report under date June 24: — MUTTON. I New Zealand.— Arrivals are again fairly fairly heavy, totalling 142,229 carcases. Dulness characterises the mutton market at present, medium and heavy-weight sheep of all classes being difficult to sell, though dear lambs have cieated some little inquiry for small sheep of choice quality. Supplies are a good deal in excess of the "current requirements of the trade, and values are consequently the turn easier all round. Canterbury sheep are less plentiful than other descriptions, but the quality of many of them is below the usual standard, which fact adversely affects their sale. Small, prime carcases realise 4^d to, occasionally, 4£d per 1b; medium weights sell at 4id to 4gd ; while for heavies no more than 4Jd can be obtained. .Present marketings of Dunedin and Southland sheep are of satisfactory quality. Smali sheep may be quoted at 4jd; and others at 4 l-16d and 4§d per Ib. I "WME" and Longbum sheep range in price from 4^d for selected carcases of small weight, down to 4d per lb for heavies. Other North Island brands sell at 3|d and 4£d, according to i weight. Ewes sell moderately well at about ' 3£d and 3|d per lb. , Australian. — There are no Australian sheep on tha market. . , River Plate. — Arrivals during the fortnight amount to 79,591 carcases. The retail demand is =till xeiy slow, the present rate of sale both in London and the provinces being somewhat below the average for this time of the , year. Nevertheless., values of light carcases have been maintained at 3]d and 4d for best brands, though heavies are weaker at 3£d per lb. LAMBS. Arrivals comprise 107,1.3 carcases from New Zealand and 3064 carcase* from the River Plate. With three or four steamers arriving from New Zealand in as many days, bringing full quantities of la?nbs on board, supplies at the moment are fairly heavy. These receipts, however, are not more than the trade can absorb, a good ■proportion of the lambs going into consumption straight from ship's side ; while no further arrival of lambs is due until the middle of July. Indeed, taken as a whole, the trade is distinctly good, even although sales in some of the provincial districts are checked by the prices demanded. Continental lambs are now being marketed in larger quantities, but they are realising good prices, and have not checked the sale of colonial lambs. A feature of the present position of the market rs that almost as much money can bf> obtained for ordinary New Zea'and lambs as for Canterbury's, the difference between the two in the case of ex ship or ex store sales beinsr not more than Jd per lb. This is the result partly of Canterburys being more plentiful than other qualities, and is also owing to their smaller average weight, making ordinary New Zealand lambs more attractive than Canterburys to provincial buyers. The quality of all classes of New Zealand lambs is well maintained, and is giving general satisfaction. Canteibury lambs under 361b occasionally make 5 13-16 d, but the general quotation for carcases under 421b is not more than sfd. Tegs sell at about old per lb. Small Dunedin and Southland lambs are selling; at sgd per lb : and the present quotation for North Island lambs is 5%A and 51d per lb. The small lots of River Plate lambs now being marketed realise s|d per lb. i ■""" I would point out that recent reports, as w&ll as the one above, all go to show that Otago and Southland shipments have this season gneu satisfaction, and showed lmprovprncnt, and that prices have been very nearly equal to Canterbury best, and hotter than the bulk of the Canterbury shipments Now, as about three-fourths of the sheep and lambs from Otaigo- and South-land go to tho Canterbury freezing works by rail, I am always asking why this should continue, to be the' case. Th.is season. I have little doubt the rivalry between the two Canterbury freezing woiks Ins largely helped to deplete Otago of her stock, and no doubt our farmers have benefited greatly by the good prices obtained as a- consequence. They are better off, I take it, than the buyers, but this sort of thing cannot last, and the sooner we get into j more economical and sound ways of business the better. This railing of sheep long distances in trucks is not good for the sheep in the first place, and whoever pays it the railage is a loss to someone, which ultimately will com© home to the farmer, whether it does at present or not. Why should we send sheep to other freezing works put our own? and more especially as it can be seeu that the "Prim© Canlcr-

v bury name is no) going to delude people for ever, and that it is lecognised at Home that Otago and Southland can send just a.* good meat as Canterbury. Ajkl this will be further bhovvn if we continue to maintain our acknowledged good standards and biands for shipment. Why should w-e not freeze and ship our own mutton and v lamb — why must the bigger portion go to Canterbury? Can anyonr- give me a reaMy, sound reason? Aie rar works no quod? — because, if so. we should put them in ordit.^ It is an old subject. I <know, to write on. but I have never yet got to the v bottom of it, and will be glad if some of my readers wiir* assist me to solve the mystery by expressing their views in this column. One thing, I know, farmers in Otago and South' land must do if we are to get "fat shr-ep and; lambs in quality early and late— that is, grow suitable feed, as all Canterbury farmers who buy our sheep and lambs do. I am quite aware that in Canterbury spiing; is earlier, and that they have considerable advantages, hut neither Otagc nor Southland is such a howling wilderness that anyone con convince me we cannot do bettetf than we are doing in thi--- respect.

At Addington last week the yarding*-, owing to the snowstorm, were small, but prices were down, and hardly on a par with Burnside rates. A very small 3'arding of store sheep sold well, especially breed. j ing ewes and forward wethers and hoggets •• 101 ewes of mixed ages brought 25s 3d » agrd and sound-mouthed, 15s to 16s bd \ wether*, from 17s 6d to 19s; hoggets. 15t 6d to 16s. These pnees for breeding ewetestify to tha general shortness of breeding* stock, but cannot be taken as an indication of prices of sheep in the future.

-"Meredith M'Causland a:ul Thomas Vlo kery have been convicted of cattle-stealing at Christchurch. V.ckery got altogether IS months' mpr:sonml9-nt. and M'Causland» who was more or less a tool in the other man's hands, got six months. It is Fatisfactory that there was a conviction. Con» victions by town juries for sheep or oalUestealing are very rare. Many town jurymen fail to comprehend the heinousness o< this offence or fail fj appreciate the faofc that it is deserving of the heavy penalties th& law prescribes. Further, they cannot in the least understand how "one animal can ever bo distinguished from another. AH these cases ought tc be tried by a jury of farmers. The shcep-stealer generally, I re.g>-et to say, is a farmer, or says he is, and it would be quite right that ho phould ba tried before a in'ry of farmers, as I believe the principle of our jury system is that a man should be tried by a jury of his peers.

The deputation I mentioned in my notes last week met the Premier, and asked him, to reconsider the discontinuance of the Government payment towards the cost oE freezing the butter for shipment at tho grading stores. He was not by any mean* as gracious to the deputation as he would undoubtedly have been if approached by a bootmakers' union asking for further protection. He accused them of croaking because prices were down, and told them that tho industry was a very profitable one, and that capitalists were making 20 per cent, out of theii investment on lands leased to dairy farmers on half shares. There is very little of the capitalist element connected with the da,!ry industry, so far as I know. Mr Seddon, howevr, often talks most on subjects he knows least about, and this is a case in point. He "blew" about the large sums spent on the dairy industry. £122,000 in ten years, including in this inspection of town dairies, cold storage, Dairy Commissioner's Department, etc. This is only about as much as Canada spends in one year, to say nothing of the immense sums spent by Russia in developing the dai>-y industry in S'beiia. Victoria spent £103,000 in 18 months on bonuses alone. Considering tho immense importance of the dairy industry to New Zealand, the amount spent is very small indeed. What would Ed'endale and other lands for settlement purchased by Government be worth should the dairy industry not continue to flourish? I maintain that more money should be spent on the dairy industry, and that economies should be practised in some other departments. Mr Seddon was pleased to say that the Government would give half the amount paid last 3'ear, which I take tc mean that Government ■will pay one-femrth the cost of freezing, and dairy factories* three- fourths. In 1899 an Order-in-Counei! was issued in connection with the Dairy Industry Act, which stated that Government would pay all cost of freezing. This Ordor-in-Council has never been rescinded, and therefore the reductions already made ara illegal, and it looks to me as if Government coiild bo sued hy factories for aU they have paid on account of freezing during the past few years. It is true that the department gave notice that they were only

' to pay a certain portion from time -Jo time. But this Order-in-Councii bound the Government to pay the whole charge, and it has never been rescinded, nor have fche other -regulations published in the same Order-in-Councii. They 'are th© laws ■under which we continue to work, and this payment was part and pai-oel of them, as anay be seen from a perusal of the Order-an-Oouncil published in the Gazette of September 21, 1899. Every Government is subsidising and helping the dairy industry an many ways, andl our.. Government must follow suit. As large landlords our Government has actually more ~ call to" do co than other countries where all land is in private hands. The following gives an -idea what Holland is doing: —

BUTTER INDUSTRY IN HOLLAND.

An official circular "on th© production of butter and the butter -control in the Netherlands" is the first of a series of publications by the Dutch Agricultural Department, the low prices of grain having driven the farmers to the laying out of pactures. A table showing the present importance of cattle-breeding shows that in the Netherlands there are 2,147,521 acres under crops, 2,931,502 acres under permanent pasture, 967,492 milch cows out of 1,646,856 cattle, and 32i head of cattle per 1000 acres under crops and grass. The first butter and cheese factory was established at Leydefi in 1879. From that time the number of factories, especially co-operative, las largely increased. In 1895 there were 80 steam 'and. 136 hand-power factories, all cooperative; in 1903 the numbers were respectively 247 and 458.' The non-co-operative factories do not show a like extension, for while the steam factories were 148 in 1895 and the Land-power factories 119, the respective numbers were, in 1903, 177 and 52. It is stated that "the results obtained from a technical point of view are of no real value urless the pixre article can be protected against the depreciation by which it is threatened in •consequence of all kinds of adulteration, foremost amongst which are those with water and margarine." Bxvtter acts have been passed,

Tint "they Lave not succeeded any_ lnore than the margarine acts in other countries in putting a stop to the adulteration of butter." This fact has given rise to the establishment of institutions called butter control stations by agricultural or dairy associations, with chern?sts as directors, and analysts and inspectors. The Government has been considering the advisability of giving official recognition and financial help. Guarantee marks are supplied, and persons using these improperly are prosecuted, while purchasers and other persons interested can obtain information at the control stations.