STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 8

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Bt Dsotcb.

Weekly Stock Sales : Burneide, Wednesdays Ashburton, Tuesdays Addington, Wedneacayi Fortnightly : Balclutba, Fridays Gore, Tuesdays Oftmaru, Tuesdays

Fortovghtly : InvercargT.l, Tuesdays Monthly: Clinton, Palmerston, Winton, and Waikouaiti. Periodically Heriot, Kelso, and Kye bura.

At Burnsido last week 'about 200 head of cattle wee yarded, and! the market remained steady at previous week's rates. Prime heavy bullocks brought nearly £12; prime ordinary, £10 to £10 10s; medium, about £8; light, £6 to £7; cows and heifers from £4 10s to £8 10s. For prime beef, competition is keen enough, but for medium to inferior bidding is slack, and auctioneers have to exercise all their wiles to keep prices up.

About 1600 sheep were yarded. The butchers tried to bring about some redxiction in prices, but did not succeed, and rates were maintained in the meantime, as the yarding was not too large, ancl butchers have no heavy stocks on hand. Prices must, I think, ease down shortly, however. Prime wethers brought 22s to 245 ; medium to good, 18s to 21s ; ewes, abotit the same. Nearly 400 lambs were yarded, good to prime, and brought from 14s 6d up to 17s, the latter for prime quality. A fair demand may be expected for ths nexfe fovv weeks, and unless yardings are excessive, prices should be maintained.

The Addington sheep market last week was- dull. Butchers were soon filled up, and then prices receded 2s to 3s, rates being fully 2s below those ruling; at Burnside. Export buyers took <% few wethers at reduced

rates, but did not touch ewes. Lambs show a reduction of about Is per head on previous rates. The store sheep market was weaker also. Forward) two-tooth wethers brought 17s to 17s 6d ; two-tooth ewes, 15s 6d to 16s. Cattle were in over-supply, and several lots were withdrawn. The store cuttle market was also dull. I do not expect to see much improvement till rates allow of exporting on a fairly large scale to effect a clearance. Shipments' of North Island cattle to Canterbury are increasing, and supplies of store and fat cattle come from Nelson and Marlborough in increasing quantities.

The state of the wool market is extremely satisfactory in regard to price, and the condition of the wool coming into the sales is a decided improvement as to get up, ana also indicates an improvement in breeding upon previous years, among the smaller larmers more particularly. Upon best rates obtained last year the sales this year shovv an improvement of about 3d per lb, ana this means an immense sum of moneymore than the wool sales produced for Hie farmers last year, and the year before. Ihe rise is mainly in coarse wools, but even merino and fine crossbreds, which did not go 1 so low as coarse wools, show an improvement of Id per lb on last year's best prices. The Canterbury Times gives an instance of an Ashburton farmer's clip which iast year was 180 bales, for which he received A/j-^oU. This year, for a smaller quantity — viz., 148 bales— he received £2004. Same paper gives the following comparison of prices obtained for the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company s wool. This wool, it may be ibservod, is probably among the best got up and classed fellmonger wool, that leaves New Zealand, and the lots would bs fairly uniform: — Super combing halfbred sold on May 21 at 112 d, on July 20 at 12|d, on October 1 at 13§d, and on November 30 at 15id. Super halfbred lambs in September, 1902, at l^d ; September, 1903, at 12j|d; December, 1903, at 12d; January, 1904, at 12|d; May, 1904, 13d; July, 1904, 12±d; October, 1904, 14£ d; and November, 1904, at 15£ d. Fine halfbred lambs in September, 1902, at 7£d; September, 1903, at 9£d; December, 1903, at 10d'; Ja'iuai-v, 1904. at 9£d; May, 1904, at llj>d; July, 1904, at'l2d; October, 1904, at Is Id; and November, 1904, at 14|d.

It has come as a surprise to most of us that the Cabinet, after making elaborate inquiries and preparations with .a view to erecting sterilising plants for treating imported bones_at Auckland and Bluff, have decided to abandon the idea. The fullest inquiry had been made, and the necessity of these works was strongly urged upon Parliament by the Minister of Agriculture, and all his staff* it was approved by the Cabinet, and the expenditure was agreed to and sanctioned by Parliament. The experts of the Department had clearly traced the outbreak of anthrax in Auckland and Southland to imported bones; farmers' unions and all interested agreed! that the erection of these works was absolutely necessary for the' safety both of stock and of human life, so that the sudden reversal of the policy adopted is surprising in the extreme. It is about two years ago since the arrangements were initiated; and yet at this late stage we are told that we are not to be protected locally, but are to depend on expert agents — I presume appointed by the shippers in Calcutta — wiho are to give satisfactory assurances that the bones are free from disease germs. I should very much like to know what influenced the Cabinet in this sudden change of policy, and what really are the grounds on which the establishment of the sterilising plants has been negatived. The reasons should have been .absolutely clear and unanswerable, and that can scarcely be said for Sir Joseph Ward's explanation, which is as follows: — "If the bones were subjected to a thorough ' steaming in the digesters or sterilisers, and on arrival in New Zealand were again put through the sterilising process, there could be very little doubt that a very large proportion of the value would be destroyed bjr the second operation. " 'Sir Joseph added that he was satisfied that any trouble which had arisen in the colony had not been caused by the properly-digested article, but by a proportion of raw bones having been put in with the sterilised portions. What the Minister of Agriculture says on the subject I don't know, but I cannot see what satisfactory explanation he can advance, and I certainly not without going against the expressed opinions of his whole staff of cxi perts. If they created a mere silly scare on the subject of anthrax, why does he not say so, and dismiss them for gulling him and Parliament on the subject?. If the experts are right, and if Sir Joseph is right in his opinion that sterilising works would destroy the value of the bones as manure (and why did they not know this before?), the sooner the importation of bones is stopped altogether the better. I don't know if farmers take any interest in the subject, but if they do, and I hope this is the case, steps should be taken to find out exactly the reasons and influences which have caused the reversal of the policy of the Minister of Agriculture and of Parliament in so sudden a manner.

Our own meat industry might supply more bones and manure if it were run on the best lines, which it unfortunately is not in many places. For instance, what a poor show New Zealand makes in tinned and preserved meats. We ought at least to be able to supply our own wants, and I maintain we should further be able to do a very large export trade. I admit that meat has been dear, but not dearei than it is in America and in England, and yet both these countries supply us largely andi in increasing quantities with tinned and preserved l meats. I do not allude to, say, Crosse and Blackwell's goods, which are more or less fancy goods, but to plain goods, which we ought to make as well a?, or better than, the makers of the imported goods. Just take a walk down the streets in any of our towns, and you will find grocers' shops full of American goodis from Armour and Libby M'Neil, Chicago, and others, and from, Peck, M'Oonnochie, and others, of London. These goods are coming in increasing quantities, despite freight and heavy import duties, to this country, where meat is never dearer than where these goods come from, and will probably always be much cheaper. Instead of this state of affairs, New Zealand ought to be exporting largely to counrrics where these competitors do a large trade. We ought to be supplying the British and other navies, now almost wholly supplied by American firms. We could, I am convinced, do a big trade in tinned meats, and cater for markets requiring high quality goods. The tinned meat industry in New Zealand has not been properly attended to hitherto. A little first-class stuff has been

made, but much of what we have done hai. been on second-rate lines. Second-rate won't do ; we must do the business on the very test, up-to-date lines. The fact that a man who cap solder tins is not necessarily art expert meat preserver must be borne in mind, for in the past this fact has oftenbeen ignored, and the results have been such as not to encourage the New Zealand tinned meat business.