STATION. PEAK SALE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 32

STATION. PEAK SALE.

Messrs trumness ana ljeCren (Limited) report holding, in conjunction with the .Loan and Mercantile Agency Company (Limited) und-the Worth. Otago Farmers' Co-operative association a large sale of surplus stock and piant at Station Peak on Thursday ana Iriday last on account of Messrs '&. Campbell and Sons (Limited). Station .f eak has bean subdivided into small sheep runs, and as several blocks nave been sola a large proportion of tne nock trom the station was jor saie, m aaamon to the annual aratts of surplus stock from Messrs B. Campbell and fcions' s\ aitaki propexfcies. A very large crowd collected from all piJt«s oi the laiand, and the yreat number comiug \ip by the special tram neuessitatea the j.2 drags runnmg between

"tiaKataramea Station ana Station .Peak homestead making two trips. The rain on the previous clay prevented larmers harvesting, and practically tne whole of tnose farmers who are anterestea in sheep were present. Good prices ■were anticipated, and when the crowd arrived ihe auctioneers were confident of brisk bid«ling; but the average prices for both sheep ana cattle exceeded all anticipations, and must put ap a new record for a large sale of half"ored sneep, 25,684 ewes, lambs, and wethers, off xussock, realising an average of £1 per head, xhe exact figure oejng 20s 5d each, and under 2500 of the total were 4 and 6-tooth ewes,

xhe ?balance being mostly 8-tooth and over,

/j?he first' lot offered was a line of 100 prime 3'at steers off Station Peak swamp, and these ;weil, upheld the reputation of this block as the best 'cattle-fattening country in New Zealand. They were run up to £8 2s 6d, and purchased in lineTby Mr H. Geaney, who doubtless secured the bargain of the day, as a line of 24 two-and-a-hali-year-old steers, in good condition, realised £7 15s, and another lot of 126, not quite as forward, £7 10s. Sixteen fat ieifers sold at £6 2s 6d; 2f cows, with 16 calves, £5 10s; and 56 one and a-half to two-year-old heifers and steers, £3 lls. A move .yas then made to the sheep pens,- which, in addition to the cattle yards, had been-specially «rected' for the. sale,' and admiration was expressed on all sides at the very complete and convenient way in which all arrangements had

t>een made by the owners,

The first lot of

sheep offered was a line of 1646 2-tooth halfbred ■ ewes from Station Peak, which were keenly competed for, and finally knocked down to •Mr G. H. Vincent, of the Levels, at 23s 9d, at

.which price he took 1000.

The balance were

Etarted at 225, but the buyer, Mr Wait, had to 1 pay 23s lOd for the 500 he required; the balance (145) were taken at 23s Sd by the first

For the second pen of 2-tooth half-

Tjred ewes, 22s 9d was paid by Mr Owen ' M'Eee for 800, the balance going in two lots to Mr H. Watson and Mr P. Harris, at 22s

6d. Lot 3, 963 4-tooth halfbred ewes from Peak, the best price of the day, 27s being paid for 300 by Mr John Small v and the balance were knocked down tc the

bid of Mr Delargy at the same figure.

Xiext pen, containing 499 6-tooth halfbred ewes - from the same station, cost the buyer, the SETon. L. Walker, only 5d less, than the 4-tboths, the price being 26s 7d. Competition was very j keen for Lot 5, a nice line of 8-tooth ewes '

off Otekaike Station, before Mr Humphrey, a

new settler on Station Peak, secured them at -23s sd. A line of 2690 8-tooth halfbred ewes from Station Peak were taken in two Jots, 350 going to Mr N. Kane, at 23s 6d, and the balance to Mr D. Miller. Lot 7 contained 2546 full-mouth halfbred ewes from Station Peak, and realised 19s 9d for 400, and the other cuts were taken by five other buyers, the lowest price being 193 4d. In pen B~were ,the last of the ewes for sale — viz., 1273 fullfnouih halfbred ewes, from Otekaike. Mr E. i fiarjriis secured 300 at 19s Bd, the next lot going to Mr T. Priest at 19s 6d; while the -Balance fell to the bid of Mr Barclay at the came money. A pen of 6 and 8-tooth halfbred wethers, from the same station, was then offered, and sold to Mr Muirhead at 9s 9d. jft.fter an interval for lunch, provided in a j Jarge marquee on the ground, a start was made I

in the cattle yards with ..the unbroken horses,

- all of which had been broken, to lead. Com- - petition was not very keen, 'and prices were us follow : — Draughts : Three-year-old bay )Blly, £42; two-year-old geldings, £33, £25 10s, fend £21; two-year-old fillies, £15 and £27; fearling fillies, £27, £19, and £12; yearling jelding, £27 103. Brood mares : Nine-year-old ', Jnare, by British Monarch, £61; others, £25 I knd £33; the light mares fetching from £10 ;o £16. On Friday a start was made with ! ;he sheep, of which there " were 12,520 for ' *ale, without including the rams, and for these Che average price obtained was 14s lOd, all practically halfbred wether lambs, except 3196 ..2-tooth halfbred wethers,^ which were in the first, pen. These sheep were well grown, and fexcited keen competition, 18s Id being paid by !Mr Teschernaker for the first run out of 1300; the balance going to Mr Gellatly at 17s 9d. iMuch speculation had been going on as to the ; value of the lambs, but as soon as the first lot of halfbred wether lambs from Otekaike tad been knocked down to Mr W. H. Munro,

•who took 500 at 14s 7d, 14s 4d -was paid by , ■Mi Cooney for the next 1000, after which Mr ' i&funro secured a further 500 at 14s Id; the balance (593) realising Id more at the bid of Wx Henstridge. Lot 3 was the only line at the sale secured by a dealer, who purchased a pen of 2147 lambs off Station Peak at 13s Bd, muck to the regret of several graziers, who '.had expected to buy later "runs off" at reduced money. Mr W« H. Munro purchased 500 from the next pcn — 2458 wether lambs, also off Station Peak— at 13s 3d, the balance (1959) being taken by Mr Roberts, who now owns J. block on tLe estate. There was <vVy on<?

pen of three-quarfcerbred lambs in the sale, and these, numbering 486, came from Buscot Station. They were a fine line, and several owners of rape and turnip crops were keen to take them home; but Mr E. Richards became owner at his bid of 17s Id. Two pens of cull lambs, from Otekaike and Station Peak, realised the highest price of the sale, considering their condition, but apparently the description, "mixed sexes," made them very valuable in buyers' estimation, for 14s 3d was obtained for 592 off Otekaike, and 13s 5d for 630 off Station Peak. Three hundred and five cull merino ewes off Buscot were sold in two lots to local men at lls 2d. There wr.s little competition for ranis at auction, but several were sold privately afterwards. The sale of sundries was next proceeded with, and as the quality was in most lines not very good, prices were only moderate. After lunch the horses were sold in tlie cattle yards, as on the first day, but there were not many horse buyers present, and dealers secured several lots at prices which should allow them a fair turnover, although competition was very keen among the'- local farmers, etc., for a few weU-known hacks. Prices were as foll ows: — Draughts, £34 10s to £20; hacks, from £1 to £17 10s each.