STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2757, 16 January 1907, Page 7

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Bt Dkoykk. Weekly Stick Sales : Fortivghtl,/ • Burniide, Wednesdays Invercirei'l, Tuesdays Ashburton, Tuesdayt Monthly: Addinetoß,W e dpe«d»yi ainto p a i mergtO B, Ftrtnightljf : • • Wintop, and WaiBalclutha, Fridays kouaiti. j , Uore, Tuesdays • Ptrit&vmUy: : Oamaru, Tuesdays | Heriot, Kelso aud Kye j I bUTft. { The continued dry weather is having a very depressing effect on all tho stock markets, but if rain should come *oon I think this condition of things would ' alter, for as yet we are not come to a state- of matters that is hopeless by any means, The freezing works in Canterbury are working as hard as they can to I get shipments away and cope with the supplies now rushing on them, more particularly of lambs. Labour for butchering is short, owing to many men being still jn Australia, where the supply of butchers is not equal to requirements. AH farmers are keen to get all fit sheep and Jambs \ away as soon as possible. There will be | no holding back for heavier weights like ' last year. All shipping freicht aiailable has been fully booked for two or three months ahead. Burnside works open this week, and this should assist fo prevent prices going loner at Burnside than 'last week. Latent cables from Home report the frozen meat market dull, both for mutton and lambs. Writing under date 30th November Messrs Weddel and Co. says. — "Arrivals of all classes of frozen meat show a marked shrinkage, as compared with November arrivals in 1905 ; but the market has lost all the buoyancy which characterised the previous fortnight. Cheap chilled beef offers retailers greater inducement than either frozen beef or mutton at the present time. A limited trade it, passing in lamb at full price*." This lack of buoyancy has continued, whilst Mipphes of Australian lamb& aie arming in large shipments weekly. I notice that Sir G. Clifford, in his able speech at the meeting of the Cantcbury Frozen Meat, Company, said: — Outside Xew Zealand I am unable to detect acUer6e signs." He deprecated the timorous cry about strong competition : talked in fact rather com-rnptuou«ly of those who were not "ci optimistic as he it. Now. I see nothing likely to do any permanent damage to the New Zealand frozen meat tiade r we only take (are to send Home prinio meat and maintain our pood name, but "outeit'e Xew Zealand"' I <Jo see tome ♦hms^s fliat lead me to beh<'\e we shall not ha-^e things all our own way. for we shall have competition which shall command our r-osp^ct. A few years ago Australia, had no frozen lamb trade and very little frozen mutton trade. This year Australia will export both in very large numbers, and in a few years of fair weather her meat trade will be the largest of all British colonies. Even tbifl yeaT New Zealand is, I think, going to feel the competition in the lamb trade and our own earlier shipments of lamb will arrive when Australian shipments arc heavy. Ido not think, therefore, that the prices paid in the past for lamb and mutton in New Zealand will be maintained in the future; but with wool 1 at a good price I see no cause to fiuppose that farmers will have anything but a good time, although prices of frozen meat are ' not so high a* in the past. In buying store 6heep, howe\er. they should. I think. reckon that prieos of fat are to be lower than in the pa-st. Of course until we see the end of this dry spell the n-arket will be erratic and ■ dull. A good number of lambs will, I understand, be treated in the Southland works, and if Burnaide is well patronised

shipment* from Otago and Southland may be larger than in the past season and less sheep go through Dunedin railway station, to Canterbury. It is quite on the cards they may come from Canterbury to Southland through our station. I 1 a\e received the -annual report of the Canadian Dairy Commissioner, Mr J. A. Ruddiek. for a time dairy commissioner in New Zealand. There is very much in this book ofsonic 150 page* that will be of interest to. Xew Zealand dairymen, and I shall commence by making a few extracts this weeJc and give some more ori following weeks. First of all, comparing Xew Zealand with Canada in the matter of cheese export, 'or the year ending 31st March, 1906, the figures are: — Canada. 1,842.762ewt ; New Zealand, 94,031cwt. The total importation of cheese into Great Britain is 2,441,929cwt, so that Canada supplies fully three-fourths of the total. New Zealand's proportion this season will be nearly double that of last. The other countries wh<j supply chee«e to Great Britain are: — Holland, 221.340cwt ; United States. 163,501cwt ; France. 44.387c\vt ; other countries, 75,906c\\t. I fully expect Xew Zealand's cheese export this season to equal that of the United States and that in a year or two we shall be second only to Canada in quantity, but second to none in quality, I hope. In butter the exports are as follows, and here Canada only plays a minor part: — Australia. 489,439cwt ; New Zealand, 283.764cwt: Canada, 295,233cwt. Thus nearly one-fourth of the total import comes from these three British rolonics. That little country. Denmark, supplies 1,633. 576c\\ t ; Russia send* 484.023cwt; France sends 346,000cwt ; Holland. Sweden, and the United States contribute about, 150.000cwt each. The total butter imported into England for the year ending 31st March, 1907, was 4,247,917cwt. Australia and New Zealand will show a large increase this season, and the other countries except Denmark and Russia, have? giadually decreased during past years. This report epcaks of a probable open-

Ing in Germany for butter and cheese, and says that Germany is now Importing a considerable quantity of butter, whilst at one time ehe exported largely to England.

Mr Ruddiok deals with Home separation thus: — The introduction of Ibe n«n3 power cream •eparator into some districts *nd the substitution of that system of creamery buttermaking for the central separator system in others have been viewed with alarm by many who have the best interests of the creamery industry at heart. It ia claimed, and not without reason, that the quality of the butter manufactured under the hand separator or gathered cream system has, generally speaking, been inferior in quality to that which is made at whole-milk creameries. It has been particularly noticed that where the central separator system has beea abandoned for the other, the flavour of the butter has almost invariably shown more or less deteriora- ( tion. It is quite natural that this movement, j producing, as it has, results so menacing to the butter industry, should be opposed and condemned in some quarters. The exporters have been unanimous in denouncing the system, and have complained bitterly of the inferiority of some of the gathered cream , butter. I He then points out that home separation would not be such a failure if proper methods were adopted by farmers to cool and send their cream promptly to the butter maker. He says the method is wtong, and that it could be carried on better, but evidently he is no believer in borne separation and knows its weak points; knows also that its introduction is mainly in the interests of the seller of separators, and not by any means with a view of benefiting farmers or the dairy industry. He concludes thus; — Unfortunately thiß hand separator creamery business was started on wrong lines, and the ■eparator agenta are largely to olame for it. The separator manufacturer finds more money in selling a number of email machines than lie does m selling one large one, and therefore bends his energies in that direction, -which means hand separator creameries, j Plausible agents have been employed to push ithe sale of separators, and even to organise In order to promote business. the agents have represented that cream need not be delivered more than once or twice a week, that once a day is often enoxtgh to •wash the separator, etc. As has been said, rthese men are plausible, — they are selected lor the work on that account; they get close to the milk producer, and they have exerted considerable influence, to the ' detriment of the creamery industry, which it will take some (time to overcome. If the milk producers in some districts, for various economic reasons, consider the hand separator system the better suited to their circumstances, they must make up their minds to do one of two things — either to adopt* more rational methods in (he delivery of their cream to the creameries, or else be prepared to accept a lower price for their butter than they would otherwise ««t. I have often in this column advocated the making of ensilage in Otago and Southland, but I know most farmers look upon this as a mere fad of mine. I know some farmers, however, who always did believe in ensilage, and made it of their waste grass, thistles, etc., and it js now going to come in very useful.