STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2804, 11 December 1907, Page 7

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Bt Dbotxs.

Weekly Stick Salti ; Burmtide, Wednesday* .Atkfourtaa, Tuesdayi A4dißgtttn,Wednei<iaya Fortnightly : Balclutha, Fridays Gore, Tuesdaya f aaaaru, Tuesday*

Fortnightly : lavercargi:], Tuesday* ' Jtonthly: Clinton, Bahneraton, Winton, and Wai* kouaiti. J'tvitdictdly: Heriot, Kelso and £yt burn.

At Aldington laf>t week the export lamb n-arket was brisk, and 14s to 16s 9d was paid for the usual freezing weight*. Exrorterq did not operate in sheep at all, although there_ was a large yarding. At Burnside the "yardings were small, and prices for sheep very good, butchers only, operating. Only a few lambs were yarded. Not much will be done by export buyers till after the New Year, and if large yardings come to hand now prices will go down considerably. There is a good demand for store sheep in Canterbury -

This year we ought to be able to increase the export of frozen mutton, from Otago and Southland. As feed is plentiful and weather much better than in the average of years we should be able to finish off and freeze our lambs without sending the bulk to Canterbury, as in years past, and I don't think, provided the quality is right, the mere name "Canterbury" now weighs with buyers as it used to.

Tlie Pastoralists' Review of November 15 thus deals with the position of and prospects for the Australian meat trade, and* docs not fail. 83 will be seen, .to warn? shippers of inferior meat: of the evil they t do: —

The position ftnct prospects in the Australian frozen lamb trade h-ave shown but little, improvement during th» lust month." Som» nice falls of rain h«,ve "been oxrHiienced lately over most of the country lunch, supplies the freezers, but the change cemet . too late to do much good. Over large ft*e»s " of New South Wale«, and, to a lesser extent, of Northern Victoria, green feed i» scarce, consequently <most of the It-nibs drawn from t'hie district are, to say the . leant, in poor condition. Another adverse factor this season has been Ike shortage ol rolling stock on the Government railways. To relieve pastures tremendous quantities of stock have recently had to be moved to the markets or agistment elsewhere, and those exporters who buy lambs on the farms have often uot been able to get the purchases delivered until they had further de-

ttrioratso*. All this meant) that a very considerable proportion of the meat snipped has been of second or even lower grades, and there is sure to be trouble in London when it arrives. From all acounts it would probably trave been better if a lot of carcases had never been sent Home at all, for it can hardly do the trade m general good to have such poor meat labelled Australian on the market. In Western and Southern Viotoria and South Australia, however, a more satisfactory (State of affairs exists. There they have 'had a. good season, «nd the lambs exported are quite up to the average in point of quality. The marketings of sheep and lambs in both Sydney and Melbourne have been very heavy all 'through the past month, consequently rates have shown a sharp drop, but exporters have been unable to _ profit by the low prices to any extent, owing to lack of cool storage space. The dry spell will have the effect of closing the export •eason much earlier than usual this year. In fact, as far as actual slaughtering is concerned, it is already nearly over in New South Wales, sJhd early in December will probably see the close in Victoria. * Of course, after then there will still be some heavy shipments made ex store lasting right up to the end of the year or Inter.

During October Australia shipped a large quantity of lamb (250,000) and 55,000 carcasee of mutton. During the first two week* in November another 150,000 carcases of lamb were shipped.

South- America in October sent 250,000 carcases mutton, 4000 lambs, and 140,000 quarters chilled and frozen beef to England. Cable reports say. that Argentine meat is t>eing pushed in the" British markets, that arrivals are heavy, and prospects are that heavy shipment* will continue. This season New Zealand ought to Lave the lamb marJcet nearly to herself, as Australian shipments'will not continue, long, and probably will not compete, as quality is generally below their average. .

The reversal of awards given at the Ghrktchurch show and at our Dunedin show Has caused some discussion. If these shows are to be of educational value and show us the proper tvp©» of sheep, cattle, pigs, and boras of the various breeds that we are to strive to produce, it seems to me that the suggestion as to standardising the judging is well worth consideration. I aprae, however, with a correspondent in the Otago Daily Times, writing under the name "Corriedale," in regard to the Oprriedale sheep. The sh*ep that won at- Chrisfchurch •was a most desirable type of sheep— a magnificent'carcase — and ids wool was 1 like combing merino. It was discarded in favour of a sheep also with a fine carcase, but with wool more of the long-wool type. The question is — Which type is the Corriedale breeder to aim at? If Corriedales could bo bred like the first sheep named it would be a good thing. The writer I have quoted, concludes his letter thus, and I Agree with ~ him : — The Corriedale sheep appears i« follows In the Otago schedule:— " Section 10: Inbred balfbred, to be the progeny of halfbred rams $»m halfbred ewes, sod the results of not ieee -than five crosses of inbreeding, and ■bowing a decided fixed . type of halfbred ■Seep. The ..whole of the above, excerpt places the judge in en .awkward!: position, ■id most notably so the last nine words.. It is to be- assumed that the judge considered, ana correctly so, that halfbred wool •nm^ best. repiwseHtecl by the- animal to wkioH h* gave the championship. The beautiful lfeece of the second ram covering a noble body was of a finer texture, one more clearly akin to that of the strong combing merino. It is ridiculous that the establishment of the- Corriedale in its handsomest and most valuable form should be retarded because it floes not look like something else. Let U3 get as far as we can from the merino type tof frame and temperament, and be thankful for as much of the type of merino wool as we can retain consistently. The first step !to be taken is the prompt elimination from tfv<iry catalogue of the words " and showing • decided fixet? type of halfbred sh*ey»."

The judge, of course, was bound to be guided by the conditions laid down. This ahows that we want a decision as to what W the correct type of a Corriedale, and, indeed, of other breeds, and this is a .matter for the consideration of delegates from the A. and P. Societies when they text meet. I think great good would be one if the four leading shows— Duned in, Chmtchurch, Palmerston North, and Auck-' land— were in turn to hold shows like the Highland Agricultural Show, the four A. and P. Societies helping to manage and organise it. Thes* shows would become >h« great authoritative shows in deciding the proper etandards and types- They should lest a week at least, and would be ireafc agricultural exhibitions. I believe they could be made to pay. The societies could, of course, hold their own shows in \h» V;earß in which the combined show was *t the other centres.

"Latas? cables report that the market fft dairy produce is dull. I take it that 'tais U .owinaf .largely to the absence of the 'AJial speculation at this time of the year, due to the stringency of the money market at present and the high bank rate, and to the increase in- margarine manufacture. According to the latest available statistics the outlook seems to point to at least a Bteadv and good market, for. as can be seen, the imports of butter and cheese into Great Britain from .Tanuary 1 to October 19 finow a considerable decrease compared with +&B corresponding period lasi year. The total imports into Great Britain from January 1 to the week ending October 19 ytete as follows: — —Butter.— 1906 . . 3 596.661cirt 1907 .. 3.532,581cwt Decrease- 1907 .. 64,080cwt — Cheese. — 1906 .. 1,231,296cwt 1907 .. 1,095,761cvrt Dscreass 1907 ■„ 135,535c-*t The increase from New Zealand in e^=ese this year is very great, but it will need to be 6776 tone to balance this leese'.vng 6f imports fo Ureat Britain, and it u » **Tdly likely fc> won that. On October 25 butter was dear** by 4s per-owt in London tha"h date last year Ottjr Jinn ol»eeee was at the same price aa last war WT63S ~ I attribute any easing in SIVi» ol cheese to the nervowness of •*mo speeulatore, influenced by the stete aithe money market. »nd quite unw«Snt<3 m all probability, for the statisS? petition k .trong. c*> n a Mowing for » ooosiderahle increase in the British make. I am hopeful of cheese maintaining a fair rrloe, thoujrh probably not so high as last JeasOTJ. With regard to butter I *m not so kopeful, for the late high prices have

| stimulated the manufacture of margarine ■ and other substitutes. Both New Zealand and Australian factories make a mistake in catering for the margarine manufacturer with saltless butter, all, or nearly all, of which goes to the margarine maker. The higher prices obtained for this saltless ' r butter does not by any means compensate ' for the harm done by feeding the margarine trade and helping it along.

Messrs Weddel and 1 Oo.'s report re butter under date October 25 says: — Tie demand for Australian and New Zealand butter continues very good, especially for** new season's Australian, which, when " choicest," makes 120s to 122s per cwt, while cold stored New Zealand brings 110s to 116s, fresh arrivals 116s, to 120s. The arrivals during the week consist of 3128 boxes in the Orm-uz from Australia • and 8300 in the Athenic from New Zealand. Shipments thiis week from Australia comprise 12,500 boxes in the Orotavs and 11,000 in the Surrey. . Foreign arrivals ar© weekly decreasing, and last week were only 60,700cwt. This shortage ia causing a rapid and most abnormal rise, and the Copenhagen Official Quotation has advanced 5 kroner, making it 111 kroner, a price which has not been, so ■high at this time of the year since 1895, when it stood at 118 for two weeks, and then fell to 106, and the next week to 96. The present rise is too rapid and the price too high to be maintained. The retail prices must now be increased to such an extent as to force large numbers of consumers on to margarine. French and all other foreign butters have advanced in proportion. On Friday last the Mamari sailed from the colony, with 41,197 boxes butter and 14.099^ crates cheese. The corresponding steamer last year took 47,245 boxes of I utter and 7911 crates cheese. A decrease in butter of some 5000 boxes is more than compensated by an increase of 6188 crates cheese. Otago and Southland are incroae infj the output of cheese this year ve^y much. And this increase is largely due to a favourable season, although it is helped a little* by the new Taieri factories and some- of. the new factories in the western dktiict of Southland. These made a beginning last year, and though still small are increasing their ouput, and will continue to do so, for they are situated in districts suitable for dairying. This week the shipments from Otago and Southland by the Tqngariro and Cornwall at Bluff and Dunedin will total close on 5000 crates, as against 3000 in the corresponding week last year. I shall not be surprised to 'see the. output of cheese from Otago and Southland double that of last year, or go "verr near it. The Taieri and Peninsula Milk Supply Co. are now putting out a fair quantity of butter, and I don't think their output will show any reduction. In the North Island the cheese increase is immense, but it is largely at the expense of the butter output which I reprrot will be considerably less than last season.