STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 8

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

BT DXOTKK.

i , Weeklp Stick Sales : Fortnightly/ JjurmaMe, Wednesdayi I :vercargiU, Tuesdays .Askburton, Tuesdays Monthly: Ad*iaet«»,Wedne«<*ay» KXMmkt Paimetstoi, Fwtnightly: Wintop', and WaiBalclutha, Fridays ko ™ i ?:. „ Gore, Tuesday. Pentdtcally: •amaru, Tuesdays Heriot, Kelsc and itye bura.

The markets for fat stock at Addington &nd Burnside during the past two weeks have been without' much interest beyond %he fact that 'at last week's market at Addington there was a "fall in the price of lambs There is not more than was to be expected, for the 'prices prevailing ■were only given 'for a comparatively small supply- • There is a fall on the London market, due doubtless to the heavy arrivals Of -Australian -lamb. -Up to the present about one * : million carcases of Australian lamb, must -Jiave been landed , in i London or be close at ■■ hand. About another month -will,- see the «lose -of the 'Australian lamb shipments, as "their season, is "a' 'comparatively short one. As yet they don't . seem in .Australia to have gone in for growing feed," to finish, or to 'hold lambs; and shipments are rushed in in about two months. Complaints are consequently made of blocks *t the freezing- works, and yet it seems it •would not pay -to erect more freezing- works, As the.- season^ is* -such, a short -one that -.the ■ existing wotTta -are practically idle for six - months or more. Probably until the Australian London shipments are worked .off the market will remain easy, and £hat our lamb season is later this year may yet prove an .advantage. .Farmers must bear in iKind, however, thut tEe- fall in the price of wool _ must . have a considerable effect in reducing 1 ■ values both of" lamb and mutton, and it will he well if all realise that prices iv the past have been ..abnormally nigh — a thing to b© thankfuWor, but hot to be calculated on .in the 'future. %

_" The November shipments of frozen meat from. Australia, New Zealand, and South America to Great Britain are as follows: Australia,, 76,000 .carcases mutton and 462,000 carcases lamb; New Zealand, 78,000 carcases mutton,' 4500 .carcases lamb, 3000 qua-rters .beef; South America, 275,000 carcases mutton, 1000 carcases lamb, 170,000 quarters beef. Both South American and Australian, shipments' are considerably above the average for the month. The Pastoralists' Review deals with the position and prospects of the meat trade in Australia, but probably the good. rains that have *• fallen -since the article was -written may increase the shipments and prolong tha shipping season, Tor feed will Be abundant, as when, good rains are general in Australia supplies come from many unexpected quarters, as they can - fatten stock winter or - summer The Review says : x

- summer The 'JRevaew says : x The worst part'- of the xusb of ■ the Australiaiu'laftnb season is now over. As far as actual slaughtering -is concerned, it is pretty Tjell finished in both South Australia and; 2s»w._ South -Wales, while in Victoria^ alone , some* 5000 to 7500 are npw being put through each -week. -Most of these are being purchased by export firms at .the Melbourne saleyards, and generally come in small lots from ''the western end southern districts, and, needless to say, prime quality amongst them ia getting very scarce. Towards the middle * of January, when, this source of supply -gives out, there should be ■■ some moderate lines of heavier, lambs coming in from Gippsla-nd, ■which ought to keep the metropolitan .works' going right through February. The Victorian country works have to all intents and; purposes finished their _ season. From the meagre ' information which can be gleaned, there is apparently a fair, quantity of lambs etill in- store" in.'all- three States awaiting) shipment. - Certainly there ia a good dear in Victoria,- both at the town and country •works,' although, how much we would not venture to-aay, while there is sure to be a certain quantity left in the various Sydney and -Adelaide stores. So much meat haa teen shipped to England during the past six weeks that many who havr cool storage space to-spswe are holding ~ theirs back, so as not 4o glut the market more ttwSi can be helped. At present it looks as though tlie total lamb exports to Great Britain for the current sea.fion would about equal last year's — viz., l,250";000 carcases, and as, roughly, 650,000 luave already been shipped, there are still' another 400,000 to go within the next four months 1 or so. The weekly cables of the London Frozen Meat Trades' Association show that Australian lamb is selling at from 4d to 565 per lb, according -to quality. Taking all 1 things into consideration, these rates are fairly satisfactory. Of course, compared with this time last year, the above values are low, for then medium lambs- were fetching! 'over -6d. However, 'that was only a temporarily inflated price, and one which soon seceded to 6d. As to the course of the market in the immediate future, those who fire most closely connected with the trade think it will not weaken much. Choice lambs, of which there are unfortunately but Jew, will "probably remain firm at about sd. Other grctdea may drop a few points — probably- will when the heavy shipments now on- the water begin to arrive, — but with these it is' largely a question of quality.

The London correspondent of the Pastoralists' Review thus describes what __ is known as the vapor isation process "or improving the condition of chilled meat, and this may yet have an interest for New Zealand : —

The South American Improved Chilling 1 Company, capital £30.000, is formed to acquire trom the owners the rights of the^new process

T for bringing chilled 1 meat from Argentina. j Messrs O. J. Goodsir, J. A. Linley, S. I»owe, Wallace Eraser, and Wt' P. Wincotfc , are the directors. The Guardiana will bring*on her nest voyage beef to the utmost capacity possible under the process, and the I»a. Blanca will be fitted. "The charge for treatment on boaid and in works wili. bo id per_j3tone, and it is stated that a quarter gi chilled beef sells ft>r 5s more than on ordinary quarter of chilled. The Guardiana wiil be here witfc her next lot about the end. , of December. 2ttr W. H. Webb, of Liverpool, writes to the Manchester Guaardian "that it was demonstrated as long -ago as 1897 that "with strict attention to ,tihe preparation, chilling, and' stowage on board ship, «nd the maintenance during voyage of a uniform, temperature of 29| to -30, it was Jeasible to land chilled beef in first-ciasa condition. ' The best popular description of .the working of the process is as follows-: — The new eys'tem has been introduced to obviate the deterioration of the meat due to freezing. Briefly, it cleanses and sterilises the* air, iand maintains it in « pure and sweet condition in -the chili rooms. The apparatus is simple, and occupies little space, that on the Guardiana being- placed in the square of the fore hatchway. It consists of a small 4-5 h.p. engine, which works an air fan, and revolves a gloss paddile used for 'distributing sulphuric acid in a small tank or bath. The fan draws the air out of the» chamber through a shaft, passes it through sticks of chloride- of calcium over a bath of sulphuric acid/ and book into the chamber. This course of circulation is maintained for about 30 minutes every- £4 hours, a,nd ia found sufficient to circulate and' purify alB the atmosphere in the chill-room, and to sterilise the micro-organisms picked up by the meat in the slaughterhouse.

- There is a good deal of trouble in the London meat market, and changes are evidently close at hand. I have long looked upon our methods of distribution as obsolete, and detrimental to the future of the trade, though all the great authorities of th« meat trade in New Zealand and'^tho great freezing v companies have said again and again -that they were about perfect, and could not be improved upon. I shall have something to say on the matter shortly.

The shipments •«£ dairy produce from New Zealand for the month of December indicate progress and expansion, for, though the export of butter shows a slight decrease, the export of cheese haß Wcreaeed some 55 per cent, over the December shipments of the previous year. The following are the shipments for December : — For London : December 6— Mamari, 43,4-44-- boxes butter, 14,099 crates cheese. December 19 — Tongariro, * 47,218 boxes ' butter, ' 15,096 crates cheese. For West- of England : December 28— Cornwall, 5610 boxes butter, 4671 crates cheese. A large number of cheese factories in the North- Island are new to the cheese-making Winess, a-nd there has been some trouble through cheese turning out second grade. This fe but natural, as to them it is a new industry. The mam cause -of trouble is, as ever, in the milk supply. It is possible to cope in a measure^ with defective quality* milk at butter factories by pasteurisation and o"£her methods/ but _afc a cheese factory , the effect of bad- milE"is"at once apparent in. badiyiflavoured cheese. In the South. Island we are better in this respect, as factories c*e older, and experience has' been gained, but we have nothing to brag about; and an improved milk supply is still the main road for improvement. The Government have made an honest attempt to improve the milk supply by the appointment of inspectors and instructors, and it is- very necessary that factory ditectors, managers,, and dairy-farmers should do all in their power to -eo-ooerate with and help these men. They should look upon them as friends. Their work is a difficult one, and it will take time and some forbearance both on the side of the instructors and the dairy-farmers before much good ie effected. But I ara convinced that this move on the part of the Agricultural Department is the mosfe valuable _ thing- they have, ever done for tho dairy industry, and if properly carried out and properly appreciated by the dairy-farmers of New Zealand it means money to dairy-farmers, and will improve the quality and good name of New Zealand butter and cheese. This season feed is plentiful, and I hope that dairyfarmers will make some provision for -winter feed other than turnips. I can assure my dairy-farming friends that turnipy cheese will be quite unsaleable in future. Buyers have had a hitter experience of it. fight shy of it, and the markot is glutted, with it. So much is this so that It has to be sent <>ut of the country, even thouirh it goes third grade. "Much of it would go lower if there was a lower grade. If farmers in Otago and 1 Southland cannot feed their cattle without turnips the factories had better close down for the autumn ana" winter; or' else band together to make a little butter for the winter local trade, which ie now supplied by North Island. .1 ..can assure my friends that turnipy cheese will be . unsaleable, and buyers in future, ■will only bur on grade, and turnipv cheese will not go first grade, and never did.