STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2913, 12 January 1910, Page 7

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

By DaovKE.

Monthly: Ngapara, first Thursday in each month Glenavy, second Wednesday in each month Duntroon, second Friday in each month Clinton, Palmerston, Winton, and Waikouaiti. Periodically: Heriot, Kelso, Kyeburn

Weekly Stock Sales:' Burnside, Wednesdays Ashburton, Tuesdays Addington, Wednesdays Waiareka Kail way Junction, Tuesdays Fortnightly; Bulclutha, Fridays Gore, Tuesdays Oaraaru, Tuesdays Invercargill, Tuesdays

The markets at Burnside and Addfngton are as yet mainly supplying local trade. Export buyers took a few lambs at Addington, the prices paid being lis to _l3s JM for prime and 7s 8d to 10s 6d for lighter sorts. Prices, though lower at Burnside than the previous week, were rather better than the Addingtor rates. There was a rise in mutton at Addington, both of wethers and' ewes, of Is pear head. At Addington store lambs for rape-feeding brought about 8s Zd.

As yet there is no indi.catior of what prices will be paid for lamb and mutton for export, and practically our whole output has yet to be dealt with. As we shall be later this season in getting shipments away the London market may be able to absorb the Australian and Argentine shipments arriving, and thus the glut of last year may be avoided. If in addition shipments can be controlled! and regulated, the market price in London might ba improved, but much depends on this.

I bear that at the conference called for the end of this month m Christchuxch to con- I sider this matter, the freezing companies are not to be represented. This will belike playing "Hamlet" without the Prince , of Denmark, and I fear that if it is correct very little of any practical value can be accomplished. It is the freezing jom- j panics that can deal with the question,, as . they alone hold all the freezing contracts, ] no one being able to e-ecura freight or cteal in any way with shipmentf except through them. It is to them also that we must look for any reform in the handling of our meal; in London. This, of course, is a difficult matter. If all the meat was consigned through the freezing companies and . in their charge and under their sole con- ! trol, a great deal in the way of reform- ! ing our methods of distribution in London ! might be accomplished, but unfortunately j this is not the case. The freezing com- j parties have only charge of the meat till it is shipped, and when it arrives in London it comes under the control of the consignees—a vast multitude of agents and brokers, great and small, and the small ones can and often do smash the market i in their eagerness io sell a few hundred j carcases. I fear, therefore, that the con- j ferenee will only result in a long discus- j sion, during which all that has been said ' on the disastrous- results of sales of frozen j (meat in, London last year will be reeapitulafced. Of course, the particularly foolish . way we rushed about a million ca.rcaf.es on a market -we- knew to be oversupplicd at j the time, ail through want of concerted I ■action in holding back shipments r.nd re- I gnlating supplies by the combined action of ; those in charge, will be pointed out. If the freezing eoinpuriJe- eun regulate ship-j merits, and "1 think they can, are they willing to t.-o so? That :s the question. i Mr M. C. L'rl>-]'i. chairman of the British : and New Zealand Meat Company, in his speech at tdie a mual meeting of iliac compiaiy in Ciin'sit-i.uich. las- week, gave- a full ! ~:.-i-;,; y oi t.ie <-:s:ut.'ons mei-nocLs we adrraed hst year. Mr Orboli is an old; Jt;v-. cottier, and a farmer of experience,; w.'.o •-.':-;s. x.wurt- ;ak-en a deep, piactieal infer.;. ■ ■!. ; i:; producing and i.i exporting' lambs :-\.-;r ?.L\.3o oui expert started. I have jjurat rcapevc f 0..: t.u- view?, and just give: ■i few quotations Ercei his speech:—" Un- : o-rtucpioiy, unpreccslontedly low pticce .'iilcd M ring the j v season-; but there is ; no doubt that the position might have been . greatly .relieved had ordinary discretion: ■ been observed by these who have the power to organise a better system for regulating shipments." After dealing with the effbets ' of the heavy shipments from New Zealand in May, which were responsible for the unprecedented fall in prices, he quoted from a letter he had received from a friend afc Home, who- expressed the opinion that the irregular supply ather than the demand was responsible for the congestion. Continuing, he said:—"This was the position created by the absence of business methods in dumping down in Louder in -six weeks •;s mam. carcases as should- have been spread over 12 weeks. Can you imagine anything more suicide!? It nalurully caused l . a panic on the market. What ; s to provent a. recurrence -oi this lam-o.vit.able experience under present conditions? _ Nothing. In. my opinion- the au-efiia l ! of

regulating shipments can only bo governed by the freezing .companies, assisted by the sheep-owners. If the latter, instead of holding back their fat stock to make heavier, which, I am afraid, they are now doing, and repeating last year's tolly, and retaining it in the freezing works as longf as possible, as they often do, speculating upon a rise in the market, refusing to cithef sell or ship—if, instead of doing this, they would send their lambs toward as soor aa matured and ship them as early as possible afterwards, they would greatly help to prevent a heavy accumulation of meat in London stores, and we should not again witness the spectacle of five large steamers leaving the Dominion in one week laden with cargoes overflowing with carcases of mut-toa and lamb."

Mr Orbell contend? that there is ampl« storage in the Canterbury freezing works to enable us to. hold back shipments when desirable, and I think the same may be said of Otago. Mr Orbell says further: "Some of my- friends disagree with me, and ask what about a dry season, when a farmer must get rid of his fat stuff? My reply is that during a dry season lambs fatten much more evenly and regularly ■ thar during a wet one, and that the freezing works can meet the demand for slaughtering and storage when the supply is regular, and _thus shipments could be regulated month 'by month. I have had nearly 32 years' experience in breeding and fattening lambs, and I confidently assert that if tit? lambs are sent fov/feEd when ripe, and shipped' without delay, there would b? no trouble about, slaughtering and storing ; nor would we bear more of the agitation for increased storage. If heavj shipments have to be made, let them arrive at Home when the consumption is at high-water mark. There is no doubt thai the large number of holders ir the trade militates against us. 1 shall no doubt be treading upon tender ground, but I do so fearlessly, when 1 say that the numerous holders are very largely augmented by the c.i.f. sales. Every little jobber who buys a thousand or two carcases c.i.f. becomes an independent bolder, and..he has' no idea of anything but his particular purchase. If the market looks like going against him his one idea is to clear, and if in doing 60 lie brings the market down a point or two he is quite unconcerned. Experience has proved that the sale of a few hundred carcases often has an appreciable effect upon the whole market. When we know that there are scores upon scores 0? such men buying c.i.f- it is easy to imagine the influence they have upon the market. I believe I am correct in saying that a very large portion of the'c.i.f. sales made in the Dominion are finally distributed through the agency of small jobbers. I know personally one or two men who have gdne Home purposely to speculate in this class of business during .the height of the season, and have done well. How, then, can we expect to concentrate the trade, which in my opinion is the most desirable reform of all reforms?"

Mi* QrbeU'fi company solicits consignments, and it may be said that he is biassed' against sailing, but there is -much truth in. what he says "about the disastrous action of small c.i.f. buyers. Mr Orbell takes a cheerful view of the outlook, _ provided wa can avoid the insane over shipping within short periods. He points to the fact that the butchers did well buying at low price.?. and though they never reduced the retail prices, they quitted the meat in theii own gocd time. The butcher;:- will always be able to look out, for themselves. The glut of meat is a blessing to them, although disastrous to growers and shippers.

The shipments of dairy produce last week from the Dominion were: —Athenie. 54-. 100 boxes butter, 16,500 crates cheese; Delphic, 4500 boxes butter, 7100 crates cheese, making a total of 58,600 boxes butter and 23.690 crates cheese. For the corresponding steamer last year the figures were: —48.467 boxes of butter, 20,069 crates cheese. This shows an increase for the fortnight’s shipment of 10.133 boxes butter and 5531 crates cheese. Out of the above total the Bluff shipment was 5640 crates cheese. The Otago shipment from Dunedin was 4500 boxes of butter and 1460 orates of cheese. The Tonga riro and Kaipara n'-o took from Dunedin and Bluff last week the following fortnightly shipments: —From Bluff, 6124 crates cheese: from Dunedin, 4020 boxes but te and 1310 crates cheese for London. In addition to this the Nairnshire takes a. four weekly shipment of 3QO crates of cheese from Bluff at."d 460 from Dunedin. Our shipments butter and cheese are 20 and 25 pursen 1 ,, respectively over last season, and the b c-i. inn's for next v-tcamcr show tint!. - . still keep up. ahheurrh it is expected trey will tow '.osfia i- fa.ll off, but not i vd by I '.id.;. I:o.. •:•.>m■ •-■..... 1 r., 1 r b •> ■: • v cil I'y s t:hril ! i y v', '• i i:~' fn.vi.u- so:- than

Otago and Southland. The shipments from Lyttelton in December (two fortnightly shipments) were 8260 boxes butter and 1422 crates cheese.