STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3017, 10 January 1912, Page 15

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Weekly Stock Sales: Burnside, Wednesdays Ashburton, Tuesdays Addington, Wednesdays Waiareka Railway Junction, Tuesdays Fortnightly: Buklutha, Fridays Gore, Tuesdays Oamaru, Tuesdays Invercargill, Tuesdays

Monthly! Kgapara, first Thursday in each month Glenavy, second Wednesday in each month Duntioon, second Friday in each month Winton, and Waikouaiti. Periodically: Clinton, Palmerston, fclenot, Kelso, Kyeburn

BURNSIDE MARKET. There were only 115 head of fat cattle yarded, and thit» number seemed to be quite enough to fill requirements. The sale opened at 355, but prices went back before the end of the sale. A considerable number of holiday-makers are out of town at present, and there ig not much beef wanted. The market is rather erratic, and if large supplies were forwarded prices would come tumbling down. A total of 2592 sheep were penned up for last week’s market, and a targe proportion of them were well-finished wethers, which realised 31d to 3£d- A very strong demand existed lor sheep suitable for turning out for a month or two, and many more of that class could easily have been placed. The grass season is a late one, and the London market for Argentine and Australian sheep is not to brisk. It will also be some time before the comnetition of freezing buyers will bo felt, these things point to reduced values, but there is still so much depleted country to stock up that those causes will net operate so deleteriougly as they might have done. Present values of sheep, however, are over London parity, and that is not a stable position. The quality of a good many of the lambs sent in was not good. Best liens brought up to 18s 6d, and extra good a shade over that value. When the freezing buyer can get a 381 b lamb for 14s to 14s 6d, as ho can in Canterbury. ho ought to be on fairly sure ground, but it is very hard at this time of year to tell. Moderate prices to begin the. season with which gradually improve a,s the yeargoes on with an assured market is the* best experience both for the farmer and the freezing buyer It enables both ol them to make money: the buyer gets more than ho anticipated and the farmers buys his stores, the value of which are calculated from present frezinb rates, at such a price that his year's work is not lost. ADDINGTON MARKET. Business was resumed at Addington last Wednesday after an interval of two weeks on account of the holidays. Christchurch butchers can evidently manage to carry their stock over a week before killing it without difficulty, and the same could bo done with advantage here. Feed is rel>ortod to bo abundant all over the province, and crops promise well; but warm weather is badly wanted to fill up and mature the grain before harvest, which will b-* later than usual this year. Fat cattle realised 24s to 27s per 1001 b; prime wethers, 17s 6d to 23s 3d; and fat Lambs 12s 6d to 15s lOd. Export buyers wore very chary about onerating even at that reduced rate. THE STORE MARKET. Them have been no country sales held in this district since the week before Christmas, and the holidays, as they always do. have interfered with business to come extent. There is, however, a healthy demand for store sheep of nil classes. The i inquiries from South Canterbury are numerous, and a considerable number of young sheep, more particularly two-tooth i ewes, have been bought for that district ! during the past few weeks at prices rang- ! ing from 15s to 16s 3d per shorn sheep. But as a rule Canterbury buyers find the prices asked and obtained from local purchasers to bo too high to allow them to shift the ‘dock so far. Grass throughout I fho country is vorv plentiful, and there is | a strong inquiry for erosbred wether and ' lambs for fattening purposes. Sales of store stock have- been made at the following rates: —Sound-mouthed ewes, from hilly country, 12s to 13s; young crossbred owes. 15s to 17s 3d; good paddock lambs, mixed sexes, lls to 12s: and well-grown hill lambs, mixed sexes, 9s 6d to 10s 6d. THE VALUE OF SHEEP. At one time we used to get our best prices for sheep at Burnside, and in. the event of a sudden rise in value buyers slipped out to the farm and purchased j sheen at 3s or 4s less than they were worth ! on the market. Now there is such a wholesome demand for all clones of _ sheen throughout the country that the position ia

reversed, and Burnside is often the best place to buy at. Many shcep-owncrs have found that after paying a good price per head for railage they had actually received k©s for their sheep than they could have got in their fields at home. Tho freezing works and the value of wool combined have made sheep very desirable proverty. and given a security to the sheep industry whidi it has not possessed in like measure hitherto. As long as a healthy tone reigns in the sheep industry the country will pfo ahead. Tho demand for country which will carry sheep will bo keen, and continue as long as the wool market remains reasonably firm. Tho world’s supply of wool seems to Is© short of requirements,, and Continental countries are opening up their ports to frozen meat. There will natura'ly be a growing appreciation of the value of sheep both on tho run and the farm.

THE WOOL MARKET. 1 The reassuring report of the third wool sale in Christonurbfi is cheerful reading, and it looks ao if the wool market for this year was to be maintained at a high level j In the absence of unforeseen calamities the : flockowners’ income will be higher than usual this year. When the value of tho wool ia considered along with the pheno- j menally high prices secured for mutton j and the payable returns from lamb, sheep- j farming should become popular with thcfii who have suitable country. _ With the facilities which exist for freezing all tho mutton that can l>o produced, and a steady market at a payable price to send it to, and tho manifest ease with which huge quantities can be absorbed in that market, the j returns of the flockowner are practically independent of local supply and demand. . There is leas labour and more skill involved in working sheep profitably than there ia with any other stock on the farm, and if the returns are not eo high os in ; dairying, for instance, they bavo been j consistently steady, and likely to continue I so for some years. Tho sheep-farmer with , a good flock of breeding ewes is in tho | satisfactory position that he always has something to sell when ho needs a little : ready cash. Beginning in spring with dry owes he gets wool towards midsummer, and fat lambs and sheep all tho rest of _ tho season, and when high prices are obtained for all of these his lot is one to bo envied.’ JUTE FIBRE IN WOOL. There seem, to be greater difficulties in procuring more suitable woolpacks which would be free from objection than appear on the surface. A writer in the Sydney Mail says: “The position in regard to the jute in wool trouble is most unsatisfactory. The International ■Committee in London has recently confirmed the resolution paeeed at tho Roubaix Conference, but as tho committee formed part of the conference, there is more bluff than anything in the, canfirmat-on business. But the position is ilogieal and bordering- on tho ridiculous. I The consumers are pledged; to boycott a.l wools next season not packed in proper bags ’ ; but what ‘ proper bags ’ are no one seems to know, least of all these who arc complaining tho loudest. What is tho poor grower expected to do, An actual case occurred recently where a grower ; asked his broker to rdv;se the best pack to use, and intimated that' he wanted to do the best thing, even, if it cost more money. The broker was confronted with the fact that the cktrely-woven jute fabric being a thinner and lighter material, would not stand tho hooks and rough usage. I Tho paper-lined pack is absolutely objected to by quite a number of buyers, and the j blue twine Is strongly protested against by some Continental men. Where are the ‘proper bags’ the committee want adopted? And where is there a -wool-pack on tho •market that has not been strongly ob- i jocted to by some of the buyers? In the ■ caee above-mentioned, the grower was cd- | vised to use a substantial pack; but this wil not please the International Committee Altogether apart from the question of extra cost, tho d ffieulty is to know exactly what consumers want. TheoreticaMy they want a pack that will stand rough handling, and keep jute fibres out cf the , | wool. But is there such a pack? It would , I foam that oonsumois have rv en rather too | hasty in their boycott resolution, beoauso ! they are still experimenting in Bradford in connection with closely-woven packs en- . tirely of paper. There may. ro doubt, keep out tho jute, but will they stand the knocking about? In anv case they will 1 not be properly tested or be obtainable here when tho boycott resolution commences. Until there is a pack which is universal!v I agreed to be what consumers desire, all boycott re olutions a"c so much burnt powder, and show an utter want of tact (;fi the part of- those who are moving in . the matter. Even when tho desired pack , is found and made available, the question I of cost will come to the front and demand settlement, and to all appearances the juto \ in wool trouble is quite as far off a satisfactory settlement as ever it was. THE MANUFACTURERS’ DIFFICULTY. - It, is not generally understood what causes the trouble in the raw material, nor how , the small fibres po seriously affect tho i value of the finished article. The general ■ impression was that -complaint arose from . j pieces of loose string and chaff and fribs I of grease, or from f * .fed pieces of jute ! 1 from the bato when it was cut open or were left in the bale ■‘x'-bre filling it with

wool. And these all cause more labour t<| be spent on the cloth; but as a rule thesfl fravings are. of some length, and easily seen and extracted, and the inferior tar# no doubt frays mere than the better class material; but the princioal damage comet from the numerous small hairs which adhere to the wool when heavily packed in inferior coverings. The screwing down of the wool in' the press and the friction bo caused on the side'of the bale causes thesa short ends to bp detached from the bale, and fasten on to the fleece. And as wool and jute are not susceptible to the same dyes in the ‘manufactured material, the juto protrudes itself prominently. Before the process of burling the objectionable fibre is very conspicuous through iti failure to take the dye, and the serious* ness of the matter is the cost to the trade I of extracting juto hairs from piece goods. This process involves an enormous amount [ of labour, and runs into thousands of pounds for .one large mill alone m the course of the year, and in reckoning up the value of the Svool this outlay has to be taken into consideration. It follows, there- ; fore, that if the pack were perfect and no juto got into the wool, except some small portion of the frayings, which are easily , seen and extracted, the buyer could afford | to give a better price for the raw material, I anct sell his article at the same figure a< I at present. In other words, the produce# j of the wool would benefit by a reduction • in the cost of manufacture. THE STRIKE TAG. It is a very rotten state of things that a tag should have to be attached to the 1 wool sale conditions that, in the ,event cf a strike, the deal is off. The tyranny of the Labour incubus in its paralysing effect is somewhat analogous to the absolute collapse of the sheep market, which used to occur so frequently before the j freezing works started, when everyone j thought the bottom was out of the country, and sheep could be bought for Is per : head. It seems to be a matter of indiffer--1 ence to the union whether the trade of the country comes to a standstill or not, : eo long as they make sure of getting their pound of flesh. The effect on the country is becoming as bad as that resulting from an international holocaust, when extra special rates are charged for insurance and other risks. It is, to say_ the least of it, a peculiar alteration in industrial conditions, and the sooner the law deals with the position the better it will be for tho country. Difficulties are set up in reference to shearing, classing, and the disposal- of wool. Carriages are demanded to convey the shearers from the train to the station, and treatment which “could not be bette# in one’s own home ” is taken exception to. On the other hand., there is no evidence of gratitude for employment given and the Chance of making a fat cheque. It is little wonder that such an attitude l “ prejudices fair-minded men against Labour agitators.” But there has not yet i been an industrial problem that did not bring its own solution, and good, steady values for wool will help to circulate money and secure industrial peace. But all the same, no body of men should have the power to paralyse the trade of the Dominion without regard to the consequence! , of their treasonable actions. DAIRY PRODUCE. It is very satisfactory to learn from Mr J. R. Scott’s monthly report that butter and cheese maintain a thigh level of prices, | and are likely to continue to do so. latest cable indicates that unialted butter i has touched 1375, the same value as Danish, I and that the market was excited, and a further advance anticipated. And with regard to cheese the cables were cquaLy satisfactory, the quotation for first grade I being 74s and coloured 735, with a steady 1 demand being experienced for secondary I qualities. Mr Scott adds that “we are 1 advised that the prospects for butter point I to continued high prices, as no "one can j see where any relief to the present scarcity I of finest butter is to oomo from, _ for, although Australian imports to Britain, at I tho end of this year are some 5000 tons I in excess of last year, much of it cannot be 1 classed as finest, and I am proud to eay 1 nearly 99 per cent, of New Zealand butter is classed as finest. New Zealand butter is being cleared at once —as fast as each . steamer arrives.” The shipments made this ‘ season so far show a decline in volume or butter sent away, and only a slight increase in that of cheese; but there now scorns to be a prospect that with improved climatic conditioned wo may yet expect that cheese shipments will exceed last year a ficures. Some 9COO box's of butter were shipped to ’Frisco and Vancouver, and these markets could have absorbed much more of i it had it been available. Our butter ia 1 evidently appreciated in these markets, and I it is considered that in future the trado will prove of the greatest importance to the Dominion. Supplies of cheere are re- | ported to he very short from other quarters, and will not be available for at least I four months from date. We gather from j tho report that shippers arc likely to make I a good profit on the high values given by | them, and their enterprise deserves it, considering the amount of risk run. Bat It is a good thing for the country when they come out on the right s'do. and the factories will not grudge them thoir good for- , - - '