STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3031, 17 April 1912, Page 15

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Weekly Stock Sales: Burnsids, Wednesdays Ashburton, Tuesdays Addington, Wednesday: Waiareka Railway Jtuiotion, Tuesdays Fortnightly: Biilclutha, Fridays Gora, Tuesdays Oamaru, Tuesdays Invercargill, Tuesdays

Monthly! 1 Ngapara, first Thure--1 day in each month Glenavy, second Wednesday in each month Duntioon, second Friday in each month Win ton, and Waikouaiti. Periodically •. Clinton, Palmerston, iHeriot, Kelso, Kyeburn

BURNSIDE MARKETS. Ono hundred and eighty-eight cattle were penned up, consisting of a few lines oi fat steers. A groat many cows and the balance forward steers and heifers. Old cows predominated. Competition for good beef was brisk. Best bull-ticks realised 28s, but some of the cows could' hardly bo given away at 24s to 25s per ICOib. The sheep were a. very poor id. Only three or four pens of good wethers in the yards. Manv of them were only lit for boiling down "purposes, and were sold at from 3s 6d to 6s 6d per head. The butchers wore pretty well cleaned out of both sheep and lamb, having experienced a somewhat unexpectedly brisk' trade for the holidays. The town filled up with visitors, and the demands of the hotels and boarding houses were unusually heavy. Several expected consignments also from the country failed to come forward on account of the scarcity of trucks, and all the s'x>ok on the ea'.e was therefore wanted. The result was a sharp riso in good sheep —quite 2s bd per head; while the price for ewes slackened off as tho sale progressed. Freezing buyers could not look at the prices going for sheep. The demand for lamb was as keen as glass, but good quality pens wore scarce, and' cast the exporter 5d per lb. Now that the coal strike is practically over, a good market should prevail at Home for lamb.

ADDINCTON MARKETS. In point of numbers the fat sheep and cattle at Addin.gton were below the average. The cattle yarded were serviceable without being of outstanding merit, and made from 21s to 26s per 1001 b. Freezing buyers were operating freely in the market for Cat sheep and lambs. Tegs made 17b 3d to 19s lid, while ordinary freezing tombs ranged 1 in price from 12s 6d to 18s. In tho- store pens good young crossbred owes made 15s to 16s 3d, forwa.rd lambs 12s 6d to 13s 6d, and forward wethers up to 15s 6d. THE lIOMEBUSH YARDS. Some time ago the New South Wales Public Works Committee determined that tho erection of new ealcyards on tho abbatoir area was absolutely necessary, and several deputations from the fiockowners of the Commonwealth are urging the Government to give effect to that recommendation. The City Council of Sydney, on tho other hand, have reaped a tremendous harvest out of the yarda in their old position, and wish to have* them enlarged who e they are at present. This tho flock-owners think a very temporary expedient, and they cannot 'fall in with the suggestion. The Minister stated that the Cabinet wouLd soon meet to consider the matter, and settle the point definitely. Anyone who lias seen the facility with which stock can be transferred to the abbatoirs when these institutions aro close together, and also close to manure works, would never dream of separating them if it could possibly bo avoided. BCRNSIDE PRICES Tho prices for stock havo been high generally all the season, and tho only reason why a good price is not obtained in tho market at ore-sent is that tho exhibits are not up to a propor killing standard. The Buinside market is only a secondclass one for store stook of any kind. Better prices aro usually obtained out at the country sales for that class. A satisfactory profit should he realised at present values for all good stuff. If the sheep or lambs or any stock aro thoroughly fit and finished and of a class acceptable to the butcher, there need be very little grumbling as to tho price obtained. Store buyerfe of sheep should not forgot that the demand is for sheep finished at 641 b weight, not over it. And if they want the best price the demands of the buyers must bo met. It does not matter whether tho grower calls such sheep culls or not. When they aro fat tho buyer gives a half-i>enny per" lb moro for them than for tho larger sheep. That means 2s 6d per head—all the difference between profit and loss. The circumstances are himilar to those existing between the English and American implement makers. The English

maker says in effect—There's my machine; take it at my price or lcavo it. The American agent cables homo for his firm to make what the customer demands, _ and effects a profitable tale. In every business tho same thing applies; the buyer must be supplied with tho material most readily saleable. His success depends upon it. TIME LIMIT WANTED. There is far too much time lest at tho Burnsido yards, and the whole sale might bo finished up in about half tho time it takes at present if a time limit was put on. That does not mean a hard and fast time limit on each pen. If an auctioneer sells a street of 30 pens in 40 minutes, ho deserves and ought to have consideration; but there is no need of hanging on to every pen as is done at present. Farmers scorn to have a settled conviction that unices the auctioneer d'aunders round his pen and hangs on to the last bid that they arc not likely to get full value for their stock. And' this is a mistaken idea.. The value of eheep and lambs in an ordinary season is fixed by threo or four buyers, who have a firm, fixed limit, which thry are not allowed to exceed, ond thoy can value closer than 6d per head. When 3d bids are taken, it means that they start 6d below their reserve, with tho object of getting in another bid before their reserve is reached'. If another 3d is given on top of that, they would have to give 6d per head more than thoy consider tho sheep worth to freeze, and thoy will not do chat. Sixpence, per head is a very material amount v/hen dealing with thousands of sheep. They would reach their limit in two bids just as easily as in a doien. and in one quarter of tho time, and the grower would get quite us much for his work. There is another t»int which should be tho subject of regulation at the yards. Tho auctioneer and his clerk should bo the only individual allowed on the rail. Aftor selling one pen the auctioneer is blocked by the crowd, and has to lose time waiting till the rail is clear ahead for him. With a time limit and a clear board the auctioneer would get through in half the time, and save the time and expense of keening a lot of men waiting on till they are finished. The leisurely way in which the sale is stopped to crack jokes is all very well in a country sale, where the day has to be put in in any caso; but at Burnside, when so many men are waiting to get to work, it is out of place.

THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY. Tho dairying industry has developed to such an extent that it is now one of our loading industries, rapidly pulling up on tho frozen meat industry. It has, however, its special difficulties to contend with, nor the least of which is to get the cows milked satisfactorily by efficient labour. At a time when produce was low in price, labour was a serious menace to the business; but at present rates for butter-fat good wages can be much more easily given than they could 1 formerly, and that difficulty should not stand in the way of steady progress. Still, tho early and late ho urn of milking will always be a difficulty, but one whMi will be met by reasonable employee*. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and there is an absence of the usual time-off at dairying which has become an adjunct necessary to tho colonial servant. So far no machine has been invented which can efficiently replace the milker. It must be admitted that all attempts in that direction have failed or onlv been panally successful. Farmers are not chemists, and never will understand 1 that rubber must bo kept chemically clean to avoid imparting undesirable flavours to the milk. Nor have they any adoquato supply of the necessary hot and cold water for the purpose. The result is that the manufacturer is handicapped before he starts his work, the milk 13 contaminated by carelessly-cleaned machines. The difference in pricu of 20s between English Cheddar cheese and best New Zealand make Ls caused solely by cleaner milk. They havo no milking machines in England or Canada. r l he result is cheese which keeps well and is reliable, and has a clean flavour because it was made from pure milk. THE LABOUR DIFFICULTY. The labour difficulty in fa.ee of the prices secured for butter-fat should not stand in the way of the advancement of the dairy industry. Farmers should accept the position that living i 3 much dearer than it was, and live and let live. Those who- are threshing out frosted gram might have some justification for cutting tho wages, but dairvmen have none. The only machine that' will bo effective in dealing with cows aro nimble fingers guided by human intelligence and kind treatment. The possession of a family does not provide a permanent settlement of the difficulty. They hive off and leave tho dairyman in the lurch. It seems to bo one of those employments where co-operation would be specially valuable. A personal sharo in profits would eliminate all discontent. A direct interest, which need not be large, in the results would help to smooth over all difficulties and secure willing and pleasant labour. It lias come to this: that those- who find tho capital and the directing intelligence will have to work together for the common good with those who supply the labour. This is the only way of overcoming extraordinary hours of labour and union influence, and driving out discontent and want of concen-

tration. Then there is another means which might be adopted with advantage—viz., to give employees a stated holiday for a fixed time onco a year. A week or two in the year would settle them again for 12 months. And if they came back and took up regular work again they would receive their wagos for the time off. Shorter hours for the milker are impossible, therefore they musfc be made up to him in some such way as domestic servants are now treated. The dairyman would thus retain the services of men whom h e knew. Good men, who would study his interests. The employer would not lose anything in the matter of being generous with his holidays. A man who knows the work of tho place, makes himself agreeable in the house, and studies his master's interest, is worth making an effort to retain. And any man who has been 12 months with his master is worth moro to him than tho " new chum," who requires breaking in, and his wages should bo accordingly increased.

THE PRICE OF MILK. Tho points to determine in considering the cost of milk are the added expense of production consequent on dear labour and dear provender. The dairyman's aim is in the first place to produce milk of Rood quality, secondly in as great quantity as possible, and thirdly of purity. And tho success of his efforts must depend on the knowledge he possesses of his business, his knowledge of the points of dairy cattlo in general, his knowledge of the circumstances that affect tho quality of milk, and his knowledge of the subject of milk ia general. And in the case of the town supplier the manner in which he has to work nis herd in order to keep up his flow of milk the year round. It would be a singular thing if everything else roso In value and milk alone remained low in price. If the present suppliers were making a fortune out of it there would bo some room for complaint, but they are not. An excessive price soon stimulates production, and if there was such a good thing in the milk supply as some people assert, there would soon be plenty of opposition. The fact is that the cost of pioduction has gone up permanently, and the price to the consumer mU3t also go up permanently as long as

present values and conditions prevail. In discussing the point at any time it should never be forgotten that the city suppliers do ivot run their byres on the usual farm conditions. Their places are small. They do not grow their own food, and have to purchase most of it. They have to supply ail water when the farm cattle are turned out, and they cannot sell at the price the farmer can supply his factory at. At Wye College, in England, it was found that the average daily yield from 1957 cows on 60 farms was 2.24 gallons, and there is no reason to suppose that an equal number of cows here would yield any more than that. The average cost of food per gallon ■was 6.58 d, equivalent to 14.88 d per. cow per day. Theso, of course, are calculated on Home farm prices, but if inquiry was made it would be found that they would not differ very much from those which town suppliers have to pay here.

QUALITY OF NEW ZEALAND BUTTER. • While the quality of the majority of New Zealand brands of butter examined (says a Government official) is reported on as satisfactory, the trade, it is said, has complained seriously of that of a few bdands, and the official inspection supported the oomplaints except in one or two instances. In one case a firm contended that a butter graded "second" in New Zealand was really of first-srrade quality. The London grader found on inquiry that the London frritioism was based on a sample taken when the butter was in a frozen state, and that when he sampled the line when defrosted the grading at the port of shipment fairly represented the quality of the butter as it Irached the market. The butters about whioh complaint was made were either made from whey or from home-separated cream. In one or two instances, however, distinctly unsatisfactory quality characterised the butters turned out by well-equipped establishments conducted on the whole-milk system, the butters displaying a tendency to fishiness. At Bristol strong complaint was made of the quality of a home-separa-tion butter. A butter made without salt cr preservative opened up stale in flavour, although the trade made no complaint as to its quality. The defect was noticeable in several lines of the same brand inspected by tho London grader. On the other hand, several brands unsalted, but containing a certain amount of preservative, wore found to be sweet in flavour. At Glasgow the inspector had an opportunity of examining a number of brands of New "Zealand cheese, which he found to be giving satisfaction on that market, several brands being very highly spoken of. The chief fault found In the cheese examined in London was irregularity in quality.

THE MACMEIKAN DEFROSTING PROCESS. Arrangements have been made for sending to London a bulk shipment of 2500 quarters of frozen beef for defrosting there, under the Macmeikan process, the rights of which are now vested In the British and Australasian Freezing and Defrosting Company (Ltd.). The new company has secured a room at the freezing works of Messrs William Angliss and Co., and the necessary machinery is being erected to receive the beef for treatment before shipment. Ihe retailing of tjh» meat in London has been satisfactorily arranged. The prospectus states that the main advantage Of the process is the even and uniform distribution of air, cold or warm, around the article of food being operated upon, ■which is hung from a hook in the ceiling of the storage chamber attached to a piece of iron piping or valve, through which the air enters, and the air is then drawn down and around the article through a suction grating in the floor of the chamber under each hook, and thus an envelope of air is formed around each article, with L uniform pressure at every point. Each ik has a spring above it, which regulates the amount of air supplied according to the weight of the article attached to each hook. The great advantage of an absolutely even distribution of air in freezing and defrosting is that contraction or expansion of the tissues of the article being operated Upon is absolutory uniform, thereby enormously minimising the number of tissues that are burst under other processes. The non-bursting of the tissues makes the proJ'tvofc,- especially meat, retain its original uioes and flavour and practically become .uradistlniguiahable from tho freshly-killed article.

FROZEN MEAT REPORTS. In Henry 8. Fitter and Sons' report dated March 1, }9ls, that firm states that N«w J&oaland "mutton Id "rather more nlent.iful, and holder* are endeavouring to get bade the trade ■w-Mch has been slip&i»# awa ft To dp thls it could not be ixpeotcd that the high pHoes lately quoted ©ould bo maintained, and in consequence Values are 10-wef. Really good mutton U i&flU very short." If vre ar© to cater for jfce beet Pritish trade and thus Been re a ■Jgh level of pricea, the quality of the

meat sent Home will have to be kept up. A good deal of Now Zealand meat is at present retailed throughout the kipgdom as Home-grown, and much of the meat scld at a low price as New Zealand is inferior Argentine or Australian mutton. Steps of some kind should be taken to establish the reputation of New Zealand meat by selling it for what it is. Tho frozen meat industry requires remodelling in some respects. Seme efficient system of branding would enable th© consumer to identify New Zealand meat as such, and allow the excellent quality of tlhe article to be its own advertisement. Unfortunately the quality of a great deal of the mutton sent Home is nothing like so good as it was eight to 10 years ago. Charges cannot be reduced when the works are only going half time. It Is quite impossible to expect anything of the kind in a year in whioh stock cannot be obtained to keep the set of works going. Flockowners can surely see that if they wish to reap the advantages accruing from a stable market they must support the freezing works. Even if such support means a somewhat less price than can be secured locally, sheep-farmers are not given to pursuing a policy detrimental to their own interests for any length of time, and the good name of New Zealand mutton runs every ehanco of being lost by the present system of letting the works sink or swimThe sooner reversion is had to sending away the tops and supporting the works which have been the salvation of the country the less chance will there be of having such reproaches hurled back in our faces, as "Really good mutton is still very short."

SMITHFIELD MARKET HANDLING FROZEN MEAT. In his report to the New Zealand Producers' Association, Mr F. I. Shelton, their London representative, in describing the handling, of frozen meat at Smithfleld, states: —"On Monday, 21st May, I attended the market from the time the doors were open until the market was stocked. JVothing is allowed into the market until after midnight and about 5 a.m.. when the market opens and continues -until about 2 p.m. daily, although it is kept open later on some days. I enclose you a plan of the market, showing position of -some of the various avenues, stalls, and entrances. I also enclose a. list showing one day's entries into the market. I calculate there would be upwards of 2000 people in the market between 5 and 8 a.m., the rush of people taking meat into and out of fcho market and from stall to stall maikos it a very busy place indeed. The meat (mutton) is taken into the market and to the different stalls from vans standing in the roadway outside in hand trucks, or carried two or more at a time on men's shoulders. Beef is always carried on the porters' heads up to the stall, where it is carefully attached to the hook on the meat rails. I enclose you an illustration of the mo6t up-to-date meat truck used in this market, from which you will see the possibility hard meat has, handled with the truck, of escaping injury. Sheep are placed on this truck with more or less roughness. Sometimes pitched from the vans on to them and sometimes at less distance*. Some of the trucks have no back irons to protect their load from Blipping of ft, so a couple of sheep are stuck between the back floor batten and the next one to make a temporary back, and the other carcases are thrown against them. Taking it generally, the men handling sheep and lambs seem to think because they are frozen no harm can come to them with rough handling. There Is plenty of room for reform in handling sheep between van and market stall, but as some peonle handling meat do so with reasonable care, I think, with time and opportunity, others will be remedied. Some of the vans that bring meat to the market are all that can be desired; others are very incomplete and unsatisfactory, but as thero is already a good system in use, it will be a matter of time arid opportunity to get the whole system right. With regard to having rails to_ take meat froni the vans to the stalk, this is quite out of the question, and is impossible, and would be unworkable. A good system of trucks well used for mutton and sheep, wil} gf-t the work done in the necessary short time, and beef carried on men's shoulders or heads, as at present, causes less bumps to the meat than anv other process I could suggest. I wish mutton and lamb were as carefully handled as beef."

DISCHARGE OF MEAT AT THE DOCKS. And in discussing the discharge of meat (yb the docks, Mr Shelton Bays: —"On arrival 01 steamer the meat is Loaded into slings in the hold, and these slings are opened up on the deck of the lighters alongside 0$ on the wharf. The carcases reach the slings bv being sent along wooden chutes, and dilutes are again used in passing the meat

over barges, and also from vessel to wharf. In tact, right through the meat business, at and from the freezing works in New Zealand until the meat is eaten it is always liable to contact with chutes. These chutes are in all kinds of condition, a few good, most of them bad in construction, and worn in use and not kept in proper *epajr, some being little more than splintered pieces of Wood hield together with nails, and, as I have pointed out to those responsible far them, were only fit for firewood, whidh is their best place. In some positions the conveyers and suitable elevators are desirable to take the place d the chutes, butt In many positions this is not practical, bo I think to an extent chutes must be recognised until somethuig better can take their place; but the chutes must always be in perfect order, and should always be examined before use and during use, and this remark is intended for those using them in New Zealand, as well as for thcee on this side. The chute is a bad 1 tool at any time, but until it can be avoided will have to be -made use of. You cannot handle sheep on a chute without damage, but by carefulness this damage can be reduced l . Chutes must be in perfect ordter, and the meat placed on same gently and their run on same must be slow. I should like every freezing works manager to test the result of using a chute in the same way as Mr Cooper did for the benefit of Mr Lysnar and myself at the Masterton works in April last. I see a similar result in a very large proportion of the carcases landed in London. The use of a second Hessian bag, as recommended in my letter of May 26, will save all this chafing if the chutes are kept in good order and used with reason."

SHORT MATING. Some farmers allow their rams to run with the ewes straight ahead, and have their lambs' coming at all sorts of times. Such a course makes it difficult for the shepherd to attend to his ewes properly. Tho time is restricted to five or six weeks, so that all the lambs may be dropped as nearly as possible together, may be fairly matched as' regaaxk size, and may mature together so as to go off food in one Kne or near it. Lambs born within a month of each other do not differ much in age or strength. The younger ones are not knocked about by the older ones, and the uniformity of the flock is kept. As a general rule a ram in good health and vigour will successfully serve 50 to 60 owes if enclosed with them in a paddock. If too fat he loses his procreative power, and if he has rough country to travel over allowances must be made for that by increasing the number of rams. The number of ewes given will depend on his age, temperament, and activity as well as on the class of country traversed. There is no economy in overworking a nam, and where several are running together they should be as evenly matched as possible, so that there will be no bullying. If one gets master he fills in his time butting every ram that gets to work, and the ewes get neglected. After lambing ewes come in heat again in about four months, when they cease to nurse their lambs, and the state occurs again every 16 to 18 days. It lasts 24 to 36 hours, and does not reappear if the sheep has conceived.

FATTENING SUMW AM) LAMBS Tho Adelaide wool export offers a wide choice of fodder from which to make a selection suitable for this purpose. A portion of his statement from the Observer may be quoted. "Certain facts," he says, f'in connection with usheep are always before us. We know, for instance, that well-fed animals produce more wool thun those poorly fed. A natural question then seems to be, if the effect on the fleshy condition of the sheep is the same, with one kind of food produce more wool than another? In agricultural chemistry it is clearly recognised that the chemical composition of wool, hair, hoofs, nails, home, feathers, lean meat, blood, oellular tissue, and nerves is nearly identical. The organic part of wool consists of carbon 50.65, hydrogen 7.03, nitrogen 17.71, oxygen and sulphur 24.61. The inorganic constituents are small. The large quantity of nitrogen in wool goes to prove that its production is increased by highly azotised fcod. An experiment conducted in Silesia on ftaxon sheep verifies this. In a feeding test with several kinda of food, including potatoes (with and without salt), mangold wurzels, peas, wheat, rye (with and without Rait), oats, barley, buckwheat, hay. straw, and brewer's grains, the results in wool production varied from 51b 3£oz to 141 b lioz, tho lowest being from the mangold wurzel fod'der, and the highest from peas The nitrogen contents of tho two kinds of feed were —Mangold wurzel 0.36, and peas 3.83 per cent. The pens also made a good showing in the increase of weight in thelive animal, and came third in the production of tallow from the slaughtered sheep. " Xow. regarding the sorts of crops to grow. There is a fairly extensive list from which to make a selection, some of which will succeed 1 in one district and some in others. Taxes or vetches rank high a** valuable fodder plants, and 1 are spoken of in all agricultural publications in connection with tho feeding of stock. In nutritive value it is said to be equal to red clover, while in weight of fodder it probably will yield twice as heavily. A good clay soil i« suitable for tares, but needs to be well worked, a good cultivation between the rows just after the plants are well up. being very helpful in obtaining a. good growth of feed. I am inclined to think, where one cuts the feed instead of grazing it, that it. is no advantage to mix with rye, which, in my\ expeiienee. grows much faster than the tares, and becomes rank and coarse. As a soil renovator tares are extremely useful, possessing th.it, valuable characteristic of leguminous plants of gathering nitrogen from the sir and ro turning it to the soil. In feeding tares to sheep it is just as well to know that a small amount of ccrn is a good thing with which to balance the ration. " Another excellent fodder crop is pea l ; and cats sown together. This combination iis an excellent one for improving the soil, which it leaves in good condition for a following crop of wheat. Rape is a plant of which a great deal has been said regarding its feeding value, and many experiments have been made in this direction, all tending to show that it is a fodder plant of which we could, if we would, avail ourselves much more than we do. Tt requires a good, fertile, well-worked soil and careful culture to obtain the best results, but well Tepays working, because, being a deep rooter, it can be fed down several times in succession, and when finished with leaves the soil In tip-top condition for A following crop. Lucerne, of course, is par excellence the king of fod-

ders, but it is not everywhere that it can be grown. Rye is a good plant, rather coarse in the straw if allowed to mature, but good if kept oaten down and used as pasture till corn-planting time, when it can be turned under and do its pait in con junction with the sheep droppings in helping along the following maize crops. In connection with rye (the winter variety) I have read that, sown thickly, say three or four bushels to the acre, and kept fed down to prevent seeding, it will grow and make good pasturage for a couple of years. In countries where they run sheep on a different system from our own, it is said to be a common practice for the farmers to pasture their sheep on rye by means of hurdles, shifting them the length and breadth of the field as the crop is eaten off. It is easy to imagine that a crop like rye is doubled in value by this system of feeding. Liebig, the famous chemist, says that rye fed in this way one year will become a biennial as previously mentioned, and produce a crop of grain the following season.