STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3097, 23 July 1913, Page 15

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Weekly Stock Salei: Burnside, Wednesday*Ashburton, TuesdaysAddington, Wednesdays. Wniareka Railway June tion. Tuesday*. Fortnightly: Bulclntha, Fridays. Gore, Tuesdays. Oamoru, Tuesdays. Invercargill, Tuesdays. i I -1

Monthly: Ngapara, first Thursday in oach month. Qlmavy, second Wod* nesdar In each month. Dnntroon, second Friday in each month. Win- *«“• aI1(1 Waikoualti. Periodically: Clinton, Palmerston, Heriot, Kelso, Kyeburn.

BURNSIDE MARKET. The quality all round of the 269 head of fat cuttle yarded at Burnside last week was decidedly superior to that seen at recent sales. It was anticipated that a big drop would follow such a large yarding; and such would have doubtless been the case if all forward bail been otfered. Early in the sale, howover, two truck loads from Christchurch and two truck loads from Southland were withdrawn, prices not reaching owners’ values. There was thus practically no alteration from recent rates. Bosj; bullocks realised from £ll 10s to £l3, one or two special lines realising up to £l7; light and unfinished, £7 10s to £9; best cows and heifers, £lO to £11; lighter sorts, £5 10s to £5 Bs. The stores yarded were mostly cows, young cattle, and calves, the latter showing indications of bad feeding as well as bad breeding. All found owners, but for the class forward high prices could not be looked for. At a special gale of cattle held the previous day prices were very high, the cattle being oif high country, and well known to bo good doers. Good three-year-old steers are worth £7 to £S; cows (empty), from £5 to £7; two-year-old steers, up to £5 10s; yearlings. £2 Ids to £3, according to size and breeding. There was a yarding of 3225 fat sheep, being a drop of 1486 as compared with the previous work. All finished lines sold readily at quite up to the previous week’s rates, and several pens did shghtly better, but for medium and unfinished lines a price under late rates had to bo accepted. Best wethers sold at 25s to 23s ; lighter sorts, 18s to 225; best owes ranged quite up to wether prices; lighter sorts, 12s to 17s. There were only 1400 fat lambs forward, a drop of 324 compared with the previous week. Notwithstanding the smaller number the price fell Is to 2s per head. This was probiddy more in consequence of the quality rather than from lack of demand. Best lambs realised 18s to 225; light and unfinished, 14s to 16s; good stores, 12s 6d to 14s. Of pigs, 51 fat and 34 stores were penned. Prices may bo said fo have been a little easier for porkers and baconois; but still the prices should be considered good from a producer’s point of view. Slips and suckers were eagerly competed for at prices higher than late ruling rates. ADDINGTON MARKETS. At the Addington stock market last week the number of fat cattle yarded was 228. Included amongst this number were some lines of very.prime quality beef. Competition was not quite so brisk as on the previous week, and there was no quotable change in prices. The bulk of the small yarding of store cattle was composed of old cows, and the demand was more free than at the previous sale. The entry of dairy cows included a number of young springers, and t ho demand was, as usual, free, prices ranging from £4 to £8 10s, extra realising £ll 17s 6d. There was a larger entry of fat sheep than has been the ease for some time past, the number totalling between 6000 to 7000. At the opening of the sale the prices wore in advance of the previous week, but towards the close they fell Is below. Prices ranged 21s to 27s 5d for exira wethers, others 16s lOd to 20s 6d, extra prime ewes to 265. In the fat lamb section the entry totalled 1971. as against 15:5 for the previous week. The ouality was not <so good as compared with the previous week, and prices conseciuently were a little easier, especially for unfinished and inferior lots. New season’s lamb brought

-24s 7d, freezers 17s 6d to 19s 7d, and others 14s to 17s. The yarding of store sheep was good for the season of the year, ewes and hoggets forming the greater part. The demand for all classes of, ewes was strong, and prices were up to late rates. Hoggets sold at slight!}' advanced prices. The lines of wethers submitted were only of medium quality, and prices -were unchanged. Store pigs showed a declining tendency, and the demand was not so keen. Large stores made 35s to 40s, medium 25s to 345. There was only an ordinary entry of fat calves, and the quality ranged wide; an extra good ; animal realised £4. j FAT LAMBS FOR EXPORT, j Since the price for lambs has been reduced by the export buyers supplies have fallen off very considerably, and the Burnside Freezing Works is not working half time. Buyers find that at the reduced limits on which they are now working graziers are successfully competing against them for lambs offered in the public saleyards, presumably with the intention of carrying the lambs through the winter until after shearing. THE LONDON MARKET FOR FROZEN MEAT. Messrs Henry S. Fitter and Sons in their report, dated London, June b, again emphasise the relatively high prices realised for small sheep and lambs, -they say: “Small New Zealand mutton is finding a ready sale, but larger sheep come into competition with the Argentine, and are more i difficult to move. In consequence of the labour trouble in Now Zealand, the dressing of the sheep and lambs is not quite up to the usual standard, but as so much more depends upon the quality, there has not been up to the present much loss on account of inferior dressing. Small ewes are selling very well; large ones are not in much demand. The Now Zealand lamb trade is going very well. As was to be expected, the larger shipments lately to hand have had the effect of bringing prices down to a more workable level from the buyers' point of view. This will help to stimulate business and prevent the demand from slackening off before the end of the season, as no doubt it would have clone if prices had boon kept i too high. Many of the lambs now arriving are on the heavy side; consequently small | lambs are in good demand, but large lambs ! and tegs are now more difficult to dispose ! of at present prices. Some Down lambs ! from the North Island lately to hand wore ; very good quality, but were not well finished. It should he borne in mind thur I to obtain top prices Downs must be well ■ finished, otherwise buyers will not pay the ■ extra money. And there is a larger quan- : tity of tog» to hand, prices are somewhat weaker. Those togs arc mostly of very good quality, but some have done too well and are rather wasteful. This fault should , bo guarded against as much as possible, as : fat teg,; are very unsaleable.” On the same point Messrs Gordon, Woodroffe, and Co. j say: ‘'Prices have dropped considerably, j more particularly for the heavier weights. I The lighter weights sell very freely and are j in excellent demand. It seems probable j that the premium asked for up to 36!b will j have the elfcct of turning buyers’ attention more towards the heavier grades.” A FAVOURABLE OUTLOOK. The decrease in the number of sheep in the South Island disclosed by the interim sheep returns just published would seem to indicate that no expansion of the frozen I meat trade can bo anticipated for the next • few years lest a worse fate follows. Our sheep-breeders for export should set themselves the task of improving their flocks, so that they may command the best market. The opening of new markets, which seems irnni'iient, renders the outlook particularly bright, and if New Zealand maintains the quality which made a name for the Dominion in the early days of the trade, quality will enable us to command the best price going, arid, within reason, will pay be tter than quantity. Australia anticipates a largo expansion, as nearly all stock arc fat. and new freezing works continue to bo established in various centres. With a reduction .from 19,000,000 to less than 5,000,000 in the flocks of Germany, and a continued meat famine, it seems certain that the clamour for the introduction of-moat from outside cannot long he resisted. The potentialities of trade with the United States are enormous. The consumption of mutton in that country is computed at 17,000,000 sheep and lambs annually, a number much in excess of the natural increase in the flocks of the States; and with the growing scarcity of beef the demand for mutton is likely to increase. WHO IS DEFRAUDED? A Victorian grazier, -while on a visit to the Old Country, made it his business to go among the people dealing with frozen mutton, to find out, at the market end, what the opinion was of the Australian product. He found, both in London and Glasgow, that butchers do not like the lambs too fat, but all prefer the “Down” meat. At one wholesale house he found them cutting up the carcases into different joints to suiUthe trade of different retailers. The manager here told him that the Shropshirecross lamb suited them best, as on these the fat and loan were well interm'xed, while some of the other Down breeds piled up the fat in lumps on the rump, efc. When the retailers came to subdivide these quarters, their customers grumbled if they ]

; more than a little fat. At Glasgow i this gentleman saw ticketed up “New Zeai land grass-fed lambs.” Knowing that it was too early for any lambs from New Zealand to have reached the Old Country, a.so that New Zealand lambs were usually turnip-fed, ho made inquiries inside. The proprietor assured him that they never handled Australian meat. Further tactful questioning as to Now Zealand brands revealed on the coverings the names of several well-known Victorian places. It seems to us that the grievance is that of the producers in New Zea'and rather than with the Australian. / SCARCITY OF CATTLE. The Commonwealth Department of External Affairs has received advice from the consul for the United States of America, at Melbourne, that as a result of recent importations of Australian beef and mutton into ports on the Pacific coast of the United States he has been informed by the Los Angelos Union Stockyards Company of Lo* Angeles, California, that it is desirous of being placed in touch with dealers who are m a position to ship live stock from Australia to American markets. The company in question states that if prices and proper snipping: facilities can be ha-d it could use an unlimited number of stock cattle, of all kinds and all ages, to replenish the depleted ranges of the western territory of the United States. The Argentine is scarcely likely to bo able to increase, or even maintain, its present output cf beef. A reliable report says:—“During the year 1912 six million hides were exported and 1.200.000 were used locally. Besides this, j 500,000 head of cattle on the hoof wero ' exported, and a very large number of theso j wero cattle for breeding purposes, which went to Brazil. These three figures mean 7.700.000 animals less, to replace which it has not been possible to count on a greater increase by procreation than 4.600.000 head, leaving a deficit of 3,100,000 head. THE BEEF TRUST. With the increasing demand for meat and the decrease in the world’s flocks and herds the shadow of the Beef Trust looms larger. An American correspondent of a Sydney daily says:—“The people of Australia do not realise the power of the Meat Trust. | It will be a miracle if this gigantic concern I is prevented from getting a foothold in i Australia. The United States Government ! has been prosecuting this combine almost iin every State.in the union without securing to date a conviction against their illegal | methods of monopoly. The latest xnove- ! ment of the Board of Agriculture is to pre- : pare a Cold Storage Bill, preventing tho : holding of millions of pounds of foodstuffs in refrigerated chambers over a period of six months. It is thought that this Bill will prevent the packers from keeping meats for an indefinite period in cpld storage in < order to manipulate prices the world over, besides being a menace to health. The j Bill will give discretionary power to the ■ superintendent of the Health Department j to allow an extra throe or six months at > tho most. While I believe this will be a ; temporary remedy, and will lower prices, I eventually the trusts, with Australasia in their grip, will control tho world’s exports, and high prices will rule to suit the packers' interests at the cost of tho consumer and pastoralists. How such conditions can affect tho pastoralists or sheep-fanners can be easily explained. The trust acquired in its early stages practically every large interest j iu U.S.A.. so that the small man found | it impossible to compote against it, and finally threw in his lot with the combine. It, has practically done the same in Argentina, and three of its agenis are now in Australia, and have been getting the best information with tho object of controlling that end of the world. The consensus of opinion on your side is that this is impossible. I venture to sayvfrom my three years’ experience that nothing is impossible for the Meat Trust. It has millions at its back, and to absorb tho big Queensland works and other Sydney meat concerns would not present any difficulty. This would form the key cf admission, and would control Flcmington Yards at Melbourne and Homebush, N.S.W. - ; then the growers would bo the lambs, as the price would bo fixed by this organisation, and they would have to take what was offered by the combine. I fool sure that the Austral : an people outside the meat trade do not, realise the power of this combine; but looking at the situation entirely with Australian eyes, I have a firm conviction that if the trust gets a foothold in Australia or New Zraland, then in less than 10 years it will control, not only the meat trade, but tho entire food supplies, and spoil ruin to every wool and cattle grower in the Commonwealth.” A. AND P. 'SOCIETIES. While some Ag ricultural and Pastoral Societies are doing excellent work throughout tho year, there are others that only become active to carry out the annual show, and after that is over they hibernate. It appears that a somewhat similar state of affairs is not unknown in Australia, and at a convention of Victorian farmers a number of delegates voiced the opinion that tho societies were not fulfilling all the functions possible to them. Mr Skinner, of Tungatnah (says tho Weekly Times) moved in favour of tho executive drawing np a scheme _ for- improving the societies and enlarging their scope. Ho contended that such bodies wero brought into existence for more useful pur-

poses than merely holding a show. The Government was spending a lot of money in organising lectures, but ho did not believe the knowledge of the agricultural experts was sufficiently appreciated, lie also considered there were too many shows, and thought grouping should be done in order to limit the number in any particular section, perhaps by each centre having a biennial exhibition. Mr Bartlett (Corryong) said the Upper Murray societies had adopted a useful rotation of dates. lie was with Mr Skinner in hie desire to extend the usefulness of the societies. They might form agricultural bureaus to assist the Immigration Department in indicating the local requirements in labour. They might also assist, in the administration of the Noxious Weeds Act and in collecting weeds. The convention was against amplified efforts. DECLINING SHOWS. Referring to the steady disappearance from shows of merino sheep—and coincidentally with the steady displacement of the merino by other breeds,—a writer in an Adelaide contemi>orary has a tilt at some of the larger societies. If (says this writer) the next Adelaide Show suffers, compared with those of the previous three years, there will not be left any sheep show of importance to keep the flag flying. As time goes on and the Western District flocks in Victoria disappear, the Ballarat Show will cease to be what it has been in the past. The Melbourne Sheep-breeders’ (Show is almost a farce, the Melbourne Royal is confined to British breeds, and owes the majority of its entries to the opportunity thereby afforded for parading exhibits which are to bo offered at the sales which follow immediately after. The Sydney Sheep-breeders’ (Show is catching on among the breeders of the British types, and gradually dying out so far as the merino men are concerned. The Sydney Royal is the greatest failure farce of all fiheop shows, as it cannot even attract a representative lot of British breeds. One of the best merino shows still left standing is that of Campbelltown, in Tasmania, which has just celebrated its seventy-fifth year. This, however, is entirely confined to merinos of the one type. It is patronised to a certain extent by the British breeds, which are also to be met with in considerable force at the annual shows held in Hobart, Launceston, and Longford. ’Throughout New South Wales and Victoria the country shows, which at one time attracted entries from all the loading breeders of those two States, have suffered in an even more pronounced manner. Nothing bears more emphatic and sad testimony to this fact than the immense sheds still labelled “ sheep ” which arc to bo mot with on the show grounds, and nro now found to be either partially filled with pigs and calves or wholly empty. One of the chief reasons for this state o' affairs is said to be that established breeders who have rnado a name for themselves ns studmasters, and who annually sell numbers of

stud and flock ran>6. will run ihe risk of losing their reputation should any of their sheep be beaten by those of a rival breeder at a show'. This reason does not apply to the steady disappearance of the merino at New Zealand shows, though it may be an actuating motive as regards breeders of other classes of sheep. MILK RECORDS IN SCOTLAND. A report on milk records relating to 13.965 cotvs has been issued by the Scottish Milk Records Committee. The report, dealing with lactations actually or practically terminating in 1911, states that experience confirms the view' that the best unit to employ in the comparison of milk yields of various qualities is that which reckons them in terms of gallons estimated at 1 per cent, of butter-fat. Yields of which the quantity and quality taken together amount, in the case of cows, to 2500 gallons, calculated on a basis of 1 V cent, fat, and in the case of heifers to 2000 gallons, are considered good. Cows and heifers giving below 1660 gallons and 1330 gallons respectively are classed as bad. The "good” figures correspond to 714- gallons and 570 gallons on a quality basis of 3.5 per cent. lat. while the “ bad ” figures correspond to 474 gallons and 380 gallons respectively. The statements of milk yields are given in terms of actual quantity and quality of milk, and not in terms of the the hypothetical unit mentioned above. A lengthy appendix gives the results on individual farms, showing in each case (a) cows yielding over 2500 gallons, calculated at 1 per cent, butter-fat; (b) heifers yielding over 2000 gallons, calculated at 1 per cent, butter-fat; (c) cows yielding under 1660 gallons, calculated at 1 per cent, butter-fat; (d) heifers yielding under 1330 gallons, calculated at 1 per cent, butter-fat. The work was administered through local milk record societies, of which a list is given. Five new societies were formed during 1911, and the number of herds under test rose from 217 in 1910 to 333 in 1911. while the total number of. cows tested shows an increase from 9500 in 1910 to 13,965 in 1911. Taking only those societies which were in existence in both years, out of 9514 anima's tested in 1910. 1756 cows and 627 heifers were “ good,” and 495 cows and 60 heifers were “ bad,” while out of 10,044 animals tested in 1911 2071 cows and 805 heifers were “good” and 443 cows and 27 heifers wore ’ bad.” PRESERVING BUTTER. An effective means of preserving butter is thus vouched for by an American dairyfarmer: —“Churn, and then wash well the butter in several cold waters, to thoroughly remove every trace of the butter-milk. Drain well, spread it thinly and salt to suit the taste, sprinkling the salt thinly over every portion of it. Work well, drain again, and set in a cold cellar of even temperature until next day. Then wopk it again by means of a butter ladle, and pat it into little cakes the size of an egg, and pat each one of these cakes (one at a time) until thin as a wafer, so as to drain off all the water possible. Pack in earthen jars, filling within lin from the top. Now wring a white linen or muslin cloth from cold water (cutting it to lap a little over the jar), and on the top of the cloth put fine salt until it comes level with the top of the jar. Put a sheet of paraffin paper over the salt, seal covers on with wax, and tic brown paper down over it all, so as to ensure excluding the air. Butter preserved by this method cannot become strong, provided all the equipment has been kept perfectly sweet and clean by thorough washing and scalding. Fill the jars or crocks full at once; never leave them over for the next churning. The butter is liable to become strong if the jars are left open a day or two. If cattle have been allowed to pasture in wild fields, which has caused the butter to have any disagreeable taste, if packed by these instructions every particle of it will draw out. My customers will not buy elsewhere so long as 1 can supply then. The cloths used are never employed in any other kind of work. Wo always wash, rinse, and scald them each time they are used, and hang them out in the air, so they will ho fresh and sweet the next time they are to be used. Butter shou'd bo kept in a cold cellar of even temperature.”