STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3212, 6 October 1915, Page 17

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Weekly Stock Sales. ■Burnside, Wednesdays Ashburton, Tuesdays Addington, Wednesdays Wala.reka Railway Junction, Tuesdays. Fortnightly. Qllnton, Thursdays Balclutha, .Fridays (Jore, Tuesdays Oamaru, Tuesdays Wallaoetown, Tuesdays. Monthly. Fftlmerulou, Ist Uonday Ngapara & Wiutou, Ist Thursday

llataura A Walkoualtl 2nd Thursday Riverton, 3rd Thursday Wyndham, last Thursday Balfour & Thornbury, Ist Friday Duatroon A Otautau, 2nd Friday Riversdale, 3rd Friday Waikaka last Friday. Periodically. Heriot, Reiso, Waipiata, Lumsden, Mossburn, Urepukl, Oliiden.

BURNSIDE MARKET. ! There was an offering of 2137 fat sheep at Burnside last week which were lather above the average m quality. - The tone of the market was good, and a clearance was speedily effected at prices on a par , per head above the previous week s : Exporters secured a lew pens, and several lota were secured by Canterbury butene . Quotations: Prime heavy wethers 57s to Ms, good 2Ss to 335, fair 21s to 24b od prime heavy ewes 54s to 36s 6d, fan . f to 29s 6d, others to extra heavy sheep 43s to 50s. A few hundred hoggets were offered, which sold, when prime and well graded, at late quotations, while stole soits (wethers) were sold at 14s to 16s E.gfit spring lambs were yarded, to 24s 3d. A small yarding of 148 fat cattle were penned, a number of them being splendid quality cattle, while unfinished pens were not infrequent. Flam beef was considerably dearer, and also light-weight steer beef, showing a rise of 15s■ per head, making beef up to 45s per 1001 b; choice heavy-weight bullocks and best heifer beet did not show the same appreciation, and 44s per 1001 b w-as probably the outside price paid. Quotations: Prime heavy bu.locKS £l7 to £l9 10s, good £l4 to £l6, fair £l2 to £ls 10s, prime heifer cows to £l4, others to £lO 10s. Extra weighty animals to £2O 2a 6d Two hundred store cattle were penned, mixed sorts. The demand was fair Quotations: Ordinary two-year-o.d steers £5 11s, to £6 Is, thin yearlings to £1 18s, cows to £8 4s, bulls to £ll 10s. The dairy cows offered were somewhat above the average of recent pennings, and elicited fancompetition at from £6 to £ll, while calves sold freely at from 9s 6d to 37s The yardin o- of pigs comprised about 100. which included some rather bettor sorts of bacon pigs than usual. The sale was turn and a clearance made at values quite up to recent prices. \ ADDINGTON YARDS. The yarding of fat sheep at Addington was not up to the average of the previous -Week, either in quality or number. Values ruled much the same, except, perhaps, m the case of indifferently-finished lots, as at last sale. Quotations: Prime wethers 2fs 6d to 365, fair 21s to 265, best ewes 25s to 30s 6d, others 19s 6d to 24s 3d, special weighty sheep to 525. In the store pens hoggets were in the majority. Sales were not made eaily, and passings were not. infrequent. Quotations : Good ewe hoggets to 20s 4d, fair 15s 6d, good wether hoggets to 18s 6d, fair to 16s 6d, others 8s to 12s This season’s lambs wore on offer to the number of 84, which in some cases however, were not up to the grade desired. Best lambs made ISs to 225, others 15s 5J to 18s 6d. There was a medium entry ot fat cattle of all qualities, for which values of the previous week were not obtained. Beef declined Is 6d per 1001 b, thus making, for ordinary, 34s 6d to 52s 6d, extra 56s 6d ner 1001 b. Only a moderate number ot store cattle were offered, the quality being indifferent. Passings were frequent in the absence of buyers. Quotations: Three-yoar-old steers £6 to £7, two-year olds to £4 one and a-half-year-olds to £2 15s. In the pirr pens average yard mgs were submitted, and values obtainable were practically the same as the previous week’s quotations viz., pork, per lb. 63d to 7d best stores 33s to 3Ss 6d, medium 25s to 30a, small 12s to 16s, woaners 9a to 19s. BALCLUTHA AND CLINTON. At Balclutha there was a small yarding of sheep, and the demand was bettor by 6d to Is per head for sheep, compared with last sale rates. Fat sheep sold at up to 34s 6d, and mixed sexod hoggets to 19s Id failino- ewes with lambs at foot 11s, ail counted. In the cattle pens the small entry Was not of first-grade quality, and the demand was but fair, a lino of 60 two-year-old medium steers making £5 10s 6d. At Clinton the previous clay the small yarding, comprising hoggets chiefly, was not sought after the absence of outside buyers being remarked. The sale was perhaps not quite SO good as at Balclutha; 17s 6cl was paid tor mixed sexed hoggets and 29a 3d for forward wethers, and 24s 6d for two-tooths. In both districts the outlook is good, and grass is coming away, after the rain. Farmers in the meantime, what with the lambs coming fast and the demand on feed generally at this tune of the year, are not themselves keen buyers, and the variation, if any, in values, between the tw r o centres is admittedly due to outside buyers nut attending both markets. At stock markets further south prices of both sheep and cattle show an improving tendency, although transactions ore comparatively limited. Tloggrrs and wethers, are changing bands, but not freely, as holders wish to shear them, if oossible, before parting. An a. L-.ii.ce oi U ftd per head compared

to last month’s store sheep quotations may be noted. With cattle the demand is very fair, and values are on the make. Yaluos may be given as follows, condition, perhaps, at the moment being the determining factor rather than breeding : —Yearling steers £1 10s to £3 ss, mixed one and-hall to two year olds £4 to £5 10s, two and a-half to three-year-olds (ordinary) £8 to £9. NORTH ISLAND STOCK SALES. Values of stock at various selected localities in the North Island are as follow: North Auckland: Three' and four-year-old steers. Shorthorn cross, to £ll ss, two and a-half years to £7 10s, one and a-half years and two years to £6, yearlings. £3 10s to £4. Waikato: Yearling steers £3 to £3 10s, mixed £3, two and a-half-year-olcte £7 ss, fair three-year-olds to £8 16s. cows with good calves at foot £7 17s. The oemand for sheep in the Wairarana was a shade less active, and quotations ru^ a d as follow :—Masterton : Fat wethers to 9ci, hoggets 19s to 21s, four-year-old bullocks to £ll 17s 6d, three-year-olds to £6 16s, two-year-olds to £4 19s, yearling heifers to £2 10s. In Poverty' Bay district rain is wanted, and at the Matawhero Yards where 9000 sheep and some 700 head oi cattle wore penned, voices were tor sheep, barely maintained. Wethers sold to 325, hoggets 18s to 21s 9d. Calves £1 19s year and a-half steers £3 11s, mixed aged bullocks £lO, springing heifers and cows £o 5s to £H. BEEF VALUES. At the sale the previous week at Burnside, when a wide range of fat cattle were submitted to auction, it was apparent, to any observant onlooker that c.io.ce beet was relatively cheaper per lOOib than the indifferently finished animals. The fact was emphasised repeatedly that generous feeders do not reap equivalent prices for , choice beef when compared with stock ot inclinerent quality and finish. It is in such cases that marked benefit might result if the practice of selling by live weight was in land more particularly, although other centres are following suit,— weighing facilities are provided. In America this method of selling is extensively practised. A small charge is made for testing the weight ot cattle, and the machine js at the service of anyone claiming to use it. The consequent effects of expensive feeding is not then thrown away, and the grower has not the mortification of seeing inferior animals bringing a higher price per cwt. WOOL SALES. The opening sale of the 1915-16 wool season commences on Thursday, November 11, in Christchurch—that is, on the socopd day of tho Summer Show, entries closing on Thursday, November 4. The final sale of tho New Zealand series will bo held at Wellington on February 25, 1916. STUD NOTES. Mr Higuchi, a representative of the Japanese Government, recently visited the Cooma district, Now South Wales, and purchased 10 stud merino ewes from Mr O. O. Litchfield, Slpringwoll, one stud merino ram from Mr A. J. Litchfield, Hazeldean, and five stud Romney Marsh owes from Mr S. M. Osborne, Bolaro. These sheep were bought on account of the Japanese Government, and will be shipped to Japan in the near future. Mr Wm. Perry, of Penrose, Mastcrton, Now Zealand; sold 50 one-shear stud Romney Marsh owes and two rams for South America. Mr Perry is sending four Lincolns and four Romney Marsh stud rams to compete at the Panama Exposition, and Mr A. Matthews, of Wairongomai, Feathereton, is also sending four Romney Marsh rams. Mr Anthony Hordern, of Bywong, Gunclaroo, New South Wales, is importing 50 young Lincoln ewes from England. They have boon selected by Mr Alfred Mansell, of Shrewsbury, and include the first and second prize-winners at the Royal Show at Nottingham, j Mr R. Tanner, Longburn, Palmerston ! North, Now Zealand, has shipped 22 stud Romney Marsh ewe hoggets to a client in California. Mr James Patrick, of Loo Crook, West Taieri, has bought from Mr J. W. Harding, Hawke’s Bay, the imported Clydesdale mare White Silk (27394 C. 5.8.). This mare is a daughter of the famous Baron of Buchlyvio (11263 C. 5.8.), and her dam was the Duchess of York (15011'. White Silk has had a grand career in the show ring at Home, and at Hawke’s Bay as a seven-year-old was first and champion. She has demonstrated that she is a good breeder, and should prove a welcome addition to the Clydesdales of Otago. ! THE SEASON IN AUSTRALIA IN | REGARD TO STOCK. Favourable weather continues to obtain over tho greater part of tho pastoral areas of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. Occasional showers and mild day temperatures have brought on grass and herbage wonderfully fast, and everything points to an early and prolific spring. So waterlogged have parts of the country become that coses of footrot have been reported in places where such a thing has never been seen before (says tho Pastoral Review). As will be readily understood, the stock that arc left !n tho country are rapidly recovering from tho effects of the late drought. The difficulty nowadays le to get sufficient sheep and cattle to eat tho grass.

Stores of all descriptions are in very keen demand, and all that are offering are snapped up at high prices. Rivcrina graziers have been obl’ged to look as far afield as central west Queensland for store sheep. It is reported that some large inns have been purchased along the central railway, and are being trucked through to the New Siuth Wales border. Fat sheep and lambs arc becoming more plentiful in tho southern markets, and mutton values are gradually settling down to a reasonable level. It is stated that operators in New South Wales have already secured a fair number of sheep in the country, and arc opening their works. The next few weeks should see the supplies in tho Melbourne and Adelaide markets sufficient for the local trade at all events, but it is not likely that there will be any surplus for export in either Victoria or South Australia for some little time. Indeed, as far as Aoolaido is concerned, it is doubtful if there will be anv surplus of sheep this year oyer and above the butchering trade’s requirements. In any case, it sounds absurd to Calk of. exportable surpluses in the near future, when only a fortnight ago butchers paid £5 a head in Melbourne for two pens of Corriedale wethers. At the time of writing a leg of mutton is costing Is per lb in the principal centres of population. Fat cattle will certainly be scarce right through tho summer. The southern _ States usually look to Queensland for their supplies, but owing to the adverse season practically no cattle are coming south now. The herds in Now South Wales, Victoria and South Australia were largely depleted during tho drought, and for tho last two or three months there has been a regular beef famine. Fat bullocks have sold at up up to £75 10s a head, and prices over £4O are common. The one to two inches of ram that were recorded over the southern and central west districts of Queensland tho second half of last month will afford partial relief from the drought that still prevails over about three-quarters of that State. The fall will do good inasmuch as it will provide surface water, and may start grass, but it is necessary that it should be followed by a further downpour within the next week or two at the latest to assure feed. Reports received from different parts of tho country show that the losses of stock have been, and still are, heavy. Competent judges say that oven if pastoral conditions take an immediate turn for the better, sheep will be found to have decreased by 20 per cent, and cattle by 124 per cent, as compared with the total at the end of last year. That means that the losses of sheep are already put down at 4,500,000, and cattle at 670,000 head.

THE AUSTRALIAN GRAIN CROP. Occasional showers and frosts have made ideal conditions for growing crops over practically the whole of tho wheat belt proper. Really, the only fault that can bo found with the weather is that it has been rather to moist in parts, particularly Eastern Riverina and in north-east and central Victoria. Heavy rains in the Southern Alps and western slopes in the middle of August caused floods in the Upper Murray Valley and some of its tributaries, but the damage done was not serious, except on a few isolated farms. With regard to the area lying outside the wheat belt, coastal New South Wales and also tho Monaro district are on the dry _ side, and need more rain. The drought in Queensland has been relieved to a slight extent by the rains that fell the second half of last month. Most of tho agriculturad districts recorded over an inch, but owing to tho previous dry state of the country more is urgently required to make the season anything like safe. Climatic conditions in Western Australia are altogether favourable to a satisfactory harvest. Reports received from various parts of the country indicate that crops are very forward for the time of the year. Quite a month in advance ot the usual, many correspondents write There has been a' fair amount of wind the last fortnight, which, combined with tho frosts, has helped to strengthen the wheat plants. Some of the early paddocks are already heading, and the risk now is that a severe frost may occur and cut everything back. Wocdfe are much in evidence, and will undoubtedly affect the yield of grain on many farms. As is only to bo expected, they show up worst on unfallowed land, and where dirty seed of unknown quality from distant parts was used. A few oases of rust aro reported in the south. Everything points to a heavy harvest, and there is a very natural fear felt by all but the most short-sighted, that, owing to the number of farmers, their sons, and farm hands having enlisted, there will be a serious shortage of labour later. No doubt some will get over the difficulty by turning a greater than usual proportion of their crops into hay, but unless the unexpected happens tho majority will bo faced with a serious problem when the time comes to harvest the grain. With a view to organising the labour that may be available, growers and shire councils in the respective States aro being circularised by the Government Bureau. They are askccl to supply particulars of their own requirements, of the men who are likely to he available for work in other districts, and the probable date of harvest. It is understood that when this information has been collected it is hoped that it will he possible to movo workers from district to district so as to enable the men in lato districts to help harvest in the early and vice versa. This scheme will need to bo very well organised, and at the best cannot be expected to provide much relief. As everybody knows,

the majority of crops this year germinated about the same time, so the divergence between lato and early districts will be less marked than usual.

It is satisfactory to note that in most districts farmers have guaranteed to harvest the crops of neighbours.—Tho Pastoral Review.