STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3398, 30 April 1919, Page 9

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Weekly Stock Sale*. Monthly (continued). Burnside, Wednesi Woodlands, 2nd 'i'hursAsbburton, Tuesday day Addington, Wednesday vVyndham. Inst ThurtWalareka Railway Juno- day tion. Tuesdays Balfour, 3rd Thursday WalJacetown, Tuesdays Thornbury, Ist Friday Herlot, Thursdays Duntroon <Sb Otautan, 2nd Friday Fortnightly. Birersdale, 3rd Friday Clinton, Thursdays Waikaka, last Friday Balolutha, Fridays Clyde vale, last ThursGore, Tuesday* aT Oamaru, Tuesdays" Periodically as Advsr.Wallacetown, Tuesdays Used. .„ ... Lumsden, Moesburn, Monthly. Orepuki, Mataura, Palmerstou, Ist, Monday Waikouaiti, Ui«erJV'inton, Ist Thursday ton, Kgapara, and Duntroon, 2nd Friday Otago Central Sales.

OTAGO.

A week of variable temperatures with little drying weather along Otago coastal lands, with central districts enjoying intermittent sunshine mixed' with boisterous, cold winds and snow on high lands. A dismal atmosphere still prevails at the various stock markets. The bottom of the market has surely been about plumbed. Why will farmers not demand the knowledge as to the exact position of space available in Otago and Southland freezing .works, and record publicly the position,- and get together and hammer away for more ships and more ships? ' The Mosgiel Progressive Committee deserve kudos for their efforts to outline a suitable method of subdividing the property secured by the Government from Mis Kirk. If similar action was taken in all instances in connection with settlement areas by interested local bodies, and a _ scheme submitted to the Land Board interested, it might help the latter, and obviate bickerings subsequently. Shorthorn bulls apparently are selling very well in New South Wales, Mr M'Lean, of Hawke's Bay, realising for his consignment I36gs apiece for 15 bulls, which were intended to be shown at the Royal. Th. 3 final series of stock sales in Central Otago for this season commence at the Middlemarcb. saleyards on Tuesday, 6th of May. BURNSIDE MARKET. Conditions of the fat stock market at Burnslde on Wednesday were very similar to the previous week. A full yarding of fat sheep of mixed quality elicited rather an improved demand for best grades, but unfinished and secondary quality ewe mutton sold at unchanged' rates. The demand for a moderate yarding of fat lambs was on a par with last sale's languid bidding, the quality ranging from medium to. fair, including a number of fair stores. The demand for an average yarding of fat cattle evinced some improvement on last week's crices in respect to steer beef, but heifer and cow sold at unchanged rates. Beef of best quality sold to 47s 6d per 1001 b. The store cattle pens were *■ fairly well filled, but sales were difficult to effect at even under recent low values, and a number of pens were passed in. There are practically no buyera about at the moment. Good sorts of dairy cows were readily saleable at up to £ls. The demand for baconers and porkers was bright, and a fair yarding of good quality was readily placed at late high rates. ADDINGTON YARDS. Fat sheep yarded at Addington were for tho most pai-t of moderate quality, and chiefly comprised of ewes. Best wethers were firmer than at last sale, but "seconds'' and ewe mutton were secured at unchanged rates. Somewhat over 25Q0 fat lambs were penned, mostly of medium quality. Exporters were operating fairly freely, _ and tho previous week's rates were maintained. There was a small entry of store sheep, half the yarding being Chatham Island wethers, generally big-framed sheep in very fair order. Sales were made at lower values than at last sale, even best grades selling at lower rates, with secondary stuff not wanted. .Fat pigs sold well enough, but stores and small sorts were tively in slow demand, and prices were easier. STOCK SALES. Tho fortnightly stock sales at the abovenamed centres were not a whit better than those of a fortnight ago. The quality of the entry of sheep (about 3000) at Balelutha was not too good. There were no buyers about, the holidays and lack of

space at the various freezing works effectively eliminating all optimistic speculators. Fats sold at moderate rates, fat ewes making to 255; four, six, and eight tooth ewes 18s; good sorts of two-tooth paddock wethers 16s to 17s, and fairish lambs 13s. Medium lambs were not wanted at up to 7s; sound-mouth ewes were not readily absorbed at up to 16s; cull lambs Is. 9d to 4s. There was no demend for fat cattle, and these were back 303 a head, beef selling at 40s per 1001 b. None of the store cattle changed hands at auction, although there was a very fair entry. At Clinton similar conditions prevailed, the entry of about 1000 sheep (chiefly ewes of doubtful ages) and lambs making low prices. Fat ewes sold at 17s to 255, good sound-mouth ewes to 225, broken-mouths 5s to Bs, good sorts of paddock lambs to 10s, and cull lambs from 2s. NORTH ISLAND STOCK VALUES. Values of stock in the North Island indicate the probable shortage of winter feed, and generally a dull demand at all centres. In the Manawatu 6neep prices are barely maintained, but cattle meet with a fair demand. Medium lambs sold at 9s to lis 6d, small ss, year-and-a-half-old steers £4 to £7, extra polled Angus crosses to £9, store cows £4 to £6, springing heifers to £ll, and milkers £l2. In Poverty Bay twotooth wethers sold at 15s to 225, culls 7s to lis, mixed cull two-tooth wethers 14s, weaners (mixed) 355, one-year-and-a-half-old steers £5 to £6 15s, one-year-and-a-half-old heifers £4 4s, and extra £5 10s. In Taranaki a rather better demand was evinced for store lambs, these selling at lis, medium weaner bucket steers 395, and store cows £4 to £6. In the Wairarapa business is dull. Wethers brought 14s, small 7s to lis, two-tooth wethers 20s to 265, lambs 8s to 12s 6d, year-and-a-half-old steers £6 to £7, arid two-and-a-half-year-olds £lO to £l2. In Hawke's Bay lambs sold to lis, and small sorts 5s 6d to Bs. POSITION AND PROSPECTS IN AUSTRALIA. Only scattered rains, and generally light at that, have, been recorded since last writing (says the Pastoral Review), and consequently the seasonal outlook is not so favourable as reported a month ago.- Pastures over the greater part of Victoria and the settled districts of South Australia are still in fair to good condition, but they need a good downpour within the next few weeks to mitigate the effects of the recent warm days and frosty nights. In many parts of Riverina and Southern New South Wales the feed brought along by the February-March rains is showing marked signs of going off, and a hard winter is possible if another precipitation does not come soon. There were some fair falls early in April, but not enough. As for the north, central, and western divisions conditions are rapidly becoming disastrous again. True, some districts are fairly well off, but over large areas the country is nearly bare of feed, and the drought is as serious as ever. Hand-feeding has been carried on for months on many runs. So far the losses of stock do not appear to have been heavy, but they are likely to be bad enough when winter starts in earnest should the weather not break in the meantime. Reports frorn Queensland are that more rain is needed in-parts of the centralwest and south. Elsewhere there has been a good growth of grass as the residt of storms, and feed is fairly plentiful. A considerable amount of southern country is being used as relief by stock-owners from the north-west districts of New South Wales, but here again conditions are peculiar, some properties being droughtstricken and others in good order. Rain is still badly needed over the main pastoral districts of Western Australia. Speaking in general terms, it may be said that stock are keeping in very fair condition in Victoria, South Australia, and Southern New South Wales, and, given timely rains, a good lambing should be obtained. This also applies to most of Queensland. Naturally stock in the drier areas are not doing so well, and with the lambing drawing near the outlook is by no means bright. The beef season opened in Queensland about the 20th March, when the Gladstone works started killing. Lake's Creek _ commenced some 10 days later. There is no question of any of the works round Brisbane opening until end of April, and even then they do not anticipate heavy killings. The principal districts from which the southern works draw their supplies of cattl9 have had a bad time climatically, and the supply of fats will certainly be smaller than usual. Probably there will be a few thousand sheep available. The opening of the northern works is expected at the close of April or early May. Tn respect to the wool appraisements, the highest price ever obtained in Sydney—viz., 30? d for greasy wool —was spcured by the brand J. O. over M in diamond over Lerida. In Victoria catalogues during the month have been of very lengthy dimensions owing to the great quantity of crossbred parcels usually associated with this stage of the season. Prices for both merino

and coiuooucii were carried a point lurthcr, in trie lormor section tuo fcpnngwood making 6±sa, and in tne latter Uooawood 30jd, botn record puces lor tne season, aithougn the latter liguro waa previously obtained lor the H.lj.jA./ii. comeback in December last, dome litcle hair-splitting was indulged in over a somewhat technical point aa regards the Goodwood clip, but from a breeder's point of view the term comeback may well be retained. In Brisbane the lost leeway owing to quarantino regulations has been made up during the past month, some 100,000 bales having been appraised—a good perlormance on the part ot all concerned. At the first round offerings were fairly representative. Many of the clips showed thinness, and. were lacking in staple, due mainly to the recent dry weather, and to a shearing of wools of only 10 months' growth. The second round,, for the most part, comprised the balance of the clips offered in the first, but including some good parcels from the" Tambo and St. George districts. In Adelaide the wool for the season is practically completed, with, of course a final round towards the end of June, some south-eastern clips being noticeable in the catalogues for last month, realising good averages. It is too early to attempt to forecast the area that will be put under wheat this season, but it seems more than likely that there will be a decrease as compared with last year. In 1918 (roughly 8,000,000 acres were reserved for grain, which, by the way, were 1,600,000 acres less than in 1917, 3,500,000 acres less than in 1916, and 4,400,000 acres less than in 1915. The fact that 4s 4d a bushel f.o.b. has been guaranteed for the crop may have an effect in steadying the decline, but it is doubtful. For one thing, the drought prevailing in New South Wales is almost certain to cause a further reduction in that State, and the same will be the case in Western Australia. Then labour is still scarce and unreliable, and there is a tendency on the part of farmers not to cultivate more land that they can manage without outside help. It must be confessed that sheep at the present prices of wool and meat offer much greater inducements than grain-growing. BRAZIL'S MEAT INDUSTRY. Brazil's progress in the meat export business, according to the following interesting article (culled from the Australian Meat Trade Journal), is rapid. The cattle and meat-packing industries continue to forge ahead with every prospect, so that, before many more years have elapsed, Brazil will be looked upon as one of the principal sources of the world's supply .of beef. American capital has not been _as easy to obtain for application on foreign soil as European capital, as American investors have usually in the past been conservative about engaging in large undertakings abroad. If the rapidity with which American capital is investing millions of dollars in large modern packing! plants in Brazil is any criterion of the future possibilities of this country as a source of beef for the more densely populated where grazing has been abandoned for agricultural pursuits, then Brazil has every prospect of developing an industry that should deserve encouragement and assistance on the part of the authorities here. Some of these* packing plants are already in operation; and the suddenly established export trade in chilled beef, creating a demand for cattle which breeders have not met with sufficient production, has alarmed many Brazilian public men, because -local prices of beef (which are now perhaps as low as in any country of the world) have commenced to rise. It seems' inevitable that meat prices here should increase as a natural course of events, whether or not an export trade be developed; but there is the broader phase of the question which is apt to be overlooked —namely, the certainty that with these large packing institutions the raising of oattle will be stimulated, the hinterland (now almost entirely undeveloped and to a great extent unexplored) will be opened up, millions of acres which are now unused will bo occupied, railroads will be required to transport the oattle to the packing centres, villages and cities will spring up in the interior, mining and other latent resources will be developed, and the general progress of the country stimulated as perhaps no other single industry can possibly hope to acomplish. The Government has imported a number oi purebred animals, which have been sold at cost to breeders, and recent legislation indicates that everything possible is being done to stimulate' cattle production to meet the demands" of the packing plants in operation and in the course of construction. A considerable trade has been developed in certain exports, mostly food supplies, which prior to the European war scarcely figured in the foreign trade of the country. Chilled ,beef leads the list of these now products, showing a. phenomenal evolution. From a single shipment of one ton in 1914, in 1915 the exports increased to 8513 tons, in 1916 to 33,661 tons, and this last figure was nearly doubled during 1917, when exports reached a total of 66,452 tons. The only ports...of shipment are Rio de Janeiro and Santos, the former showing exports of 37,318 tons and the latter 29,134 tons. There is probably no other example in the economio history of Brazil of such a rapid expansion in any particular branoh of trade? " With the establishment of modern American packing plants., there is every reason to believe that Brazil will become a permanent exporter of beef on a large scale? The bulk of the exports went to Italy in 1917, with France second, and England third in importance. Average prices for beef have maintained a firmer level than most other products." . - J/ AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS. A potato famine is threatened in Western Australia. Home supplies are quite unequal to meet the demand for 300 tons weekly. Dealers are drawing lots for what supplies are available, the price having been fixed by the Government at £l7 per ton. Sir Rider Haggard gave some remarkable evidence before the Birth-rate Commission (says The Australasian). Ho said that he know of no small holdings that were successful. He urged that emigration within the Empire and the redistribution of population would solve many problems, but he ruled out small holdings as a solution. The milk and ice carters and dairymen's employees In Sydney have decided to demand an increase in wages to the extent of £1 a week, on the ground of risks attach- *!<? to their work, owing to the pneumonic influenza epidemic. The employers regard the demand as ridiculous, and it is not likely that it will be conceded.

By twenty votes to eight the council of the Royal Agricultural SociesV P Victoria, decided at its meeting oa April 4 that the

next show should not bo a "dry" one, as was the case last year. The British Government has guaranteed the following prioea for the 1919 crops: Wheat, 71/li lor 4801 b; barley, 66/6 for 400 lb .; oats,-44/1 for 3121 b. A lady drover was to be seen in Balclutha the other day (says the Free Press), handling a flock of sheep in a very workmanlike manner. Her method was to walk along the road at the head of her woolly charges, and direct the movements of a faithful collie bringing up the rear.