STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3467, 24 August 1920, Page 9

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

WmVW Stock SBlan. Monthly (csntTnnedl. Burnslde, Wednesdays W oodlands, 2nd Xhiu-o. Ashburton, Tuesdays &&J Addington, Wednesdays <Vyndbam. last ThursWaiareka H«llw»y Juno- day tlon, Tuesdays Balfour, 3rd Thursday Wallaoetown. Tuesdays Thornbury, Ist Friday Heriot. Thursdays Dr.ntroon & Otaatau, Fortnightly. *«• . Fr , id *J Clinton. Thursdays 19 ', 3r ,. d a J Owaia, alternate W- U ? P&* days with Clinton Clydevale. last IhursBulcliitha, Kndaya aay Gore, Tuesday* Periodically ss Atfvef Oarcaru, Tuesdays Used. Monthly. Lumsden, Mossbuin, Wallacetown, Tuesdays Urepukl, Maf-aura, Palmerston, Ist Monday Waikouai'i, iii"erWinton, Ist Thursday ton, Ngapara, and Duntroon, 2nd Friday Utago Central sales. OTAGO. The weather was more unpleasant than the previous week, rain falling intermittenly and cold withal, throughout Otago. The result is evident in the curtailment of speculation in stock, while the tact that feed is not yet in sight, and swedes have being cleaned up so quickly during the cold "snap" tends to steady the market demand. The admission charges to A. and P. tjhows have been on the rise during the last few years. The Canterbury A. and P. Association decided to follow the lead of the North and future charges of admission will •be 2s for adults and Is for children —double the present charges. BURNSIDE MARKET. The yarding of fat sheep at Burnside was a very fair one, the quality being varied. Included in the entry were about 300 finewoolled sheep, most of them wethers. The demand was slow, more particularly during the early part of the sale, but firmed up towards the finish, prices being about a shilling down on previous market rates. The fat hoggets yarded made last sale's prices. Any unfinished graziers' sorts, whether sheep or hogget, were in slow request. The quality of the fat cattle yarded was good for the most part, yards of unfinished, half-fat animals being dwarfed by some extra choice btock here and there throughout this section. The demand opened strongly, and prices for best quality were maintained, but light-carcassed, ill-finished steers wore comparatively cheap. Beef sold to 59s per lOoib, an increase on the run of the sale of 7s 6d a head on the previous week's rates. Under 100 head of store cattle were penned, an unattractive lot, chiefly young sorts, there being but one yard of grown steers. Sales were slow for all except the three to four-year-olds. One-and-' a-half-year-old, mixed fair sorts, £5 7s 6d; medium, same age, £3 19s. Few dairy cows were offered, and good sorts wore scarce and the demand as strong as ever. The entry of fat pigs and small sorts was of very fair size, but _ supplies aro still short and the demand maintained. ADDINGTON YARDS. The sale at Addington following on the "double" market was 'well supplied. Fat sheep overflowed the usual yards allotted, and prices were in favour of buyers. Sales ruled, despite free passings, at some shillings below the values obtainable a fortnight ago. We consider the decline quite 3s a head on prime and rather more on secondary quality etook. The yardiny of store sheep was moderate, a fair number coming from outside the province. Several lines were passed and the market demand was generally easier. There was a fair entry of fat cattle, the Duality being uneven. The domand was ully equal to rates ruling before 'National" week._ The store cattle were a jaried lot, and in numbers bulked well. The demand was yery firm at rates ruling eb the previous sal© at this centre. Tho

dairy section was well supplied, but good milkers were in the minority, and sales were made on a lower basis than hitherto this season, the pick of the entry making £24 5s 6d, medium animals from £lO. A very keen demand was evident for all fat pigs yarded (Is per lbj„ store sorts also realising high prices. NORTH ISLAND STOCK VALUES. Bidding for the moment is the reverse of spirited in the North Island, all store stock business being on a limited scale. In the Auckland district, at the Westfield market, beef sold at 60s, fair wethers 33s to 365, very fair hoggets 25s to 295, extra 375, year and a-half heifers in fair size lines made from £3 15s to £5 2s, two-year-old steers to £B, three-year-olds forward to £lO 103. In Poverty Bay, hoggets sold from 24s 6d to 295, small from 20s, twotooth wethers 28s to 325, good four-shear ewes in lamb 395, yearling steers £4- 10s to £5 ss. In Taranaki, hoggets sold to 295, yearling steers £3 ss, heifers £4 10s, best dairy heifers at profit £ls to £25, ditto cows £25, ordinary dairy sorts £lO to £ls. In the Wairarapa, sales are slow at 24s _ to 29s for hogget3, small about 17s 6d, with good two-tooth wethers making 32s to 355, four-shear ewes in lamb 38s 9d, mixed yearlings to £5, two-year-olds £7, dairy heifers £lO to £l7, best dairy herd averages at clearing sales £2O to £23 per head. In Hawke's Bay, hoggets made 21s to 28s, extra 30s 6d, forward wethers to 37s 6d, in-lamb ewes 30s to 42s 6d. extra 50s, dairy cows £ll to £l6, inferior in-calf heifers and late calvers £7. STOCK NOTES. It may be the result ol tne low temperature experienced throughout Otago at the present time, lor certainly store stook prices nave eased up some shillings a head cornpared with rates ruling a month ago. Wellbred forward steers of some age may find new owners, but young cattle are not so readily piaced. Dairy cows are making good values. Competition was not bright at the Brisbane stud sale of cattle the other day. In Shorthorns 4'LXJgs was top price for bulls, this being paid for Lyndhurst Royal Peer, calved July, 1917 ; while 19i)gs was top price for a Shorthorn heiler, eaived March, 1919. For an Aberdeen Angus bull, an importation from New Zealand, lOOgs was paid, others of this breed making irom BUgs to 90gs. While the British sheep population has gone down, that of Germany has gone up. It is estimated that there are 3G0,W0 more sheep in Germany than before the war, partly due to the Government's prohibition of killing breeding sheep. At tho sheep sales in Melbourne the other day, it was a matter of remark how the demand for Tasmanian Merinos had improved, owing to the high value of Merino wool. Some prices realised included several rams at 180 gs to 3Oogs, while quite a number made from 75gs to 134 gs. At the monthly meeting of the Victorian branch of the Australasian Jersey Herd Society it was decided to endeavour to have quarantine restrictions between New Zealand and Australia modified, as they hamper trade in stud cattle. It is proposed to ask for a conference between breeders and tho Victorian Stock Department. A representative of tho Government of Holland, ifc is said, has purchased from Mr William Barton, of the Wairarapa, for his Government and private individuals in Java, 35 grade Friesian heifers and two purebred Friesian bulls. At Mazwood, Missouri,, recently, was held the first sale of Aberdeen Angus cattle, some choice animals being penned. At this sale 25 Black Birds averaged £IBO, four Black-caps averaged £4lO, and 15 Ericas averaged £316 a head. The highest price paid for a Friesian heifer at a British sale the other day was 700 gs for. Stanfield Empress by March Barclay other two daughters making 650 gs and 550 gs. A sale of purebred Percheron horses, imported from Franco by tho British Percheron Horse Society, took place recently at Halken Place, Belgrave Square, London. There was a representative attendance of breeders from many parts of tho country. The sale realised £3900 for 15 animals, the averago being £290. Most of the animals sold well, the highest price being 370 gs. • Some idea of the losses incurred by stock owners owing to floods and silted areas in parts of New South Wales are given in a private letter received by a Dunedin gentleman. A Mr Hooke, a well-known Shorthorn breedei-, lost 76 stud Shorthorns, each worth at least £SO, from flood waters, while a pastoral property carrying 75,000 sheep last, year can only muster 36,000. Another man has 1000 cattle and 8000 sheep on agistment, and yet another has 10,000 sheep being hand fed. AYRSHIRE DISPERSAL SALE, SOUTHLAND. The Inglewood Ayrshires, perhaps the oldest Ayrshire, herd in the Dominion,

attracted a large attendance of breeders and others interested in Rankin's robust Southland breed. The major part of the herd was secured by southerners, but a North Island breeder secured Highland Mary, considered the pick of the bunch, for 102 gs. The following details of the sale are of interest:—

Bulls. —Solomon of Haydowns 30gs, Prince of Inglewood 18gs, Rising Star 30gs. Bull Calves. —lOgs, 13gs, lOgs, 6gs, 15gs, 22gs, 16gs, lOgs, llgs. Cows. Miss Gillies I, 71gs, R. S. Weir, Woodlands; Fancy 11, 50gs, R. Blakie, Lochiel; Eva 11, 48gs, J. Stirling, Wyndham; Beauty 11, 40gs, Young; Daisy I, 46gs, Henderson, Glenham; Bluebell I, 55gs, R. Blakie; Alice 111, 46gs, Thos. Grant, Bay Road; Gertrude of Inglewood, lOOgs, J. Grant, Invercargill; Sunbeam 11, 50gs, A. Cocker Ryal Bush ; Annie Laurie 11, lOOgs, H. S. Irving, Roslyn Bush; Gladys I of Inglewood, 52gs, R. Blakie; Bournehouse's Ivy, 80gs, John Grant, Fairlie; Gertrude I of Inglewood, 40gs, H. S. Irving; Highland Mary, 102 gs, E. Buchanan, Palmerston North ; Rainton Cherry 111 (imp.) 47gs, H. Crosbie, Mataura Island; Alice 11, 38gs, D. C. M'Kenzie, Glenham; Wild Pilgrim, 14gs, H. S. Stevens; Lily I, 21gs, Kelly Caughey, Centre Bush; Pansy, 26gs, A. Cocker; Meadow's Best I, SBgs, Stirling; Ivy 11, 76gs„ H. Crosbie.

Two-year-old Heifers.—Gladys II of Inglewood, 41gs, A. W. Weir; Eva IV, 60gs, A. Gait, West Plains; Annie Lxurie V, 41gs, H. Crosbie; Gertrude 111, 35gs, H. Crosbie; Ada, 21gs, A. Grant; Rosie, 37gs, A. Gait; Miss Gillies 11., 20gs, A. Grant; Polly, 21gs, Wm. Templeton, Riverton; Hazel, 53gs, A. M. Weir; Allison 11, 55gs, D. C. M'Kenzie.

Yearlings.—Meadow's Best 11, 31gs, H. Riddle, Thornbury; Blue Bell 11, 27gs, R. Blakie ; Daisy 11, 47gs, J. Henderson, Glenham; Nancy. 24gs, A. H. Aitken, Gore; Buttercup, 48gs, A. M. Weir; Queenie, 48gs, H. Crosbie.

ROARING SON OF A ROARING SIRE

Writing to the N.B. Agriculturist, Mr Alexander Galbraith, Edmonton, Alberta, says, inter alia, in commenting upon the movement to insure sound Clydesdales:— "O'ne incident as far back as September, 1565, remains in my memory, and you will pardon me for referring to it here. Mr David Riddell exhibited a dark brown, three-year-old Clydesdale stallion named General, at the Highland and Agricultural Society Show at Inverness that year, and won first prize. General was sired by the Duke of Hamilton's well-known horse Sir Walter Scott, a first-prize winner at the Highland Show on a previous occasion, and also at the International Show at Battersea, London, in 1E62. An anonymous correspondent, signing himself 'Scrutator,' wrote a letter to the N.B. Agriculturist soon after the Inverness Show, disparaging the horse General, and_ questioning his soundness in wind. Mr Riddell replied, stoutly denying the allegation. Several letters passed between the parties, and in a subsequent letter 'Scrutator' asserted that not only was General a 'roarer,' but that his sire, Sir Walter Scott, was in the same category, and that consequently General was the 'roaring son of a roaring sire.' Mr Riddell, in his final letter, stated that in his opinion there were roaring sons of roaring sires in the human family also, and that evidently 'Scrutator' was a member of that kind of family. This closed the correspondence, but it made a lasting impression on my youthful mind. I may here remark that the foregoing stallion, General, sired that samo season the world-renowned horse Prince of Wales, one of the two greatest sires of the nineteenth century." RAPE AS FORAGE FOR PIGS. In a letter to Hoard's Dairyman, H. W. Vaughan, in charge of swine husbandry at University Farm, says: "The best annual forage crop for swine in the Noithern United States, is dwarf Essex rape. Many who have made uso of rape pastures declare they are second to none among all pasture crops for hogs. Rape is iho best emergency crop of any. It may be seeded as early as the land can be ploughed in the spring, and does best when sown early, -but may bo sown at any time up to about August at the rate of 41b or slb of seed to the acre. Rapo seeded early will grow until fall if not pastured down to less than four or five leaves to the plant. The crop is especially useful during (ho hot, dry months. It will grow until heavy frosts come, and may be pastured from early June to the middle of November, or about six months. Leaves of rapo aro high in percentage of protein to dry matter, and pigs fed corn or barley en rape, pasture do not need more than onetwentieth tankage or its equivalent in oil meal, buttermilk, or skinunilk to balance the grain. There is no loss of the land for one season in seeding to rape, as is the case with lucerne. Winter-killing is not a source of trouble with rape, clipping is not required, and over-pasturing is not so harmful as with lucerne, because rape is an

annual crop anyway. [Rape is really a biennial, although in cultivation some plants become precocious, a.nd exhibit a tendency to shoot up flower stalks the first season. — Ag. Ed.] In two lowa trials rape produced more pork to the aero than lucerne. A summary of three lowa and three Kansas trials showed thai the two crops are practically equal in efficiency. A good pasture cheapens pork production. Succulent feed and exercise make thrifty, healthy pigs. " • I AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL ! NEWS. Mr G. A. Lamb telegraphs from Ashburton stating that he has secured within the last few days the promise of approximately an additional 1000 tons of cheese on account of the New Zealand London Marketing Association from the Clandeboye, Milford, Geraldine, Henley, and Switzers Dairy Companies. The organiser appointed by the Otago Provincial Executive of the Farmers' Union to interview farmers throughout Otago and lay before them the claims of the union to their support has been engaged during the present month in North Otago. Several meetings have been held in the various districts in the neighbourhood of Oarnaru, and with the assistance of members of the committee of the North Otago branch, the organiser, Mr J. C. Browne, was enabled to make a house-to-house canvass. The response to the appeal made was very satisfactory. New branches have been formed at Otekaike and Duntroon, and upwards of 300 new members have been secured throughout the Oarnaru district.

A business man whose affairs take him frequently through the Waikato and other dairying districts in the North Island is exercised in his mind regarding the probable scarcity of cattle in a few years' time. " Too many calves are being sacrificed," he remarked to a representative of the Auckland Star. "At some farms where they used to rear 60 to 80 calves each -year, I now find only four or five aro saved. This is the outcome of the good prices that are being paid for the milk. It pays the dairy farmer better to sell his milk than to rear calves. That is, of course, looked at from the point of view of immediate profit, but what about the future? If the calves are not being reared, where is the supply of cows to come from in a year or two's time? One thing is evident—namely, that the price of cattle is not likely to come down Unless more calves are reared. It seems to me that instead of £ls to £2O each, the price of good dairy cows is more likely to be nearer £3O to £4O each."

The grass grub, which has been responsible, for considerable losses to farmers in other part of the dominion, as a result of its ravages on pasture lands, has lately been active in Wanganui district (wires our correspondent). Formerly the grub operated on light grass, but this year it has got into heavy land as well. A large black grub has also made its appearance in the district, and the Subprovincial Executive of the Farmers' Union has decided to make representations to the Agricultural Department on the matter with a view to ascertaining the best methods of counteracting the activity of the pest. As an indication of the number of fat sheep (says the Tuapeka Times) that go from this end of Otago to the freezer, an operator, whose territory extends from Tuapeka West to Bur.nside. casually mentioned to a local farmer the other day that for the season just closed he had put through 50.000.

At the stock sales at Goulburn (N.S.W.), £7 was paid for extra primp sheep. This is (says the Sydney Sun) -a record for the State, and probably for Australia. The same butcher who bought the sheen. Rave £55 10s the week before for a fat bullock off the grass. Quite a usual price for a sheep is £5, and many butchers cannot obtain them at all. It is observed that in the United States a system of cleaning greasy wool by the use of plaster of Paris or gypsum, is under test. It is claimed that the process is less costly than the usual wool-scouring methods, that it is more effective, that the fierce may be so treated that it remains unbroken. and that the wool after undergoing the treatment is in the best condition for the purposes of manufacture. Mr Milligan seconded the motion, which was carried. Mr A. L. Rutherford, Woodgrove, was elected president and Mr M. Bethel!, Culverden, vice-president for the ensuing year. At the annual meeting of the Canterbury Sheepowners' Union on the 11th " : nst., the matter of tho Labour Exchange being cloned without first giving members an opportunity of expressing an on-inion thereon, was discussed. Subsequently Mr Studholme moved: "That it bo a recommendation to the incoming committee (1) that immediate steps be undertaken to ascertain whether sufficient

support would bo available to ensure thq Labour Exchange becoming a strong and financially self-supporting institution, and that (2) if the response be in the the Exchange be carried on for the present financial year." At a meeting of members of the Agricultural Labourers' Union and Rural Workers' Union at Bungay, England, Mr Walker, the general secretary, said labourers were now learning the value of organisation and education, and they had made tremendous progress. Before the war tho weekly wage of the labourer was as low as 12s winter and 13s in summer, now it was 425. and shortly would be 465. Tremendous progress had also been made in tho number working hours, and where before it was usual to work as long as there was daylight, now it was 48 hours in the winter and 50 in the summer, and presently it would be 48 all the year round. They were out for copartnership with the farmer. They (demanded that the labourer bo given an opportunity to educate his children properly. The Yorkshire Observer of August states that negotiations are proceeding tween the West Australian Government and the Yorkshire and West of England_ Woollen and Worsted Manufacturers' Association respecting the- establishment of branch mills in Western Australia. The Agent-General (Sir J. B\ Connolly) states that the West Australian Government will welcome any inquiry, and consider any reasonable proposition, even to the extent of financial co-opera-tion. THE RECORD PRICE BULLOCK. A challenge having been issued as to the respective weights of -the Shorthorn bullock recently purchased by Messrs Dixon Bros., of Christchurch, for' £204 and a big roan bullock which, was being exhibited by a. party of showmen, a big crowd of interested spectators followed the two big animals to the Christchurch City Council's yards tho other day. The weighing was supervised by Mr Smith, the town clerk. The high-priced Shorthorn placed on the scales first failed to quite reach the 50561 b which he weighed on sale day, the record showing 28561 b. Tfoa roan exhibition bullock scaled 27461 b. Tho effect of being moved about, change of food and environment were no doubt responsible for both animals losing weight. Both animals would dress at over 20001 b, thus eclipsing the record cabled from Sydney of a bullodk whoso estimated deadweight was 17001 b, realising £Bl at tho Orange stock sales. V LAMBING IN N.S. WALES. The New South Wales chief inspector of stock estimates that, as a result of the recent drought, the lambings this year will be 2,003:000, or only 27 per cent, of the ewes mated. The autumn and winter lambings for tho previous four years showed an increase of from 5.000,000 to 7,000,000. Returns show that for the forthcoming spring lambing 3,712,000 ewos have been mated, from which it is estimated 2,158,000 lambs will be marked.