STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3510, 21 June 1921, Page 11

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Weekly Stock Sates. Burnside, Wednesdays Addington, Wednesdays Waiareka Railway Junetion, Tuesdays Wallacetown, Tuesdays _ , . . „ Fortnightly. Riversdate, Friday Ashburton, Tuesdays Heriot, Thursdays Win ton, Thursdays Wyndham. Thursdays Clinton, Thursdays Balelutha, Fridays Gore, Tuesdays felon ihly. Palmerston, 4tli Thursday W inton, 4th Tuesday

Monthly (continued). Duutroon, 2nd Wednesday Woodlands, 3rd Friday Milton, 2nd Tuesday Balfour, 3rd Thursday Thornburv, Ist Friday Duutroon, 2nd Wednesday Otautau, 2nd Friday Biversdale, 3rd Friday Waikaka, last Friday Clydcvdo, last Tuesday Periodically as Advertised. Lumsden, Mossburn, Orepuki, Hat-aura, Waikouaiti, ltivertea, Ngapnra, and Otago Central Sales.

OTAGO. Useful rains fell during tha week, and should do something towards softening lea land for ploughing. There is a vast amount of feed about in Otago and Southland in the way of roots, und some going begging at 50s per acre. This fact seems to be helping the price of hoggets a bit. There should be no excuse for not “doing” the breeding ewes well this season. The danger is that store sheep may be bought at values not justified when wool and meat values are considered. BURNSTDE MARKET. There was a fairly large entry of fat sheep at Burnside and a good sale. Iho proportion of medium ewes and halfbred wethers was largo, and the demand for the former generally better by Is a head than was tho case a week ago. Heavy prime wethers, too, were clearer owing to the comparatively sni„il number penned. Wether mutton made about 4d and ewe 3gd per lb. The fat lambs penned comprised medium to vc-ry fair sorts. There were fewer overweights than has been the case the past few weeks. There was a rattling good sale at rates very similar to those ruling a week ago, lamb making to 7d per lb. The yarding of fat cattle, numerically, was good, but with the exception of about a race and a-half, comprised plain to very medium quality. Light cattle sold fairly well apparently, but would probably come out tho dearest in the end. Generally, prime beef made higher rates, and sold at a pound a head better than a week ago, bullock beef making round 40s per 1001 h and heifers round 32s 6d. A small entry of some 50 head of store cattle had attention, a yard of three to four-year-old Polled Angus steers made £lO. a nice yard of two and a-half-ve ir-old steers, good colours, realised £6 7s Cd, tho second pen £5 Is, while, odd sorts were dearer. Dairy cows had inquiry, and some fair sorts made from £l3 to £ls 2s 6d. There was only a moderate entry of fat pigs, and the demand was good, porkers selling very readily at an advance of 7s 6d per head, while small sorts were in very fair request at rates on a par with tho previous week. ADDINGTON YARDS. There was a good entry of fat sheep at Addington, the quality being for the most part satisfactory. Generally values improved on the previous week’s rates by Is a head, fighter sheep, ewes more particularly, easing off at the close of sale. Fat lambs were forward in fair numbers, and met with a ready sale at rates if anything firmer than a week ago. The best, of a smaller yarding of store sheep sold well at an advance on the previous week’s rates, but rough and backward sorts were not in much demand. About ICO head of fat catt’c over last week were yarded, but the demand was very firm throughout, and clearances were readily effected ay better rates, beef, it was considered, making from 40s to 50s per lOQlb—the best sale for months. There was but a small entry of mixed store cattle and a fair sale at late values, dairy animals met will] an average demand. Fat pigs sold fairly well, although the large supply of porkers depressed tho market a few shillings ner head. Prices for small pigs were weak, owing in a great measure to an excessively large entry.

NORTH ISLAND STOCK VALUES. Values ruling for stork in the North Island are in the various districts firm, and there is a hotter demand than a week ago. In the Auckland district useful rail’s have fallen and brought the grass along a little. In Poverty Bay yard tugs are small, hoggets sold to 13s, mixed ewes with rams 16s 9d, two-tooth wethers 15s 3d down to 1 ’’s, storo cattle are slow of sale. In Taranaki stock business is quiet. In the YY anganui, Tedding areas prospects have improved, hoggets 5s 6d to 3s 3d, wethers I3s 6d, good stores, 17s 2£-yoa,r-old steers £3 to £4, empty Hereford cows £3. In tho Wairarapa two-tooth wethers 11s to 14s, mixed ewes in lamb, 5s to Bs, old sorts, 4s, springing dairy cows 4s to £ls 10s. In the Wellington district hoggets to 15s, mixed wethers 14s 3d. two-year-old steers, £2 to £3 lCs, springing heifers £lO to £l3, wearer Friesan heifers £3, Jersey crosses to £4, dairy cows £l2 123 to £l6. In Hawke’s Bay" hoggets 8s to Us, culls 4s lOd, wethers 13s to 14s 9d, young ewes in lamb 15s to 18-s, heifers at. drop £3 10s to £l2, Jersey cows £l7 10s. BAL.CLUTHA-CLIXTON STOC K SALES. About 4000 sheep were yarded at Balelutha, half of them stores, the balance fat and a few head of cattle. There was a good sale, and an appreciable firming in store sheep. I' at lambs sold at. prices which rocked 7d per lb, time and again, at 15s to 23s 9d, sound mouth ewes 18s Id to 20s 3d, crossbred wethers to 21s, guaranteed sound halfbred ewes 12s, not guaranteed ha’ifbreds 9s 3d. At Clinton some 4000 sheen were yarded, chiefly lambs and a few "pens of good wethers and ewes, all classes meeting with a keen demand at improved rates for stores and steady for any fats. Six-tooth ewes in lamb made 20s, two-tooth wethers 12s 2d, very forward wethers 21s 9d, a yard of forward wethers ].9s, the second vard 17s 7d, and the cull wethers 14s lid. fat and forward lambs 17s 3d to 18s Sd. other lots making 12s, 14s, 16s 2d, 15s 7d, and culls from 6s to 6s 6d, mixed crossbred ewes, not guaranteed, 16s Id STOCK NOTES. A alues of fat stock in Otago are. at least maintained, and in some sections hardening. Beef, for instance, is making more money than a few weeks ago. Eat lambs are selling very readily at the best rati ■ so far experienced since the beginning of April, while fat sheep of handy weights are at least steady. If there is not much business doing in store wethers values are holding, while few decent, breeding ewes are offering, and aged and thin ewes arc dear at any price. Hoggets for holding over the winter for shearing are perhaps the slowest of all in changing hands, and then at comparatively low figures. A large meeting of shareholders in the YVaitaki Farmers’ Freezing Company was held on the 12th inst., at (denary. Mr Corrigan presided and explained that the meeting was called with the object of selecting a site and appointing an auditor. After full and free discussion on the various sites (10), and reports on some of Christchurch and Wellington experts, the selection was reduced to two, and the matter left in tile hands of the directors to decide. Out of four applications for the position of auditor, Mr McKissack, of O; imam, was appointed. Building operations, etc., will not be taken m hand until conditions are more favourable than at present. At a recent meeting of tho Canterbury A. & P. committee Mr C. H. Ensor referred to the ravages of tho cattle tick in the North Island. In Queensland, where ho flad a property, the regulations were so strict that he was not allowed to move his cattle over a railway line which ran through his poperty, beca ise it was the’ boundary of an area that was declared as infected. He did not think that North Island cattle shot,ld be allowed across Cook Strait where there was the .slightest risk of the pest being carried. He moved: “That the (government be asked as to the steps it is taking to prevent the spread of cattle tick to the South Island.” Mr S. Johns seconded the motion. During the coining winter he thought large numbers of North Island cattle Ivould be shipped to Canterbury. The motion was carried. Farmers cannot be too alive to infectious or parasitic stock troubles. To-day, the Argentine have an embargo against British cattle. They are scared of Ruider pest. Cattle in Ireland have foot and mouth disease, and recently 600 were slaughtered on landing in England; now cattle are shut out. In Great Britain there is an embargo cn Canadian cattle, etc., and so is trade killed, it is a warning to us to be on guard. In view of (he general condition of industrial unrest, (ho Council of the Royal Dublin Show, lias been reluctantly compelled to abandon tho holding of the show this year. 1 lie Shire and ether horse breeding societies are taking energetic action to meet tho position created in the horse breeding world by the bill before Parliament to prohibit the docking of horses in Groat Britain. The horse breeding societies have never been consulted in the matter, and the Shire Horse Society is absolutely opposed to the proposed legislation. The cardinal objection, it is said is tho resulting danger of a long tail to the driver and team, as many cases have occurred where young horses have got the reins under their docks, and ran away, with serious results. The humanitarian side is already covered by law, which requires the use of an anesthetic when the operation of docking is performed, and therefore, in their opinion, there is no need or cal! for this prohibition. In October of last year a circular was addressed by the Ministry of Agriculture to local authorities throughout the United Kingdom, asking them to enforce in all slaughter-houses within their jurisdiction the use of what is known as the humane killer. It is a pistol tiring a .22 hollow nosed bullet in cartridges long and short, and is capable of stunning sheep and pigs up to 24 stones. A special instrument is also in use for bulls, cows, and bullocks; and recently, when a bull was dropped bv a single effort of this weapon, a skilled slaughterman stated that it might have required as many as 10 strokes of the pole axe to bring such an animal down Recently the use of humane killers has been made compulsory by the local authorities of many districts in England, yet London itself, lags behind. A Red Poll cow in England recently gave birth to her sixteenth calf, having produced in her previous lactation period 8,3541 b of milk. BIG SLAUGHTER- OF CALVES. In the course of an interview with a reporter of the Dominion, on the increasingly high percentage of calves slaughtered,

an officer of the Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture .said, inter aha: One factor in the increased ‘slaughter of the innocents” was that there were in the Dominion a great number of Jersey cuttle. Jerseys were not suitable for beef, as they took too long to reach maturity, and were light-weights compared with other breeds. There was absolutely no market for Jersey steers, and consequently very few farmers went to the trouble of rearing them. There was a falling-off in the demand for beef cattle in the Dominion because all the good beef country was going into dairying. This meant moro Jersey-cross cattle, afTil stock-breeders gave preference to Shorthorn-cross or Iferefordcrces beasts. It stood to reason, therefore, ho continued, that every year a large percentage of calves must be slaughtered. A cow was capablo of producing during hep lifetime up to about, eight calves, and if every calf was to be reared, then in 10 years’ tune the cow population of the Dominion would be enormous. Then, again, if the Department were to step in, with a view to regulating the slaughter of calves, it would manifestly be compelled to give farmers a guarantee that something like the post of rearing the calf would bo returned to them when the animal reached maturity. Any large increase in Iho r.uni'rer of calves reared in the Dominion would ultimately have the effect of knocking the bottom out cf the market for cattle. Another point was that the price of land m nnnv districts was so dear that dairy farmers had neither tho time nor paddock accommodation to rear calves. It paid them far better to buy heifers that had been reared on places where grass* was not at such a premium, and where there was more scope for “exerese,” etc. JAPAN AND THE WOOL TEA BE. Mr J. B. Sutton. Commercial Commissioner for Now South Wa'es in the East, writing under date April 14- to tho Aet'ng Prenrer of New South Wales, says:—‘‘The Japanese woollen mills are now combining with a view to bettciing the position of tho woollen mills generally and the sale of woollen goods. <>n April 11. the Institution of Japanese Woollen Industries he’d a meeting at Osaka, and resolved on the following: (1) To negotiate with the steamship companies for a discount on all fro’ghts fop ra w wool; (2) to urge the marine insurance companies to reduce charges of all insurances; (3) to exhibit all grades of woollen goods at, the Kyoto Exhibit on (probably this year) as also the Tokio Peace Exhibition next year ; (4) to organise a propaganda department to exhibit, publish pamphlets, and advertise in newspapers, with a. view of making all woollen goods more generally known; (5) to take practical steps bv way of enlightening tho people generally in order to convey all details in regard to woollen goods, and cultivate tastes for woollen clothing. In view of the great strides made in the production of woollen goods, combined with co-operation of all the nulls, there is every reason to expect that, there is a, bright future for the importation of tho raw materials to Japan, and that the manufactured goods will, later on. he serious competitors on other markets—to wh:eh cheap labour and cost of production generally wi’l aid considerably.” £509,009 BOND ISSUE OVER. SUBSCRIBED. In this issue appears an announcement stating that the Canterbury Farmers’ Association s Bond issue has been over subscribed, cier half a million of money having been received. In order to avoid disappointment, or pro rata allotments, the directors have decided to extend the issue to £525,C00. Tho management of the association extend their appreciation of the splendid response to the appeal for additional capital to assist the farmers. The result of the issue has indeed been a remarkable one, and is a convincing reply to the pessimists who asserted that ‘‘there was no money iii the country.” It proves that the public have plenty of confidence in the farmers and in the future of the Dominion.