PEDIGREE STOCK VALUES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3655, 1 April 1924, Page 12

PEDIGREE STOCK VALUES.

New Zealand has been termed, we believe, the dairy farm of the Empire in view of the huge dimensions of her exports of dairy produce to Great Britain. The Dominion is not unknown in regard to the volume of her meat and wool exports, while she gives promise of becoming famous the world over for the quality of her purebred live stock. New Zealand’s Corriedale sheep, as well as many of the well-known British breeds of sheep, have been marketed in the States of America, the Argentine, Chili, Japan, and elsewhere, and have given satisfaction, while high-class dairy cattle and Clydesdale horses have crossed the Tasman Sea. The position occupied to-day by breeders is indeed an envious one, seeing that the future of Dominion pedigree stock is in their hands to make or mar. Great Britain has hitherto been the world's gieatest source of purebred stock, and Home breeders no doubt look askance at this young country encroaching upon her preserves. The effects of the foot-and-mouth disease in the Old Land must tend to influence buyers to make a venture in the lands of the Southern Hemisphere for their purebred requirements. All the British breeds are here, or nearly all of them, and of winning blood strains. To mention just a few : In the vail we have Clydesdale horses. In beef cattle we can locate the leading British purebred strains of Shorthorns, Herefords, and Polled Angus; in dairy cattle we have Ayrshires, Alderneys, Friesians, and the dual-purpose Red Polls and milking Shorthorns. In sheep we necessarily place Corriedales first, followed by Lincolns, English and Border Leicesters, Romney Marsh, and the Downs. Then there are the various pig breeds. So that foreign buyers may with confidence come our way and place their orders, as the various studs, herds, and flocks have been carefully bred upon British lines by Britishers or by their descendants. It may be questioned perhaps whether an export trade in pedigree stock would be of any value to our live stock industry. This question can best be answered by citing Great Britain’s experience during the past 25 years. Trade varies according to circumstances, and data must be considered over a fairly lengthy period. The official statistics have therefore been tabulated in periods of five years, and are summarised below. It is impossible (says “Statist” in the Farm and Stock-breeder of February 4, 1924) to separate breeding stock from others amongst horses, and the figures are restricted to cattle, sheep, and pigs. With reference to cattle, it was in 1919 that the greatest number of cattle was shipped during the period. The total was 58,854, and their average declared value £lO3 7s, and it was in 1922 that the smallest number of cattle was shipped—--1329, giving an average of £157 4s lOd. The yearly averages range from £216 12s lOd realised in 1920 for 5022 to £3l 7s 3d realised in 1923 for 4255. The following table deals with quinquennial periods, and the totals for the 25 years are :

It will be observed that the largest number shipped was during the years ISO 4 to 1908, and that the highest declared average was that realised for the five years 1919 to 1923, £132 2s 3d. The general average for the whole period is given as £74 11s sd. The greatest number of sheep shipped during any year was in 1906, when 12,127 were exported at an average of £l6 Is. The lowest yearly total was in 1922, when 887 were shipped, averaging EoU 5s sd; this average was exceeded bv that realised for the 4043 head shipped in 1920, which was £3O 6s lid. The lowest yearly average during the period under review was £lO 5s lOcl for 7586 shipped in 1899. The quinquennial summary shows that the period 1909 to 1913 was that in which the largest number was shipped, 26,132 at £lO 19s 9d, hut the highest average of declared value was that recorded for the period 1919 to 1923. The general average for the whole period of 25 years works out at £l4 8s lid:

As was the case with sheep, 1906 was the year in which the greatest number of pigs, 2223, was shipped; these averaged £9 2s BJ. The yearly shipment in 1918 was the smallest during the period, numbering 57, realising the very good average of £26 8s sd. The highest yearly average was realised in 1920, when 443 head were shipped to average £3B 5s 4d, and the lowest in the year 1899, when 938 pigs were sent away to realise £5 12s 7d. The quinquennial table shows that the period 1904 to 1908 was that in which the largest number of pigs was shipped, 5964; they realised an average of £9 2s 3d. The smallest shipments occurred in the period 1914 to 1918, when 1101 averaged £l2 2s 9d. The general average for the whole period of 25 years works out at £l2 0s 2d :

Taking the period, 25 years, the average yearly number of cattle exported was 3289, and the average amount realised £245,303. The average yearly number of sheep exported was 5253, realising £76,293, and the average number of pigs exported was 717, realising £BIOO. The annual average number of pedigree cattle, sheep, and pigs exported was 9259, and the average value of the declared values amounted to £330,207 12s.

Period. No. exported. Declared value. £ Averaj £ s. >e. d. 1899 to 1903 .. 12,587 534,421 41 13 2 1904 to 1908 .. 21,991 1,043,344 47 8 10 1909 to 1913 .. 15,2(33 823,152 53 18 7 1914 to 1918 .. 14,124 1,317,936 93 6 2 1919 to 1923 .. 18,272 2,413,767 132 2 0 1899 to 1923 .. 82,237 6,132,620 74 11 5

Per icid. i?0. exported. Declared value. £ A vera £ s. a;e. d. 1839 to 1903 .. 24,456 254,021 10 7 8 1904 to 1908 .. 44.531 610,609 14 3 2 1903 to 1913 .. 26,132 287,212 10 19 9 1914 to 1918 .. 18,487 354,224 19 3 2 1919 to 1923 .. 17.729 381,257 21 10 1 1899 to 1923 .. 131,335 1,907,323 14 8 11

Declared Xo. A\ era ? e - Period. exported. £ £ s. d. 1899 to 1903 3,041 24,006 7 17 10 1904 to 1908 5,964 4,096 54.361 9 2 3 1909 t o 1913 47,388 11 11 4 1914 to 1918 1,101 13,367 12 2 9 1919 to 1923 3,718 76,125 20 9 5 1899 to 1923 .. 17,920 215,547 12 0 2