STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3755, 2 March 1926, Page 19

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Weekly Stock sales. Burnside, Wednesdays. Addington, Wednesdays. Waiareka Railway Junction, Tuesdays. Fortnightly. Biversdale, Fridays, Wallacetown. Tuesdays. Ashburton, Tuesdays. Heriot, Thursdays. WinWn, Thursdays. Wyndham, Thursdays. Clinton, Thursdays. Balolutha, Fridays. Gore. Tuesdays. Monthly. Edendale, Ist Monday. Palmerston. 4tb Thursday Winton, 411, Tuesday. Mataura, Ist Thursday. Tokanui, 4th Monday

Monthly (continued). Duntroon, 2nd Wednesday. Woodlands, 3rd Wednesday. Milton, 2nd Tuesday. Balfour, 3rd Thursday. Thorn bury, Ist Friday. Otautau, 2nd Wednesday Riversdale, 3rd Friday, Waikaka, last Friday. Clydevale. last Friday Periodically as Advertised. Lomsden, Mossburn, Orepuki, Waimahaka, Waikouaiti. Riverton, Ngapara, and Otagc Central Sales.

OTAGO. Steady rain set in towards the close of the week after intermittent rain showers earlier, with the result that outstanding crop—and there is a lot of it in Otago—will probably go down. There is a great growth of feed, and the root crops promise to be outstanding. At the coming Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales Show New Zealand will be represented in Shorthorns, Herefords, Aberdeen-Angus, Jerseys, and Friesians; Queensland in Shorthorns and Herefords; South Australia, Shorthorns and Guernseys; Tasmania, Herefords; and Victoria will he a serious competitor in all breeds. BURNSIDE MARKET. The yarding of fat sheep at Burnside totalled 1607, compared with 2281 the previous week, the quality being only fair. The supply of medium ewes was large, with heavy weights in moderate numbers. Light wethers were observed here and there, of nice quality. The demand was considerably better than has been the case for some time, all classes of heavy sheep moving up about 2s 6d per head, and in places more. Medium weights underwent little or no change in values, and sold firm at last week's rates. Wether mutton may be quoted as making up to ssd per lb. The entry of fat lambs, 848 (1264 last week) was of a decidedly mixed nature, some few pennings being but good stores. Butchers were ready buyers of prime heavy lambs, while exporters were slow, and rates generally may be said to be unchanged, lamb making, if under 361 b and prime, up to 9d per lb. The yarding of fat cattle was interesting, if only on account of several yards of excellent North Island bullocks. Other pens were filled with fair to prime steers, the offering of cows being smaller thnir usual. The entry comprised 287. compared with 256 the previous week. Values for heavy cattle were easier by £l, and light primes 15s per head, beef making to 36s per 1001 b.

A good yarding of store cattle, chiefly well-conditioned cows, elicited slack bidding, the few pens of steers being passed at auction.

The entry of fat pigs was comparatively a small one, and prices were up a few

shillings per head for bacon sorts, with stores realising similar values to the previous week. Porkers made to 9d, and bacon pigs to B£d, per lb. NORTH ISLAND STORE STOCK VALUES. The various ewe fairs in the North Island held the attention of farms during the latter part of February. Best grades have been favoured, but medium class ewes and lambs have eased in values, no doubt due to the drop in fat stock prices. In the Auckland province, at Westfield market, beef made up to 32s per 1001 b, forward steers £7 to £8 ss, forward wethers 23s 6d to 265. At the Feilding ewe fair some 20.000 ewes were offered. A good demand was experienced for outstanding lines. The top price was 46s for two-tooth Romneys, good average two-tooths making 25s to 31s. good sixtooth ewes 28s to 34s 6d, good mixed young ewes 23s 6d to 26s 6d. good four-year-olds 23s to 25s 3d, medium 21s to 235. inferior sorts 12s to 19s 6d. small two-tooth ewes 21s 3d to 255, three-year-old station steers £6 ss. two-year-olds to £5 4s, 15-mpnth steers £3 6s. At Palmerston North woolly rape lambs made 17s. good stores 12s to 15s, culls 4s 6d to 78 3d. In the Wairarapa four-tooth ewes made 28s 4d. mixed young ewes 23s 6d, two-tooths 275. four-year-olds 225. cull young ewes 21s to 235. In the Wellington province good two-tooth ewes made 28s 6d, forward wethers 22s 6d to 245. shorn lambs 6s to 13s, woolly lambs 14s to 17s 9d. Generally the drop on best breeding ewes compared w r ith last year ranged from 10s to 12s 6d. STOCK NOTES. Smaller entries of fat sheep at the last Burnside sale, together with over many medium ewes, induced livelier bidding for all pennings of heavy sorts by butchers. Suitable wethers for the export trade moved off at unchanged values, these comprising practically Central Otago wethers. Fat lambs marketed at Burnside last Wednesday were disappointing. Mere stores should be banned from the pens allotted to fat lambs for divers reasons. Store lambs if well conditioned moved off fairly well at 18s to 21s, but wellgrown. well-clad, crossbred wether lambs, if thin, were not easy to sell, a line of this class being passed in at auction at 15s 3d. The yarding of some 35 fat bullocks direct from the North Island, at Burnside, was interesting. They must have been a beautiful line at starting. As it 'was, ey apparently had travelled down well by steamer, and showed no signs of bruises. However, when the hide is off one can tell better. They sold remarkably well, the writer thought, in the circumstances, making £l7 to £lB 10s. Owing to there being ample feed in Otago, rather than to anticipated values of fat lambs, the prices ruling at present for store lambs must be considered satisfactory. There is not much of a turnover in crossbred lambs at 18b to 20s 6d (recent prices), and they need to be well forward at time of purchase in order to come out.

There is a feeling in the air in Otago that fat lambs and wether values have touched bottom. It is well to be careful, however, as the air here is bracing, and nothing has yet eventuated at Home to justify any appreciation other than the natural growth of wool warrants. Well-bred steers, if fairly forward, are readily placed, thanks to the quantity of feed still evident. It may be of a watery nature, and lack nutritious qualities, but it is feed. DAIRYING IN JAPAN. When one thinks of agriculture in Japan it is in terms of rice to sustain their own population, and silk to export. One keeps the human machine in motion; the other furnishes the money with which to buy the things they would like to have, but which they do not raise themselves. It is (says H. L. Russell, in Hoard’s Dairyman) difficult to recognise how much the silkworm means to Japan until one sees the infinite care that is bestowed on this tiny grub or larva of the silkworm moth which transforms the proteins and carbohydrates of the mulberry leaf into the secretion of the silk strands, much as the dairy cow changes, in its secreting organ, the udder, the food elements which she consumes into the proteins, the carbohydrates, and the fat of milk. These tiny moths have been bred with just as much care into pure line strains as our highest bred dairy line strains, and with just as successful results. The silkworm is to Japan what the dairy cow is to such great lakes States as Wisconsin and Minnesota; it is the basis for the production of its chief item of export! From the money which they get from silk which the United States is now buying in such large quantities, they can pay for the products which they buy from us, whether cows or cotton. Until a comparatively few years ago, milk in Japan was in a sense a medicine, used mainly for the nourishment of the sick and ailing. Even yet its use is so restricted that the per capita consumption stands practically at the bottom of the leading nations of the world. When it is realised that the total amount consumed per individual is only a few pounds per person, three to four at most, in comparison with the 4001 b odd per individual used in the United States, it is obvious that the greater part of the nation practically does not use this food at all. Naturally it is in the larger population centres that the demand for any new product first develops, and with the rapid industrialisation of Japan in recent years, and the consequent wealth that has come from such activities, the demand for milk in its various forms has come most largely from these urban centres. The countryman yet lives mainly on rice and fish, and doubtless will for decades to come. It is first the foreign population, then those v:ho have been brought in contact with the food customs of the western world who first begin to utilise the products of the dairy cow. More than half of the entire milk supplv consumed at present in Japan ig used in fluid form Next in importrnce comes condensed milk, the use of which is steadily and quite rapidly increasing. In the last ten years such consumption has increased fully t>o per cent. In fact, consumption has in creased more rapidly than has production. In no smill degree the consumption of condensed milk is related to the industrial development of the nation. VVith the in creased employment o f women in industries particularly in +h. Q factories, such as the cotton and the silk mills, the necessity of substitutes for human milk is steadily increasing. As this is the certain trend of development in Japan, it may be safely assumed .hat the condensed milk business is sure to expand with the industrial growth of the nation. The manufacture of condensed milk, however, requires an adequate cow population from which to draw' the necessary supply. At the dresent tune -lapan is just getting a good start in the dairy business. There are only 13 condenseries in the entire empire, and their output is not sufficient to meet the present demand. Many of the factories have too small an output to produce the product economically. MEAT GRADING AND PRICES. The chairman of the Meat Producers’ Board’s efforts to stabilise meat (lamb) meeting of Canterbury farmers, traversed various matters in connection with the board’s efforts to stabilise meat (lamb) prices. Referring to the question of grading, he said he did not think that in Canterbury during the last ten years, they got an average of over 361 b, including seconds. The Meat Board had never altered any of the grades—they had been exactly the same for many years before the board was formed. The present grade? satisfied the English trade Last year, the farmers of New Zealand started to make their lambs as near 42’s as they could, with the result that there was an enormous quantity of heavy lambs going forward, and Jhere was also an over-supply on the Lon don market Last year the exporter >ost a great deal of money on heavy lambs Every farmer received a wonderfully big cash benefit as 42’s were the same price as the lower grade, and the growers con tinued to make the lambs heavy. Anothei factor was the demand for lignt lamb at Home The question that would be in their mind was, is not a 371 b lamb worth as much as a 36? If the butchers could sell the big lamb, as a 36, then there would not bo a heavy lamb left. The fact was that he got more for the light lamb which was conclusive evidence that it was the lamb to meet the trade. The exporter would also have to give n price for the lamb up to 421 b, that would bring him out with a margin of profit. The farmer was pushing far too many lambs into the 37 and 40 class, consequently the exporter had to protect himself. It wa 3 not fair to take the 361 b and the 371 b lamb as a comparison of values. He was quite convinced that so far as the farmers were concerned, they were not losing bv the present method which was adopted. There was no alterrta tive unless it was a lower price all round up to 42’s. Mr H. Morris asked if it would be an advantage to take the kidney out of a 361 b instead of the 421 b. Mr Jones said that that had been discussed, but there was nothing to be gained by an alteration. Mr J. C. N. Grigg, a member of the Meat Board, said that it was the duty of the farmers to supply the customers

with the lamb they required He thought that the day might come when they would revert back to the 40 grade. He took Home 500 Southdown cross lambs to get what he thought to be some inside iu formation. He was told that that bi ecd was one of the finest in the world because it shaped well and cut up belter. The West End of London liked a veilmade lamb, and they were prepared to pay the price. He assured them that there was no swindle about the position, but it was just the public demand. He was not advocating one class of sheep against another, for they had to use the breed to suit their country. He would like to support Mr Jones’s contention that the time for the light lamb had come. The Chairman asked why there was not a grade for Southdown lamb in Canter* bury. In reply to the Chairman, Mr Jones said that he believed that the time had just about come when they required a grade for Southdown lambs in Canterbury. He was inclined to think that a, higher price would be offered for this class of lamb next year. Mr W. Rankin, Pendarves, stated that the freezing works were opened both this year and last at the request of the exporters. There were, 10,000 lambs ready in the county in November, and in spite of private appeals to the local manager they would not open the works this season. The 36 grade had been sprung on them. They never heard of it until the middle of last season. They could not get the lambs killed early in the season, consequently they got heavier. Mr Jones said that the Meat Board had no control over the opening of the works, but he thought that there were plently of shareholders in the Ashburton County whom they could have approached to get the Fairfield Works opened. In answer to further questions, Mr Jones said that it was questionable whether it would be wise altering the grade weight upon one year’s experience. No one could say what lamb was worth in New Zealand to-day for export, as the produce might not be sold for six months, in which event the p. ices have fluctuated. Up till the present time the opinion of the hoard had been that exceptionally good prices had been obtained. Mr J. A. Fleming: Could not the Meat Board pool the meat, the same as the Dairy Control Board? Mr Jones: The Meat Board would have to hold the whole of the meat or none. Up to the present the board has acted wisely. It has the power and machinery to take control, and if it thought that the producers were not getting a fair deal then it would not shirk its responsibility. It is entirely a farmers’ organisation, and must be considered as such.