STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3768, 1 June 1926, Page 19

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

W.ikly dock Sam. Burnside, Wednesdays. Addington, Wednesdays. Waiareka Railway Junction, Tuesdays. Fortnightly. Biversdale, Friday? Wallaoetown, Ashburton, Tuesdays. Heriot, Thursdays. Wintdn, Thursdays. Wyndham, Thursday©. Clinton, Thursdays. Balolutha, Fridays. Gore, Tuesdays. Monthly. Edendale, Ist fclcnrtty. Palmerston, 4tb Thursday. Winton, 4tn Tuesday. Mataura, Ist Thursday. Tokanui, 4th Honda;'.

Monthly (continued). Duntroon, 2nd Wednea* da,. Woodlands, 3rd Wed* nesaay. Hilton, 2nd Tuesday. Balfour, 3rd Thursday. Thorobury, Ist Friday. Otauteu, 2nd Wedne#* day. Biversdale, 3rd Friday. VVsikaka, last Friday. Qydavalt, last Friday Periodically a a Advertised. Latnsdea, Mossburn, Orepuki, Waimahak*, Waikouctti. Biver* ton, Ngapara, and Otago Central Sales.

OTAGO. Good seasonable weather was experienced last week in Otago. There were moist conditions at times, and it was cold, but not sufficiently so to check farm work. BURNSIDE MARKET. The yarding of fat sheep at the “double” sale at Burnside totalled 3051, compared with 3923 the previous sale. The quality generally was good, there being a good showing of heavy prime crossbred wethers and ewes, together with some pennings of show sheep and well-woolled Central sheep. The demand, although very irregular, was excellent. The opening race sold well, to ease, and, later on, to firm up in advance of earlier values, and recede once again, running out with local butchers apparently satisfied. Some of the consignments sold towards the close were secured by country butchers near at hand and by graziers. The appreciation, on an average, may be stated as 2s on wethers and 3s on ewes. Wethers made to s£d lb. The entry of fat cattle, 288 (409 last week),, comprised a prime selection, with about a race, all counted, of uneven to plain quality steers and cows. The supply of prime bullocks, heifers, and cows was excellent, and a good sale ensued. The opening demand was around £1 per head in advance of last week's prices, and soon moved up a further 10s to 15s per head, best quality beef making to 43s per 1001 b. The entry of fat lambs, 547 (619 last week), in regard to quality was somewhat wide, the prime consignments penned being all wanted. A few Bhow lambs were included. Butchers were for the most part outbidding export buyers, and a ready clearance was effected, lamb making around 9jd per lb.

The entry of store cattle was of mixed quality, only a few lots of medium steers being included, the balance being very fair cows of mixed ages. Values were on

a par with recent quotations for steers, with cows selling rather better than last week. Fair three-year-olds on the thin side made £8 17s 6d, two-and-a-half-year-olds to £7, and fair one-and-a-half-year-olds to £5.

Some 145 fat pigs and 35 stores met with a very fair demand, the former recovering last week’s drop in value, baconers making to B£d, and porkers to 9£d, per lb; stores unchanged.

COUNTRY STOCK SALES. At Palmerston about 1000 sheep, with a fair number of cattle were yarded. The demand was quiet. Full-mouth wethers made 24s 7d, mixed wethers 225, Corriedale ewes (very fair mouths) 28s 3d, old ewes 12s to 16s 6d, old crossbred ewes 12s, medium ewe lambs 17s, mixed sexes 20s 6d to 22s 6d, good three to four-year-old bullocks £lO 10s, good year-and-a-half-old steers £4 6s, and cows £1 10s to £6. At Balclutha some 1500 sheep arid 300 cattle were yarded. Sheep made values much the same as a week ago, with a keen demand for best lines of cattle. Some prices include backward halfbred wethers at 2Cs, crossbreds 22s 9d, forward sorts 27s 4d to 27s 7d, crossbred ewe lambs 27s 6d, medium wether lambs 19s to 208, fair crossbred ewes to 20s, and good mouths to 265. Good four-year-old bullocks made £l2 16s to £l4, three-year-olds £lO to £P 10s, two-year-olds £7 to £9 ss, and good mixed one-and-a-half to two-year-old steers £4 to £5 ss. NORTH ISLAND STORE STOCK VALUES. Prices show no improvement in the North Island since last reports. Beef at Westfield market in the Auckland province realises up to 3ls per 1001 b, wellbred station two-year-old steers selling up to £3 17s a head. Forward wethers brought 23s to 275, and fair old breeding .ewes 15s to 20s. In Palmerston North medium mixed lambs made 13s to 15s 6d, two-tooth wethers to 235, small 16s 9d, fair weaner steers fOs to 455, and good spring calvers £4 to £5. In the Wanganui-Feilding area ewe lambs made 13s to 15s 9d, two-tooth wethers 18s to 24s 9d, extra 25s fld, medium breeding ewes 18s to 21s, aud good-young mixed ewes 25s to 30s 6d. In the Wellington province medium lambs made 13s to 15s, two-tooth wethers 21s to 235, and dairy cows £4 15s to £9 15s. In Hawke’s Bay one to two-year-old steers made £2 5 to £4 10s, three to fouc-year-olds £4 5s to £6 10s, old breeding ewes 15s, two-tooth wethers 14s 9d to 19s 6d, and medium woolly lambs 13s 3d. STOCK NOTES. Quietness prevails in the stock, markets in Otago at present, although good lines of breeding ewes (few offering), forward two t tnrce-year-old steers, and beef types of yearlings provide good competition.

The “double” market held at Burnside metropolitan stock market last week was not numerically well supplied, but the quality exceeded expectations, all sections except lambs being satisfactory. Some exceptionally choice consignments of cattle sent in from the Taieri by Messrs J..mes Gow, R. T. Kirk, and J. C. Renton were features of the yarding, while Messrs W. D. Hunt (Wallacetown), W. M. Jamieson (inve. .argill), W. Clark (Kelso) and F. A. Price (Waikiwi) sent forward some very prime heavy bullocks. The demand was good for all quality animals at -ae appreciable advance recorded elsewhere.

Heavy sheep of a sluw character at Burnside elicited keen bidding, and were placed at 50s to 64s per head on account of Messrs Edie Bros. (Edievale). A consignment of crossbred ewes in fair order, and good for a crop of lambs, were placed at 14s 6d, other fine-woolled ewes making up to Is 6d. The four-year-old British Friesian bull Iken Pel Beatty (imp.), sold on account of Mr Stuart Heaton, Suffolk, recently, made 800gns. He was bred in South Africa, and was sold as a calf at the sale in Slough (England) of South African Friesians in 1922 for 700gns Pedigree Jerseys, on account of Mr R. Wattam, were sold at Fencourt, North Island, on the 21st ult., the cows averaging 38gns and the calves 20gns. The top price was 65gns, paid for the young cow Belvedere Golden Pride. Mr W. Hallas, Bank House Farm, Helsby, Cheshire (says an exchange), has j list/ sold the Middle White boar Rockbeare Gunner (46193), a three-year-old. for 200gns, to Mr A. Grix, of Hill Head Farm, Morpeth, Northumberland. Rockbeare Gunner is a magnificent sire of enormous length, great size, and beautiful quality. He already has six first prizes to his credit. Attired in Highland dress, with his kilt of Royal Stuart tartan, the Prhice of Wales (says an exchange) told a good yarn at the banquet of the Highland Society in London a few weeks ago. “There is a story,” he said, “that I heard recently of people who were entertaining the new minister, and they did not know what to give him to drink as a nightcap. So they gave him a glass of milk, and they put in some of their best whisky. The next morning they could not find the minister, and after a little search, they found that he had gone to the byre. But he was not there when the searchers arrived. The man in charge was asked had he seen the minister, and he .said ‘yes/ They asked him w hat the minister said to him, and he replied, ‘He said, “I want the first calf from the cow from which 1 had that milk.'”

THE BEEF TRADE. The Australian Meat Trades’ Journal (in commenting upon Mr J. B. Cramsie’s utterance: “The most urgent thing for Australia to do is to devise some means of getting chilled beef to England ”) says;

“ We recognise Mr Cramsie’s knowledge in matters appertaining to frozen meat, but consider that any idea of shipping chilled beef from Australia is waste of time. In 12 years' time, at present rate of population increase—and decrease in cattle herds—we shall consume all our own beef, and there will be even no frozen beef for export. If we should happen to have a surplus for export we can never make a success of shipping it chilled. The Queensland railways depreciate by their bad management the value of all the cattle they truck to the seaboard by fully 30 per cent., so the quality must be available. We shall never be able to get together a sufficient quantity of prime beef at any one ,»ort to justify a ship calling for it. As regards the Northern Territory, there are under a million head of cattle of all sorts there at present, and there is nothing to show' under present conditions that there will be any increase: and another thing, the quality of any beef there is far below chilliug beef quality—in fact, only secondclass frozen beef, which is largely sent to Antwerp.”

EXPERIMENTAL PIG FARMS. At the last meeting of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board it w'as decided to approach the Government and the New Zealand Dairy Produce Control Board with a view to making experiments in the breeding, fattening, etc., of pigs suitable for export, it was suggested that these experiments should be conducted in conjunction with the dairying industry, on a suitable farm possessing all the necessary facilities. These experiments would extend over a considerable period and the fullest investigation made: as a result, valuable data should be available for the farmers of this Dominion. A committee was formed by the board to go into the matter, and it was resolved that a subsidy should be given to finance these experiments. The Meat Producers’ Board some time ago distributed gratis a number of bacon pigs amongst the different bacon curers in Great Britain, and the reports from these firms show that New Zealand can export pigs suitable for the British market. The next step is to experiment in the development of the breeding of the best type, and also to make tests as to feeding, particular attention to be given to foods that can be used in conjunction with the by-products of the dairying industry.

THE SEASON IN AUSTRALIA. Further beneficial rains are reported over the main agricultural areas of Australia since last, writing (states the Pastoral Review'). Following so closely on the falls recorded in March and early April, these have, in most cases, penetrated well into the subsoil, and should go a long way towards assuring satisfactory growth in crops. Of course, every district has not shared alike in the matter of moisture, and while some arc still short of their requirements, others have had rather too much. For instance, there are parts of Victoria—notably in the central and western districts and the far north-west of the Mallec—that have yet to receive a thorough soaking. A good deal of the agricultural country of South Australia is in a similar position. Now that the season i 3 assured farmers are pushing on with their sowing. Practically the whole of the oats are already in, and most of the wheat in the early districts. The frequent showers have prevented or delayed the proper working of fallows in some instances, but, taking the country as a whole, the seed is being plauted under favourable conditions. Wheat-sowing in the Wimmera and other late districts has ha lly eonimenced. Apart from seeding, the work of moment on farms at present is fallowing. Wherever possible teams are being utilised tc turn over stubble or new laud, which is in nice condition for cultivation. No material alteration has been noticeable in the wool market, the trend of values being on a generally even plane, subject to the minor variations which are part and parcel of any auctions. Competition has been on the whole fairly general, the French section being particularly insistent in respect to fine wools, but within limits, it taking a really choice parcel all its time to make 30d, and that in only odd cases, the next division at 28Ad to 291 d being also pretty With the reports of the coal strike in England, the Yorkshire section took but little interest, with the result that all broad-fibred wools were very irregular and difficult of sale. An inquiry from Japan for 56-58’s and thereabouts (pieces preferred) has been noticeable in the past day or two, the more so that Japanese mills have a habit of cutting up their orders between two or three buyers, with the result that the demand appears larger than it really is. Local mills continue to be a factor, not so much alt.gethei for the quantity they buy, although that is on the increase, as for their competition, which serves, to use a well-known phrase, to keep their opponents honest. The attitude of the French section, in the face of the numerous troubles overtaking their country—for although a depreciated currency has its advantages, they are but transient, certainly not general, and sooner or later have to be paid for —has been a matter of general surprise. Possibly the arrangement made with America in regard to the payment of France’s debt, which has si.ll to be rectified, has had a better effect, but it should not he overlooked that whatever French politics may be, the people of that country individually are well off, the wealth being better distributed than in England. Appearances all point te a continuance of about present prices, as apparently they show a workable margin for all concerned, although in America manufacturers have been constrained to start a wool drive to induce a bigger consumption. All States except Queensland report rains during the past month, with the result that seasonal conditions generally can now be described as good. A considerable portion of Queusland, unfortunately, remains under drought influences, a large part of the central and west divisions, besides smaller areas elsewhere, being practically devoid of feed. Where possible stock are being hund-fed or moved to relief country, but the latter is difficult to find. It is feared losses of sheep and cattle have already been fairly heavy, and they are certain to be more so if the weather does not break

soon. [Telegraphic advice as we go to press reports good rains, up to 3in, in the south-west of the State, but the average registration for the central districts does not appear to be more than Ain to lin.—Ed.]

Feed conditions over the bulk of the other States are satisfactory. The last rains came before the ground had got cold, and there has consequently been a good shoot. Hand-feeding is still necessary in parts of central and west Victoria and the south of South Australia, but that is a matter that should soon be, if it is not already, rectified. The new growth came just in the nick of time for the lambing. Judging by all accounts the drop and percentage marked promises to be one of the best recorded of recent years, in New South Wales at all events. It is rather early yet to speak with any certainty for the other States. The outlook, though, is bright. Really prime fat stock are scarce, and values firm. Plaiu descriptions are also fetching quite good prices on the whole, but owing to on occasional over-supply in the yards they have shown some irregularity. Certainly no legitimate complaint can be found as to values when offerings have been within the requirements of the local trade. Last week fair to average crossbred wethers sold at from 30s to 355, aged ewes to 265, lambs to 335, and moderate bullocks to £lB a head in the Melbourne yards. Wethers and lamb* in Sydney were fetching to 30s, and medium weight bullocks to £l3 10s a week ago, while in Brisbane prime bullocks were selling to £9 10s. and average descriptions to £8 per head. As pointed out, the mutton and lamb export trade has been on a small scale, owing to the dry weather, while beef killings will be considerably less than last year.

NATIONAL DAIRY SHOW. An indication of the suitability of the Winter Show at Palmerston North for a meeting place is seen on glancing at the time-table of the show, which fills up two pages of small print in the catalogue. Cattle, horse, sheep, poultry breeders’ and factory managers’ meetings, judges’ and agricultural and pastoral association conferences, smoke concerts (three), lectures, and other functions arc called for ShowWeek and on the show premises; hence one reason for its continued popularity. Next week, when the competitive entries close on Tuesday, matters will be well in train for the big exhibition. General space lias been booked up, and late-comers have now little chance of obtaining allocations. The motor trade will be particularly well represented. more space having been made available than has ever before been possible at the national dairy show. From recent advices the forthcoming event will put up a record for size and brightness, and intending visitors will be well advised to look ahead for accommodation.