STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3854, 24 January 1928, Page 19

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Weekly stock Salos. Burnside, Wednesdays. 'Addingion, Wednesdays. Walareka Railway J.unoUon, Tuesdays Fortnightly. Riversdale, Fridays (March, April, and JI V ). Wallacetown, Tuesdays. Ashburton, Tuesdays. Heriot, Thursdays. Winton, Thursdays. Wyndham, Thursdays. ■ Clinton’, Thursdays. Baldlutha, Fridays. Gore, -Tuesdays. Monthly. Edendale, Ist Monday. Palmerston, 4th Thursday. Winton, 4th Tuesday. Mutaura, Ist Thursday. Tokauui, 4th Monday.

Monthly (continued!. Duutroon, 2nd Wednesday.

Woodlands, 3rd Wednesday. Milton, 2nd Tuesdays ' Balfour, 3rd Thursday. Thornbury, Ist Friday. Otautau, 2nd Wednesday. Riversdale, 3rd Friday (except March,' April, and May). Waikaka, last Friday. Clydevale, last Friday Periodically a* Advertised. Lnmsden, Mossburn, Orepuki, Waimahaka, Waikouaiti. Riverton, Ngapara, and Otago Central Salos.

OTAGO

Good harvest weather conditions were experienced in Otago during the week, and evidence of the dry conditions in the Central .are trending coastwards. The supply of milk to the Lake County Dairy Company this month has slackened Very’ appreciably owing to the drought. Some grain crops are ruined, while the pasture is fading or has faded away in some areas. In Southland, Winton way, it is dry, and roots are having a struggle, and factories doubtless from now on will experience a considerable drop in the amount of milk handled, particularly where merely grass is depended upon. BURNSIDE MARKET. The entries of stock' at Burnside were fairly large, with the result that fat cattle and sheep receded in price, and also pigs, but fat lambs were firm, and store cattle met with good competition.

The yarding of fat cattle totalled 284, compared with 185 the previous week, the quality being somewhat mixed. The proportion of heavy cows and medium-weight heifers was fairly large. Included in the entry were some prime southern consignments. There was a fair demand at a reduction of £1 per head at the commencement of the sale, and a further fall in prices ensued towards the clpse. Prime butchers’ bullocks of handy weights made to 38s per 1001 b. The entry of fat sheep, 1953 (1560 the previous week) comprised practically'’ all shorn sheep of good average to prime quality, the proportion of ewes being noticeable, and also pennings of lightweight wethers and medium ewes. The demand was fairly good early' in the sale, but values gradually declined, heavy sheep easing sharply, with ewes sagging slightly, and generally prices of wethers and heavy ewes slacked 2s to 2s 6d per head, medium ewes about Is, and light prime wethers unchanged at schedule rates. Butchers’ wethers may be quoted as making to 6|d and freezers to 5.Jd per lb. The yarding of fat lambs, 700, compared with 560 the previous week, was made up of fair to prime quality, some lots lacking finish, and others growthy, but only' s'econd quality. There was a good demand, exporters taking some consignments and butchers others at rates on a par with those ruling the previous week. Lambs may be quoted as making up to 91d per lb.

A fairly good entry' of store cattle, 270, evoked good competition for steers, kind an easiei’ demand for conditioned cows. The entry' included a good mixed station line of some 90 head from Greenstone Station, the Lakes, which made £7 8s to £ll. The balance comprised well-con-ditioned cows and mixed cattle.

The yarding of fat pigs, 220 (64 last week), proved an over supply, and prices receded 7s 6d to 10s per head, with store, 80 (32 last ’week), somewhat cheaper than a week ago. Baconers may' be quoted as making to s?d and porkers to 6Jd per lb.

COUNTRY SALES. —Balclutha.—

At the corporation yards sale on Friday 3500 sheep were yarded, including fully 800 fats, and a good sale resulted. Fat lambs sold at 24s to 30s, fat wethers 25s to 345, fat ewes 14s to 20s, mixed sex lambs 18s to 22s 4d. store wethers 20s 7d to 26s 3d, old ewes 6s 6d to 9s 3d. There was a fair yarding of cattle and a good demand. Fat bullocks made up to £l2, fat cows to £B, store bullocks £7 16s. The sale of pigs was not very brisk, prices for suckers ranging from 8s 9d to 10s. —Tarras.— The entry of sheep at Tarras, Central Otago, comprised some 7COO sheep, the bulk of them being two-tooth wethers, some fourtoqths, and old and two-tooth ewes. The sheep were in good store condition, and in some instances showing the effects of scanty herbage. There was a very fair demand, two-tooth wethers and four-tooths making 15s to 18s 6d, old 8s to 14s, twotooth ewes 27s 6d to 30s. The wethers were bought for Timaru and Wilden and the ewes retained by local graziers. —Riversdale.— The first sale this year was held at Riversdale on Friday, there being a small attendance of farmers. Sheep.—lncluded in the entry' were several lines of two-tooth ewes, Lut there was no great demand for them, it being rather early and farthers having not yet culled their flocks. Later on, abr t March or April, there should be a good demand for this class of ewe. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company disposed of a nice line of -two-tooth ewes at 34s 7d on account of Mr A. Mackay, Otama. Smaller two-too'ths realised 28s 9d. A few pens of shorn fat wethers were on offer and made up to 31s. Cattle.—There was only a small offering of cattle, but what was forward realised very satisfactory prices, and all were disposed of under the hammer. Medium quality store steers made up to £6, store heifers to £5 15s, and store cows to £6 sa.

STOCK NOTES. Farming conditions along the coastal lands of Otago have been satisfactory during the week but inland it is a different story, and up at the Lakes stock are not taring well owing to dry conditions. Forward selling will once again be condemned freely, as it is on the cards that lambs sold ahead will in some instances be deemed not up to the warranty, with the consequence that vendor s will fall in.

There were 20 outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in England during the last fortnight of November.

There is generally a good demand for sheep in Otago and Southland, ewes in particular being favoured. Otherwise business is practically confined to routine wool work, and. in the country, to lamb fattening, haymaking, cultivation of roots, etc. Competition for store sheep in the North Island ranges from very fair to good ; very fair two and four-tooth wethers making 22s to 245, well-conditioned white face cross shorn lambs 15s to 18s, woolly black face lambs 19s to 21s, four and six-tooth ewe’s 235, two-year-old polled steers £6, forward steers £7 to £B, beef at Westfield, Auckland. realising up to 32s for choice quality. South Island breeders of Rornney Marsh sheep.secured several high-priced stud rams at the repent Wairarapa (North Island) sale. Three rams went to J. Mosley and Son (Balclutha), one to W. Roxburgh (Lumsden), one to. Allan Galt (Mataura), one to Murray Bros. .(Clydevale), one to J. Beattie (Central Otago), one to Canterbury College, and one to J Grigg (Longbcach). Prices ranged from 75gns to 235gns. The’ Smithfield champion steer this seasen was bred and exhibited by the Earl of Durham, of Lambton Castle. The sire of the champion was a shorthorn and the dam an Aberdeen-Angus. This crossbred steer, be it noted, therefore beat the three champions shown at the great fat stock shows at Norwich. Birmingham, and the Scottish National, all being purebreds, as all were competing at Smithfield. After a long study of American sheep bv a Russian commission sent to the United States for that purpose, 10,000 purebred Rambouittet sheep have been purchased by the Russian Government from Hay Creek ranch irr Central Oregon (says an exchange). This purchase has been made to improve the sheep industry of that great undeveloped country, and it is. understood to be but the beginning of the importations from America. “ The owner has just built a new home and has no room for her,” stated an auctioneer when offering a dairy cow at the Gore stock sale the other day. “He might have "built another room instead of turning the poor thing out,” suggested a sympathetic onlooker. It is reported that one of the largest drafts of fat lambs recorded in the \Vairarapa in recent years came off a Mr J. D. M'Dougall's station, Lower Valley, recently, when 3800 prime lambs were lifted (states the Age). Five thousand ewes were turned out with Southdown rams this season, and, in addition to the above mentioned draft of fats, 2000 store lambs were sold off the station.

Mr James Neill, of Maheno, has been admitted to the (iainaru Public Hospital, suffering from wounds in the neck and on one of his hands, caused by his having been gored by a bull. He was bringing the animal in from a paddock, when the ring in its nose gave way, and it charged him. There ’ are at present 38 men on the boards at the Pukeuri freezing works, and it is expected that the daily killing will shortly reach 3000. The quality of the lambs going through the works is uniformly good. One line sold at the schedule price of 9Jd per lb killed out at 451 b, averaging 33s 9d per head. Another line killed out at 461 b, averaging 345.

In reply to a remit from the New Zealand Farmers’ Union annual conference, asking that none but dehorned cattle be allowed to be offered for sale in any public saleyard or be trucked after January 1, 1930, the Minister of Agriculture stated that a Bill had been prepared providing for the dehorning of all cattle other than purebred animals, but that owing to the heavy legislative programme already prepared he regretted he would be unable to introduce the Bill this session.

The Liverpool City Council has decided to build the biggest abattoir in the world at a cost of over £632,000. The trade estimate that the following npmber of animals will be slaughtered annually, in the new abattoir:—Cattle, 66,500; sheep, 586,500; calves, 47,500; pigs, 109,000. The buildings will cover 15 acres, and steel weighing about 8000 tons will be used. The total floor space, all of reinforced concrete, will be about 20 acres. In the abattoir accommodation has been designed for intensive slaughter on the American system, under w-hich 1000 head of cattle and 7000 sheep can be dealt with.’ Adjoining the dressing stations will be atmospheric cooling rooms equal to a full day's kill. The carcasses will be moved from the abattoir through the cooling and chill-rooms to the railwaysidings by' means of lifts and a continuous overhead rail system.

StfIRE HORSES AT THE HIGHLAND.

“ Wonders wi.ll never cease,” writes our correspondent. “ Provision is being made by- the Highland and Agricultural Society' for two classes for Shire horses at the Aberdeen Show in July next. The council of the Shire Horse Society, with commendable enterprise, has agreed that £2OO should be earmarked to meet the expense of sending exhibits to Scotland, where, it is hoped, the breed will become better known. It was always open to Shire breeders to compete at the Highland Show, as the entries were for agricultural horses,’ but they naturallyconcluded that it was no use exhibiting against Clydesdales with a bench of Scottish judges. This year Clydesdales are to be styled as such.”

A BRITISH FRIESIAN RECORD. By yielding 3011 gallons of milk in 359 days, Mr John Bromet’s British Friesian cow Sudbourne Dairymaid II has joined the ranks of the select few in this country’ to exceed the 3000 gallon yield in the year (says a Home exchange). Only' eight cows, including Sudbourne Dairymaid 11, have accomplished the performance, and all of them are of the British Friesian breed. Sudbourne Dairymaid II gave her great yield at Golf Links Farm, Tadcaster, in Mr Bromet’s Golf herd, which in the

official year 1925-1926 won the cup for the highest herd average in Yorkshire. Sudbourne Dairymaid II was born on March 14. 1920, and was bred by the Olympia Agricultural Company, who had purchased both her parents from the Hedges herd of Messrs A. and J. Brown. She was subsequently acquired by Mr Stuart Heaton, from whom Mr Bromet purchased her nearly two years ago. She has calved and milked as follows:—

MERINOS FOR FRANCE

Australia owes its present position as the producer of the finest wool in the world largely to the early importations of sheep of the famous Ramboulliet (French) blood, and it is an interesting fact that for many years the bulk of our finest merino wools have been purchased for French manufacturers. Further evidence of keen appreciation for our stock is provided (says the Victorian .Weekly Times) by the fact that Messrs Prouvost and Lefebre, manufacturers, of Roubaix, France, recently commissioned their Melbourne representative, Mr Chas. Martel, to select the nucleus of a merino stud from one of our premier wool-producing flocks for the purpose of comparison with the present-day' Ramboulliet sheep, and as an object lesson of what careful and'systematic breeding can achieve. As Mr Martel’s principals handle only the fijjgst qualities of merino wool, he ha<l to select sheep from a long-established stud, combining quality and length of staple, robust conformation, and constitutional soundness. After much consideration, two stud rams, two and three years old. and 10 stud ewes’ one and a-half years old, were purchased from the executors of James Russell, of Barunah Plains. The sheep were shorn early, and the ewes served by the Barunah Plains grand champion ram. The sheep were shipped in the Port Curtis, which left Melbourne on January 6, and when they' arrive at their destination, will be depastured on Messrs Prouvost and Lefebre’s farm, about 10 miles from Roubaix, where they have a stud flock of Ramboulliet sheep established.

This is the first shipment of stud sheep to France, and it will be interesting to learn how they compare with the French sheep after the have been through a winter. In consequence of the frost and snow, the flocks have to be more or less housed and fed during the severest part of the year.

DAIRYING INDUSTRY’S NEED

The important matter of herd improvement is one that is engaging the attention of the New Zealand Farmer’s Union at the present time, as the future of our dairy industry is closely wrapped up in increasing our dairy output. Our export of dairy produce totals £17.000.000 every year, but in the future will be sorely tried’ by foreign competitors, who, with everincreasing production and improving organisation, _ are aiming at undermining our position in the principal dairy markets of the world.

_lf there were no such thing as competition a “ go-as-you-please ” policy in the dairy industry might prevail, but as serious competition calls forth the very best effort to take immediate steps to raise the standard of type of our dairy , herds, increase in production must naturally follow. The elimination of “scrub” bulls and their replacement by better bred ones seems to be one of the initial phases of herd improvement. According to the latest statistics there' are 58,936 bulls in New Zealand, two years old and over, but of these only 10,871 are pure bred. Among the 48,065 crossbred bulls there must be many thousands that are a menace to our herds.

The total of purebreds is made up thus:— Jersey 6458 Friesian 1533 Shorthorns 745 Aberdeen Angus 572 Ayrshires 477 Milking Shorthorns ... 474 Herefords 457 Red Polls 136 Guernseys ... 5 Alderney 1 Other breeds 2

In Western Australia, South Australia and in Tasmania, every bull over the age of six months must be registered at.°a fee of 10s. Registration may be refused if the bull does not comply with the standard adopted, and the bull must be destroyed unless the Appeal Board, provided, directs the registration. In Tasmania it is proposed, after a few years, to disallow grade bulls and permit the use of purebred bulls only. Ireland is one of the latest countries to take up the matter of herd improvement, and in some centres the dairy farmers are calling upon the Department of Agriculture to introduce legislation for the registration of all bulls, which must be from dams with certified milk records.

AUSTRALIAN CHILLED BEEF. The London correspondent of the Pastoral Review, under date October 27, 1927, writes: “Although the consignment of chilled beef from Australia arriving at Hull in the Port Huon on the 19th ult. was only a small one, consisting of <lOO hinds and 50 crops, it figures as an experiment and an item of progress hardly, if at all. less in importance than its three predecessors, which occupied the attention of this market respectively in May, 1925, July, 1926, and February, 1927.

In one regard, however, the present trial may with justice be * slated ’ badly, and that is for the quality of tlib beef treated. If it is impossible for Australia, especially in relation to a particular experiment on which the eyes of the meat world are fixed, to send over any other than plain quality beef for the English market, then Australians had better make up their minds not to waste their efforts on attempting to compete in the English market. The sole reason apparently that these and other experiments are proceeding for the improved carriage of meat to Britain is that Australia may be able to compete on more favourable terms with the Argentine supply which is so predominant in Great Britain.

All efforts to that end arc nugatory if I quality of beef is not attended to, and what the organisers of the present attempt thought they could do with plain beef in the chilled market it would be interesting to know. The best that Australia can offer is not too good for this trade, as Argentine meat in its splendid breed and constitution is unexcelled in all the world, and needs years of improvement on the part of Australia to equal. My readers will understand the purpose of this plain word on this matter. The cattle, it seems, were trucked to Brisbane, a distance, I believe, of some 600 miles, and on the top of that some of them travelled 100 miles on the hoof, and some actually 140 miles. “ To the credit of the ‘ Perfect Food Process,’ under which chilling system it was carried, the beef arrived in very fair condition on Smithfield Market, London, on the morning of the 20th ult., 'a day after its discharge at Hull, and the markets of Manchester and Leeds also saw some of the meat. There was very little trace of mould this time on the beef, the hinds being of particularly good colour and the cut surface of the crops being the weaker point at which some traces of mould were seen. The remarkable thing was that the meat remained for several days on the London market without any apparent deterioration, and bn the morning of the 25th some quarters were stated to be looking excellent, although ! did not see them. Curiously enough, most of the slight trace of mould that was present disappeared after the meat had been marketed a short while.” PRICE OF LAMBS. Mr William Gardiner, of Peebles, recently sold a line of Border Leicester cross lambs at 33s per head on the hoof. This is one of the best prices obtained this season. Their dead-weight average, when slaughtered at the Pareora works, was 451 b. Mr Arthur Gardiner, son of Mr William Gardiner, also sold a line of lambs at 31s' per head. These were fattened on the property that is being offered to the Government for subdivision. A still higher price has been obtained by Air J. Al. Smith, of Kakanui, who had probably the earliest lambs in North Otago He sold a line at 35s per head. These

prices would have astounded farmers a few years ago. Lambs are more than three times the value to-day that they were 2X)

Milk yield Days in Date of Calving. in gallons. Milk. May 25, 1922 1320 364 August 27, 1923 1626 352 October 21, 3 924 1557 323 November 2, 1925 2491 357 December 5, 1926 3011 359 10,005