SOUTHLAND NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3885, 28 August 1928, Page 22

SOUTHLAND NOTES.

(From Oub Own Correspondent.) SIGNS OF SPRING. With reports of gales and storms in the north we in sunny Southland have been living in an atmosphere of spring. Sunshine during the day, very slight frosts on a few nights, and an odd mild shower fully describes the weather of the past fortnight. Everywhere there is evidence of spring, though, as usual, we have the pessimists prophesying that we will have to pay for this fine weather later on. There are still considerable areas of turnips to be eaten off, although in some cases hoggets which have lost their teeth are being put out on to grass, and so long as they have scope they will do better than if confined on the turnip break. All cultivation is exceptionally well forward, and nothing except a phenomenally wet spring can prevent sowing being finished early. RAM EXPORT. The complaints from Australian sheep breeders of inferior rams being landed there from New Zealand seems to apply more to Border Leicesters than any of the other breeds. Southland breeders must therefore take their share of the blame attached to the charges, and there is no doubt but many inferior rams have been shipped in recent years. The general cry for lambs of light weight is to some extent responsible for the local slump . in demand for Border Leiccsters, and following this there has been a great falling-off in the numbers offered for sale 'at ram fairs and also on exhibition at the A. and P. shows. Getting down to hard facts it simply means that in the battle of the breeds the Borders have gone down, although two decades ago they were the leading breed on Southland farms, and it may prove a mistake for local lamb producers to al- : together discard them. The demand for them in Australia may be largely attributed to the results of experiments made over there some years ago on a Government farm. Rams of several British breeds were put to merino ewes with the object of finding out what cross was best suited to produce lambs for export, and the Border Leicester was aji easy winner. It is a mistake for Southland breeders to ignore this and be led away by the craze of the moment for Down cross lambs of light weight. To bear this out we find the quotations for our lamb in London this week gives 37/42’s as being the same price per lb as 36’s and under. It has never paid, nor will it ever pay, for Southland farmers to grow lambs 361 b and under until there is a much wider margin in price between them and the heavier weights. Those interested in the trade have consistently urged that if we are to retain our hold on the Home market we must produce neat light lambs, but we never see buyers rejecting the heavy ones when drafting, as no one who knows anything of the ’trade will call a 421 b lamb a. “heavy” one. CHANCES IN BREEDING. The above leads on to another matter in the same connection. Report has it that several large breeders after two or three years’ experience in using Southdown rams are disappointed with the results, and will go back to Leicesters, either Border or English. Southdowns are frequently given the credit of hating made the reputation of “ prime Canterbury.” This is a mistake, as the English Leicester ram used on the half-bred ewe was mainly responsible during the initiation of the frozen meat industry for putting the Canterbury product at the top of the market, and exporters from that province deserve credit for keeping it in the lead for so many years. Reverting back to Southdowns in Southland the first draft of lambs off the ewes are always in keen demand, but last summer being very dry the percentage ready was lower than usual. For the same reason lamb feed was scarce, so there was a big tail end of stores, and this is exactly where the shoe pinches in using Down rams, as except every lamb goes fat any culls left over are hard to quit at. even low prices compared to the other crosses. There can be no question of the superior quality of Down mutton. That has been an accepted fact for ages, but although it is an honour to win prizes in our local shows and in Smithfield for a few special lambs, it is the ultimate results commercially bn the whole flock which a farmer must consider, and it appears that Southland conditions are not suitable for breeding Down lambs on a large scale. This is now the considered opinion of men who have tried it. On the other hand, the dairy farmer -who runs a few ewes to keep down the ragwort is well advised in using Down rams, as he invariably gets every lamb away fat, and has no residue left to eat into his profits. THE MEAT BOARD. A much-discussed document amongst our farmers during the past week has been the annual report of the Meat Board. There is no gainsaying the fact that the board has fully justified its existence, but there is abundant room for criticism of the cost of its doing so. The accumulated funds now stand at oVer £78,000, and last year’s income was £13,700 over the expenditure. This latter is extra- , ordinary when we find that during the year it cost £18,300 to pay salaries, travOl- , ling expenses, etc., of the staff and members of the board. The board consists of eight members, and their travelling expenses come to £770, or just on £lOO ’ per member, for the year, roughly £2OO ‘ for each meeting. . The levy on meat for the year is within a few pounds of £35,000. To the average farmer some 1 of the above figures are simply stagger- ■ ing, and while giving the board every credit for some good work the general 1 opinion amongst our farmers is that many ■ items of expenditure show an utter dis* 1 regard for economy. For instance, on ’ one side we find an entry of £l2OO described as “ net profits on trial ship1 ments to New York,” but opposite we 1 have “London manager’s expenses to

North America,” £368. This is a small item in £18,300, but it points to extravagance, yet in spite of extravagance in management there is a surplus of £13,700 for the year, which clearly indicates that the levy should be lowered, or some better use made of the £78,000 to help producers than merely bearing interest. All over the report and balance sheet is of immense interest to farmers, but with us here we have some sarcastic remarks made over the charges at a time when politicians of every shade of opinion are continually harping on the necessity of economy, and the member for Wallace, who is also a member of the board, may look forward to some pointed question being put to him during his forthcoming election campaign. FARMERS’ UNION RALLY. The Farmers’ Union are holding a Rally Week right throughout the province to stimulate interest in the union and to induce new members to enrol. The meetings so far have been well attended, and will do much good if only from a social standpoint in getting farmers together to discuss matters affecting our great industry. On looking over the names advertised where meetings are being held it is passing strange that an important centre like Winton is omitted. This may be explained by the fact that there is no branch of the union in Winton, but it would be much more difficult to explain why this is so. Winton is the centre of what is admittedly the finest farming district in the province, has the best saleyards south of Addington, and the best store sheep sales in Southland. The township is solely dependent on agriculture, yet the Farmers’ Union has never been able to establish a branch there. Lack of public spirit amongst local fanners cannot be offered as an excuse, as the A. and P. Association, the Saleyards Company, and the experimental farm are all controlled by farmers with a marked degree of success. One would naturally think that this Rally Week would have been an excellent opportunity for some of the union leaders to “ hold forth ” in Winton, yet they have ignored it.