ON THE RAILS.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14064, 10 February 1939, Page 4

ON THE RAILS.

WATCHING A EWE FAIR BUYERS v. SELLERS. To those who see the advertisements and agents’ reports of a ewe fair such as was held in Pahiatua on Tuesday, the whole thing may not appear of much consequence. But even the general public however small their interest in farming, would find a considerable amount of interest in spending a day at a big stock sale, watching the varied scenes produced by the buying and selling 0 f sheep under the hammer. If you should go, choose a fine day lor tlie yards may be muddy, and .t is not good either for health or comfort to sit lor two or three hours on a damp six-inch plank Get there early for there is always something or interest happening, but towards oleven there is a quickening of movement. Not a great deal though for the handling of sheep is essentially a peaceful occupation—cowboys are out of place at a lamb fair. You will see hundreds of sheep being unloaded from the big lorries this is now a highly mechanised method of sheep transport—and drafted into the pens. Drafting is not quite the right word, lor drafting is the term used for the operation of dividing ewes from wethers, shorn from woolly, primes from culls, or the entry of one owner from that of another. The operation is performed by passing tlie lambs through a race, which allows oniy one to pass at a time, aud tlie “drafter,” at the end of the race operates a light gate which divides the animals into one or the other of two pens. LUNCH AND SMOKE-O. Having arranged the various lots in pens from which they can be sold in progressive order, and the description and tallies all being correct, there comes a break—quite a welcome function too—and after that xind a smoke, serious business begins. The auctioneer commences with the first pen, and until all ,re sold, or lie is relieved, lie is the star performer and holds the centre of tliu stage He always is possessed of a loud voice, for at a sheep fair Bing Crosby or ant’ other crooner would be an utter failure. “Come on now,” lie shouts, with a quick eye roving to catch .a possible bid, "Here’s a splendid line of 43 ewes from the well-known flock of the Wayback estate. What am I bid ? Can I get a pound ? 19 ? 18? i 7? 16? 15? Only fifteen bob for a pen of ewe s like this and every one of them sound-mouthed 16-17-17-gen-tlenieu you’re slipping—these are 22s sheep—all right--halves if you like, 17 and a half, 17 and a half. . . what about it Mr. Vendor? “LET THEM GO.” "The vendor looks sadly over a really fine pen ol ewes, rubs lii s chin and with a philosophical shrug *ot the shoulders says "Lee them go.-’ This rouses the auctioneer to herculean heights of effort, and hi s face grows redder and red diet a,s he turns on the loud-speaker to the limit. “Seventeen and - six--and nine —and nine—lS—lß—a half—and nine—come <;n gentlemen, you’ll never get a chance like this again—threepence from you sir?—thank yoa —nineteen—and three? No, and one —and two—and three (you’ll be cursing wourselves for fools in a month’s time) another penny from you sir It’s nineteen and three, and I’m going to sell them.” A buyer who had been bidding keenly irom tlie start does a hasty arithmetic sum on the board rail, adding the cost of transport per head to the 19s 3d and then nods imperceptibly at the auctioneer, who not being able to extract another penny anywhere, knocks them down at 19s 4d. So the sale proceeds through pen after pen of ewes of all ages and conditions, until the last is disposed of. This finds a satisfied auctioneer, whose bull voice lias outstayed the pennies of the buyers, happy in being able to report a “total cIear-•SMOOTH-RUNNING TRANSPORT The last scene of all is probably j the most interesting of the lot to the townsman. This is the dispatch of the ewes to the Linns ol the purchasers. No time is lost; by the time that bidding on lot three :s under way. the first pen may be out of the yards and on the wav to its new home. The old method of driving on the roads still obtains in many places, but it is being replaced more and 111 ore by the use of the huge sheepcrates having two decks on a single lorry. Loaded by races and gangways. these lorries are coming and going to and from the yards all day. taking sheep either to the railwav station or direct to the farm. No dreary droving, no dogs, no oust and no losses on the mad. The sheep are transported quickly to and Irom tlie yards, and i£ is not uncommon for a flock to be driven from the vendor’s farm, 50 miles away, in the morning, pass undei tlie hammer at noon, and be quietly cropping grass on their new owner’s farm, *0 miles in the opposite direction, long before sundown.