OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

Colonist, Volume LIII, Issue 13052, 11 March 1911, Page 3

OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

RURAL NEW&SALAtfD XiNbEtl REVIEW.

No. 18,

(All Rights jieserveid'.)

Jjy R 4 J. ftAMES,

HAWKE'S BAY: PROVINCE OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE.

BIG LAND HOLDING^

Tliß figures which follow show very clearly that in Hawke's Bay particularly, and also iii Auckland and Wellington districts, thero is plenty of room for a bigger population in the domains of the sheep. In thci North Island there are 103 holdings over 10,000 and nuoVv 20,000 acres m exteat, ana 40 holdings over 20,000 and under 50,000 acres. Besides which thcro are. 11 holdings of over 50,000 acres. There is no occupiablc country in New Zealand so poor in quality as to justify laud-ownership on this 100 1000 10,000 20,000 to to to to 200 5000 20,000 50,000 'Auckland 8036 1055 31 14 Taranak-i 13G5 202 0 0 Hawke's Bay 335 326 41 20 Wellington 1531 670 29 6 Of, holdings over 50,000 acres in extent theft* aid. 4 in Auckland, none, in Tarauaki, 3 in Hawke's Bay, and 4 in Wellington district. Taking a general average ot the land in occupation, it is shown that the Hawke's Bay holdings are more than twice as big as those of- Wellington: and Anokiaiul, and more than throe- tunes as big as the holdings in Taranaki: Average holding acres Hawko's Bay 798 Wellington 37.5 Auckland 818 Taranaki i:26 Tlie value of sheep country in Hawke's Bay varies greatly according to quality and situation, but as a general thing £4 per sbcop to the acre is considered safe buying. LARGE FLOCKS. According to the latest sheep returns there were 24,269,620 sheep in the Dominion, owned by 21,522 people, or an average of 1127 sheep per owner. The sheep districts do not coincide with thci provincial districts or the land districts, but a consideration of the following figures will show that the East Coast is still the distinctive place in the North Island in the matter of big ownerships of sheep: sheep No-, of petDistrict sheep owner Auckland 1,205,340 475 W'gt'n-West Coast 5,799,015 1251 Napier Gisborna 5,913,301 2410 Of the Dominion's 24,000,000 sheep, what is officially known as the NapierGisborne district possesses not far short of 6,000,000, or nearly a fourth of all the sheep in Now Zealand. To compare the size of the flocks, the following table shows the number of owners grazing the bigger flecks : — 5000 10,000 Over Sheep district to to 20,000 10,000 20,000 sheep Napier-Gisborne 189 91 31 W'lit'n-Wcst Coast 135 35 10 Auckland 12 nil nil THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE. Besides the Golden Fleece the Hawke's Bay carcase puts in no small claim to importance. There are large freezing works at Gisbornc., Napier, and on both sides of Hastings. For the year ended Doc. 31, 1909, there was' exported from New Zealand 260,773,(i981bs of frozen meat. For the year ended June 30, 1910, the North Island contribution was as follows :— Mutton and lamb Beef lbs lbs Xapier-Gisborne 44,806,106 20,067,114 Wellington 41,246,250 17 ; 717;790 Waitara, Patea and Wanganui 9,-101,679 17,672,918 Auckland 2,401,157 6,023,414 The sheep carcase values to the farmers of Napier-Gisborne district may be shown in another way. For the' year to which we have referred there-wore 551,151 carcases of sheep; and sheep at the time of the writer's visit $v the district, about the middle of January, were fetching, for freezing purposes, from 14s 6d to 15s each as olf the shears. Of lambs there were 391,416 carcases. At the same date lambs in wool were bringing 12s 6d each. THE COAT OF THE SHEEP. Getting to tho coat of the sheep: For the year ended June 30 last there were sold at the local sales at Napier 48,499 bales of wool a.nd 89,488 sheepskins, as compared with 26,672 bales of wool and 101,112 shqepskins the previous year. Tho exports by sea for the year ended June 30, 1908, totalled 76,770 bales of wool and sheepskins, 83,034 bales in 1909, and 89,520 bales in 1910. It may be added that tho value of Napier's exports in 1910 was over half a million sterling more than in 1906. THE MARCH. OF THE ROMNEY. If one were to be asked the outstanding characteristic of Hawke's Bay sheep-breeding, it might be replied with truth that the most notable change of recent years has been the march of the Romney. "Pure Merino" was a descriptive term commonly applied to sheep-kings of other days, but the aristocratic animal (meaning the sheep of course) has quite lost its prestige in Hawke's Bay and now rcrnks, numerically, second lowest in the list of sires used for flock purposes. Tho animal least in demand is the Shropshire, and the Merino comes next. Thero are. only about two thousand of him (the Marino) used amongst the six million sheep in the district. The Lincoln is second highest in demand, about 19,000 rams being used, but the Romney holds pride of place, the services, in stud and flock, of 40,000 rams having bc«n requisitioned last year. The preponderance of this particular breed is also marked throughout the North Island. Its suitability to many localities has been demonstrated, and its sounder constitution and the fine quality of th« wool it grows has confirmed its popularity. It may be interesting to give the figures showing the order of popularity in which the sires run in the land of the Golden Fleeco:— Flock rains. Romney 38,487 Lincoln 18,629 English Leicester 4,316 Border Leicester 4,234 Southdown 2,138 Merino 2,020 Shropshire 685