MARKETS FOR FARMERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1930, Page 16

MARKETS FOR FARMERS.

NEW ZEALAND’S PRODUCTS. Addressing a large gathering of farmers from various parts of the Dominion at tho luncheon tendered to him at the. Carterton show, His Excellency, the Gov-ernor-General, Lord Bledisloe, said that . the Dominion’s main market was England. Those who supplied that market, even though their views differed from opinions expressed at Home, must provide what the British people wanted, or go to the wall. His Excellency said he knew that a lot of cheese was made in the Wairarapa, and.he was sure a great variety of cattle were employed in producii j this cheese. He was not one of those who thought a certain breed of cattle equally good for butter and for cheese. They might produce what they called standardised cheese, and it might be some of the finest cheese in the world, but the British merchant only asked what kind of cheese it was. When he was told that it was cheese made from milk from which part of the cream had been separated, he .said; “It ■ is. what we call skim-milk cheese, and we do not intend to give you any more for it than we give for skim.-milk cheese.” Cheese made from Jersey milk from which' part of the cream had been taken was not- gojng to be judged upon its quality; it was going to be judged upoq ith name, and because its name did not convince the British purchaser producers were not going to get full value for their cheese, saiej. His Excellency. “When I was a' student at the leading agricultural college in England 40 years ago, the first thing I was told, was: ‘When you are making butter, consider what your customers, want and give it to them.’ In Yorkshire the people liked butter of a pronounced colour, and. if the butter was not dark enough it had better be coloured. In Leeds the people liked, light butter, something like tallow in. appearance. In London they liked something in between the two.” His Excellency said he had been told that' in the North of England there was nothing'like : the demand for New Zealand butter Aat there was. in London 'and .the South of England. It was worth wliiie to ascertain what the requirements of each area were in taste, colour and. texture, and then make every effort to satisfy these requirements.In Denmark the farmers, with their own organisations, were doing even more than the Government in the matter of enforcing regulations and grading for export. Every year more Danish butter was coming on the market. New Zealand farmers should encourage their ■ Government to -be very strict in the grading of their butter for export, because they were in competition with a country which graded very strictly, and would let nothing but the best go outfor the. British market. If New Zealand- was prepared to submit to the same .regulations'’ as; their competitors, she would deserve to have, and would always have, control of the market of the Old Country. The countries, with which New Zealand was competing on the world markets were listening to the teachings of the scientists, and if New Zealand 'did not listen to those teachings she . would fall behind in the race. SHEEP BREEDING. GRADING THE FLOCK. An important point in successful sheep-breeding is the careful grading of the flock. In°fact, in the annual routine of the flock mas ter, it .is the most interesting operation of the year, and when the ewe flock has 'beeri culled and drafted, the next ■'important step, advises.“W.8.,” in Farm, Field and Fireside, is the selection of suitable rams ; to mate With it. • - ; 7; " 7 /

In grading, he says, the, ; “cull” ewes will first be removed, these being the animals which are past their best, having, broken mouths and defective udders, which make them unfit for further breeding. Usually they, are pent r tq market in a lot together, arid the return obtained depends on their condition. If they are' good enough for slaughter, butchers will, buy them at a price; or graziers will take them, to run over a- bit of good keep until they are fat; Many farmers follow the.practice of retaining those which are not quite 'done for, mating them to produce a few early lambs, and then both ewes and lambs are fattened together in the 1 spring. The price realised by this means usually makes it worth while to have taken the the crop 'of lambs from them. It is all-important to maintain the breeding flock in young and vigorous condition, for the greater the proportion of younger ewes, the smaller is the percentage of loss that may be expected in the lambing season. Consequently,. in well-managed, flocks, the oldest section of ewes, even though they are sound to all appearance, are drafted off every year, and their place taken by shearlings. Thus, in a 100-ewe flock, about 25 ewes would be cleared out and replaced—the result being that the flock as made' up would consist of 25 each of shearlings, two-shear, three-shear, and full-mouth ewes. ; ’ , \ Pedigree breeders sometimes retain old favourites beyond the normal time; but in commercial flocks it is far better to get rid of them, for most of the winter casualties are among the older ewes. The shearling ewes on hand next call for consideration, and the best will be retained for the home flock. Prior to sellin<r the remainder, it is wise to'feed them”up well, so’ that they shall present an attractive appearance at market. Good condition and neat trimming-up are great factors in the profitable sale of shearling as well as ot draft and other breeding ewes. Once the ewe flock is made up, it Is time to select suitable rams. Just as the bull is half the herd, so the ram is half the flock; and it is well worth while to give a good price and ensure a satisfactory purchase, so far as is possible. Blit with rams as well as with bulls, there is a large element of uncertainty attached to the purchase of a voting animal, as the value of a sire is really proved only by his progeny. The best thing the flockmaster can do is to make his choice from a well-bred flock, and there is a wide field for his selection. Points to be looked for are <rood breed type, strong masculine character, and good heart girth —indicating strength of constitution. Usually rams are purchased in too haphazard a fashion, for it is not realised that the choice of , a good sire puts several shilling a head on the value of the progeny when sold. It is a mistake to leave the purchase of rams until late in the season. The best sheep usually come out at the early sales, and besides. they are commonly offered in too fat a condition, so that time is often needed to allow them to get into leaner and harder condition before being put into service. Cross-bred rams should on no account be used. ’Good pedigree flocks alone can be relied upon to supply the type of sire necessary for the production of mutton and wool of the highest class.