FAIR AT KOHURATAHI

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1934, Page 5

FAIR AT KOHURATAHI

RECORD YARDING SUBMITTED SHEEP FROM THREE DISTRICTS. BUSY SCENES DURING YARDING. In the bleak grey dawn, more in keeping with June than February, settlers in the Whangamomona, Kohuratahi and Tahora districts began on Wednesday to muster flocks and to draft out those which were to be put under the hammer at the first February sheep fair at Kohuratahi. As the light of day .filtered through threatening cloudbanks the dogs eased their charges down to the road where they might be held for a space while the drover snatched a hurried meal. Other members of the family, who would follow later to the fair wer® busily discussing th topics closest to the heart of sheep men and conjecturing as to the size of the offering, the likelihood of a big bench of buyers and the extent to which prices would range above last, year’s. While opinions were still being advanced, criticised or accepted, the droves was carefully shepherding the flock along the road. No matter what road,, it led to Kohuratahi, and anyone who could have had a bird’s eye view of the three districts might have wondered what the position would be when all those bunches had finished flowing into one spot. Years of experience, however, have taught those who have business at fairs how to deal with such a situation, and though th® road past the saleyards is no wider there than the average Ohura Road during its traverse of the back country, there was none of the disorder that might easily arise with about 7000 sheep converging on one point. As a bunch arrived it would be driven into the drafting yard, broken up and penned. Meanwhile the next would be held outside the gate on the road to wait till the yard was cleared before being admitted in its turn. A few chains along the road ano flier lot waited, and so on until the road on each side ,of the yard was dotted with bunches of sheep. With each bunch would be the drovers, sitting their horses or standing stolidy which the rain dripped from their hats and down their oil skins on to boots instep deep in the slush churned up by the thousands of feet. The sheep milled uneasily and the younger ones, not yet convinced of the futility of the manoeuvre, tried to break away from the restraint imposed by the dogs.

WORK OF THE DCGS. The dogs were amusing. The young ones, bursting with self-importance, trotted to and fro on the outskirts of the bunch and were too busy even to scratch. More mature and used to “this sort of thing,” the older canines meandered about and attended quietly to their jobs. Perhaps they ruminated on the stupidity of sheep, especially in wet weather, or on the unnecessary trouble and pother caused by “these young tykes imbued with an exaggerated sense of their own value.” At the yards men shouted, dogs yelped and the plaintive bleat of sheep and lambs rose above the other noises, but while there was a medley of sound, beneath it all the work incidental to penning the sheep was proceeding, smoothly. As every lot was safely shut up the drover, sometimes two or three, freed for the time being of responsibility, was able to patronise that inviting looking tea and sandwich stall. There was only one subject of conversation there or anywhere that a knot of men gathered, but it was one in which everyone displayed profound interest. The buyer liked the look of the hardy back-country stock and hoped the competition for it would not be as strong as he ruefully, expected; the vendor knew he was offering some of the best that Taranaki produces and fervently hoped it would command the price it merited; the auctioneer remembered that there' was a time limit to be considered and mentally reviewed his stock of selling phrases with the idea of concentrating on. the more forceful. There would be no time for rambling persiflage, and he knew

In the interim cars loaded with buyers, and settlers with perhaps more than they cared to contemplate hanging on the result of the sale .of their lots, had been arriving and the fair was ready for the initial bidding. • The rain clouds had by that time emptied themselves of a thick mist which obscured the hilltops and sank into the valleys. It . swirled around the yards and damped everything material, but it did not retard the bidding. The auctioneer reminded buyers that the time limit forebore dalliance and advised them that it that was the lot they wanted they had better get,after it. He then jumped into his stride and with the reflections of morning tea time fresh in his mind he unloosed a string of rapid fire exhortations to the buyers and extolled the virtues of the lot with a word picture that dazzled even the owner. ■ And he gained results. That first pe-i, holding breeding ewes, averaged 23s 6d and set a mark that became almost a standard,, because the first 2000. sheep sold averaged over £l. As the fair progressed the prices obtained at last year s sale were easily eclipsed. T wo ' t °° t f ? ewes, for instance, ran up to 28s and 23S 6d (13s to 15s last year), four and fiveyear ewes to 22s 4d to 24s lOd (11s 4d) and two and four-tooth store wethers 19s 6d to -21 s 8d (10s 2d). These were examples, and the increase over 193- prices was well marked throughout the sal® except in the case of lambs, which showed an easing tendency on late sales but which even then returned better figures than last year s. . Taken by and large it was the most successful fair held by Newton King Ltd. at Kohuratahi for several years, and a dissatisfied vendor must have been one whose expectations, based on the rising £ market of the last few months,' were very optimistic.