SOUTH CANTERBURY FARM NOTES.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12913, 2 March 1906, Page 7

SOUTH CANTERBURY FARM NOTES.

i'tiy ;'- S.C. Sheep-farmer, in the " P::»toralists' Review.")

.?:sqaeat- she-.vets and a- few phenomenal. hv.Lstorms rejneseut the leading features of climatic conditions during the greater parr of January, the exception being a s!i:--i-r spell of very fine weather just after t:te -.vet Christmas and New Year holidays, which greatly helped the long-delayed shea.i-ing. and enabled., many to get their vriol in for the" third series of Timaru wool sales, held on the 24th. which proved tt> be the best sale we have had for all ciasses, except merino. Several clips of half-bred wool realised from ll£d to 12£ d. and iine three-quarter-bred about 10£ d to lie. per lb. This continued demand for ti-.3 finer wools is making itself felt in the class of breeding ewes now being inquired for, the general' trend being decidedly in favour of either half or fine tL-.-.ee-quarter-bred. especially in two-tooths. for which the demand is already very go-..«, and likely to be much keener before I i>,n tLtr month is out. A fine-wooled ewe t.'.Lir will stand on the farm four yeais -ind reru:n you each year from Is to Is 6d per head more in value of the clip than a coarse-woolled is a consideration that is? not likely to be lost sight of. without making any allowance on the credit side for the extra value in \he quality of the iK.'jgeiry.

Although there are nearly 350,000 more breeding ewes in Canterbury this year iu.-i:; last, the bulk of. this increase is chiefly represented by old ewes, including ;$ very huge proportion of the 150.000 th*t came in from, the North Island last season. These sheep did not prove at all sui>factory, ccming through the winter i>idly, and shearing veiy light and mostly c^:', r ~ se ' * ouo * : suc h an experiencevrV.l be forgotten for some time by those wl:-* have held them. Not that there is j.-.v probability x>f any coming down this :--.-..v"--n. If lambs or two-tooths were sent ti\ij' wr-aid have .time to acclimatise, and ■would subsequently do well. Touching on the necessity of keeping to the fine-woe lied sheep brings one to that everlasting problem of how best to attain •th.t object in the face of the limited supply hz hAi-hreih and a. restricted area of country >aitabli? for breeding the first merino | r '-Y- Many Hi-e using the inbred half*lr?''.f„' t'firriedale. ram by way of solving t.;s cMirionity. but the results are not satisfy?- -v. even where the ewes are carefully re:a--re:!: but where this mcdern breed is l '* :e ; ; - a-re;y e.-r-. a flock of mixed ewes, the progen;- show :• most lamentable mixture., Tn a«y .-ase, even under the best management,tU:> crois cannot possibly compare with tie true half-bred, either in constitution as iambs or in wool or carcase, fcr food a> the -wool undoubtedly is in the Comeda'e cross, its merits a.re considerably discounted by the variety of grades it pre- . sea's even in the best clips, and the cnva'se is perhaps its worst- feature, for a. ur-.Jie difficult sheep to fatten than a la:e maturing wether, say as a four-tooth, i; N impossible to conceive, or a more i=.-sightly oi:e when frozen and on the hooks. The uncertainly in character and want of unifi-miity that is inevitable hi tLie progeny of these half-bred mms must prove an almost insuperable difficulty, and c-)asritutes, nt doubt, the reason why even th? best-known bi-eeders of this particular breed continually have to buy straight lines of the true half-bred ewes, a fact- that r.eed-- no unmment.

Ir is to he expected that anything like ur,if:nmiiv could be found in the progeny of f.H-es mated with a ram of a breed oaly evolved within the last few decades, 67c:i if that process of evolution was aided bj careful selection on well-defined lines, or that fixity of type could be sufficiently potci!-: to perpetuate that type in the prsKisny, and predominate over that character hj: the ewe which the heritage of many sC'-T-rs of generations have stamped on alHsi:-. f . certain lines"/ T would therefore ad;«-a the- inexperienced to hesitate before with this cross. i :\- ahundane-?- of feed and the prospects of -f-nil nr.iKj crops—turnips looking par- ?:■:■■'.:< :'!y -veil, .md showing some 9GCO sores ■*. a :?■?.• *3 sr, Canterbury—have helped to re- !'""'!' "" aC! s -' M: - rn;, ''Jf ; n in store sheep, evaa in. -':;« h\-. r <-f n. depressed meat- market

Good rape lambs are fetching \r» "™J a shilling or so of fats, a 371b lamb * worth 14s 3d, or 4|d per lb over aE, at the works, which is a really good pra* e -' considering that London buyers refttst "* take c.i.f. offers at 4|d for February and March shipments, the skin and fat "valae.V hot covering freezing and freight costs, j: Our South Canterbury lambs have been • much later than up north, and not so ' prime,' and are only now going forward in fair numbers. The bulk of the wethers killed are not calculated to keep up the reputation of cur Canterbury brand, being mostly 4 and 6-tooth half and quarterbreds,, brought down from the back country lust autumn to -winter. These sheep were mostly heavy weights, and very plain, especially on the shoulder and neck. If we send away the best of all we grow in the lamb stage, and we have to fall back on the above class to represent our Canterbury mutton, it is impossible any longer to lay claim to any superiority over other New Zealand brands. The price at the works for mutton is ,3fd per lb up to 641bs over all, or about 'lßs for good wethers ' averaging about 601bs. over-weights drop- ' ping a half-penny up to 721bs. Good ' store wethers are worth about 16s, but not many of this class are offering, the ■ greater part of those for sale being very indifferent, at. about 14s. Fat ewes are : quoted at 2£d per lb up to 641bs, but no ; business has been done yet. as butchers have been giving better prices, but now that the supply is fast exceeding the local ; demand, and likely to assume much larger proportions, owners of this class will soon nave to fall back on the works, and it is more than probable that a good number of broken-down ewes will also go to be boikd down, the very best thing that could possibly happen, as the country is-full of them. As there is little hope of any rise in London meat prices for some time .to come, and only the increase in the skin valne to look to. buyeis of either stove lambs or wethers will have 'little or no margin, to work upon, the experience of last year being already foigotten in- the anxiety to get stock on to the luxuriant feed.

Harvesting is only just commencing with us, snd will net be in full swing for another fortnight, as the crops, always backward this? season, have failed to ripen up during the cool moist weather of !;>.te. Still the yield should Kot be much below the average, though some crops never recovered from the excessive wet in the early spring, and,the weeds took possession, yet on well-drained soils I have s-en some splendid paddocks of both wheat and ci;s.