STOCK SALES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 643, 22 December 1932, Page 7

STOCK SALES.

Lambs and Fat Sheep Advance. ADDINGTON DOUBLE MARKET. Fat sheep and fat lambs showed improvements in values at the Metropolitan market at Addington yesterday. The sale was a double market, the last for this year. Sheep were forward in fair supply, but the quality was not as good as it has been recently. The sale opened at about par with last week’s rates, but firmed as it progressed, the rise all over being a shilling a head for wethers and rather less for ewes. Lambs were penned in large numbers and were generally of very good quality. There was steady competition for them over the first half of the sale, but tlic demand then became strong and values rose fully a shilling a head. The advance all over amounted to about 9d a head. Freezers were able to take only a very The cattle entry was far larger than was required, and in spite of the excellent quality of the offering, all but the very best were cheaper. The store sheep yarding was again small, with little attractive quality included. __ _ Pat Cattle. There was an entry of 465 head compared with 350 last week. Quality was much better than usual, there being- several excellent drafts forward. Included were two prime North Island drafts Hereford-Shorthorn crosses and Aber-deen-Angus—and a line of sixteen twoyear off straightbred Herefords from Pleasant Point. The northern cattle were the first from that quarter for some months. The sale was patchy, but a hard one. Good medium-weight steers showed a minor change, but heavyweights, secondary sorts and all but the best cows were again weaker by quite 10s a head. Secondary cows were particularly difficult to quit. The heavy yarding was much in excess of the requirements in w r eather such as is prevailing at present, and with lamb at the cheap prices ruling. The forty-four North Island cattle in one of the lines ranged from £7 2s 6d to £8 17s 6d. The sixteen two-year-olds sold at from £6 7s 6d to £7 17s 6d, this being the best price according to weight in the market. An excellent line of fifteen steers from M’Bride Bros. (Temuka) sold at from £8 12s 6d to £lO 2s 6d, the latter being top price of the day. Best heifer price was £7 7s 6d for two heifers from Kinloch Estate. Best beef made from 18s 6d to 20s per 1001 b, a few pens to 21s, good prime 16s to 17s 6d, heavy 15s to 16s 6d, ordinary cow down to 11s, and rough down to Bs. Values ranged as follows: Extra prime heavy steers to £lO 2s 6d. Prime heavy steers £6 5s to £8 15s. Prime medium-weight steers £5 10s to £7. Ordinary quality steers £3 10s to £d. Light steers to £3 10s. Extra prime heifers to £7 7s 6d. Prime heifers £4 to £6. Ordinary heifers £2 10s to £4 15s. Extra prime cows to £7 2s 6d. Prime cows £3 10s to £5. Ordinary cows £2 5s to £3 ss. Rough cow’s £1 10s to £2. Pat Sheep. The fat sheep yarding totalled 4500, compared with 5400 last week. A large proportion of the offering was of very ordinary quality, but there were a number of extra good pens. The market was firmer all round, especially for wethers, but the best of both sorts were up to a shilling a head better. Freezing works’ buyers took a good many of the lighter sorts. Top price for wethers was 15s 7d for the best of a line from J. Payne (Yaldhurst). The best ewe price was 11s 7d, secured on behalf of C. G. Jarman (Darleld). Extra prime heavy wethers, to 15s lOd. Prime heavy wethers, 13s to 14s 6d. Prime medium-weight wethers, 11s to 12s 9d. Ordinary and light wethers, 9s to 10s 6d. Extra prime heavy ewes, to 13s. Prime heavy ewes, 10s 6d to 12s 6d. Medium-weight prime ewes, 8s 6d to 10s 3d. Light and ordinary ewes,. 5s to Ss. Pat Lambs. The fat lamb entry totalled 4050, as against 2400 last week, and required several alleys in the store sheep section to accommodate it. The sale opened about on a par with that of last week, but firmed half-way through by Is to Is 3d a head. Butchers were keen to get lambs and exporters were able to take only a few pens. The rise all over was about 9d a head. The average price was a shade over 4Jd a pound. Top price was 16s 4d, which was paid for sixteen splendid Downs cross from W. R. Early (Springston). Vealers. There was a small entry of vealers, the quality being slightly better than usual. Included were a dozen good seven to twelve months runners from Edendale, which made from 55s to £4 13s 6d. Anything good sold a shade better, but* inferior calves were hard to quit. Store Cattle. The store cattle yarding was the poorest for some time, no attractive lines being included. Two to three-year steers of mixed colours made £2 11s, eighteen-months to two-year Shorthorn steers £2 ss, two-year Shorthorn heifers in forward condition £3 2s 6d, others 30s to £2 ss, fresh cows 30s to £2 15s, old cows 11s and potting bulls 38s 6d. Dairy Cattle. The entry of dairy cattle was only thirty-five head. It included a good selection of serviceable cows, which sold under fair competition. All classes firmed by 30s to 15s a head over a steady sale. There were only six heifers yarded. Values were: Good second and third calvers £5 10s to £6 10s. Medium second and third calvers £3 to £4 15s. Aged and inferior 25s to £2 ss. Good heifers to £6 15s. Medium heifers £4 to £5 ss. Others £2 to £3 10s. Store Pigs. There was a small yarding of store pigs, consisting chiefly of weaners and suckers, for which there was keen competition. Values were: Suckers to 12s 6d. Second-class suckers to 10s. Weaners to 10s. Slips 7s to 11s. Small stores 9s to 12s. Medium stores 13s to 14s. Large to 18s.