BIG AUSTRALIAN HORSE SALES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 292, 29 August 1918, Page 8

BIG AUSTRALIAN HORSE SALES

DEMAND FOR DRAUGHTS LIMITED NEW ZEALANDERS TOP THE MARKET The annual parade and salo of draught stallions and marcs under the auspices of the Royal Agricultural Society of . Victoria • was held in Melbourne 'on July 23 and two following days. A number of horses bred in New Zealand wore among those offered. Tho sale was not a very brisk one, horses o£ weight and quality being in demand, but lighter lands wero difficult to dispose of. The reasons given for tho limited demand for draught horses were so many farmers' sons were at the front, and there was a scarcity of labour, farmers in many instances being content to keep things going with stock "until the boys como back."_ The top price for stallions was 690 guineas, which was paid for Messrs. Mitchell and O'Brien's imported Scotland Vioeroy, which had previously been in the stud of Mr. John Callander of Allanton, Tnieri. Messrs. Mitchell and O'Brien obtained 250 guineas for" Baron Bosebery, by Baron Bold— Bragg, bred by Mr. Jnmes Wyllie, Outram._ Not many mares were sold at auction, but a fair number changed hands privately. Priee3 at auction generally wero low, especially on the last day, and'ranged from 18 guineas to 45 guineas, and a few at 50 guineas to 90 guineas. The top price was obtained by Mitchell and O'Brien 1 for Her Ladyship, by Baron Bold—Minnie Clyde, bred by Mr. P. Robertson, Outram-. She. was bought at 90 guineas by the Victorian Government. - Crown Princess, by Morocco—Nell,; another New Zealand-bred mare, was next highest on.the list at 77J guinea's, and several other mares from Otago sold at 20 guineas to 57£ guineas. / At, the Adelaide horse sales there was a large entry and a largo attendance,, and although it was complained that buyers would not bid for even tl'.o best).'horses with any degree of briskness, the average prices appeared to be better than in Melbourne,, though the top figures wero only 175 and 170 guineas. Several breeders and others, including large and successful farmers, were asked for an explanation respecting. the disinclination to make purchases. "In the first place," said one . man, "apart from the little they may bo .getting out of wool, nobody on the land is reaping any benefit from the enhanced prices due to the war, where- [ as practically all other sections of the community who have anything to sell are doing so. For our wheat we have to bo content with prices which, generally speaking, barely cover the cost of production, and at the same time we are obliged to_ pay more than ever before for our hired labour, /machinery, implements, harness, and so on." Another agriculturist who has'a large property lying more or less idle oil account of the_ difficulty experienced in obtaining satisfactory workers, said:— 'What is the use buying horses, or breeding them either, when there is scarcely any suitable labour to use the animals ? This year I have only a • very small area under wheat for hay, and am giving just about all my attention to sheep and cattle. And there are plenty olj others similarly situated. Wo don't want horses. In fact, we have sold oft' the majority of our draughts." Others questioned, spoke in a like strain. The South Australian farnlers,_ judging by these views, are not taking the war conditions in a very good spirit, even though enlistment is voluntary.