THE WAR AND STOCK

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 14, 11 October 1918, Page 8

THE WAR AND STOCK

! -WORLD'S CALL BEGUN r■ . ■■- , - I. '..,..... i■'-•' RECORDS BROKEN

(The Hve'-stock year of 1918, when its iry comes to be properly written, will lys the "Live. Stock Journal") surejhave to be earmarked as the most raderful in the annals of pedigree pek -raising. An attempt will be ide io.keep track, of •■the many "rcL'ds" 1 -broken r and enjoyed by the sevp] breeds] but, "with prices soaring erj week on to high-altitude' planes, e task of , the chronicler is not an isy one. The only, branch of our jne pedigree stock which, on tho year, Is not shared in this unwonted prosrifcy.is that of sheep, but as tho yearj sales and lettings are about due '.ere'should be l no fear that our debtees .to'sheep will not share in the •meral. prosperity, now, clearly to be iseryed in U.S.A., Canada, Soutli pica, and Australasia, r just as has ien with us since the'year opened. Ye only sheep men in'the doldrums jt* the Southdown devotees. When s turn to cattle, pigs, and horses jsrviceable, in the case of thelastuned, for raising commercial stock), a. find a--bewildering, story of "re•rds" established and re-broken.

jWe might be pardoned for raising jveral questions as resulting from the itraordmary situation of to-day. Irsfc of all, where will it end? Is ! for the good of the live-stock indusy? Is it a true reflex 61 tlie worldfde need ,of foundation stocks?' The jplies surely must bo that it will end > the distribution, far and wide, of je best-quality animals fitted to'reenish the devastated Etoeks of urope and the dwindling commercial •ocks of.the.beef and mutton-raising iuntries of the world; It must, most Irtainly, be good tor the industry nich we of Britain particularly have i many millions sterling invested in; Ad, judged on tho progressive rise in see.-'values, it certainly is a true reflex j:'the situation—one established by ar and not by-any craze for "pedi(■ee," which has swept now across the tlantic from these shores : to those of orth America.

IWii'-'feel correct in reiterating that \e general rise, in live-stock prices has [suited, not because the buyers on oth ...sides of the ocean have onco kain gone "pedigree wild," but beluse: the economic situation ot the joment is .guiding buyers in their idgment, because tho present position that the best stock will make best prices, be they of any breed ghtly considered a vital factor in the ii-establishment of ■ Europe's farm jocks. The industry, therefore,'' is pt standing on false ground. Com-merce'-and economics are obviously dieting to the minds of men gifted with Ituition and imagination, but at the jme time there lurks behind it all lie dangerous rock, upon which some ewcomers may have their ship comletely wrecked. That danger lies in 10 trick at* boosting certain stocks up 3 unnatural values, mainly by sales jhich are fictitious, and generally arJnged, not overnight,, but many'weeks i advance. Playing a • game after his manner can only result one way. n these columns .we Tecently commented that buyers of pedigree stock hould feel. assured,; from the. backing f the societies" holding sanctioned ftles,_.that the-stock they are getting re in some way guaranteed as to Now we can add a rider to hat," in the expression of the hope hat, there ia some further guarantee Sie to the world at large that the high Wees which have .been, made this year ■re genuine; find are not faked merely o put one breed's price records in j-ont of the other. If tho buying pub;o—i.e., the constant newcomers into he industry of stock breeding—begin 0. suspect that these high-altitude xices now raging (and America is now .eating our ..'figures. alf to. smithereens) je not genuine, ttorbbttom will fall ut of the whole business.'.

.America hag.: pulverised "all ;Friesian ; nd Shorthorn records of late." Ail ■mglisnbull, bred at Nowbiiß, Darling-pn-to wit, Captain C; ■ H.. JolliftVs lodney, and bought at Birmingham pile for 1100 guineas—has boen sold in he United States for 20,000 dollars. |.s a dollar is worth 4s/ Id., at the poment, the equivalent" in English joney is some':£4oß3.' ./Messrs. Carfenter and Ross, who secured Rodney ft the Midland city, took him expressy. because he represented to their mndsthe type of bull American reeders wanted. They did not mind lis position in the show ring. It was he vigour expressed in the bull, which [hey saw was air investment in "fujures'_ fully assured, and theif profit tow yields them in one deal more jhan a good year's work put in by some Jery energetic exporters who cater for narkets m other countries. It is Mod,, however, to think that TJ.S.A (till appreciates our Shorthorn— beef tnd milk.