AUCTION SALES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 20, 18 October 1919, Page 12

AUCTION SALES

FOETIICOMING FIXTURES i: . —■ !'• : y TO-DAY. V Otaki Mart, 11.30 a.m.-vSale of produce ;etc. (G, Anderson), ?. TUESDAY. Colombo Road Yardt«, Masterton, 11 -a.m. [' : ...Oattlo aale (A. J. Cooper). Levin Yards, 12.15 p.m.—Stock Bale (Abra- ;• ■ ';ham and Williams, K.Z. Loan Co., and i' -Dalgoiy and Co.) | Everybody's/. Theatre, Hastings, 2 p.m. | ; Land salo (lioadley, Kon and Stewart ; 105' OnVtomhouso Quay, Wellington,_ 2.30 ' p.m.—Suburban property sale (a. u. I \ Nathan and Co.). THE BREED OF CATTLE ; THE NEED FOE IMPROVEMENT. ; At the meeting of delegates from the j ■ .Various cattlo breeders' associations, held at Palmerston North, Mr. G. Finn, of : i "Wellington, gavo a most interesting jki- ; ■ dress on the question of the impiove- : ment of the breed of cattle. . In the '■ couiso of his remarks he mentioned tlio ; . ! fact thrft he had seen all the principal ; showß in the Dominion, and had also ' had tho opportunity of being present at ' some o£ the big exhibitions in America. He 1 prefaced his remarks by assorting ' : that the resources of the country and ' the progress of the Dominion could' be ■ assisted in a great measure by organisation. It was not sufficient to bo satisfied with the apparent prosperity of the country. That might bo all very veil for the present, but they must lcok : . ahead, and to make sure that they would ultimately win out tliey must take a broad, optimistio view; and bo satisfied with jiotbinjr short of tlio possible. It ; - was no use beginning to organise when 1 it:/was too late. Tho timo to <Io all 1 that was possible was ijho present, and ' i this was more especially the case in the : i matter of keeping up and improving tho i ' breed of cattle. Tor some time ho had ;.| ; held th© opinion, and novr that tho war • was over lie held it moro strongly than r; . ever, that tho time had arrived when 6omothing more was to be expected from agricultural and pastoral . associations > ' than the holding merely of exhibitions of live stock, farm produce, and machin- : ery ns an attraction for a day's .outing. : " Tho real object of such societies should be to encourage agriculture and stock : 1 breeding, and it was time for a forward movement of a, practical and develop- • mental nature. He was fortunately not j i alone in this opinion, as was evidenced by the discussion which had. taken place L'von the subject at the Agriculture Con- !• ;ferenco hold in Wellington this week, j I The first thins needed was an idcal,_ and it was generally conceded that tho ideal r • to'.bo aimed at was increased production, ! aridtho gTeat question was liow this could j, .be brought about. All sections of the comiinunity "would have to consider this, and 1 'the Cattle' Breeders' Federation might ' lead tho way. In this connection the j need of organisation had been very forci ibly brought homo to him, .and it was ; -very, apparent' at tho t present time. ; There was t in' the to-day _ a "great.shortage of.pigs, and it was mi- :' -possible to procure sufficient to meet the. - 'demand. .The Government had/'lifted i, the.duty,;off bacon.and hamp from Ausr tralia for one month, but tliat did not I improye: the position, but had rather . tho:reverse effect. As soon as tlio duty ■; wna 'removed the price in New South f Wales' advanced by 2d. per.,lb., just equal ' to the 'amount of tlio duty, so that they ■ vrore'no' better off.'ajid! actually lost tho ■ -.amount-of the duty. If there wero pro-per-'oiKohisation there would bs no short- •• lage.,' " It was not creditable to New Zealand'that they could not produce enough pigs for their own. consumption., lni stead of Importing they should bo cx■porthig. .' The same cause which brought ; : about the' shortage of .pigs was operating ; i to-day ..in-regard to oattlo. All over tho : 1 (Dominion calves were being slaughtered ,-by-, thousands, and bo thought he was 'safe-in-sayina l 'that-this was being done to a greater extent at tile preslnt time ' than in previous years. Cattlo could not bo replaced; as speedily as pigs, and if the killing of calves was not checked ,'end regulated thero would soon. be a serious shortage and curtailment in our production. That was a matter tliat certainly concerned the Breeders' Federa- '. tion.' The ideal of New Zealandcrs was ■ to -'make the Dominion the leading and - theV, most progressive country in tlio i world. To mako New Zealand tho loafl- ; ing country in tho world for purebred ; Btoclc should be the aim of eveiy -cattle breeder. In order to further the weli fare, of evory, country by increased production it wa§ necessary to facilitate distribution. -and make easy the acquisition of purebred stock, and then to edu-jcato-in the matter of care and feeding. Bi/pedimr and feeding went band-in-hand, and one could not succeed without the : jothgr. The ideal lie had put before ' | the " 'cattle-breeders was not au extrava-"Cant-ono Wr New Zealand, for ho bei 'lieved that tho Dominion was going to. , -lie the leading country in tlio world for ipurebred.-stock. They had tho climatic ; conditions enabling them to raise their ; ietook in the open air, and they wero i .practically freo from disease and other :' difficulties that breeders were subject to : elsewhere. .They already had the foun- ; dation herds with an unlimited market i at their doors. There was no fear of a stump in pedigree animate of tho light ■ kind. The "scrub" bull must givo way. ; 'to tho pedigree animal, and there was : always plenty of room at the top. How '' the "scrub" bull could be replaced by the nurebred animal was a matter for the federation to consider. A little <:n- ---. thusiasui would show how it could be < ' done. ' 1 Mr. Finn went on to givo instances ! cf the very high prices realised for pure- ' bred stock in both America and England, , bikl' referred to the good. work done by 1 calf c-lul)s and -such liko .institutions in ■■ thp United States. He Urged that the ' dealer should be eliminated in connec- ■ tion with stud slock sales. He depre- ' rated, allowing stud animals to enter the ■ ring without tho auctioneer having been made cognisant of the reservo placed on • them bv the vendors before the as - this was tho causc of a good-deal of delay tlirough the salesman liavmg to : find the owner and consult him as to ; the .reserve while the auction was proceedintr He concluded by expressing ' the opinion that our stock was not suffi- ; cifntlv advertised abroad. At the conclusion -of his address a heartv vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Finn.