FAT LAMB BUYING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20067, 13 October 1939, Page 4

FAT LAMB BUYING

WAR-TIME NEEDS AUSTRALIAN SYSTEM SHOW STOCK COMPARED NOT UP TO GISBORNE Although Australia was not down to a war-time basis for the disposal of meat to the British Government, methods adopted in Victoria for the purchase of fat stock proved very interesting to Mr. J. H. R. Egan, who has returned to Gisborne with Mrs. Egan after an absence of six weeks.

When he was in Victoria, Mr. Egan said that the methods by which the meat would be marketed had not been disclosed, but it was .surmised that the existing arrangements whereby the buyers secured their supplies from the farmers would not be altered, for it was felt that it was not intended to disrupt the ordinary channels of trade. It was thought that tire buyers would make their purchases as usual and sell to the Government from the freezing works.

Most of the buying was carried out in Victoria on the feet, the majority of the sheep and lambs being purchased in lines of both fats and stores. While that system probably suited Victorian Conditions, Mr. Egan believed that the method of buying on the hooks was better for New Zealand requirements, for the farmer was certain of securing the full value of his product.

Melbourne Show Lambs

While in Melbourne Mr. Egan visited the Royal Show, taking particular interest in the stock exhibits. The fat sheep were not up to the standard of those seen in the Gisborne Show, being more “leggy” and with a greater proportion of waste fat. He also paid a visit to freezing works, where the lambs were mainly of the heavier type, those which were lighter being lower in condition and without the same good covering of meat that is usually expected in Gisborne.

Cattle of the beef breeds were no better than those at’ the Gisborne Show, which was noted for its display of such stock. The quality of some of the Gisborne stud stock, in fact, was superior to what he saw in the Melbourne Royal Show.

Fine Wool Fabrics

One particularly interesting feature of the Show was a mannequin parade displaying woollen goods sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat. The parades were particularly well attended, and both men and women took a great interest in the displays, which indicated the progress made in the manufacture of woollen goods into garments with such a gossamer lightness that they could be distinguished only with difficulty from some of the finest of fabrics,

Mr. Egan was on the water when war was declared, and for a time the atmosphere was somewhat unreal. On some hands there was a slight nervousness at the prospect ahead, but on the return journey all on board were taking the war as a matter of course, and norman conditions ruled except that the usual war-time precautions were taken on board the ship.