POOR QUALITY AT RAM FAIR

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 17, 4 February 1937, Page 15

POOR QUALITY AT RAM FAIR

| New Record Prices For Lambs BRISK SELLING AGAIN The outstanding eveut in the Hawke's Bay stock markets during the past week was the aunual ram fair helci at the showgrounds, The first day was oceupied ehiefly with the offering of dock Romheys, of t.'hich the quality ranged from good iu the case of a few pens to very poor and inferior, the latter being inore properly termect If the quality in general of the ! offering fully repreeented that pf tho j fiock sires of Hawke 'a Bay for the season now. commeneing, then the out* ! look wonld be anything but encouraging. Many of the pens showed marked evidence of being the ' ' tail-enders " after having been picked over several I times in private Baies. Not being sold I by this means, they found their way ! into the fair, where they were looked over by mahy eritical eyes. "They were the worst lot that I have ever seen),■, was how one well-known farmer summed-np the offering. Another commented: "I was soon convinced that it was no place for me to get the kind I wanted to put with my good ewes, as I am not wanting a lot of oull lambs nest season.' ' With the number of inferior rams on offer on Thursday and with the brokendown ewes which still, in the opinion of their vendors, are capable of bearing lambs, it would appear that next season 's eupply of eull lambs is already assured. Selllng Through the Riag. The question of selling "through the ring," which has become a hardy ah' nual, was frequently discussed on Thursday. Against ' its adoption was another school of thought, who eontended that the only way to examine the rams was to put the iiand on them, as fat frequently covered many defects. Aa buyers Would no't favour the fair xunning into a third day, any change from the present System with its defects is unlikely. Among the stud Romneye were some flne-quality entries,, which .drew some animated bidding. Even for thesej values in some cases greatly excelleti oxpectations. The broad smile of a vendor as one of his entriee exceeded his reserve by 50 guineas can be readily imagined.* The flock Southdowns offercd on Friday were of a much higher standard than that of the previoiw day, although 6ome of the entries were on the small side. From the siriug next season 's crop of black-faced lambs shonld be a good etandard. A pleaBing f ea ture was the attention that the local breeders' entries re-

CtJlVtJUj xuey liXttUU fcao uiguoov the sale. > Mr W. J. Gimblett's stud at Ngatarawa was well represented by particuluarly flne entries, and the same could be said of Mr R. A. Nimon, the young breeder from Havelock Nortb, whose stud is the eubject of Wideapread favourable comment. 'Ihe other breeds were represented by very small numbera in which few of those present showed much interest. From the point of view of both WDoJ and carcase the Ryelands and Corriedales made very useful offerings. At yesterday's sale at Stortford Lodge tv, - entries of breeding ewes showing a Ryeland strain were readily sought after. Passing from the rams, the main topic of interest among eheep men centres around breeding ewes, and in ▼iew of to-morrow's ewe fair these are , conunenfed upon elsewhere in thi.c issue. "Our Best Market" "It's the best market that we have had," was the opinion of one auctioneei at the concltision o the Waipuk4urar sale on Tuesday. In the oli'ering oi 9000 sneep in the store pens, lambi again predominated. The quality wai well maintained, with values fully firn and bettef than those ruling the pre vious week. ThiB improvement was iargely due to the increase in the freez ing schedule ratea announced on Mon day. The top prjoe for very forward black

taced lamos was a uu w previous week, *for an offering on account of Mr T. A. Howard, of Hatuma. In getting these lambs ready for the sale, Mi; Howard had the misfortune to slip on some concrete and break a leg. Mr Howard'a lambs on previous occasions iud topped the market, the quality of his entries being a great credit to him. The entries of ewe lambs were again of small and medjum-grown sorts, growers being reluctant in offering de-cently-sjzed lines. Good rape bladkfaced lines made from 19/- to 22/-. While there was no cheeap buying in the lamb pens, ma«y of the secondquality lots were too dear in view of the risk of wintering the carry-overs. It would appear that almost every farmer at the moment considers that he has "hogget country," but the next few months will tell the tale. Farmers were evidently too busy thinking about to-morrow's ewe fair to enter their store lambs at Stortford Lodge yesterday. Lambs came forward in greatly-reduced numbers, with entries of breeding ewes predominatJng.

Record Price Levels The tecord price level of the previous day at Waipukurau was not to hald. An offering of black-faced lambs froin Mr Phil Parsons's Wharerangi property, which is ideal "lamb" country, especially in a season like the present, soared to 23/7, sefting a fresh record price level for Hawke's Bay. Well-grown early-shorn Komney-cross wether lambs made 19/-. Ewes lambs to date at Stortford Lodge have been on the small side, but yesterday Mr Tom May offernd a well-grown shorn line which* made a particularly good sale at 28/7 A woolly line on account of Mr T. F. Lincoln brought 29/6. The best of the small-grown woolly sorts brought 25/-. In none of the entries was qual-

ity outstanding, and for a while it is not likely to be, for ewe lambs. Again culls and inferior lambs were in the boom, with the "dear at any price" finding a ready market, "Snip" Alley, where this class of lambp is penned, has so far this season fully lined up to its name as far as veadors have been concerned, but as far as some of the buyers have been concerned it could be appropriately known as "Stiug" Alley. Fat and forward wethers have made fat-pen values. On Tuesday two entries from neighbours at Porangahau of large ?fra/ned sorts, very forward in condition each brought 27/- to set a fresh high level price for the season. The best line at Storttord Ladge yesterday, in from Patangata, which were lighter fittislied than the Waipukurau pens, made 26/-. In off hard country, a hafd-done entry passed at 23/10, wMcn. Was more than they were worth. On another line, a low-starting figure drew from the anc. tioneer "Christmas is too far oli yet to be giving anything away." A feature of some of the pens which cannot esCape the scrutiny o£ buyers is the poor drafting. Drafting in the paddoek i'3 often qulte a different thing from drafting in the sale pens, and it would certainly be to the advantage of many vendors if they left it to their stock agents, who are thoroughly experienced in the handling of all types. The fat pens consisted Iargely of me* dium-quality ewes, which sold at fully 1/6 above the freezing schedule. Extraheavy entries were few in numbers. Lambs were in limited supply for iinished lines to make 26/-, with extra heavy small entries Teaching to 29/-. Fat Cattle Offering. The fat-cattle offerings of the last few weeks have been unusually small, but yesterday's yarding jumped up to 190 station-bred lines, and with the greatly increased number of quality lines it appeared that the butchers who had been obliged to raise the price levels weekly by as much as £1 a time were to get some of their own backj but any anticipated relief did not eventuate. „As a contrast from solitary entries, quite a large offering of prime ox beef came forward yesterday, the outstanding pen beingg an exceptional entry of| heavy dehorned fierefords on account of Pukekura Station. Before the sale a joeular xemark was made that one butcher had booked them all at £14. He eertaihly made up his mind to get them and bougnt the line, which averaged a shilling or so under £14, the top one making £14 2/-. Taurapa Station aliso penned somo splendid quality lots dhowing the finish for which Mr. Gordon '« cattle are noted. There was a ! good selection of medium-framed prime bnllocks making ideal summer beef which ranged from £11 to £12. In the female entries the Whana-

vvhana-bred Herefords were outstanding, being keenly competed for. Thel quality of these pens instantly became appaxent once they were brought intol the ring. These cows made to £9 18/-, I and the medium-grown young heifers making very cholce beef brought £9 1 V*> . , I Some of the other cows making up to £9 were dear enough, while aged cows not showing any quality or finish made to £7. Yesterday's prices show that the butchers can cope with a further good yarding before prices ease back to more normal levels. , Chillers Realising £11* j With the abundance of feed, station- j bred store cattle remained confined to! a very few pens. At Waipukurau on Tuesday Mr. W. A. Couper offered two attractive lines of well-bred Aberdeen An*us steers. The 30-months-old pen, which required little finishing for chilling, brought £10 6/-, the other pen, a year younger, making £8 5/-. Chillmg steers trucked at Takapau thxs weels have made £11, and with three and a1 half-year-old Aberdeen Anguts bullocks 1 making £11 12/- ta the store pens at 1 Feilding high values for beef are likely to continue. 1 Commenting upon these high pnce ' levels, one well-known cattle _ raieex ' cribbed the now famous term in* pob' tical circles "The sky is the limit. mvio -np-ns of steers at Stortforc

Lodge yesterday were a long way below the quality of Mr. Couper 's offering at Waipukurau, but as the vendors reserves appeared to be greatly in excess of values, buyers showed little interest in them. Vendors, in not acceptmg the splendid values offered, showed that they were by no means short of money,] and why "they even troubled to offer them is difficult to understand. Once the frcsts ccme round and cut back the crround less oppox"tunitie3 will be atforded vendors of refusing values which must be styled "fancy pnces.