ON THE LAND

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 128, 4 May 1925, Page 3

ON THE LAND

FALL IN WOOL PRICES. CONSIDERATION IN AUSTRALIA. Received May 4, 8.50 a.m. SYDNEY. May 3. A meeting of the National Council of the wool-selling brokers has . been, called at Melbourrio for Wednesday to consider the position croated by the heavy fall in prices and the absence of substantial' buying orders. The wool sales at Adelaide fixed for Thursday and Friday next have been postponed owing to the decline in prices. Growers who have disposed of 85 per cent, of their clips believe that delaying the sales will result in stabilisation of prices.—Press Association.

CANTERBURY PRODUCE. LATEST MARKET REPORT. WHEAT OFFERED FREELY. Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, May 1. Most interest in the grain and produce trade centres around the wheat position. Farmers are offering their wheat freely, one milling firm having purchased in the last seven days 50,000 bushels. The flour trade has been remarkably slack for some weeks, but it is expected that the settling of the price of wheat and the reduction in flour will stimulate it. The fowl wheat market is less excited than last week, when rumours of 1 ' a wheat increase prompted a spirit in buying. To-day’s quotations are from Id tp 2d pCr bushel easier, being 6s 9d f.0.b., sacks extra. The oat market is firm, with little movement in it. A Gartons N ure quoted at 4s 6d per bushel f.o.b. S.L.-just a shade easier than a few days ago. . B’s are quoted 4s Id. The. respective on truck prices to farmers are 3s 8d and 3s 3d. So far as Canterbury is concerned grade oats will be in small supply in proportion to the feed, but the heavy yield of lowgrade stuff must continue to nave a lowering tendency on the market for good white oats. Potatoes arb, •as previously quoted. £3 10s on trucks for prompt, and a shade more for June-July delivery. ' At this range farmers are sitting back. The early planted crops are turning out. very satisfactory, although some small areas have been drowned out, but later planted fields are not so good. Vessels scheduled to leave for the north this week have been delayed. The Katoa left with 1500 sacks, and the Kaiapoi left to-night with an estimated cargo of 3500 sacks. The Wnnaka is due to sail to-morrow with a small cargo. An estimate is impossible to obtain on account of the transfers that are taking place at the port. The shipments altogether do not exceed a week’s Auckland supply over 6000 tons. Linseed has eased, and is quoted at £l6 10s a ton.

><yegrass cocksfoot, and clovers are dull of sale, with no difference in quotations. There is a fair demand for good night, chaff, at up to £3 15s on trucks, but the cost of sacks eats iso heavily into the price that farmers arc generally .repared to leave the chaff where it is in he stacks. Undergrade is not inquired for. The pea market is completely in the oldrums at present; hence the demand shows no life. Onions" have been inquired for from Sydney. There is a margin for export, iit the irregularity of shipping is a barrier. Quotations to growers are £7 10s on trucks.

JSAIRY PRODUCE. New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Coy., Ltd., have received the following cablegram from their London house under date 29th inst.: —New Zealand dairy produce: Butter, choicest salted, 168 sto 170 s per cwt; choicest unsalted, 178 sto 180 s per. owt; temporary- shortage of available supplies. Cheese, market dull. FROZEN MEAT MARKET. Levin and Co., Ltd., have received the following cable from their London agents, dated Ist May, 1925: —Frozen meat quotations (prices on a delivered basis, i.e. including storage charges, cartage, tolls, etc.): Down lambs, 28-42’s, 12£d per lb, beet North Island 28-42’s llid, ordinary North Island lljd, second quality lambs lljd; best North Island wether sheep 48-64’s BAd. 64-72’s 6jjd. ordinary North Island wether sheep 48-64’s 7id, North Island ewes 48-64’e 6id, 64-72’s 53d. New Zealand prime ox beef 160-220’a 4§d. As compared with last woek’9 quotations, lamb is id per lb dearer whilst wethers are id per lb cheaper. Market for lamb is firm, but quiet, and demand runs principally on light weights; mutton market dull with downward tendency. The New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board has received the following cable from its London office dated Ist May, 1925, advising Smithfield delivered prices at that date ns follow: —Lamb market firm. New Zealand wethers and maiden ewes, Canterbury quality, selected brands, 561 b and under B|d, 57-64 lbs 7Jd, 65-821bs 6Jd; other brands, 561 b and under BAd, 57-641bs 7|d, 65-721bs 63d. New Zealand ewes, 641bs and under 6id. New Zealand lamb, Canterbury quality. 361bs and under 12Ad, 37-421bs llfd, 43-50 lbs lid, seconds Ilfd, selected brands 361 b and under 12id, 37-421bs lljd ; other brands, first quality, 421bs and under lljjd, seconds llfd. New Zealand beef: Ox fores-3id, hinds sid; cow fores and binds not quoted. Argentine chilled beef: Ox fores 4id, hinds 7cl._ Argentine frozen beef: Ox fores 3Jd, hinds 6d. Frozen pork, 80-1201bs, not quoted; 120-1801bs BJd. Frozen veal, not quoted.

WEEKLY PRICES OF FAT STOCK FOR EXPORT. The Now Zealand Meat Producers’ Board advises that the following prices were being offered at 30th April, 1925Hawke’s Bay: Prime woolly lambs 42/under llid, 43/over lid; second quality lambs, lid. Wellington: Wethers, 56/under Bid; prime woolly lambs, 42/under 12d,‘43/over llid; second quality lambs, llid. Canterbury: Prime woolly lambs, 36/under 12d, 37/421b llid. 43/over lid; second quality lambs, llid! For week commencing 4th May prices increased by id per lb.

HIDES AND SHEEPSKINS. Tho fortnightly sale of hides, sheepskins, tallow, etc., was held at Wellington on Friday. There was a large attendance of buyern. Compared with previous sale held on April 17th, dried sheepskins were probably lower by Id per lb, salted and green sheepskins were lower by Is, probably in some cases Is 6d; heavy ox and cow hides were firmer by probably id to.ld per lb; medium and light! sold on about a par with previous sale," oalfskins were firmer. Tallow was slightly weaker. The range of prices is as fol-, lows:— s I Sheepskins.—Halfbred, llid to 15id ; j fine crossbred, 13d to 15id; medium-coarse crossbred, lOci to 12. d; short .to half- j wools, 8d to 14d; lambs, 8d to 15id; dead and damaged crossbred, 6id to llid; in- j ferior and badly damaged, 3d to 7d; pelts 4d to 10jd; damp, salted and green, 6s 7d lambs, salted, 4s to 7s lid. Hides.—Ox heavy, 701 b and over, lOd to Hid; ox,’ heavy, 591 b to 691 b, 8d to 10Jd; ox, medium, 531 bto 581 b, 7d to B|d; ox, light, 451 b to 521 b, sfd to 7Jd; cut, slippy and inferiqr 4d to 7fd; cow. heavy,' 531 b and over, 6ia to 8(id; cow, medium, 451 b to 521 b, sid to 6id; cow, light, 331 b to 441 b, sid to 6id; cow, slippy and inferior 5Jd to 5Jd; bull, stag, 3jd to 4d; yearlings, 111 bto 161 b, 6d to B£d; yearlings, 171 b to 321 b, sid to 7Jd; calf, superior, up to 101 b, 14id to 16d; calf, mediuragood, up to 101 b; *3Jd to 13|d; calf, damaged up to 101 b, id to llid; Tallow.’—ln casks, 335; in tins, etc., 24s 1 to 325.

BREEDING OF ROMNEY-CROSS SHEEP. WOOL IMPROVEMENT DEMONSTRATION AT WALLACEVILLE. In view of recent statements by the! Bradford trade alleging deterioration in New Zealand Romney-cross wool —chiefly as regards increasing hairiness or mcdullation of fibre —it will be of interest to sheep-farmori' to record tho practical breeding operations carried out by the Department of Agriculture with a small ewe ( flock at the Wallucevillo veterinerary laboratory farm, near Wellington, during the past five years (writes Mr J. G. Cook, wool instructor, live stock division, in the April issue of the Journal of Agriculture). The work, it will be noted, was commenced well before tho Bradford criticisms in ques. tion made themselves heard. Without entering into this particular controversy on one side or tho other, it may bo claimed that the' Wallaceville results have provided a valuable demonstration of what can bo accomplisehd in wool improvement by any farmer within a comparatively' short period. It has been shown that Romney-cross wool can bo readily bred with a high degree of purity of fibre —fix’ fact, that this, our predominant crossbred wool product, is not inherently or necessarily defective as regards its internal structure. RECORD OF WALLACEVILLE FARM FLOCK. 1920 to 1924. —The ewe flock in 1920 was a mixed one of both Lincoin-Romney and Komney-Lincoln cros3. The ewes were a fairly good line as ri%ards constitution, .but there were ruany detects in conformation, such as overlong faces, narrowness between tho eyes, legginess, and lightness and roundness in the bone. The wool grown by the flock, which ranged from 36’s to 40’s in spinning count, was of a very, inferior quality. It was what is termed hairy, most of the fibres being inedullated; pure kemps were also to,, be found in some of the fleeces. Moreover, the wool was too open for proper resistance to adverse climatic influences, with resultant unevenness of diameter in the fibres throughout thenlength. On looking over the lino one would be doubtful as to there being any really pure wool in any of tho fleeces, and this was confirmed by microscopical examination. Year 1920—1 n this year the flock was divided half being mated to a Southdown ram and half to a Romney. Xhe Romnev ram (No. 1) was .an animal of sound "constitution. In conformation ho had a well-shaped head, good width between the eyes, face a nice length, and good neck, shoulders, and hindi-quarters, together with strong, flat bone. .The wool grown by tliis ram was what is termed strong —that is, about the coarsest quality of its breed 40’s to 44’s—with a fair amount of character in it. With but few exceptions the resulting crop of lambs from this mating showed a noticeable improvement in the quality, character and density of tho wool. There was also a general improvement in tho conformation of the lambs as compared with their dams. All tho owe lambs were kept, and were shorn when hoggets at the latter end of 1921. Any of those that had tlirownb&ck too much to their dams were culled out at this time, the fleeces taken off them being an excellent guide for this purpose. A microscopical examination of several samples of this line of hogget wool proved very clearly that good progress had been made by eliminating a large proportion of the hairy element that had been - present in the dams’ fleeces. The wool consisted largely of what has been termed broken mcduliated fibres, thus giving a strong indication that if these hoggets were mated with a fine-wool Romney iamb their progeny would grow a very high proportion of pure wool. Year 1921.—The strong woolled Rcmney ram (No. 1) was mated with the same ewes in 1921, and a similar result was apparent in the crop of lambs from the mating. A few of the coarsest of the ewe lambs were culled out, but tho bulk were kept, and were shorn as hoggets in 1922. An examination of the fleeces snowed the same results as in the previous line of hoggets, which was only to be expected as the animals were full sisters. On the farm we now had two lines of ewes by the sarno rani out of the same »wes. Year 1922.—Th0 strong-woolled ram was now replaced by a lmo-woolled Romney (No. 2). Many of tho oldest ewes- had been culled out and sold about this time. The new 1 ram was of splendid constitution and possessed good conformation neck well set, shoulders level and set forward, level back, good loin and hindquarters, well-shaped head, breadth between the eyes, and face a nice length. Iho woof grown by this ram was very even in quality—46’s to 48’s —and' had considerable character. It also possessed a fair degree of density—a most desirable feature, tie was, in fact, a very good all-round animal, and it is a pity ho could not have been used on a larger place. This ram was mated with the ewes on the farm including the ewo hoggets lambed in 1920 and shorn in latter part of 1921. Tho crop of lambs from the mating was very good, showing a decided improvement in both conformation and wool. Ail the ewe lambs were kept on tho farm, I and were closely examined when they were brought in for shearing in 1923. Only i two were culled out on account o: wool ! defects throwing back to the original line ;of ewes in 1920. Tho hogget wool showed I the greao improvement that had taken ! place by using rafra No. 2. Tho wool was i more even in quality; it had a higher I spinning count; aliio gireatly increased deni sity (number of fibres per given area or i skin); the yolk was carried out to the tip, giving strength to the fibre (thus Enabling it to undergo tho combing process with very little loss in noil). There was also increased character, making it. a more elastic, pliable and soft handling wool (thereby enabling a high class ot material to- be made from it). A microscopical examination of samples taken from each fleeco showed very clearly tho very great difference between the wool of these hoggets and samples taken from their grand dams. A few of the fibres in some of the sumples still showed slight medullation, but this was broken or patchy, tho < other parts of the fibre being pure woo.. In several of tho samples all the fibres were pure wool. The scaling on tho fibres and the evenness of diameter throughout their length were also very’ satisfactory. Year 1923 -In this year ram No. 2 was mated with the same ewes as in 1922, ana also had for service the ewes from the 1921 lambing. Tho lambs produced from this mating w.ere again very good, lhe ewe lambs were “kept and shorn as hoggets at the end of 1924. The wool was excellent to tho eye and touch. Samples were taken out of each fleece, and a microscopical examination showed tho same good results as in the 1923 hogget wool. This was to be expected, the two lots being full sisters. , , Year 1924.—F0r the mating season ol 1924 another Romney ram (No. 3) was secured. Ho was lacking a little in conformation and although ho could be classJ e d as a fine-woolled Romney his wool did " not have the same degree of character in it nor the density, that characterised t_no ■ fleece bf ram No. 2. TheSc deficiencies tare certain to be shown in his progeny,

tuna ’Win oe wum.-uuu at the 1925 shearing for future guidance. It inay be recorded that the hoggets of 1824 averaged the very satisfactory fleece weight of lljlb at shearing. , Summary.—ln 1&20 the farm had a lino of owes growing a very inferior wool, j rightly termed "hairy.” These owes were t mated with a strong-woolled Romney ram : (No.- 1)' for two years in succession. . ram was then disposed of, and somei of the : oldest original ewes were sold off. in dSZtf 'a fine-woolled Romnoy ram (No. 2) was brought, to the farm and matod with tho remainder of tho original ewes and ewes from the first mating of ram No. 1. in i 1923 more of the original lino ofewes i were sold, and j ftn y that wore loft, also with the two lot« of ewes produced by the mating of ram No. 1 with the original owes. In 1924 another fine-woolled Romney rum (No. 1 3) was procured and mated with the flock, I in which were included both lots of ewes I sired by ram No. 1 and lambed in 1920

and 1921 respectively. Ram No. 3 was also mated with tho first lot of ewes by No. 2 ram, lambed in 1922. GENERAL. The prices paid for the" different rams hero referred to were: No. t, £ls; No. 2, £8; and No. 3 £8 Bs. Such prices are within reach of any sKPep farmer who desire* -to effect an .improvement in his wool clip. 1 For tho current (1925). season a fine and donsu-woollcd Romnoy ram has been purchased at a price of £l2 12s. He is being mated jiwitli the. owes from the 1922 and 1923 crossings and a few ewes of previous matings. Results will continue to be watched and records taken. The maxim that "the ram is nioro than half -the flock” • has boon fully borne out in tho results of the breeding conducted at Wallaceville. A sound, practical demonstration has been given of tho great improvement that can be effected by using good ramß and culling out tho most defective ewes in the flock. Tho’ covering grown by tho ewes in tho past has been, brought from medullatcd fibres, with kemp among the fleece, up to the present fleece, in which there is practically no kemp, and the 'greater proportion of tho fibres is pure wool —in some of the samples every fibre being pure. 'lt has boon clearly shown that Romney crossbred sheep in New Zealand will grow as much pure wool as any other breed or cross. It may be added that tho dual-purpose feature of tho Romney breed—meat as well as wool —has not been lost sight of in the breeding operations here recorded. The wether lambs from the several matings have been regularly sold as high-grade fat stock. . i I WHITE BUTTER FROM HEIFER’S MILK.

An interesting local raso of abnormality in a cow’s milk lias recently come under tho writer’s notice (says Mr E. E. Llphic.:, M.R.C.Y.S., D.V.11., in the April issue of the -New Zealand Journal of Agriculture). The aniniul concerned, a 3i-year-old 1< ri-esian-Ayrshire cross, calved for the first time on 30tli January last. A feature of her first milk, which at onco drew the owner’s attention to it, was the entire absence of visible colostrum. Later there appeared to be no cream on tho nnlk, which had a uniform fixed white colour throughout. The owner, who happens to sell a little milk, thinking perhaps there ( was a considerable deficiency in had the milk tested, when it gave a 4.35 per cent, test.-'The heifer was running on good pasture, and was not getting hay or other dry feed- A proportion of her milk has -since been, set for- cream and churned, with the result that the product has been a perfectly white butter. . According to Palmer (Missouri Circular 74, 1915) the natural yellow colour of butter is ■ derived from two yellow pigments carotin and xanthophvll—which are also present in the green chlorophyll of- plants. Those pigments, particularly carotin, are found in the cow’s blood, and in this way pass from the feed to tho udder, where they colour the milk-fat. Certain feeds are classified according to their carotin content, this explaining wny cows fed on green produce a yellower butter than when they receive d’l-y fodder and grain by-products in winter. It is further stated' that the high-coloured fat of tho Channel Island breeds is duo largely to the fact that they make use of more feed carotin than others. It is also common knowledge that the. colour of butter varies with the period of lactation. There is no difference, however, immediately after parturition in any breeds, the colostrum of all Cows being highly coloured. As the period of lactation advances the intensity of the colour decreases.

The peculiarities of tho present case may be summarised as—(l) A newly calved heifer giving a milk apparently free of colostrum, dr if colostrum was present it wun 'entirely lacking in pigment ; (2) the feed is green pasture, wide}), is rich in high-colour carotin • (3) tho heifer is at the commencement of her lactation period arid not at the orid, when a low-coloured butterfat would be expected, particularly in a cow of her breed. The explanation appears to be a physiological one. Either the yellow pigment from the feed has not been assimilated during the process of digestion, or there is some deficiency or peculiarity in the cellular elements of the milk-glands which has rendorocl them incapable of extracting these pigments from the blood-stream. Some months ago tho directors of the ICairanga. Dairy Company decided to embark on a comprehensive drainage scheme in connection with tho Longburn factory, involving the installation of a pumping plant. It is intended as soon as tho -work is completed to, sub-divide an area, of some 35 acres about the factory for sale as building sections'. Tho matter is being dolaycd however, on account of the material having to be ordered from England, but the essentials to the schemo are expected to arrive about tho end of tho month.