THE RURAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24227, 20 February 1940, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD

By RUSTICUS.

SUMMER SHOWS , THE 1940 SEASON - w. Summer shows for the remainder of the season have been arranged as follows: Much 9.—Mount Benger. at Miller’s smut- . March 16—Upper Clutha. at Pembroke. March 16.—Temuka and Geraldine, at Winchester. " ! - March 25.—Mackenzie Highland at Fairlie. March 25.—Strath-Taieri. at Middle - ; march. Southland Freezing Killings Freezing works in Southland are at present experiencing a busy time coping with the rush of milk lambs. This season has been marked for rapid growth of feed, and one of the problems facing farmers has been that of adequate pasture control. Sheep do not thrive on. rank pastures, and lambs hatf£- been of poor quality when taken from farms where the growth of grass has got out of control. Mowers have been busy topping pastures, and where this and extra stocking , have been practised to prevent excessive growth, much better results have been achieved at drafting time. An excellent draft of lambs from the property of Mr Archibald Herron, of Pukerau, is reported by Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co;, Ltd. The splendid total of 1158 lambs was drafted from 1500, the progeny of 1050 ewes, and when railed to the Ocean Beach Freezing Works for slaughter this week they returned the excellent average weight of 38.551 b, with no second grade qual-

ity. This undoubtedly is a splendid return for one’s labour, and can be said to be the result of first-class management where consistent top-dressing and pasture control are factors receiving their due consideration. NEW RULES FOR RAM FAIR REJECTED SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED PLAN TO RAISE BREED STANDARDS ASSOCIATIONS TAKE ACTION IN CANTERBURY A clause providing for the inspection of rams submitted for auction at the Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral- Association’s ram fair and the slaughtering of any rams deemed unsuitable for breeding was adopted at a joint meeting of the Sheep Committee of the association and representatives of the Stock Auctioneers’ Association last week, when conditions for the coming ram fair were laid down. The right of appeal is to be reserved to the vendor of rejected rams. The decision, which is on the lines of a similar clause approved by the Canterbury A. and P. Association, follows a recommendation passed on to the Royal Agricultural Society last year, that rams rejected for sale be destroyed or made useless for breeding purposes, and that prior to the sale the rams be inspected on the farm and culled early in the selling season. The slaughtering of rejected rams without appeal was opposed by Mr W. H. Orbell, who quoted instances where a ram rejected at one sale had topped the price at another, and where the progeny of a rejected ram had gained a second at an agricultural and pastoral show. Other associations throughout the Dominion were heartily in accord with the move made in Timaru to raise the standard of rams, said the chairman (Mr A. Ward). Inspection of Rams The secretary (Mr H. H. Fraser) read a lengthy clause which had been incorporated into the rules of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association providing for the appointment of “ an inspector or inspectors for flock rams to determine whether such rams reach such a standard as in their or his opinion is required of rams used for productive purposes, and any ram or rams failing to pass such inspection shall, as soon 9s convenient, be removed by representatives of the association from the sale pens; in addition, rams failing to pass such inspection lhall be slaughtered as soon as convenient and any receipts from the sale of skins and offal, after deducting llaughtering expenses, shall be remitted to the owner or his agents. No refund or remission of entry fees shall be made in respect of sheep failing to pass such inspection.” The clause proceeds to state that .the owner of rejected sheep shall have the right of appeal against the rams being slaughtered, provided that the appeal is lodged within a specified time and accompanied by a fee of £1 Is. The Appeal Committee, which is to be ap-

FARM AND STATION NEWS

proved by the association, shall have absolute discretion whether such animal should be slaughtered or returned to the owner. After a short discussion, the meeting agreed to adopt the clause, and it was decided to ask the various breed associations to nominate inspectors from outside the district. Other conditions approved were:— Each pen to be put up with the option of the bidder taking two rams or more, the balance of the pen to be sold in one lot; flock rams to be entered in pens of four; ■ the number of sheep allowed in each round will be in accordance with the following scale: 1-8, 2 peps; 9-16. 3 pens; 17-24, 4 pens, and so on. : — j EXPORT OF LIVE STOCK BRITAIN’S EXCELLENT YEAR TRADE NOW SERIOUSLY HANDICAPPED Criticism of the British authorities for the closing of the quarantine station and thus, handicapping the export trade iri live stock from the United Kingdom is contained in an article in The Farmer and Stock-breeder, a leading English agricultural journal. The article states that this closing is unfortunate because ;it has come at a time when the expert trade in livestock was better than for possibly 20 years.' Almost every part of the world bought British stock in 1939, it is stated. The’ article is perhaps most interesting to New Zealanders because it gives figures for the exports of stock,* figures which do not appear impressive

in the light of the severe and continued criticism of the Dominion’s control of livestock importations. The figures for the 11 months of 1939, which it will be seen are greater than for the full previous year, were;—

Reviewing the year, the article states that the features of the year’s-trade were the sustained demand from South Africa for many breeds, the renewed interest of several mid-European countries, heavy buying of cattle by the Soviet, and a sudden expansion of sheep orders from Peru. Buying was from a wider number of buyers, and was better spread throughout the year, the dominions arid colonies again being substantial supporters of the market. “ It is regrettable that the closing of the quarantine station will be a serious check to the continuance of pedigree exports,” states the article. “Two shippers alone have sent out many hundred head of stock worth many thousands of pounds sterling at a time when foreign exchange has been and is hard to, get. The closing- of the station 'represents an immediate -loss, and it may not be easy to repair, it..-. < “For, whether we like it .or not,,the United States of America are making a big bid to replace British-bred animals in South America and in, Canada with those from North. American herds. “ Buyers are apparently willing to pay higher prices for animals and to meet increased charges for freight and insurance, but we close down the gateway—the quarantine station —and not only force customers to go elsewhere, taking with them valuable foreign currency, but stand a strong chance of losing a good part of the most valuable South American trade.”-

1939 1938 (11 months) (full year) Cattle .. .. 733 540 Sheep .. .. 865 754 Pigs .. ,, .. 71 t 58 Horses .... 648 1200