THE 1907 GREAT ANNUAL SHOW OF THE NEW SOUTH WALES SHEEP-BREEDERS ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 7

THE 1907 GREAT ANNUAL SHOW OF THE NEW SOUTH WALES SHEEP-BREEDERS ASSOCIATION.

A NOTABLE RECORD So much has been written, "in. recent* year* by .certain interested Sheep' Dip Manufacturers of"tho number of prizes, etc, eto., •won by sheep dipped in their preparations that flock-owners may reasonably feel perplexed as to the positions occupied in. the estimation the pastoral community by the many oilier brands of cheep dips now on th© market. The following facts will therefore be interesting — viz. : At the sheep show above referred to — the greatest of its kind" in the world 2—45"2 — 45" per cent., or nearlj one-half of the, prize-money. awarded waff- won. by Quibell-dipped sheep ; 14 per cent, was awarded to sheep on which no dip- at all had been used, thus leaving tie balance" of the prize-money — i.e., 4-1 per cent.— to be divided up* between the users of ell other dips combined— some -60 or more in number. New Zealand sheep-breeders will ba isterested to learn that every prize-taker is the Lincoln cheep ' section and all the first prize-winners in the Roinney Marsh" section at th© above 6how_ were dipped in ihis world-renowned specific. The above facts conclusively prove whicK dip the- leading New Zealand and Australian breeders — the most up-to-date pastoralist?i in. the -world — consider the best. The. figures quoted above have been supplied by Messrs Dalgety and Co- (Ltd.), of. Sydney.,^ and the- standing and reputation " of tbs. firm is the only guarantee that needs be offered, as lax their accuracy."' " Follow the men have made -» success in life, ~ for to, imitate, those who have fsjled only/ means that you will fail ,£&«-

these totals Otago and Southland contribute some 2000 boxes of butter and' 5000 crat«s ©i cheese every fortnight, and about 2500 crates of cheese to the West of England steamer every four weeks. The butter market in Loscioa has &9pt firm and at a high price. Usually the tmaxket lor butter weakens from Jaauaw onwards, bui this ' may not be the case this year, and I think we may -see prices for butter maintained at a high figure longer this season than ever before. At? present fchey are having a very severe winter in England and on the Continent, and, further, the supply from Australia to London ihas been much less this season than for some years paat. On this point the Pastoralists' Review, under date December 16, gives the following information, and though rains iave since fallen this cannot alter the fact' that Australia this season will supply much less- butter than for years past : — There were four valuable rains, _ pretty general throughout the coastal regions of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, between the end 1 of October and the middle of December, and the dairying industry received great benefit, but the late and very dry spring could not be sufficiently compensated' for to constitute a good season. In New South Wales the exceptional • drynegs of the spring on the south coast had seriously affected an important source of production; tha northern districts of Victoria had misse.d their best grass season, and. South Australia, although favourecf by good conditions for cereal crops, had lost considerably in grazing results by the late coming of the rains, - while Queensland also had suffered a check in pastoral production, which prevented the dairying output fromi regaining the volume of the previous year. While there has been a satisfactory recovery since the rains, the butter production of "the Common wealth' still shows a lar^e, decrease as compared with the' three previous seasons. The to the United Kingdom since the Ist July have been as follows: — 1904-5. 1905-*. 1906-7. 1907-3. From Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Melbourne .. 7.963J ?,1873 8,318f 6,8444 Sydney 4,262 3,509$ 3,986 1,711 Adelaide. 314f 41,0 BI4J 511£ Brisbane .. 1,691| S9B 1.278J 734*. Totals .. .14,2312- 12,005§ 14,198 B,Bol*' There has thus been a decrease to date as compared with last season of 58961 tons. I beieve, therefore, that the price of New i Zealand butter this season will probably be higher than ever, and that consignors •will for once in a way do better than the •>. sellers, although earlier in the season no oile would have thought so. The prospects for cheese are. good, and ' ih& undoubted shortage of supplies, which I mentioned before, is going to make itsel* felt. Already we have cabled advices thaj ?ome of the. Rimiitaka's shipments from ' Southland factories sold at up to, 62s 9d jper ' cwt. A firm market is reported by cable, and the rise in price coming now is more v likely to be permanent than if it had occurred in September of October, 1 before the Canadian season was ended. I ■ shall not be surprised" to bear shortly of a further advance in .price. I have no desire to say anything in disparagement of so useful a labour-saving machine as the - milking machine, but a Word of warning may be useful. First of all, let me point out that the Danes have, not taken to the milking machine, nor have the British dairymen to any extent. They are doubtless interested in it, but are not generally satisfied, nor am I, that awe ha^e got the right thing yet. The machines are not easily kept clean, and I jenow the machine milked' supplies to dairy factories are not in all cases what they should be. Factory managers have_ sometimes' tQ return milk from such suppliers, or risk, as J reerret to say they in some cases do, . making bad cheese. The machine can with great care be kept' clean, but that great cara is the 'point that is lacking. An- , other point about these machines, or rather* the use of them, for it is not the fault .of the machine, is that a cow often develops a sore teat with a flow'of matter and blood. In hand milking this 16 more^ easily detected, and the milk from the teat can be 'taken — as much as necessary — and thrown ' away. „ With the milking machine the -bad teat may not bo noticed, and the machine iloee its 'work, harming the cow and damag- > ing the milk. Managers have found blood and matter in their strainine cloths at the factory, and this should not be. If milking machine users one and all do not give earnest attention to cleanlines and ( othpr matters the machine will become unpopular' •wi^h managers of factories, and, indeed, with all who are striving to improve the duality of milk supplied to the factories. If a man has 'been supplying dirty milk 'to a factory when hand milking the milk will probably be dirtier when a machine is used, for it is only the man with^ genius for cleanliness that can do justice fco> a machine. Many observant persons are distinctly o! opinion that the use of the milking machine is fraught with, danger to en improved quality of milk. I wish it were not so, but I cannot think otherwise at present. V.Z. FAEHEBS* UNTOI*. A~ meeting of the executive of the Otago Provincial Council o£ the New Zealand Farmers' Union was held at ths office of the secretary (Mr H. Mitchell) on the 10th. Mr S. Scott presided. The Chairman referred to” the death of Me Harry Buckland, and the following resolution was carried: — "That this meeting of the exeoutive of the Otago Provincial Council of the New Zealand Fanners' Union places on record its bjgh appreciation of the valuable services • rendered to the union by the late Mr Buckland as an ex-president and, as one of the executive, and tenders its deepest sympathy to Mrs Buckland and family in their great bereavement." A resolution o.f sympathy was also passed ■ 5n connection with the death of Mrs Walter JBlaokie, and a, oopy of the same ordered to be forwarded to Mr Blaokie. The sub-committee appointed at the previous meeting to wait on the Otago M.P.'s an regard- to vario'ug matters affecting- theunion reported the results of the conference as having been satisfactory. A communication from the Minister of l*ands in reference to the reauest of the union that the meetings of th& Land Board should be increased from 12 to 24 per year was laid _on the table. The substance of the Ministers' reply was that he wanted . the ineetinga to be heldL^ always in the •fntrests of those who had business with the Xand Board, and he would accordingly like $o have full particulars cited so that

]he could isisi,- She matter into consideration • more fuSSy. — It was decided to acquire in- ! formation on the subject from all branches of the union in Otago. A letter was received from the traffic manager of the railways with reference to th© "request for a siding at Duke's Road. — The matter was left in the hands of the local branch to look into. A' letter was received from the Acclimatisation Society expressing satisfaction at I the resolutipn of the union re the importation of little owls, and also at the union's request to have^ the protection on seagulls nreftioved. Letters were _ also received from various branches thanking the provincial executive for its efforts in connection with the appointing of a special labour bureau for farmers. The meeting went into "committee to consider several matters in connection with the Arbitration Act and its amendments.