Sale of Widgiewa Wool in London.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 21

Sale of Widgiewa Wool in London.

The mere announcement that &t? "V* ldgitwa'' clip will be ofbued for .-ale 0$ a ceiimn date is of it-elf sufS< cient to ciowd the London wool salerooms with an eager throng of would-be buyers. The peifection ta which this famous clip has been brought ij well known to the wool .trade throughout the world, and the following paragraph, which is taken from the report of that weli known Bradford wool expert, Mr S. B\ Hollings, shoukl interest every man wild aims to produce wool of the best quality according to the breed of sheep in which he is ir terested — viz. : —

"Mr J. S. Horsf all's well-known nWidgiewa"' and "Kerarbury" clips were offeree!* on the first day of the sixth series of London sales, 1907, and notwithstanding a full Id to lid per lb drop, his first lot of supett combing " Widgiewa " made 14id, and 14c? was paid for the top lot of "Kerarbury. , The opening sale showed considerable hesitation, and jet for these wools there was plenty of competition, and the prices paid proie conclusively the excellence of tha wool"."

These are weighty words from an experf; who is recognised as one of the most emi-| nent authorities on wool in the world af>( the present time^ Mr Ilorsfall's clip runs into come 4000 bales annually, and his manager. Mr A. L. Morrison, who has conducted' careful experiments; with perhaps all tho best-known brands of sheep dips at present! on the market, emphatically declares that, as an aid to the p -oduction of a perfect fleece of wool Quibell's Dip= — which are exclusively used on all AXr Horsfall** extetlsive properties— have no superior and few,if any, equals.

Every wool sa 1 © throughout the rrorld a? •which a Ouibell-dipped clip is offered fully endorses these onin>«»-_ _ _

directors, were re-elected. Messrs Ollivier Bros, wore re-elected auditors.

An A6hburton farmer of long experience states that he was satisfied that the seasons had so materially changed in the Ashfcurton County during the past 10 years .that fanners would have to consider the advisableness of 6owing their .grain crops at least from six weeks to two months earlier than they had been in the habit "of doing 1 . Early crops and early iambs for Jthe past fevr years had given far and away *he best returns to farmers, and he ivas now fully convinced that if farmers as a 'body .sowed their grain earlier, the increased returns would amply repay them for any inconvenience that might be in\ol\ed

The following iteii>- av^ fiom the Timaru Herald of the" 11th in»l —Mi Stowell, of St. Andrews, was >- town /eaten- 1 -} :"h ■«"-

ing a samp'e of oat 5- that thieshed 70 bushels from his faim at ,St Andrews The sample was an excellent one. On the Waitohi the mill tallies are very good, Mr M'Keown, on the Downs, thieshed 66 bushels of oats and 30 bushels of wheat, the latter said to be very good for the Waitohi, where downs are more numerous than plains. Messrs Pearse. Chapman. Orr, and others, on the opposite side of the Opihi, have oat crops that are also among the 60s. "The samples of both wheat and oats are splendid, hard and well filled. The very dry weather is most favourable to stook threshing.—Mr J. S. Rutherford has had constructed a remarkable sort of bridge for getting sheep over the Cass River, on his Mistake Station. Mackenzie Country, Some time ago he obtained an estimate from the county engineer for a sheep bi:c'u» '~x tb* H\er (£200), and aska«i

the Go\einn.eiit if they would provide a I half-shire of this sum. The Minister de chned, and Mr Rutherford set his wits to j work, and as a result he has a practicable , bridge that feints his purpose at a cost of £75, and it is a bridge that is in no dangei of being damaged by floods. He has had a section of light bridging, with side fences, I 40ft long, built on wheels the size of : spring-dray wheels, which puts the bottom of the bridge 4-ft from the ground. At each end is a hinged section, 10ft long 1, folding up like the straw elevator of a thresher. When the bridge is required ' three horsea drag it into the river, and the swinging ends let down form approach ramps; and if the 60ft length is too short, another section can be added. When done with, or if a flood threatens, the horses are hitched to it, and the bridge is hauled out of the river. lS*r\ that one has been

made, others could be turned out at less cost.

The officials of Iho Royal Agricultural Soeiery, S\tincy, are ha\ing a veiy busy (nne at present. The secretaiy states that correspondence and other woik m conneehon with the comma; show has been hea\ie L - since the beginning of the year than it was in the same period of any previous \eor Since the recent hea\y rains co^ ered (he .State the applications for schedules and enliy forme have been \eiy numerous, and some thousands have been distributed. All clct=^cs of lne «tock promise to increase in numbers at tlm show, and already the sjnecs let for stands on the show giound cm ''ed those arranged for last year. A ftatmc of the non competitive exhibits will bo a display of minprals. which wi'l be n.adi' by the Mines Department in one of the pa\ ihons. Stock-owners will have time 10 olw\e how the season shapes itself befoie the entries close in the principal section^ Hor*o entiles are due on March IS; tattle, sheep, and pigs, March 19: poult iv, March 21. The first date is that for the export butter classes, for which entiies el'ise on March 10. This is fol'owed li\ wines on March 11, specal cheese on the 16th. and wheat on the 17rh.

Mr John Speir. who has been so prominently identified with the milk-recording schetpo pionmted by the Highland and Agneultuial Society, and whose name is «o crtdirabN associated with progressive farming, read an exceedingly interesting paper on the subject of milk records at a locerit meeting of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Agricultural Society. Mr Speir adduced figures to show the importance to dair\ fatmers of keeping a correct record of the milking performances of individual animals, end indicated the simpler methods of procedure, and aloo enlarged upon the economic advantages of the system. He pointed out that milk records are not only u-eful in singling out indifferent milkers, hut they also enab'e the farmer to more adequately appreciate the better cla«s of milking stock For example, he mentioned a case of a cow ghing a libeial yield of milk containing nearly 5 per cent, of butter fat, which was bought for £17 10&. Had the former o.\ner been aware of her value he could buTe obtained a much higher pi ice. but '-imply because he had never tested her actual worth he was contented to accept the market value of an ordinary animal. A notable feature of the discussion which followed was the growing belief in the merits of milk records elicited 1 , and. thanks to the leid given by the Highland and Agricultural Society, it seems as if in a few years' time the keeping of milk iecoid a in the south-west of Scotland will be the rule instead of the exception.

In its annual review of the English meat market the Field sa.\s: — The most importarr feature of our meat markets in late jeais has been, of course, the steady and enormous increase in our imports, but the small effect of this increase on the -alu-> of British meat is almost equally lemaikable. In the year 1886 we imported about 6| mil' ion hundredweights of beef, mutton, and pork, and from that period importation steadily grew in volume, till in 1907 it reiehed the enormous total of 1% million hundredweights. Now, during the 20 rears home production has remained piactically stat onarv, and the question may well be asked, "'What has become of all the extra foreign meat, seeing that the price— fluctuating only slightly from year to year — remains as high as it was 20 years ago?" Ihe answer is extremely Mmple, and, in the writer's view, highiy satisfactory. Demand has kept pace with supply, and all the cheap foreign beef and iMtitlon has gone to a class of consumers few of whom m the da\s of high prices pier ate flesh meat at a'l. It is estimated that we are now cons-uminsf about 231b of meat per head of the whole population 111 ire than wo did in the early eighties, and as jt i« not reasonable to suppose that the well-to-do classes have become larger raters of meat, we must conclude that the lon price of frozen meat hns brought it within reach of the wageparneis. From a national point of view tins is a gratifying fact, especially as our home producers of superior quality haie not suffered in the process. The Australasian reports that a new depaiture has lately been made to find an outlet for Victorian live stock. On January 7t > Mr George Howat shipped 40 stud Ayrshire heifers and five bulls by the ss. Mooiabool. en route to India. These catlle will be transshipped at Newcastle to the c *-. AVaihora for Calcutta. The heifers are all eairving their first or second calf, and the bulls are from a year to two years ami a-half old. The destination of these < attic is Simla, in the hill country of Indn, and with them an attempt will be made to establish dairy farming in that country While few will grudge Victoria the new outlet for stock secured, it seems somewhat singular that the Indian Government did noi make inquiries from the New Zealand Department of Agriculture. The best A\ rshires in Victoria are the progeny of New Zea'and-bred stock. Evidently our stock is not boomed by our Department of Agriculture, and there appears to be an absence in its methods of the up-to-date, business-like manner of the Victorian department. If our commercial agent vie-ited India, how did he miss securing his opening for our cattle?

English husbandmen have found it to their advantage to breed off the horns from the majority of the breeds of mutton sheep. A small number aie still kept with fullsized horns (says a contemporary), but for what put pose, unless to obey the dictates of fashion, it is hard to say. The growth of a iich large horns as those on the herd of the merino ram must cause a consider•ib'e drain on the system of the young animal, particularly if the season is an unfavourable one and the pasture scanty. Theie me seicral flocks of polled merinos in France which breed true to type. The late Professor Sanson mentions (Zaite de Zootechnie) two flocks that were famous, for the excellence of their wool. The advocates of the horns on the merino sheen claim that it is a distinguishing type of tho breed, but the samp might have been said of the horns on the British mutton sheep. Official returns under the Diseases of Animals Acts show (says the Field) an increase in the number of cases of anthrax, of sheep scab. and. it must be mournfully related, double the number of outbreaks of swine fever. A new disease has been recognised in this country by Sir John Macfads can a<? affecting bovmes. and to which the name of Johnes' disease has been given. It attacks the intestinal canal, and 1 in its manifestations closely resemble the mesenteric form of tuberculosis and parasitic gastroenteritis, for which diseases ir has no doubt been frequently mistaken. It is of more freauent occurrence and wider

distribution than has been generally reco nised, is practically incurablo, and, in t><» opinion of experts, calls for immediacy legislation.