STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 6

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

I l Bt Dsorcm.

Weakly Stock Sales: ( Monthly: Burnside, Wednesdays Ngapara, first ThursXihbuiton, Tuesdays I day in each month Junction, iuesdays A%j etch month Fortnightly: Clinton, Palmexston, Bulcltttha, Fridays Winton, and WaiGore, Tuesdays Jwuaiti. Oubuii, Tuesdays "" Periodically: lnvercargih, Tuesdays Heriot, Kelso, ELyebnrn • . The stock " markets at. Aldington and Christehufch were both, over-supplied last week, and ' prices ' were down again. _As there is no export demand, large yardings will inevitably mean a further fall in prices' , .. I Good, accounts are coming to hand .from the earlier lambing districts in Canterbury. Farthet south the cold, wet weather last week, was hard on early lambs, but no great loss is reported, as lambing is not far advanced yet. ~~ A number of sheep-farmers returning from visits to the Home Country contend that shops for the sale of our frozen lamb and mutton should be openeci. Mr Broad, of Hakatungi, for instance, says that even where New Zealand dozen -Tneat is sold Canterbury mutton is merely made use of as a decoy. The butchers hang a few prime Canterbury lambs in the front of the shop, but sell mainly Argentine and Australian. Mere advertising will do little more than help to push sales of Argentine and Australian meat, and New Zealand would get little benefit. The American combination have a big control over the retail trade. New Zealand has none, and never will have so long as the present disorganised method of dealing with ourirozen meat continues. If the Americans had a prime article like Canterbury lamb for sale they would take care and not allow it to be made a decoy of to sell other meat in which they were not interested. Probably nothing will be. done by the leading meat companies, and those who control our mutton and lamb erports to organise the trade, so that instead of imgi-oving things may get worse, and then we shell be compelled to combine in our own interests. There is no sign of anything, being done in this direction at present. The freezing companies' charges wfll remain the same, so that any lowering of price will not affect them It is the sheep-owners that will suffer, and it is to their imprest to urge forward necessary reforms. But farmers are slow to move, and it is difficult to secure combination or co-operation in its true sense amongst them. When the bad pinch comes, aa it may yet do, they will perhaps make a move. Meantime the pood organisation of our opponents is telling heavily against us. and will continue to do so I^svonshire butter ras a good name, so New Zealand butte.- goes down to Devon-" shire, and is returned to London as prime LJovonshire, and the British public pays^ 3d per lb more for it than the same New Zealand butter would bring under its own name. Shops are wanted to sell New Zealand butter and cheese for what i* is also. The Pastorales' Review has the following re chilled b?af from Queensland: — "The first shipment, for many years at least, of rhilled beef from Australia will be made from Queensliii'l early this month. Messrs John Cooke ond Co. have had chambers fitred up (under the Linley process) at their Redbank works, near Brisbane, and intend to send a consignment to London by the s.s. Marathon, to sail on September 2. The shipment will be 1500 quarters, Messrs Cooke sending 1000 quarters and the Queensland Meat Export Com- ; p&ny 500 quarters. These two firms s?? j taking a heavy risk in making this experiment, for they cannot insure the meat, and . it is to be devoutly hoped that the trial i will be a success. It means a bier thine for Australia if it is. The cattle will be killed about four days before the boat sails, and as the voyage" will take 60 days, it means that the beef will be killed nearly 70 days ' before reaching the n-arket." The result of this experiment will be watched .with

i interest. If successful, as I think it will ■ be, I hope to see New Zealand follow ■Queensland's example. Beef consumption ■: is increasing, and supplies are not — in fact, . the reverse is the case. ■ ' The cf ambers of the rnresent Govern- .- ment, from Sir Joseph Ward downwards, have frequently declared that members of i the Opposition who criticised the financial . policy -of the Government were disloyal and ; doing harm to the Dominion. Nothing '. they ever said on this subject equals, to my mind, what «the Minister of Agrieul- , ture disclosed as to our poverty when replying to a deputation who asked him to ! supplement the handsome offer of £6000 made by Mr W Buchanan, M.P., to estab- ; lish an experimental farm in the Waira- ' rapa. The Hon. Mr Mackenzie, if sincere ' in what he said, meant that the Governs ' ment were so poverty-stricken that they ' were unable to carry out 'work for the j benefit' of the agricultural industry which he knew to be absolutely needful. I quote from his speech as reported in the fitness: •'At the present time~"~the Government had no money to spare. The offer was a splendid one, but it only covered half the initial cost. The object of it was to' help the small farmers who were largely the backbone of the country. It was regrettable that the Government had , not sufficient money to buy- stock. He was doing all he could with the money at his disposal, and was adding to the herd at Wereroa, but it took such a long time to furnish the bulls that dairy-farmers required. It would be a great help if they could get money for that purpose. They were told that in the dairying herds of the Dominion one quar- ; ter of the cows did not pay for -their feed, and only aboat half showed a profit. — [This is so]. If the Government had more 'money to carry out a -system of testta? v and to give small farmers the use of reliable bulb- -from . milking strains it would be greatly 'to their benefit. ISveii if we only had a- thousands pounds I am sure we would do more good than- by an expert ! mental faem on ftie' Wairarapa." .The' Minister then alluded to many things needed, ' such as seed-growing and testing" of grasses and cereals, seed culture, etc. Seed culture x and testing, he said, was a coming problem. Then he talked of the need of agricultural instruction, and said : I "We have no money to send competent , teachers • abroad to find out what other countries have discovered, and we are , fumbling away here, probably 26 years behind them. If we 1 had money to send some J of these good men to these > up-to-date i institutions an enormous amoua' of good t would be done. Time is so valuable in these matters. We have not time to -wait ' to foozle aloncr for years and years and find out what has been found out in other countries. The agricultural industry was the greatest in the country, and yet there ' was no place to which a young man could go to wovk with any certainty of being instructed in farming." Mr Mackenzie , said he did not think Lincoln College filled ; the bill in this matter. Our Minister of I Agriculture, it will be seen, knows our I great need in the matter of agricultural education in all its branches. He, also knows that he is the Minister dealihgr with the greatest and most important industry of the Dominion, but seems to collapse under the ereatness of what might be done to heln and imorove it. his sole ory being, ! "Oh. if we only had th< . money." In the { words of a comic song he might say, "My . heart is poodV but my feet won't let me. ' , The Agricultural Department has been ■ starved all along since Sir John M'Kenzie , died. Moifcy may be scarce now, but even 1 when the • Government .were spending ' money right and left this great department? was always obliged to carry on a roake- ' shift oolicy. as the Ministers of Agricul-ture-since Sir John M'Kenzio's time never seem to 'have had weight enouprh in the Cabinet to get adequate funds allotted to , them. Our present Minister of Agriculture ; has maiiy times spoken of the greatness ' and importance of the agricultural interests. It remains to be seen whether he has influence enough in the Cabinet to get •' the necessary money voted. There , is no j doubt all could be got from Parliament if the matter were placed properly before it by the Government. Unless farmers are moro energetic in asserting their claim- to a fair share of money b«»ing voted by , Parliament for agricultural matters, our veterinary and agricultural coljege and many o*h<T things will continue to be dangled before them at election times, and ! <ret no further than they have for years ' past. ' ! Usually in the North Island dairying dis- : tricts there is some excitement at this ! time of year, as buyers generally try to secure the factory outputs of butter and cheese. September to March and April. This yfar buyers are very shy, and to the • <1->te of n-ritinsr no -transactions have taken place. Buyers will not even make offers, ! as has been usual, nor will the factories { nance a price they -are willing to accept. [ j and so nothing can be, done. lam of I omnion that little, or nothing will be done (■till October Last year's buyers had a very , bad evneri«nce. and of course", are not in ' a pood hu lour, and would, of course, like 1 to buy at a price that might recoup them* for their last year's losses., Factories- seem unwilling to take lOd to 10id for gutter or "Bd to 'sid for cheese, and most of those in i the North Island say they will consign in preference to taking such low prices. Later ' on, perhaps in a month, we shall know more as to what buyers intend to do, and'

if they come along with offers of lOgd and s£d probably there will not be much con- . signment- Tenpence advance on consignment without recourse has been offered for butter outputs to end of March, and 5d for cheese -outputs to the end of April. I do not "believe in this without recourse business. In my opinion it practically means a at lower than buyers would give, for -it" is seldom any consignor under such circumstances gets anything over the amount advanced, and it is therefore a business that should not -be countenanced. It also gives the oonsigneo certain rights as to dealing with butter or cheese which a consignment house, should not have. I am convinced it is better to decide" to sell right out 6r take a moderate adVance with recourse and consign to a good agent not losing control of the produce. Our factories, indeed, might do well by consigning continuously to one agent year after year, as thereby a good market for their produce is built up. Featherston factory has done so for years, and tiag an excellent average of prices.