STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 7

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Br Dkotbb. WMkly Stock Saks:. M<mthly: Burnside, Wednesdays Nga.pa.ra, first Thurs- , A.hburton, Tuesdays day in each month Fortnightly : Clinton, Palmarston, Bulduths, Fridays y™*«. and Wai * , Gore, Tuesdays kouaiti. I Oamaru, Tuesdays Periodically: ; Invercargill, Tuesdays Heriot, Kelso, Kyeburn There was a large yarding of sheep at Burnsid© last week, and prices remained steady. At Addington a small yarding resulted in prices, advancing. 2s. For a month or two I should say priced will fluctuate according to the .number yarded, as no export buyers are operating. i Writing under date July 30 Mr Gilbert Anderson^ says : "Since last report • the stocks of frozen meat have been added to by the arrival of the" s.s. Rimutaka, s.s. '• Taintii, and g.s. Langton Grange, The market continues weak- and depressed, and 1 sales of large lines have been reported at | prices ' considerably below market quota1 tions. As the month of July sees the i finish of the large shipments and as the ! arrivals for August will be considerably j light, it is hoped that we may have more 'confidence in the trade. Any attempt to . induce agents to agree on a selling price I has signally failed, and some agents with , restricted methods of selling hay« been forcing goods on the Smithfield market at 1 very low prices." So far as one can judge ' from the latest cables there is a better tone about the mutton, market, but lamb ia still weak. I The Pastoral ists' Review of August 16 has the following in re the prospects for com1 ing season : — "The prospects for improved ! values for Australian lamb in England during next season are by no means bright. One of the largest importers of colonial . ( meat estimates that even by the end of j December there will still be 250,000 car- ' cases of New Zealand lamb in store^ at Home, whereas under ordinary conditions the stores should be clear. The Victorian Agent-general, who was asked by his JHoj vernment to inquire into the position, cabled on July 28 as follows :— "Advised J on best authority that coming frozen meat | season will be no improvement on this. j Argentine and Dutch importations, in addition to accumulated stocks, must depress ! the market." Locally it is not anticip ated that ratss in, say, December will > be quite as low as the> are to-day, but ' they are not at nil likely to approach anything like what they were early m the 1908- , 1909 season." ' The London correspondent of the Pasj toralists' Review thus lefers to the heavy shipments of May :— "The shipment from New Zealand of a million carcases of muti ton and lamb in May was a tactical mistake. .Both in anticipation and on arrival this enormous volume of meat exercised a prejudicial efifeot upon prices on this marI ket. Surely there should be some means 'of controlling exports? Freezing works' managers must remember that the month's shipments are cabled over, and that every oneratov here carries about a little book in his pocket issued by the association, ruled for the insertion of the shipments for each month." There is no means of controlling our exports, as there is no combination, nor does ihe=-e sp°m likoly to be, so far as one can jude-e. Farmers' unions have recommended conferences with a view to some combined action, but those who control the trade have mads no resnonsn The same writer further says on this subject: — '"The fact that New Zealand shipped 674.000 lambs in May was larsely the cause of the downfall in prices. It seems difficult to understand the export of such a Ivsavy quantity of lamb, double 1908, especially considering 1 that the winter freierht came along in June. June and July shipments are expected to be light, another reason for 'averaging shipments a bit. Though the arrivals and stocks are so heavy I am assured by good market men thai the very low prices for Canterbury lambs have not been altogether accounted for by these factors. The cables of shipments so frightened operators that all the spirit was taken out of the wholesale market.. Ca»

terbury prices reacted on Wellington lambs, which at a pinch can be subsituted for Can* I terbury. The moral of this is (says an importer) that there is no business capacity to bring to bear upon the New Zealand export trade. That 674,000 lambs should have been shipped in May, when in .Tune the iport would be short, and la July, too, is i incomprehensible The lambs should have > been spread over the buying period, especially as Canterbury iamb is an article bought J all the year round. The absence of a { control thus means thai in June and July 1 over 1,000,000 (New Zealand) will arrive ' here. I note that in Austria, France, Gerj many, Holland, Russia, and the United ! States steps have been taken to put the industry on a properly representative footing. Refrigeration associations have been formed in these countries, and arrangements made for organising • the freezing industry so delegates can be appointed for the congress. I hear that the T7J9.A. people are going to make a really big effort next year to send a large and skilled body to Vienna. Would it nofc be well for Australia and New Zealand to get forward with the movement to form the cold storage associations in affiliation to the English associations, which, • I understand, has v been mooted. Several of the New Zealand gentlemen connected with the business of freezing who are over here now are in sympathy with the movement. In many ways such un association would be j handy. It would provide the nucleus for j any organised representative movements which it might be desirable to organise in { the trade at any time, and in the case of the triennial conpruesses, appointments might be made and arrangements for a plan of campaign come to. Another Meat- ' marking Bill has been introduced, and will certainly shave the fa<» of its predecessors AH butchers and provision merchants who . deal _ in - frozen meat are to be [required under penalties to advertise the fact on their shops and vehicles, so as to enable persons who wish to buy Enplish, Irish, or Scotch meat to deal at shops where : such meat alone is sold, and so as to pre- - veht persons who are willing to take foreign

ft colonial meat from beiftg Charged the prices of English, Irish, or Scotch meat." Regarding excessive moisture in New Zealand butter all the London trade journals are full of the subject. It is evident we shall have to be careful, or the consequences may be very serious. A press correspondent says: — "If further trouble occurd in connection with New Zealand butters during the coming season it will undoubtedly bs blazoned abroad — rivals for the Home Country's patronage will see to that — and a blow will be administered to the Dominion's prestige in the butter market here that will leave its mark for a very long time. From the outcry that is being made it would seem that more butter with an excess of moisture than we have heard about at this end was shipped from New Zealand. Consignees kepf it 'dark, and made allowances, _ selling most of it to blenders. These blenders manipulate the butter so skilfully as to allow ■ themselves the full 16 per cent, permitted by law without exceeding it. It is exceedingly dangerous for us in New Zealand to attempt to run close to the limit. I think 14 per cent, should be fixed in the Dominion as the legal maximum for export butter. It this * was done confidence would be restored in London at once. The belated prosecutions for excessive moisture in butter may j do a little good, but they would have done faf more if they hod been instituted when the offences occurred many months ago. London would then have seen we were attending tD this matter without being prompted by them." A furtht r possible danger is threatening oui- dairy Industry, and that is the increasing use of the milking machine. I admit all its advantages as a labour-saving machine, fcut there is a fear that those who make use of the appliance will not take the trouble necessary in the way of absolute cleanliness. Some, I fear, cannot do so. as f- - water supply is inadequate, while others will grow careless after thte first few months of its use. Perfect cleanliness is absolutely essential if the users of these machines nre to supply clean flavoured milk to the factories. Instant and constant work at cleaning is necessary. The rubber tubes and connections cannot b& kept clean unless constant care and watchfulness are exercised Mothers who have had experience of rubber tubes for babies' feeding bottles know how milk and rubber don't work well toerether. Butter factories have realised the danger, and pasteurising- cream is now general to cope with the difficulty. I don't see what can be done to help thft cheese-maker. All he can do, and I advise him to do it, is to keep his eye on tho milk from suppliers using milking machines. "I congratulate Mr Ellison, secretary of the Central Dairy Factory, on his appointment to succeed Mr Macky as agent for the North Island Dairy Association in Lon- • o; !;-^ He gosß Hom e at once. His salary is £600 pei annum for three years, and all travelling' and office expenses paid. This is the best billet the dairy industry provides, and it was applied for by many in the North Island, Mr Ellison being "the only applicant from the South Island.