DISPOSAL OF SHEEP.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 160, 25 November 1926, Page 6

DISPOSAL OF SHEEP.

SALE BY AUCTION. Some Regrettable Abuses. The auction sale is a recognised part of the live stock business (says the Otago Daily Times). It was established to meet a definite need, and, properly conducted, it serves a very useful purpose. It is a convenient way for the seller to dispose ot his surplus, and it affords tne buyer a selection from which to make his purchases. than that, this plan of public appraisal establishes live stock values that very naturally are an important factor in governing pm ate sale prices. The public sale is and always will be to some extent a gamble, a fact which doubtless adds to its attractiveness to many. The man who sells expects his animals to bring pretty well what they are worth, and perhaps more. The buyer goes with the possibility in mind that he may buy for less than the actual value of the animal. Either may happen, and often does; but as a rule prices paid at well-conducted sales pretty closely approximate current values.

The auction sale is supposed to be, and usually is, a place where the

buyer sets the prices, where buyer bids against buyer, and where the animal goes to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, however, like everything: else, the sale ring has been subject to abuses. More than one buyer has bid against the auctioneer or a by-bidder, and, as a result, has paid more for his animal than he would have done In an honest sale. Tr<ue ,the auctioneer or the by-bidder sometimes overreach themselves, and the animal is left without a buyer; but it is usuallyunderstood in advance that he is not to lose because of that. Th’ere are those who consider the smart auctioneer is the one who can “ run ” the buyer farthest without losing him. Every business seemingly has to have a few such men, and the cattle business is no exception. Such practices are as regrettable as they are unnecessary. To be exact, they are crooked; and the sooner the auction sale is rid of them the better. The gamble In a well-con-ducted sale is all that is needed; the use of a “ marked deck ” will, if continued, work a very considerable injury to the business. It has come to be quite a recognised practice that the auctioneer must start the bidding to prevent the sale from dragging, hut it is neither necessary nor honest that he should do any raising of bids thereafter. The best auctioneers approve this practice of “ kicking the bids,” and scarcely those few who are in the same class with the sellers who Insist on having their animals “ proteected ” either by auctioneer or by-bidder. Neither belongs in the business, and the business will be a lot better off without them. If our more reputable auctioneers took a definite stand and refused to “ help ” the bidding at any time they -would find the reaction entirely profitable to them. Auction sales, like any other business, are about as honest as the men behind them want them to he. A very large majority of the animals are sold

“ on the square,” hut about every so often someone seemingly cannot resist the temptation to break over, and that one occasional instance hurts the whole business. The sooner that sales managers, sellers, and auctioneers tighteri' their lines to prevent those occasional lapses the better they will find their business to be.