Page 1 Advertisements Column 7

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume II, Issue 144, 12 May 1900, Page 1

Farm Topics.

An authority in the American 1 live stock trade, who has travelled widely, is quoted by .a Westerri paper as expressing the opiniori that the conditions of the cattlerearing industry in the United States were never more favourable' thaii they are to-day. It may be' doubted, however, whether the 1 profits Of the breeders and rearers of cattle arfe anything like as large as they were in the past, and this doubt is really supported by what the writer says. Formerly, he' remarks, seventy - five per cent' of the cattle were produced ori "the ranges, fahere they fed on the natural herbage alone. Now, he Says, 90 per cent of all the animals, including those on the ranges; arejwithin reach of prepared forage. Even Oklahoma, the Pan-handle of Texas, Western •Kansas, New Mexico, and Arizona,

now gco'w iiiaizo and other fOlf 01 age, , asd- compete with Uao /naize-trowera !o& the' Missouri" Valley m tho r perfecting} of beef cattle, In other ; words, the Jtange-holders, lastcad of ■ rearing cattle' for the' oceupieis oi enclosed farms to' finish off, are 1 more and m,ore extensively engaged fattening thb animals which they breed. By this they increase their t returns, no doubt ; but their ex- ' penses must be vastly augmented . also. The writer believes that, during the last four years, there hasr ■ been an' increase of 25 per cent in the number of cattle thus finished off in ihe.great breeding districts.

The American Consul at Capet town, in a report just published, regrets that his country has not' taken advantage of the suspension by tho Cape Government of the 1 duty of 2d per lb on frozen meat and feit stocK both of which have been liberally supplied by Australia, and live animals by Argentina also! ■ But, as he states that frozen meat is sold at lower rates than even th^se 1 of the native cattle of the colony, it is not likely that fhe United States can compete with Australia and Argentina in that' commodity; while, With a good market in England for prime cattle and chilled beef, there 1 is probably no attraction in the Gape markets* for American shippers:

. During the month' of January £hV weight of meat received at the> , London Central Market Was 88,31{K tons, m agairi'st $5,893 tons in 1 January 1899.^ 6f that large" ; quantity, 16,t92 tons were British,- , 6430 foreign', 7750' American, ana! ;and 7947 from Australia and Netf Zealand. At the Islington Cattle 1 Market there were 7195 oxen,* 4f>,023 sheep, 119 oalves, and 306* pigs; — all British produ'ee. At the 1 Foreign Cattle 1 Market at Deptford,* $246 oxen and S&l sheep ftom the 5 United States, aud 6-250 oxen aiidl 27;iU2 sheep from South Americaarrived.

i While the ahan^ements were being* irnaaefor a party a few evenings ago; a ( young lady present innocently inquiril •"> 5:'J? th f, iQ vitatioriso oinbrace thg^oUugfc "Oh, no," replied a youn« ijfj, " the 1 gentlemengyill attenS to that " * ' ladj Trcaae*/ wbdt tie* yottug maa^rieant/ f *