The Maikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1890.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2775, 26 April 1890, Page 2

The Maikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1890.

Enual and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or

Waikato farmers are still busily engaged in the consideration of the offers they have received for the disposal of their fat sheep and lambs, and they are no doubt, exercising a wise judgment, in deliberating well before actually committing themselves to either proposal. As long as the matter is kept moving, and not allowed to flag, we believe, some more satisfactory method of dealing with fat fitoek 'in Waikalo will ho.invc, long be established, and in a manner

more profitably than at present. Tho offers of the Auckland Freezing Company and Nelson Bros, have brought the subject prominently forward and it remains with the farmer to decide which of these oflers, if either, can be made of benefit, or will it be more advantageous to carry out tho suggestions of our correspondents O. K., or Mr E..R. Cox, to slaughter the sheep in Waikato, and to convey the carcases by rail to Auckland, for further treatment in freezing works there.

An objection has been raised to the Tauranga scheme, on the ground of the inconvenience and expense incurred in drivingsheep for so long a distance. Lambs, it is stated, could not be drivan so far. and if they reached their destination they would be valueless. There appears to be considerable force in the objections raised, and farmers are of course better able to form : .in opinion as to the amount of driving a sheep or lamb can stand than ether people are, and they appear to think that the project of driving sheep to Tauranga and then to take the risk of having them condemned on arrival is too speculative an idea to be entertained. It can hardly be wondered at, that farmers are rather diffident about entering into a guarantee for an extended period, to supply jarge numbers of sheep at a long distance, when the only means of getting them there is by driving over, a by no means good road. If suitable buildings with the necessary appliances were erected, in some central position in Waikato for the slaughtering of stock, we believe our sheep gra«iers would be much more readily induced to enter into a guarantee to supply the number. We have rail communication to all parts of the district. Farmers would have but a very short distance to drive their stock and they would further be saved the trouble and anxiety of having their sheep condemned in a distant locality, on account of insufficient weight or from other causes. Tho carcases would then be forwarded by rail to Auckland and be frozen in the ordinary way. Some objections would be raised to this scheme, that it would not answer during the hotter months of the year, but the uniformly cool nights experienced in Waikato, even at midsummer, would enable carcases to be landed in Auckland if sent down by a night train, in a perfectly fresh condition.

Mr E. B. Oox's letter in our issue of April 22nd deals with another aspect of this question, and, until carefully considered, is one apt to be overlooked when any new departure is being taken. Mr Cox very clearly indicates by the figures he quotes, that the Waikato farmers are not in a position to assist the undertaking at the Tauranga port, not because it would be altogether disadvantageous to do so, but that there will be few fat sheep to spare in Waikato, after supplying the Auckland and local demand. We agree with Mr Cox upon this point. By the last gazetted sheep returns the total number in the whole district is below 200,000, of this number allowing the proportion of twenty per cent, the highest estimate, as available for slaughter, it would leave less than the guaranteed number asked for by the Auckland Freezing Company alone, after providing for the Auckland and local demands. It is therefore manifest, that for the present, the question of guaranteeing anything approaching the number required by the two companies must be deferred.