THE PASTORAL INDUSTRY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2641, 25 October 1909, Page 2

THE PASTORAL INDUSTRY.

EXPECTED GLUT OF FAT STOCK:. The following interesting were contributed to the “Palmerston Standard” by Mr. A. W. ltutlierford, of Mendip Hills, wlio recently visited Australia : - The fat shoe]) market at Adelaide is held every Wednesday in the Corporation yards. I have attended several of these markets. Last Wednesday (September Bth) the'entry consisted of 11,400 sheep and 4000 lambs. The sheep, all in wool, were in excess of the butchers’ demands, and : in consequence 2400 were taken by graziers, and 600 were unsold.. The chief supply consisted of merinos. The crossbreds here, as is the case in all the Commonwealth markets, mostly looked dejected, in marked contrast to those in our Dominion. Occasionally one strikes a good line, but they are few and far between.®!.. Undoubtedly the merino is the favorite butchers’ sheep in Australia. It has more lean in proportion to the fat than the crossbred, which is an advantage, in a warm climate. They are better adapted to the country than any of the variants ol the cross-breds, and it is not probable that the latter will be substituted for the grand flocks of merinos which have taken half a century of skilful manipulation to attain their present degree of excellence. At the last market some splendidly woolled merino wethers were yarded. They were hardly what we should term prime, it being too early in the season, but they had great skins, which were valued at 9s. These wethers sold up to 19s, and they would average about 551bs; useful wethers with good skins, sold at 13s to 16s. The lambs were a heterogeneous collection, and sold at 2s 7d to 12s 2d. The former were just eatable, and would weigh about IBlbs, and their skins were worth Is 9d. Best skins, Shropshiremerino cross, were worth 3s. For the first time this season freezing buyers operated, but only in a limited extent. Strange to say, they purchased only second-class stuff.. For instance, one line at 7s 6d, estimated to average 3011 is, with skins valued at 2s 9d. One of the best lines in the yards, estimated to average 381bs, with 3s b'kins, was taken by butchers at 10s 3d. For the past few years, all good seasons, the farmers have taken kindly to the fat lamb industry, but the lower values which will have to be accepted later on in the season will be a serious set-back. The iambs are mostly fattened on native grasses, and as these grasses dry up early in December, when perforce fattening ceases, the season lasts less than three months. The flesh of the lambs here when cooked is darker in color, and closer in grain than ours, which is probably the cause of the lesser value realised in the Home market. The difference is caused by the amount of merino blood. The approaching fat sheep and lamb season is looked forward to with alarm by those in the export trade. All over Australia., with tlip exception of a few isolated places, there has been an abnormal rainfall, and there is thus early an astonishing amount of feed, so everything will shortly be fat, and as the last five or six seasons have been good the country is stocked up, and. there will be no outlet in that direction for stores. Fat sheep in vast numbers will have to be frozen and shipped Home to a gorged maflket. The prospect is far from pleasing. A pessimistic friend of mine, with a long experience of pastoral life, gives it as his opinion that either the locusts will come along and devour all the grass, in which case there will be no fat stock, or if they do not all the stock will be fat and there will be no sale. Mr. Kidman, the cattle king, asserts that the fat cattle market is safe, but he is taking no chances, as he is feeding this market with-up-wards of 300 head per week. Fancy a weekly cheque of from £2500 to £3000! Apropos of Mr. Kidman and his cattle, .it- is said that he can talk of nothing but cattle. In this connection a good story is told of him. Two commercial travellers, seeing Mr, Kidman on a railway platform, made a wager. Before joining him in a carriage, one offered to bet and the other accepted it, that he could keep Mr. Kidman off cattle for five minutes. So to keep the Cattle King “wide” he said: “Mr. Kidman, the Australian cricketers are doing well.” “Yes,” renlied Mr. Kidman, “that is because they were reared on my beef!”