238 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 April, 1916. 



NOTE ON LAMBS FOR EXPORT. 



By A. J. Black, Commonwealth Meat Inspector. 



In Victoria, the lamb season generally starts about September or 

 October. If the season has been a good one, and prices favorable, it 

 has started sometimes about August, but more often the former months. 

 It is a noteworthy fact that the first lots of lambs, and they are generally 

 in small lots, arrive in good condition; they kill well, the "bloom" 

 being very noticeable. As the season advances, and the weather becomes 

 warmer, with its usual discomforts — long distances, tightly-packed 

 trucks,* considerable length of time on journey, sometimes two days or 

 more at a " works " before being killed — the depreciation in the carcass 

 is most marked. Lambs that were originally prime, or in good condi- 

 tion, and would have been put into 1st grade — " Approved for Export," 

 find their way into 2nd or 3rd grade^ — "Passed for Export." There is 

 a, double loss. The buyer has to make an allowance for the depreciation 

 that he knows will set in from the time they leave their native pastures 

 and their arrival at the " works" ; and if they have to wait for a couple 

 of days before being killed, their depreciation is further accentuated. 

 The difference between the carcass of the early lamb and the " late one," 

 is: The first sets quickly, and in the crossbred, which is the general 

 type of lamb exported, the dry, bright, white colour is intensified. In 

 the "late," it sets slowly, the "bloom" is gone, and the carcass 

 presents a dull, lustreless appearance; and, although freezing bleaches 

 it to a certain extent, there is a difference between the two. The first 

 lamb is carried by the railways in the slack time, and has thus a better 

 opportunity of arriving at its destination in, comparatively speaking, 

 short time. The other is carried in the busy season — the wheat, fruit, 

 and lamb season being on at the one time.f The same sort of condi- 

 tions prevail in South Australia and New South Wales, and just so long 

 will there be the same possibilities of depreciation. It is pretty safe 

 to assert that 90 per cent, of the rejects among lambs^ — and during a 

 long, hot spell they are considerable J — are due to the above-named 

 conditions; and, although plenty of fresh water is always available 

 at works, it is generally in troughs. Lambs will drink from a dam or 

 running water, but they will splash and drink very little from a trough. 



In New Zealand, the season starts, in the North Island, about 

 November; and in the South Island, a month or so later, but not in 

 earnest till about March, and continues till August — this is in ordinary 

 years. ^ It is very doubtful if lambs travel a longer distance than 

 100 miles; there may be isolated instances, but it is certainly not the 

 rule. I am referring to railway journeys — far greater numbers arrive 

 by road than here. The lambs are treated in the winter time,§ thus 



* When our winter has beon a good one, and the lambing therefore heavy, lambs must be handled 

 in Large nuTib?!rs .at the junction of spring and summer, and when placed in close sided, iron and wooden 

 wheat trucks, whether the train is in motion or waiting at a station, the heat in our busiest seasons is 

 intense, and, excepting when works are blocked through strikes, this was the most discouraging 

 feature against quality met with from farms to works. 



t In our hf^aviest lambing seasons, in all sorts of trucks, it is worse still in New South Wsiles. 



t Yes ; if the lamb? are a fairly even lot. In Victoria lambs are bred from all sorts, early and late, 

 and farm-^rs sell everything good .and bad for slaughter, selling at a lower rate. I understand in New 

 Zealand such lambs are rejected before coming up to the butcher, and sent to the sale yards, and come 

 later on fit for export. 



§ Our lambs are produced in the winter and fattened in the spring and early summer. 



