ON THE LAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 72, 7 January 1936, Page 7

ON THE LAND.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. SOME SHEARING RECORDS. (By "The Tramp.") Probably in no other class of work is there so much rivalry as that displayde on the shearing board. Lecords seem to be made only to be broken. The following account taken from an Australian paper makes most interesting reading:— Can any reader produce a performance to beat this one? asks the "Sydney Mail." At the Lake Cowal shed, in the Wyalong district, just, recently, W. Ellis and his two sons, Jack and Bill, shore 651 sheep in a day. Dad, as a real father should, showed the boys how to do it by "barbermg" 223; but the lads were not far behind, for Jack put through 216, and it seems almost ridiculous to admit that Bill "drummed it"—to use the common term—with 212! The feat should make a tasty morsel for shearers and exshearers to argue over; but I personally have never heard of a better day'9 shearing by a father and two sons. '

While the above is a wonderful record and one that will take a lot of beating, yet we have in New Zealand, and in South Canterbury, some champion shearers. A representative of the "Timaru Herald" some time ago put his watch on a local machine shearer, who was giving an exhibition of fast shearing. The man in question was working on crossbred ewes in good condition, and in exactly 60 seconds he was able to take the wool off the sheep. Although it was merely a burst of speed, the shearer was only able to maintain this rate while doing two or three sheep, but it might be mentioned that he could have improved on this record only the power available would not allow him to get the maximum speed from his machine. It was a pretty sight seeing the wool coming off when he was properly extended. The speed with which he swept through from the tail to the neck was amazing.

Mr Percy de Malmanche, who holds the world's record for shearing 409 big sheep in nine hours, was in Timaru recently. In performing this record he caught all his own sheep from the pen, and during the season shore 16,000 sheep. Another very fine shearing performance must be credited to Mr W. Hliggins, who has made tallies of 273, 383 and 406 sheep shorn in nine hours and under. At Gisborne in 1934 Sonny White made a tally of 433 sheep shorn in nine hours—a wonderful record. Boom in Corriedales. The sheep and wool branch of the New South Wales Department of Agriculture has forwarded for the informationt of farmers a report by Mr C. J. Daley, instructor in sheep and wool in Eastern Piverina, sounding a warning against the purchase of grade or crossbred rams : The gradual cliange over in the type of agricultural, with its changing demands and markets, have stimulated the necessity for an ideal dual-purpose type of sheep. Hand in hand with this has been the outstanding progress by breeders in evolving a uniformity of type and high degree of quality in the Corriedale. Years ago breeders had much to contend with, but as the general worth of the breed became recognised prejudices were worn down, and to-day the breed has become widely popular. This popularity may do much to bring the breed into general disrepute owing to ignorance on the part of many as to what constitutes the Corriedale.

In the southern tablelands, slopes, and Riverina the demand for the Corriedale, Corriedale cross, and grade ewes greatly exceeds the supply. Many types of nondescript crossbreds and comebacks are to-day changing hands at greaty enhanced prices as Corriedale cross, to farmers ignorant of the type. Many men will be disappointed with their purchases, and will doubtless blame the breed, the true qualities of which they lack knowledge. Beef Statistics. According toi, Mr H. Burton, who writes from Stott Park, Ulverston, Lancashire, the meat markets of Great Britain have absorbed an average of 721,000 tons annually of beef and veal, including cattle imported on the hoof, during the last seven years, in addition to an average of 609,000 tons of home-grown supplies. In Great Britain there are approximately 8,700,000 head of cattle, and the annual slaughterings amount to 2,800,000 head, which produce about 600,000 tons. The annual consumption of beef and veal in. Great Britain is 651 b per capita, compared with a per capita consumption of 571 bin Canada, 1071 bin Australia, 1601 b in New Zealand, and 2031 b in Argentina. The exports of cattle from Ireland average about 700,000 head, and chilled beef and frozen beef and •veal exports from South America average more than 500,000 tons. The ' slaughterings in South America average approximately 6,000,000 head yearly, while the slaughterings of cattle »,nd calves in Canada are about 1,700000 head, in New Zealand 1,500,000 head, and in Australia about 2,200,000 head.

Conveyance of Livestock. There has been an enormous development of late in the practice of conveying cattle and livestock by road in preference to rail. There are certain inherent disadvantages in the use of railways for the conveyance of livestock. Most of these are summarised in a reference to the particular advantage of conveyance by road, namely, that from point to point there is but one loading, and one unloading, with a correspondingly decreased risk of the animals coming to some harm. For cross-country journeys, too, road transport is quicker. Generally speaking, it is a fact that cattle conveyed by road arrive at their destinations in much better condition than if conveyed bv any other means.