Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1938. SHEEP IN CANADA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 39, 25 November 1938, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1938. SHEEP IN CANADA.

The forward move that is being made in Canada in connection with sheep-breeding is of interest to New Zealanders not only because it must affect the demand' for our product in the sister Dominion but also because it has possibilities that eventually Canada may become a competitor on the London market. Extensive experiments have been carried out at Toronto with the object of discovering the breed of sheep best suited to’ Canadian conditions, the aim being to develop the production of wool until it is nearer the annual requirements of the textile industry. In 1937-38 Canada owned some 3,300,000 sheep, compared with 31,300,000 in New Zealand for the same period. Total cattle at the last available date for comparison , were 8,821,000 in Canada and 4,389,000 in New Zealand. Sheep-farming is largely an undeveloped industry in Canada. The wool textile industry has, however, shown increasing activity in recent years. In 1936, the domestic production was 19,000,000 pounds and exports amounted to 4,800,000 pounds, leaving 14,200,000 pounds for Canadian mills. The imports of raw wool totalled 24,500,000 pounds, the textile industry requiring substantial quantities of tops, noils and waste in addition to this. Apart from the interest of comparing the sheep population and wool output of the two countries, New Zealand, as already mentioned, is directly concerned in the Canadian desire to depend more on domestic production. This country obtains a substantial share of the market. At present the imports into Canada are almost wholly from Australia, New Zealand and England and it may be safely assumed that some of the latter country’s trade is in our product. At any rate the export from the Mother Country must exert an influence on the demand in London, with benefit to vendors. In the 1936-37 export season New Zealand sent 13,600,000 pounds of wool to Canada. This is not a large quota of a total overseas trade ot 287,000,000 pounds, but taking the indirect effects the success of the Canadian movement is a matter of interest to this Dominion.