ANOTHER POUND OF WOOL

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 231, 29 September 1910, Page 2

ANOTHER POUND OF WOOL

AN EXTEA MILLION OF MONEY. .'-"" By HIPI KUtA. ; Sheep breeders should 'follow th< example set by wool-brokers, and busi ness houses connected with the woo ; trade, who at this season of the yeai issue reviews of the statistics of th( past seasons, endeavouring to show whether there is improvement or otherwise .taking place in the production. Ir Dalgety and Company's excellent reijiew of the. position of the sheep industry, the following paragraph appears in the introduction, which suggests the heading of this article. "The flocks in Australia and New Zealand have increased during the year by 6,170,81. head, the total now being "115,525,581 ,head, a higher number than any period during the past 16 years, and approaching the record of the year 1891, when ; the figures . reached 124,991,920. Not i only have numbers increased but the sheep continue to improve, as is shown by the fact that though there were more sheep to shear 10 or 20 years ago, the past clip-has easily eclipsed all previous records." |._ This last sentence has prompted looking over New Zealand statistics to see how the Dominion stands, independent of Australia, in the matter. Instead of compiling a mass of figures which few care to study, I have worked out the average weight per fleece—which shows at a glance how we have been progressing. In 1890 the average weight per fleece was 6.361b; 1895, 6.671b; 1899, 7.451b; 1907, 7.811b; 1908, 7.301'b; 1910, 7.331b. From this it will be seen that in 20 years the weight per fleece has increased very nearly a pound—which at present prices and number of sheep gives an extra million sterling coming into the pockets of sheep owners, and although this is satisfactory it will be generally admitted that most of our sheep could be improved to carry another extra pound of wool each. Before, however, leaving the figures there is a rather disturbing element which deserves serious consideration. It

will be noticed that the weight steadily increased from 1890 to .907, when the weight reached the high average of 7.811b, nearly a pound and a-half increase in tbe 17 years, but the Inst three years we have lost that half pound, which at first glance is rather disquieting, until we come to consider tbe immense s'.rldes the fat lamb tra.le has taken of late years, which unfortun:i'-.e]y hiis a tendency.to lighten the ueeie. Still when we come to analyse the output of lambs and to what extent rams that sure considered meat producers instead <i wool--bearers, have been used in this production, the numbers used do not account sufficiently for the deterioration that has. taken place. Neither can the seasons be blamed as it is generally ad-1 mitted that the last two years were the ! best' ever experienced since sheep were introduced to the Dominion. Although l from a wool-growing point the conditions could hardly have been better, still it has to be remembered ' that we.had a great deal of rain in the spring, which no doubt helped to lighten the weight. After -taking all these factors into consideration we must-come to the conclusion " that breeders are not making the headway in growing wool that they should. Their methods must be at fault, and it would be well to look into this matter as the loss of oyer a million pounds of wool a year is a serious thing to the country. In the attempt that I am about to 1 make to show to what may be ascribed j as one cause of tbe lessening the weight! of the fleece most breeders will object, as j long experience has taught that suggesting to a breeder tbat his system is at fault as a. rule raises his ire. From the time that crossing the longwools with the merino, both in the South and North Islands started, Lincoln ram. were most largely used, and up till the end of the century the cross-bred sheep in the Dominion had a -very large proportion Of Lincoln .blood in their veins. With the advent of the frozen mutton trade, however, came a. demand for a smaller and more compact carcass, which brought into :use the lighter woolled breeds, the Ledceaters and Downs. This was the case more particularly in the South, in the 90's, and it was not until the -beginning of the century that tho_e breeds were made much use of in the North. About the same date the Romneys began to take .possession of tbe Lincoln territory, _o.tli in tie North and South—not perhaps so much in the South, as the Leicester, hold possession of a large area |at present: But it may be said that during the last ten or fifteen years the place of the Lincoln with its heavier fleece has gradually been usurp-d hy I lighter woolled breeds, hence the reason

why there is a gradual lessening in the average weight of fleece. The Lincoln lost favour owing to lack of constitution which was largely due to a multiplicity of breeders who did not understand, their business, and also the public demand for certain fads tbat breeders endeavoured to supply, at the expense of stamina and constitution. The Romney now carries a good weight of high Class wool that is in demand by manufacturers. In the North Island especially, there are many good flocks of Romney sheep that annually cut heavy fleeces, and there are others that are being graded up to equal them, which can only foe accomplished by sclecfcion. When we come to analyse the sden-e of breeding, as applied to crossing one breed with anothsr, the prepotency or I power of the sire to "beget his like is a big faefeor, and in my opinion this is wherein the Romney Marsh sheep is defii dent—that is in comparison with other breeds that have been bred true to the same type for many generations. Among the numerous breeds of sheep, the M-tino is tho most prepotent, owing to itlong and undefiled lineage; the Southdown Tanking second, with the Lincoln— the oldest among what may- be termed the newer or improved -reeds. Of course there is the Highland black face, and one' or two other ancient breeds, almost unknown in the Southern Hemisphere -fchact are equal to the Southdown. The Romney is certainly one of the oldest of breeds,.bat their Conformation and fleece has been so much altered for the better' even -within my _e.o_l_ction, that the Romney of to-day is virtually a new breed, hence his lack of prepotency, when he comes to be mated with lightwoOlled cross-bred ewes. The Lincoln has also been greatly improved daring the same time (half a century) but there has been little alteration made in his general characteristics and conformation, except that the fleece is heavier. It is for these reasons, that given a light fleeced flock of crossbred- I would advocate using robust pedigree lincotn rams as .he quickest and most cert-Un method of __KH_a_ing the weight of the fleece. Of late, wool buyers have been complaining of w_nt of length and substance of New Zealand wools, and it has to be admitted that there is to be found too much soft, mashy stuS in the shearing sheds. In such wool there is no weight, besides being of lo.w. class, bo ib&t

it is astonishing to find so many farmers growing such rubbish on valuable land, when by a little cafe and judgment, thear flocks instead of clipping sis or seven pounds, worth say sevenpence, they could get nine or ten pounds worth one shilling a pound. ° Leaving aside for the present the type of breed, it has been.indisputably proven that when breeding cross breds, it is absolutely necessary that the sire should be pure bred, that is, if the best results. ar e to be obtained. This is a point that does not'receive the attention it deserves the contention being that pedigree is of no value when'cross breeding. Just bow many generations it takes to eliminate foul blood in breeding has not as yet been decided. But this is certain, that the longer the pedigree the more powerful the sire and' that is what is required in cross breeding. Classing or culling the ewes when in full fleece is another failing. 'Given a pure bred ram he will certainly improve the flock, but his power is. limited, and it cannot be expected that an even lot of lambs will be the result if a ram is given 50 ewes to serve comprising ten or j a dozen different types. Therefore, to ; make a success in breeding crossbreds the j ewes should be carefully graded to nick with the rams to be employed. Even with Merinos, the oldest pure bred sheep in the ! world, breeders in Australia would never have reached or sustained the high standand they have, unless they had selected the breeding ewes, and the sooner breeders of crossbreds adopt tbe same methods the sooner will they improve their flocks. It is interesting work classing sheep, especially when they come in year after year, and the typo shows that there is a steady and regular improvement. Once started on the right lines a breeder seldom lets go. '

In classing breeding ewes, first decide on what" type is likely to prove the most profitable, taking into consideration climate, situation and soil, and set a high standard to. which you intend reaching. Having decided on the type, endeavour to make for evenness, that is to get all the flock to have a family likeness. Evenness is one of the best characteristics of i good breeding. Take plenty of time, and handle every sheep. Constitution first, type next, then evenness. Once evenness, is attained the goal may be said to be reached, only that there is no top in stock breeding, and even if there was there is no standing room. Flocks or herds are always either improving or deteriorating. This entails close attention to mating Bire and dam, if progression is the watchword, as it should be wi.h_ every breeder of live stock. 1 If it were possible to get sheep breeders to make an unanimous effort to add an extra pound to the weight of the fleece, at the same time taking care to improve the value of the woo] to the manufacturers to the extent of a penny per lb., there is no reason that three extra million should not be obtained from the flocks of the Dominion.