SETTLERS COIUMN.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XV, Issue 2225, 23 December 1887, Page 3

SETTLERS COIUMN.

At hatching the Langjbans are parti-aoloured, black and white in nearly equaj. proportions, but bj the time they reach three months on aga their distinctive black colour has besn put | on. Their legs are feathejed to the outer toes, and are of a purfHsh -black. The cock's pojnb is bright *d, as are the ear-lopes and V&*so« of n * m * ■elf and the htn ; these latter ppints tanging w§ll down. Thestf fowls are goodl*yprs ard kindly sjters, with fine, motherly trajts ; thegare hardy, ©asy to raise and keep, wfi n g we^ when gunning at large, orln jeon^ner ment, and have been Teri s.uccesiful in proving their right to »6 consideration of breeders and f anpri, wherecver they have found tbeijway. * # t *| * Sheep shearing by njachiaery is growing in and ether adyantagw we claimed for the! nystem be-

yond the absence of second cuts and injurj to the sheep. A practical squatter of many yearg 1 experience on the Barwon river thus expresses his opinion on the subject : — " lam quite taken with the appearance of the sheep shorn this last ?oa.-<on at Eureka by means of the machine shears. The top of the wool is beautifully level, no straggling tips, arvi growth is decidedly more densa. .All the wool being fresh growth is in healthy, bright condition, without wasty tips. Tbe dust has hardly tntered the wool at all. Something of this may be attributable to the lateness of the shearing, but the brightness and evenness of the wool is remarkable." # # * # # It seems probable that in the course of a few years (says the Queenslander) the merino will be superseded by cross-bred sbeep over a large portion of the Darling Downs district. Where land has been laid down in lucerne or prairie grass, or where the indigenous pasturage is rich, as on the black soil of the Downs, tne cross-bred is a more profitable sheep than the merino. It matures earlier, commands a better ptice by 50 per cent, from the butcher, snd the value of the wool per , sheep is fully equal to that of an average medium merino. Where the land ii suitable for the growth of lucerne in the coait district the fattening of store sheep is more profitable than the fattening of cattle. But •heep cannot be bred in the coast district, and it has been a matter of some difficulty to procure store cross-bred sheep, even at a large advance on the price of store merinoes.