WOOL RECORD

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 12485, 20 October 1938, Page 2

WOOL RECORD

28 1 LB. OF WOOL FROM ONE SHEEP Known as McGinty, a Yass River (N.S.W.), wether was shorn last week and for the second year in succession cut 28|lb. of wool. This weight is believed to be a world record. The wool is of high quality, too, and shows plenty of character. The sheep took 3S minutes to shear. A number of witnesses saw the shearing and the weighing of the fleece. McGinty is owned by Mr J. C. Carey, of Grenfield Farm. He has returned his oAvn»r two guineas in wool each year. George Johnson, a well-known local shearer, who was one witness, calculated that if ordinary sheep are worth 35s a hundred to shear, a hundred McGintys would be worth £ 15 to shear. Johnson, who has shorn over 390,000 sheep in 20 years, said that the heaviest cutter he ever knew before yielded 211 b. He said that McGinty must be a throwback to the Vermont strain. The sire was bred by the late G. W. Merriman, the famous Yass stud breeder. The story is that the ram had ticks and Mr Merriman contemplated killing it, but was persuaded to sell it for two guineas. McGinty was nearly dead when picked up as a lamb. He was taken home and given the fireside treatment of pets. He is still a pet and helps himself to any food round the place, but normally he lives on slaty hill country.