THE CORRIEDALE SHEEP.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19892, 1 April 1930, Page 15

THE CORRIEDALE SHEEP.

TO THE BWtOB 0» THB I'BXSS.

Bir,-~When things are going wrong, the sufferers always look for a scapegoat. Canterbury lamb no longer holds the unassailable position it did—this is the one indisputable fact amidst a welter of argument—and the blame has been laid upon the Corriedale, for no better reason than it is chiefly bred in Canterbury, and is more or less of a newcomer. The London butcher, who has sworn by Canterbury lamb for years, and is no longer satisfied; the freezing works agent, who is losing orders he used to depend on; the farmer who can't fatten his lambs, all raise the same cry. The very best Down-Eomney cross milk lamb has probably set a new standard in the freezing trade (and now commands a premium of l-8d) which Canterbury, with its necessity for rape fattening perhaps may have difficulty in attaining. Nevertheless, averaging out the whole production of the North Island and Canterbury our standard is probably just as high. The latest Smithfleld quotations, as a matter of fact, show that the average of all grades Of North Island and Canterbury lamb is the same. There is no reason to believe that the English s Leicester half-bred lamb, on which Canterbury's name was made, would not equal the best that tho North Island is producing at present. Canterbury is suffering more from being overtaken by rivals, than from deterioration of her product, though some deterioration has undoubtedly taken place. It is commonly said that the Corriedale is not the equal of the halfbred as a mother of fat lambs. Thirty years ago, before the large tussockcountry runs were cut up, the half-bred flocks were owned or managed by men of experience, knowledge, and capital, who spared no expense or labour in the improvement of their-sheep. With the splitting up of the big runs, enthusiasm and energy may remain, but experience and capital are often sadly lacking. The very smallness of modern flocks is an added handicap. On those runs where fair-sized Corriedale flocks have been maintained, there has been no falling off in quality—if anything, the reverse. At Culverden Ewe' Fair, Where ewes from old-established Corriedale and halfbred flocks are sold side by side, there is no perceptible difference in quality or price. Any deterioration that has taken place in the breeding ewe must be put down to the inevitable progress of closer settlement.

It is a general opinion that three-quarter-bred lambs are easier to fatten than Oorriedales; but they usually come off heavier country and are more forward. A Corriedale lamb does not make as good an appearance on tho hooks as a Down cross lamb; this is inevitable in a sheep which is half merino in descent. It is another of the consequences of subdivision that as many as possible of the Wether progeny are quitted as lambs. In the old days they were kept as station wethers. A halfbred wether lamb would certainly cut no better figure on the hooks than a Corriedale; but in the time of the station half-bred not many of them reached the works as lambs.

An inspection of the Corriedale and first-cress rams at the Ram Fair leads to the opinion that the Corriedale has far surpassed the first-cross ram in evenness of wool and shapeliness of carcase. Every year large numbers of ewes come into Canterbury, chiefly halfbrods from Marlborough, and Romneys and Rom-ney-crosa from the North Island. Three years ago something over 170,000 Romneys came down, a number probably in excess of all the Corriedales sold in Canterbury in that year. It will be seen, therefore, that it is ridiculous to attempt to sheet home all the blame to one breed.

If this be conceded, nevertheless those most important people, our customer! in England, are unanimous in declaring that deterioration has taken place. The following appear to be some of the reasons : (1) In any article exported in large quantities uniformity of quality is most imnorjkant' The buyer must hare confidence that what he is buying will oome up to standard. Canterbury lambs are sired by at least seven different breeds of rams. and their mothers range from three-quarterbred and ftomney and Romney-cross to halfbred and Corriedale, and include every conceivable combination of these breeds with Down and longwool sheep. In addition to this variety of breed, the general standard of ewe has certainly deteriorated* owing to breaking up of largo flocks, and perhaps to some extent owing to the exhaustion of essen-' tial elements in the soil.

(2) The keen, almost desperate, competition of freezing companies has undoubtedly tended to lower our standards. A farmer seta in a buyer to pick lambs; the buyer says there is nothing fit to go to the works. The farmer gets in another company's buyer, who, alive to the position, marks a truck as fat. The farmer is pleased; -but the Smithfleld butcher complains of lack of finish. (3) The schedule and the varying premium of light-weights over heavies from one year to another was unsettled the fattener. Having decided that the light-weight Southdown is the most profitable, he finds next year that the forty-two pound is the' better one to aim at. At one time the value of the skin of the fine woolled lamb enhanced its value r but at the present it has lost that advantage. These varying conditions have distracted the farmer and prevented that uniformity of output that is so much to be desired. It is alarming to seef'South America, by far our most dangerous rival, creeping up so steadilv and threatening to dispute with us our supremacy. This tetter has attempted to exculpate the Corriedale and to examine some of the reasons for deterioration; but the remedies are far too large a subject to enter upon.—Yours, etc.. G. R. MACDONALD. Lowry Hills, Cheviot. March 28th, 1930.