SHORN SHEEP AT SHOW.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20089, 19 November 1930, Page 16

SHORN SHEEP AT SHOW.

ARE THE CONDITIONS OBSERVED ? (To t lie A gricul t inn J Editor.) | •Sir,— It. is surolv tunc th a t jj, e and P. Committee took some drastic measures in regard to the shearing of sheep in the shorn classes. J n SOUIO sections the conditions state that sheep must be machine shorn on or after October Ist. Quite a number of sheep in these classes certainly do not conform to these conditi-ous, either having been trimmed down and then run over with a machine or shorn considerably the date specified. N" 0 comb in ordinary use could leave so much wool on, espeeiftlly in some pinkos. ' Id the long-woolled sections the clause simply reads ''shorn on or after October Ist." A careful inspection of the shorn sheep ip these classes last week would reveal that a largo proportion of the entries were not evenly shorn. Wool in certain parts of the body quite twice the length of that in other parts could be found, and in some case.-, wool well over three inches long could be measured. This surelv did not grow In that length in six weeks! There is a clause in the catalogue which reads that .judges will lie instructed to disqualify rill sheep which they consider unfairly shorn or excessively trimmed, but few .judges, canto take any responsibility in the matter, and simply do the best they can as tho sheep stand. I should tike to suggest that all sheep in these classes be machine shurn. For instance, why should a Corriedale have to be ho shorn and a Leicester hand shorn? Also, tha' the date of shearing be earlier, as many rams are shorn in the latter part of September. Another suggestion 1 should like to make to provide against early or fake shearing is that the sheep committee arrange to have a sheep of each breed shorn ou tin- specified date with a specified comb. say. a No. :> or ;">, and that these she«'p be penned in their respective sections, and an inspector (not a stud breeder") lie appointed to walk through and examine the entries, rejecting any that do not reasonably conform to the speeini'-n shorn sheep. As 1 understand "the shorn classes, (hey are intended to show which sheep in its conformation most nearly repre- ' Bents its particular breed, but at pre sent the prize-takers often represent only the skill of the greatest artist.— Vours, etc.. V EO M A X.