SOUTH AMERICAN SHOWS

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25935, 15 October 1949, Page 5

SOUTH AMERICAN SHOWS

Sheep Judging System ADVANTAGE FOR JUDGE AND PUBLIC

The South American system of judging show sheep greatly impressed Mr J. R. Li&le, of Hui Hui, who judged Corriedales at the International Show at the Prado, Montevideo, and saw the Palermo Show, during his recent visit. Sheep are paraded before the judges, led by handlers, and the system gives the judge a much better opportunity of seeing the sheep against one another, and in addition, creates great interest among the public. “The system means that all sheep must be trained to lead,” said Mr Little. ‘‘l am not necessarily advocating the system, as it is a question whether it would be possible with labour conditions as they are in this country, but there is no doubt of the interest it creates.

“The sheep are paraded before the judge in a ring, round which there is plenty of seating accommodation for the public. Large numbers are attached to the sheep, and the judge calls for the sheep he wants by number. Classes are frequently very large—at Palermo the ram hogget class contained 168 entries —and where this is so, the sheep are paraded in groups of 20. From these groups the first six sheep are picked, and later, the first six in each group are paraded together in lines, with those placed first in the front rank, the second in the second, and so on. It is then necessary for the judge to begin eliminating sheep, and this he can do with ease, as he has all the sheep constantly before him, and is able, to bring two or more together for comparison if necessary.”

At Palermo, crowd's of 600 Or so people watched the Corriedale judging, which was an indication of the intense interest taken in the breed, said Mr Little. When championships were being decided there was an atmosphere of the most intense excitement, as sheep were eliminated, and the progress of individuals towards the highest awards could be seen step by step. The system had great educational value. A judge could by gestures make it plain to the breeders watching why one sheep had been preferred to another. From the judge’s point of view, the system had everything to recommend it. There was no danger of forgetting a sheep in a big class, and where two sheep were very close, the finer points could be very easily compared. Handlers of show sheep became expert at the job, and a good handler could present a good sheep to his very best advantage, or conceal his weak points, said Mr Little. There was one case on record in which a ram of one of the mutton breeds won a championship because his handler managed to conceal from the judge that one of the ram’s eyes was missing.

A great deal more work was put into preparing sheep for show than was the case in New Zealand. On most properties labour was kept to do nothing else than look after the show sheep. They were constantly handled, and specially fed and got up. Show sheep were usually housed all the time, and were given special feed quite unlike anything they were likely to strike in normal feeding conditions. A lot were in fact rather too well done.

In both Uruguay and Argentina there was intense interest in livestock, said Mr Little. On the day in which the leading Argentine newspaper published the story of the South American earthquake which caused severe loss of life and great damage, it published on the same page, and under headlines just as large, the story of the arrival of a bull which had been bought at a high price in England.

The Palermo show has a great tradition behind it. For many years it, was attended by the president of the Republic, who drove to the grounds at the head of a procession, and usually took the opportunity of making the most important political speech of the year while opening the show. For the first time in its history, the Palermo show was not this year opened by the president. “It made a New Zealander very proud to see the notices on the pavilions housing the different breeds of sheep at Palermo,'’ said Mr Little. Big notices read ‘Lincolns,’ and in a separate section, ‘New Zealand Lincolns,’ and so also for the Romneys.” Mr Little found that the South American show sheep were of high standard, some of them up to the best in New Zealand, but that there was a big “tail” in most classes. This was partly no doubt because the show and sales were held at the same time, and most of the sheep shown were sold later.

“The top two or three of the Argentine show sheep would be right up in the first five at a Christchurch show,” said Mr Little. “The champion ram at Palermo, bred by a breeder named Jenquel, was a truly magnificent sheep. I would hate to meet him at Christchurch.”

“Most of the Palermo sheep carried rather too much wool over the head. This is possibly because the major preparation work for the shows is put in on the heads, which are made to look like balls of wool. The South Americans are becoming very interested in clean-faced sheep, particularly in the Argentine. In fact, many of the show sheep are already only moderately woolled on the head, but are made to look completely wool blind by the amount of work put in on the head. Another tendency throughout South America is toward rather too fine wool. The Argentine breeders realise that they may have overdone it. They certainly worked hard for it in the few years after the war when fine wool was at a premium. They used some very artificial methods then for quick results.”

Mr Little said that South America would continue to be a market for top New Zealand sheep. In the old days South American buyers wanted good flocks, and were prepared to pay well for them. Now they were able to produce all they needed, because the breed had increased so greatly in both the Argentine and Uruguay. The position was similar with stud sheep. The South Americans could produce for themselves all but the top studs, but they would have to keep coming to New Zealand for these, and in fact, looked to New Zealand to keep on producing them.