THE SHROPSHIRE AND LINCOLN

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28542, 22 March 1958, Page 9

THE SHROPSHIRE AND LINCOLN

Regret At Lack Of Importance

An early student at Canterbury Agricultural College and a farmer in North Otago and North Canterbury in years gone by, Mr B. Seth-Smith, has written expressing regret at the waning importance among pedigree sheep studs of the Lincoln and Shropshire breeds. His comments have been stimulated by an article on the fortunes of pedigree sheep breeds in New Zealand, written by Mr P. G. Stevens, a senior lecturer in the animal husbandry department at Canterbury Agricultural College. A summary of it was published on this page last year. Mr Seth-Smith, who was at Lincoln at 18|92 and subsequently farmed at Windsor Dowps, Hakataramea; Silverstowe, Ngapara; and for 12 years was in partnership with Mr C. Wood at Cheddar Valley in North Canterbury, recalls that in his younger days there were many very keen exhibitors in these two breeds. It was a pleasure, he says, to be among the Lincolns and to compete against breeders like the New Zealand Land Company, J. B. Sutton, A. E. Withell, Sir G. Clifford, Sir William Perry (Masterton), W. Raymond and several others. In the Shropshire section at the Christchurch show in 1908 he remembers that there were 10 to 12 entries in each class. Among exhibitors were Rupert Parry, Sir G. Clifford, T. E. Upton, James Johns, Leonard White and L. and J. Storry.

“Why have the Shropshires, which were the leading breed in Staffordshire for upwards of a century, almost disappeared in New Zealand.” he asks.

Flourishing Breed Mr Seth-Smith refers to a Bradford review of the Technology of Wool Sheep which records that in 1907 the Shropshire was flourishing not only in every county in England, Scotland and Ireland, but throughout the United States, South America, Canada, the colonies and in most Continental countries in a wide range of conditions. Says the article: “Their wool was in much better demand than Southdown and most good flocks clipped a good 8 to 91b average, which in the early 1900’s was quite an average yield on farm land.

“The Shropshire carries a large proportion of lean meat to fat, is light in offal, and, with good management, comes to market at 10 to 12 months old weighing 181 b to 221 b per quarter. „ Wethers at 18 to 20 months old frequently attain 401 b per quarter and ewes have been exhibited over 461 b per quarter. . . . “The valuable characteristics of the Shropshire are conveyed to the crosses in a remarkable degree. The Shropshire-Merino cross produces a deep, square set sheep, well covered with a fine close fleece which gives a high percentage of clean scoured wool and commands a comparatively high price, while the sheep are hardy and fatten to nice handy weights at a very early age. For the production of prime fat lambs as freezers there is no better ram (if there is as good) than the Shropshire and the result is equally favourable where that ram is put to crossbred ewes.” “Whether the Shropshires of the 1900 to 1915 period carried too much head wool and this had something to do with their decline in popularity, I cannot say, states Mr Seth-Smith, “but noone could question that they were a very attractive looking sheep.” In 1907 when there was a very keen demand for Shropshire rams in Australia for crossing with the Merino, Mr Seth-Smith sent to H. H. Peck and Company in Melbourne a shipment of 300 ram hoggets. The breeders in Tasmania, such as Harry Williams, Stonor Stud, A. E. Mansell, and Kermode and Burbury, could not at that time supply sufficient to meet the demand. Popularity Of Lincoln The Lincoln was very popular in Victoria and New South Wales in 1909, Mr Seth-Smith recalls. He was “rather staggered” when as judge at Melbourne he was shown entries of about 30 in each of the ewe classes. “One would think with a large carpet manufacturing company in New Zealand at present Lincoln wool, or its near types, would be in very keen demand,” he writes. “I was recently told by a Hawke’s Bay runholder that to increase the weight and lustre of their flock wool’ they are again introducing the Lincoln in Hawke’s Bay.” Mr Seth-Smith says that in 1908-1909 he visited some of the main English Lincoln studs, including those of Sir Henry Dudding and Reed Bros. On the former estate the shepherd had shown him 80 ram hoggets (“wonderful carcase sheep”) waiting to be shipped to the Argentine at 80 guineas each, but there was no comparison for quality of wool with the rams bred by J. B. Sutton, of Southland. It was ram hoggets by Sutton’s rams that topped the Sydney sales for Mr Seth-Smith in 1909 selling at an average of 5% guineas after a very tough voyage on the old Zealandia. Fifty sheep oh deck in the fo’c’sle were never dry on the voyage. “To those breeders who have heavy land and a dry climate, I can thoroughly recommend the Lincoln, and when one considers the high price for coarse wools today, they would be a very profitable sheep,” says Mr SethSmith. “My ram hoggets by Sutton’s rams clipped over 201 b of skirted wool at Silverstowe. Ngapara, but then the price was 4d per lb in London against 47d to 50d today.”

A major research project to produce minimum-care wool garments which can be machine washed has been launched in the United States. The Harris Research Laboratories Inc., Washington, D.C., will study the influence of wool fibre characteristics and fabric structure on the possible felting shrinkage of wool during home laundering. These results will be used to produce new wool fabrics “engineered" for high resistance to laundering shrinkage.