SHEARING BY BLADE

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30202, 6 August 1963, Page 14

SHEARING BY BLADE

Learners Gain Certificates

Blade shearing was certainly not dying in New Zealand and during the time of the present generation there would still be a place for it, the chairman of the South Island High Country Committee (Mr P. C. Ensor) said at a field day at Ashley Dene. He was speaking at a presentation ceremony to 11 learner blade shearers who successfully passed their examinations for the Wool Board’s shearing certificate. In the past farmers had been short of blade shearers and courses such as these were a great help, the chairman of the meat and wool •executive of the North Canterbury Federated Farmers •Mr R. E. Hiatt) said. He urged the learner shearers voluntarily to join the shearers' union, because this would help the union to become strong. Although Lincoln College, which provided the sheep, at first had reservations about letting its flock be bladeshorn, he was delighted with the course, said the principal (Dr. M. M. Burns). In the past the Ashley Dene sheep had been badly affected by poor weather because of being pre-lamb shorn with machines. Last year prelambing shearing with blades had proved satisfactory and he said the flock would be available for blade shearing next year if a course were held. Eleven learner shearers sat the written and practical examinations and all passed. The first three placings in the results were:—

B. Grainger (Christchurch), 146 points out of a possible 160, 1; M. Exton (Wellington), 145, 2; G. Clark (Scotland), 144, 3.

In the practical shearing test, Clark, Exton and Grainger were first equal with 88 points each out of a possible 100. Grainger. J Tait (Ashburton) and R. Byers (Dunedin), shared first place in the written test with 58 points out of a possible 60.