"Put My Wool In Rollers"

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30442, 16 May 1964, Page 8

"Put My Wool In Rollers"

pOULD a device like a roller used by women to set their hair be used as a means of temporarily identifying mobs of sheep? This was mooted at the flock ewe competition of the Hororata branch of Federated Farmers this week when a few minutes were taken off from the main purpose of the day to watch a demonstration of the application of two types of plastic ear-tags and to discuss the use of ear-tags. Interest in ear-tags has been heightened by the impending ban on use of brands from the beginning of October next year. The roller suggestion was made when one of the group expressed concern about being able to identify temporarily groups of ewes for tupping and for lambing. He wanted some sort of device that could be applied for a few months and then removed—his idea was something that would clip on. The roller proposal caused some amusement but there was a feeling that it might have possibilities. Someone facetiously suggested that the roller might even be used to enhance the crimp. The man who brought forward the idea said that the rollers did not seem to come out of women’s hair so that they might well be able to adhere to wool.

Mr T. N. Beckett, of A. J. Palmer and Company, Ltd.,

who showed what he described as the only pliable tag on the market—the idea is that it will not come out if sheep come up against gorse or blackberries—commented on the problem of tags being cut off by shearers at shearing time. He said that in the future, when tags were widely used, shearers would recognise that it would be as great a crime to cut off a tag as it was to cause physical harm to a sheep. Mr E. V. Clement, of Leader Products New Zealand, said that tags on the back of the ear could be a source of trouble for shearers. From a shearer’s point of view he suggested that tags were best placed on the left ear and if they were located on the front side of the ear they should not be too much of a problem. Mr Clement said that farmers should not try to tag sheep until they had the sheep well under control.

For the marking of tags, Mr Clement suggested that some farmers might like to use the code letters of their local telephone exchange and their telephone number. This would be a good means of identification.

In dealing with plastic tags in cold weather, one farmer said that they had got on twice as fast after immersing the tags in a bucket of hot water.