Interest In Polwarth Sheep Breed

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32032, 5 July 1969, Page 8

Interest In Polwarth Sheep Breed

In their search for another type of sheep because they are dissatisfied with their coarse wool and the price they are receiving for it, some farmers in both islands have “found” the Polwarth, an Australian breed that has been in this country for a number of years but in very small numbers.

According to Mr J. F. Girvan, of Seafield in Mid- 1 Canterbury, a pioneer breeder i of Polwarths in this country, ; one of the things that sparked i off an upsurge in interest in < the breed was an article by 1 a Tasmanian in a New Zea- i land farming journal. This i man expressed surprise that 1 there were not. more ' sheep I of the breed in this country. They are apparently numeric- 1 ally strong in South America ' —in one country in this re- ' gioh they are said to run into i many millions—and also in I South Africa, China and J India. In Tasmania they con- ' stitute 39 per cent of the 1 sheep population. I Since that article farmers 1 from one end of the country ! to the other have started to ' make inquiries about the breed and some farmers in- ; terested in the breed, together with Mr Girvan, officially established the Pol- ‘ warth Sheep Breeders’ Association of New Zealand at a meeting in Christchurch last ’December. The first council I meeting was held in Ashburton in May. The president of the association is Mr J. C. Andrew, of Masterton, who was an early inquirer about the] breed, and vice-presidents are Mr Girvan and Mr M. D. G. Robinson, of Waiau. Also a member of the council is Mr J. W. Oswald, of Awatere Valley in Marlborough. Mr A. A. Urquhart, of Erewhon station, in the Mid-Canterbury high , country, is the breed inspector. i Apart from Mr Girvan’s flock four other farmers—at ; Masterton, in the Awatere, at , Seddon and Waiau—have es- , tablished Polwarth stud flocks, i These flocks have been founded with sheep from Mr i Girvan’s flock and Mr Andrew ; has imported a ram from ; Australia. i Mr Girvan feels that after ’ the Merino the Polwarth cap 1 possibly do most to improve 1 wool production in New Zea- I land. He says he is concerned ’ at the high proportion of inferior wool produced in New ’ Zealand and also the rela- ‘ tively few farmers apparently interested in producing good wooL He sees the Polwarth as s possibly playing a part in lift- • ing wool quality.

He does not, however, believe that the Polwarth should necessarily be used immediately in all cases and has sometimes advocated the use of a quality Merino ram over the pure breed at present in use, with the Merino being again used with the cross and then the Polwarth being brought in. An Australian authority, H. G. Belschner, writing in “Sheep Management and Diseases,” says that the outstanding feature of the Polwarth is the length of staple of the fleece, often five inches or over, combined with high quality and high clean scoured yield. The value of the fleece, he suggests, runs the Merino very close and the shorn sheep provides mutton of a most desirable size and quality. The wool of 58s-60s count is extremely soft-handling and is stated to be vpry suitable for milling. In Australia the breed goes back about 90 years. It had its origin in a fixed type of come-back evolved by R. V. Dennis, of Tarndwarncoort, Victoria, in 1880, and by A. Dennis, at Eeyeuk in 1881. The breed is based on a cross between the Lincoln and Merino with the firstcross sheep being crossed back to the Merino and the resulting sheep being inbred for several generations. These sheep were known as the Dennis come-backs before finally taking the name of the electoral county of their origin in Victoria. The Merino rams used in the establishment of the breed" are believed to have been of the old Saxony type. The objective of the original breeders was to produce a sheep which would be suitable for the light wool growing districts found to be too wet and cold for the pure Merino. It was considered that the Lincoln blood would impart hardiness and weight of wool and carcase. The Polwarths were first introduced ' to New Zealand about 1932-33 when Mr H. H. Barker, an Australian, after taking over the Ben McLeod station in the Rangitata imported registered Polwarth

ewes and eight ' registered stud rams. The ewes were never registered in this country although they were stud stock. Mr Barker’s reason for bringing in the sheep was that he found the sheep that he took over on Ben McLeod were wool blind and concerned at the cost of eye wigging he felt the introduction of Polwarth blood could be helpful in cleaning this up. When Mr Barker sold out during World War II and returned to Australia, Mr N. Watson, of Springburn, took ■ over the Polwarths and Mr I Girvan became interested in . the breed when, for about 18 ; months he managed a pro- > perty that Mr Watson took • over at Mount Somers and i where he ran halfbreds. Mr - Girvan managed to persuade i Mr Watson to import a Pol- : warth ram from Australia and ’ a start was made to breed these sheep separately. , In 1947, after starting . farming on his own account . at Seafield in 1946, Mr Giri van took over all of the Pol- ■ warth sheep that had been • on Mr Watson’s property—i from their purchaser after Mr i Watson had sold his Mount f Somers property. Mr Girvan > then obtained about 30 ewes I and in about 1948 he imi ported a stud ram from Tas- ! mania and subsequently began breeding his own rams. t In 1959 he purchased 18 ? stud ewes from Mr N. C. R. - Dennis, of Victoria, a grandson of one of the founders of the breed. These were registered with the New Zealand Sheepbreeders’ Association and since then the ram progeny of these registered sheep have been used in the flock. This year Mr Girvan has imported a $lOOO ram from ’ Mr Dennis. It is Ming E 3048, _ whose grandsire, Brolga Ole, J is claimed to be the most ’ decorated ram ever shown at j leading Australian shows. When he died last year he , had paddock sired more than 1000 lambs on three proper- , ties and two breeders had f earned more than $33,000 , from 27 of his male progeny, j A neighbour, Mr L. G. t Kingsbury, of Seafield, also f founded a Polwarth flock in 1957, importing 10 ewes with . 10 lambs at foot, and also a . stud ram. Mr Girvan has a commer- . cial flock of about 2000 Poli warths, including 1500 ewes, > and before the sale of about , 130 sheep recently he had • 400 stud registered ewes. While every endeavour is being made to secure a sup-, ■ ply of sheep from Australia I to facilitate the development . of the breed, New Zealand • farmers tend to favour I locally-bred sheep and some • 350 of Mr Girvan’s flock sheep i have been upgraded to stud

status. In New Zealand Polwarth wool has sold well over the years. As recently as the Christchurch April sale this season wool from lambs born last winter brought what is believed to be a New Zealand record price of 50c a lb, eclipsing the 57J<1 paid for Polwarth lambs’ wool in 1966. Back in the wool boom period of 1951 a top main line of Polwarth wool brought 181 d a lb. Over the years the top main line from this same flock has brought consistently high money. In recent years the returns have gone like this: 1960, 541 d: 1961, 54jd; 1962, 60jd; 1963, 71d; 1964, 55! d: 1965, 59}d; 1966, 55jd; 1967, 58d; and 1968, 49}c (almost 60d). The average price for this clip in the most recent season, including dags, crutchings and pieces, was about the 41c a lb mark (49d) and in 1967 37.1 c or 44d. Winter-born lambs shorn

in January ’ have clipped about 5.51 b of wool. Ewes have been clipping about the 101 b mark and the aim is to breed ewes clipping about 101 b to 111 b of quality wool. The straight Polwarth wether lambs are not particularly fast maturing and after clipping a valuable fleece as a lamb it has been found that when carried through to the two-tooth stage they are keenly sought for mutton and in Ashburton and Christchurch fat stock shows they have won awards. Cast-for-age Polwarth ewes mated with a prime lamb sire produce good, quick-maturing lambs and under favourable conditions good drafts of straight Polwarth lambs have been taken. Under normal spring lambing the Polwarths have given lambings of up to 130 per cent. Mr Girvan believes that the breed could adapt to a wide range of country in New Zealand. He has prov-

ed that they thrive in regions ranging from lowrainfall, Canterbury plains country to 84in rainfall country in the Lewis. Two Polwarths taken to the Lewis Pass area as hoggets have continued to thrive there up to five years of age without any footrot. Mr Girvan’s only reservation is about the northern part of the North Island.

A leading Australian) breeder, Mr R. J. L. Dennis,! has recently travelled widely in New Zealand. He has been impressed by the sheep that' he has seen here and has also spoken about a wide) stretch of east coast country! in the two islands as offer-, ing particular promise for the breed. This month at the invitation of the Polwarth) Sheep Breeders’ Association of Australia. Mr Andrew will! go to Australia to attend functions, including the Polwarth) sheep show at Colac, Victoria. Mr Girvan expects to visit Australia next month.