Agricultural.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 19, 19 November 1874, Page 4

Agricultural.

Long WooUed Sheep— Their ! Use j and Advantages. ] At the last- meeting, of the 'West '" Bourke (Victoria), Agricultural Society, Mr Wragge read a paper on : longwoolled sheep, which, is thus reported by the 'Lancefield Examiner': — ; Under the head of long-woolled sh.eep . , : come, the old and new .Leicester, the Tees water, the Lincoln, the Cots wold, ; and the Romney Marsh, and isome others for which the old country is noted. From the earliest date EnglancL contained long-wooled sheep, and up 'to, the present time' the animal has not lost the type which he possessed some three or four centuries ago. The origin of the breed is lost in antiquity. Where it now reigns almost predominant, there it has existed for ages— nay, I may say that it lived within the chalk cliffs of old Albion before the Roman conquest. And, according to the numerous shipj ments and the high price paid for them by their many admirers in this colony, . I am induced to believe that their value is only now becoming known, a n d,' be-, fore long*, almost all sheep will contain more or less of the blood of the'ldng--wool. They are now being introduced to all parts of the globe, to be used as a cross upon other breeds, and wherever the particular strin is blended with, another the type of the lqng-woqllpd animal predominates. It was about the middle of the last century that Mr: Bakewell, of Dishley, in Leicestershire, . first applied himself to the improvement of the old Leicesters. The old breed; had many good points, but it had. its defects also, and those of no sm.all^ character. It was large, heavy and coarse, the mutton having little flavor and, ho delicacy ; it was long iv the carcass^ : flat-sided, large-boned, and <clumsy."ff! tbe ewes weighed 181 bor ,201 b the" 5 quarter, the wethers 201 bto 301 b the quarter. The wool measured from lOin to 15in in length- of staple, and was variable as to quality, but generally coarse. These sheep were slow grotvjrs, and returned little profit. - Such Jfs ihe description of the old Leicester/ when Mr Bakewell began his course of experiments. The new or improved Leicesters are not adapted to pastfurage, nor to the land upon which thf»,y are conipelled to travel all day .-to procure a sufficiency of food.' It is therefore re-. quisite to provide them/ with a liberal soil; and with a moderate supply of good .glasses they wil& be found to fatten wj|^ The 11 estimatiotif eb^Sm^^^^^^^ shortwoolled sheep. ' V>/hen in moderate condition it is tenqy^r and juicy, but destitute of that on^ flavour which is only to be found in tiM. Merino and other short woolled brgel^^^Wlien fattened to a great exteifc|^^^pt ; a show animal, the Leicester^lll^^Hf almost useless for food ; oM^lohd the fat becomes so intern^^^ra^pt the former is almost lostj^i^ffip'ches of the latter. Indeed^^^^^hole carcase can be boiled down, ajfraimly a small portion of flesh remain..' Within two miles of where, we are now, at the Bolinda Station, whioh was then occupied by- Captain Gardiner, a pure Leicester ewe, imported into this colony by the late Hon. : }&. J. T. Clarke, was killed by dogs. v, The fat from this sheep produced the extraordinary weight of 1101 b. This instance will tend to show the profuse fattening propensities of the Leicester sheep. The new Leicester, with all their valuable qualities, are not a heavy race, neither are they so prolific as some other fbreeds. The late G. Culley, a most reliable authority, and an energetic; worker in the improvement of sheep, asserts that a tendency to a rapid fattening, and early maturity is not co-existent, with great fertility; and I may add that' this is not only the case in sheep, but also in cattle. Another breed of valuable long-wooled sheep is the Lincoln, which Ellis were the longest legged and largest carcassed sheep of all others, and although their bellies were for the ! most part void of wool, yet they carried more wool on them than any iother sheep we know of. Culley. gives a. somewhat different description of. the Lincolns. 'They have,' he says, -no horns, white faces, a long, thin, < and weak carcase, the ewes weighing from 141 b to 301 b per quarter, the threes year old wethers from 201 bto 301b. per quarter. They have thick, rough white legs, large bones, thick pelts, and long wool, averaging from lOin. to 16in-, weighing from 81b. to 141bi per fleece/ and covering a slow feeding, coarser grained carcase of mutton. This breed is most prevalent in Lincolnshire,' which fertile district has the same right to be called the mother country for. longwooled sheep as Lancashire has for. long-horned cattle. It is true that the Lincolnshire breeders can justly boast' of clipping the greater weights of wool from a given number of sheep than any others in England, but then .this heavy wool covered a very coarse-grained, carcase of mutton, a kind well known? for its coarse grain and big bories?in the London markets. Yet this is no,t • the worst of it, for this kind of sheep, cannot be made fat in a reasonable, time except on any but the very richest pastures.' Thus it will be seen- ; that „ the improved Leicesters and the blcL Lincolns are the opposite of- each other/ their qualities different, and the latter, breed of much less vaiue. ,We j have, seen that the old Lincoln and, the -new- '. Leicesters -were essentially -different^

The -result of the eross r however, between the tiyq produced- a very good animal, both for fattening early and also attaining a great weight, and that, too,: with a mtich less: quantity of food. The Romney-Marsh is another breed of lpng-woollea sheep. Mr.. Price says :— ' They are_ distinguished by thickness and length of, head, a broad forehead, with a tuft of wool on it, a long and thick neck: and carcase; they are flatsided, rhave & sharp chinv are tolerably wide ,on the .loin, have -the breast nairowL and not deep; and the fore- • quarter; neither heavy nor fall.. The^^ thigfc. is, full and .broad, the ; belly iatfHS| the. tail thickj, and the bone : large ; 9JHB£ w^pl:lpng, but, not fine, and coar|||p|l| on ; the breast. They hate much piS! ternal fat, and are. great /favorites wojs§|p the butcher.. They are alsjo hardy, ai|ji|fe bear -exposed situations .well. Tsl§|||i wethers rarely reach the market urM][fe they are three, years old ;. they tVr^S weigh from 351 b. to 451 b.. pejjjhaxfer Jill There are also the Bamptnn j^Bfe* wold sheep, both of which jßE^pTi, ' be classed ,as long-wolled. JBPillf'"* however,, occupy, your tim^^Bgp^ £ description oil them, nl] J|BßKpl try make a few remark? l»p6JfflfflßMffiPeßter :— -his value and uses. . : J^Sffitgission gained hy.some.iGxper^^^^hat £ cross between the Leicffl|^^p[ er i n(> is the most FQ n s&b|||9HjS to the> improvement in uot^ffl(^Kol and: mutton ;of the long-v^^|^P ac Lin^ coin is, however, also^)^^|J r0 g S# j ff selecting Merino ew^aiPshould be taken to have : them well-framed and large, and. ewes ttt a $ have previously borne lambs, owi-Jig to the increased size of the lamb's/ head, to that of the Merino. .Thejwool is in good demand, anOas bee?/sold at 14|d'for greasy in ,^^^l^rne market, and averaged ffiSHra'Hb. per, fleece, and 91b. for