DORSET HORN SHEEP.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 464, 24 March 1909, Page 5

DORSET HORN SHEEP.

PROLIFIC STRAIN IN NEW ZEALAND. The owner of one,of the leading flocks of Dorset Horn sheep in Britain —a flock from which two'shipments of sheep came to Now Zealand last year—wrote recently to the London "Times" that he has experienced , "a successful lambing season. Of the flock of 300 ewes 147 produced twins, 16 triplets) and one four well-developed lambs. The ewes- were strong, and all lambed down in the open field without the loss of a singlo ewe. The lambing in the Dorset Horn flopks in the immediate neighbourhood, he states, is quite up to the average, although in one or two instances a number of owes aborted, and in others the losses from other causes were considerable. ■■ \ These misfortunes he attributes to the succulent grass m the autumn having been fed without a liberal supply of hay as a corrective/ Hd adds:—"A hay-rick before lambing is never regretted." The outlook for keep ho describes as poor, roots being small and hayricks disappearing, while grass is growinc less strongly every day; ; tho very mild weather, however, makes for economy in the lisa of stored foods. Rye, vetches, and trifolium are forward,' and the fanners of Dorset are anxiously anticipating an , early spring. The intervening period must bo expensive, however, as feeding stuffs are very dear, and all tho ewes and lambs are receiving cake and corn daily. Tho ewes are doing well, and the lambs are full of promise, thero being no lack of milk. It satisfactory (says the London "Times") to learn that this prolific breed is finding its way into many distant countries. The export trade in 1903 was "good, and our correspondent himself sent two shipments to Jjew Zeaalnd, ono to Australia, two co North America, and one to South America. Ilie fact that there is in New Zealand the nucleus of a flock in which 56 per cent of the ewes can give two or more lambs in a season, ,s a cause for some satisfaction.