A SUCCESSFUL SHEEP-FARMER.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 584, 12 August 1909, Page 8

A SUCCESSFUL SHEEP-FARMER.

AND AN ARGUMENT. ."It's, a strange- world, my masters"— and "there are'somo strango people Jiving in it, as 1 found out the other day . (writes our travelling correspondent). : It was in tho Colyton district ivJiona' I. came across a farmer, nnd;;a sheep-farmer',..too, who actually, disagre<Kl .with '■ the . abolition of tho sheep tax. I told him -that.'-lio'-was such a unique specimen : of his class that', he ought to he very 'carefully'takcn card of, .'otherwise he might b». lost, -as I did, not. think .it possible to find another of . his sort; . ■ Then at it' we' went; hammer and tongs." I ; arjfucd 'that;.- as the. ■ reason for the. ,■ imposition''6f the.tax did not' now exist, 1 - it Was .only right,.'that, it ■ should bo abolished. Besides thin,' it was a class tax, and ;'w.as repugnant,. etc.. ' .Then my glassrcase farmer, got up and at me;■ said I- was "wrong altogether/;. ho had been, sixty years in New Zealand; his father had' bfcen . among ..'sheep 1 all his' life' in Scotland; ■■therefore,-, if anybody knew anything about sheep .more 'than : lie, lie .would like to meet; thorny, and- so on. ' " Now," ' said lie, "do you know where the scab comes from?" "It doesn't come from ;i anywhere,". I said; "as-wo have eradicated it." "I mean, how did it get into New Zealand?" .-' . . I' Replied that the only- way I could account fir'it; was that .it must have bden' brought into.tho-country by scabby sheep from the Old Country or Australia. .-■'■,' "Nothing of the sort," he replied. "Now; I'll : tell you how scab comes, and if we didn't dip our sheep we should have it .back, and very, quickly, too. ; First' of all, it comes from: over-stocking;-• That ;. means - ,ie. sheep get 'into. low condition;'- then ■ they breed parasites,': as you .. only" find .-,' parasites' as ; a rule Von poor-conditioned sheep. ,Next they, get. ticks, and. .begin-, to.>-rub:- themselves against posts or logs.'.-'.This "soon.- makes a scab—and there you havo it." . .'All I could reply was that it was wonderful. I asked him- if he was aware that there was such a thing as the scab insect.,'; Oh, yes, lie knew that. "Well, then,, how would it he possible for. an animal to become scabby unless it had ;; been in, contact .with .one. or more scabby : sheep, from another-quarter? ~? Still,.' bo " stuck' to his guns," arid;. persisted that what lie srfid was correct-. • .7''". ;. Now, isn't it remarkablp that at this,time of. day a reasonable' juaii' in other respects, and .who reads,' 1 should hold such ideas? .Anywa.Vj. .his , peculiar -ideas havo notvhind.ered hini from becoming ■ a verv successful sheep-farmer'; and I s.upposey after all is-said anddone, that.is the main thing. ;.'.k.