THE MERINO IN VICTORIA.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 11, Issue 822, 29 January 1867, Page 3

THE MERINO IN VICTORIA.

[From the Australasian.]

THE KENILWORTH FLOCK.

Last week an instance of improvement by the use of German blood was given, and this week it will be well, for the sake of variety, to commence by showing what can bo done with the Kambouillets. Mr. John M'Kersey, the owner of Kenilworth West, has a decided penchant for experiment, and although he only commenced as a breeder of rams six years ago, in consequence of the difficulty of obtaining sheep to his satisfaction, he has already had no small amount of success as an exhibitor, and has solved some of the problems which, sooner or later must arise in the mind of everyone taking to this pursuit, and which must be disposed of before any definite line of action can be followed. The station was a part of Riley and Barker's old run, and the sheep were good when this portion was purchased by the present proprietor. In 1840 Mr. Riley brought down from N"ew South Wales a number of both sexes from the flock of Hannibal Macarthur, of Paramatta, and a few years afterwards selected himself both rams and ewes in Germany of a stamp likely to be suitable for the wants of the colony. Thus there was a mixture of equal proportions of freshly imported and of Australian blood ; for although the Paramatta sheep were not pure Camdens, they were fully entitled to the latter appellation. The German sheep were purchased from a relation to Herr Steiger, and were originally from tha same strains of blood as that gentleman's flocks. The mixture appeared to answer well, for the pure sheep soon obtained a high character for themselves, and within the twelve years or so, before the station was sold and subdivided, the general flock attained to a high degree of merit. A portion of the pure flock is still, I am told, in the possession of Mr. Archibald Campbell, of Connewarre, but the representatives of it are little known now to the public.

Having this as a stock to commence with, then, Mr. M'Kersey was naturally hard to please in the choice of rams wherewith to improve them. He tried some of Kermode's, Captain Horton's, and those of other breeders iv Tasmania, as well as drafts from the flocks of Messrs. Lear month and Skene. There was still, however, a want of density and weight of fleece, so foreign blood was looked for these points, and a purchase was made of some Kambouillets, an Electoral ram, and a very fine, even, and close, though of course short- woolled sheep of Herr Steiger's. The result is that there is great variety in the present flock, and an opportunity is afforded such as offers perhaps nowhere else of making comparisons and drawing conclusions as to the effect of the different strains of blood. The stud ewes amount to about 1,500, including some of Biley and Barker's picked ewes, now old of course, and their progeny by the different rams before mentioned. Thus many of the young sheep are essentially Australian in character, and there are the crosses, if so they can be called, with the French and German sheep. There are, besides, others with varying proportions of foreign blood, but as the minor distinctions have not been well kept up, further reference to these may be omitted. The progeny of the different rams, or rather, heretofore, of the different classes of rams, have their distinctive ear-mark ; but now Mr. M'Kersey has had a number of small paddocks made, so that each male animal worthy of the honour may have his harem to himself. The stock of the German sheep speak for themselves, andin very few instauces require any reference to the ear ; but these are not liked, as length and weight of wool

are the objects aimed at. Still, a few of such as have wool of moderate length are kept, to see if combing fleeces can be procured of greater density and evenness of quality by further crossing. But many of the animals from the French rams appear to leave little to be desired in this respect, the blood of the Australian dams giving much greater evenness and fineness than are to be found in the sires, while the latter give size and weight of fleece. Of this cross was the champion ewe at Hamilton this year, while the champion ram at Coleraine was believed to be by one of Kermode's rams. As was before incidentally mentioned, the judges at the latter place appeared to be influenced more by fineness than by length of wool, and there was another ram in the same pen with the champion which many people preferred, on account of his greater weight of fleece. But such was not the case with the champion ewe, for she had weight of fleece, as well as quality all over. Besides these champion prizes, a number of others were taken this year at the two places, and the competition was closest between the breeders who have introduced the most foreign blood into their flocks. Mr. Chas. Gray, with his mixture of Australian and German blood, took several of the best prizes at Plamilton ; while Mr. M'Kersey, with similar strains and the French in addition, took a second for rams of any age, combining fineness' and density of wool, a first for four-tooth and also for two-tooth rams with the same qualities, first prizes for rams of any age, and for four-tooth rams, combining fineness, density, and length of staple with size and symmetry, besides second and third prizes for younger rams with all these qualifications and the one qualification of being the first cross from any imported ram. Mr. M'Kersey had also the best ewes of this cross, and the best of any age combining good qualities of wool with size and symmetry of carcase, and either the second or third best ewes in all the other classes. Thus he was by far the most successful exhibitor at Hamilton, where large sheep with heavy fleeces carried the day in most instances, though not in all, for Mr. Gray's champion ram was one of the smallest of his age in the yard, quality alone gaining the pre-eminence for him. Kams from Kenilworth took a first prize also at Coleraine for closeness and length of staple together with size and symmetry, and some seconds and thirds in the other classes ; but the most successful competitor there was Mr. M'Gill, of whose sheep more anon.

Little examination is needed to distinguish between sheep of the different strains of blood, at least those of the first cross. The half-bred Germans are like those of their kind elsewhere, but it is sometimes necessary to open the fleeces of the longer woolled sheep to tell whether they are Australian or half French ; and the Australian fleeces open the most beautifully, clear, silky, and bright, while the French sheep have an abundance

of yellow yolk in their wool^ liie appearance of it in comparison. But it has the strength, in which the other is too often deficient, and we must not forget 'ivfciat the judges at the. intercolonial two years ago said of the coarse-looking fleeces sent in by Mr. Degraves, at which everybody was laughing until the' first prize ticket Was| erected in the middle of the heap, 1 namely^ "that it was a splendid combing wool, and' a most desirable wool to grow," notwitbi- '■■ l standing its being a little heavy in the skirts. And the value to the combers consists p*in> cipally in its great strength and freehess of staple, the value to the grower in the weight of fleece produced, but the heavy skirts have to be guarded against. This is the great fault of the Rambouillets, and much' as Mr. M'Kersey has reason to be pleased with them, he allows that he has only been able as yet to get one imported ram at all up to the mark in this respect. But there is more evenness in their progeny from the Australian ewes, especially those in which the blood of Mr. Kermode's predominates, and the mixture appears admirably calculated to improve both. The French sheep have the strength of fibre and density of fleece in which all but first-class animals of the others are deficient, and the greater softness and evenness and brightness of wool will come from the latter, aided, in the opinion of many, by the climate. Experience on this station has led to the use of French blood alone for the improvement of the general flock, as being the best calculated to increase the paying properties 1 of this. It gites far more weight of wbol'arid mutton than any other variety of the merino, and there is irons of the risk attending the cross with any distinct variety of sheep.

One of the experiments Mr. M'Kersey is aboat to try, is a cross between the Rambouillet and the Lincoln, so as, if possible, to establish a breed of strong farmers' sheep, with the size and feeding properties of the latter, and bearing a fleece of finer lustre wool than any now grown. The merino and Lincoln amalgamate well, but it is doubtful if a breed can be established with only the desirable points of the two. Probably, as the Australian merino has a decided tendency towards brightness of staple, and the Rambouillet has not, the cross with the former would be the surest way to obtain fine lustre wool. However, some exceedingly good imported Lincolns have been procured for the experiment, and for trying the breed otherwise, and the first cross will produce a most valuable sheep without a doubt, whatever may be the result of continuing to breed amongst animals of the different grades. Lord Western never could succeed in putting the merino fleece on a Leicester carcase ; but he established a breed that would be acknowledged as just suitable for the farmers here, and there isno reason why more should not be done, • now that the lustre wool is to be had in addition to the materials wherewith he had

to work. . The idea that such large sheep as the Lincolns can only be kept with profit on rich land growing an abundance of herbage would appear to be a popular fallacy, for at Kenilworth they are treated the same as the other sheep, and they continue fat, while the merinos are barely able to keep their bones decently covered. Now this run consists almost entirely of open-red gum forest land, wet and boggy in winter over the greater part of it, and with but a thin coating of grass at the best of times, so that the sheep have generally to travel far to satisfy their appetite, and it is just under such circumstances that big sheep are supposed to have no chance with the merinos. Here they keep up condition the best, whether feed is scarce or plentiful, and certainly the run is not in their favour. To identify himself still more with the agricultural class, Mr. M'Kersey has taken a clover farm near Warrnambool, to fatten off his annual surplus and his failures, so that these may be turned to account one way if not another. Altogether, from the energetic- and unprejudiced way in which this gentleman is setting to work in his vocation, he promises long to be one of the most useful residents in the western district ; but indeed to those over a great part of what used to be so called this will seem to be the far if not the wild west, when the acknowledgement is made that the most progressive eheepbreeder in it does not as yet use either warm water or spouts in the getting up of

his wool.