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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9543, 1 December 1893, Page 2

HEAVY CLIPPING MERINOS. Pome very heavily-woolled meiinoa competed for tbe third Sweepstake Challenge Prize at the last Rillarab sheep show. We are accustomed to hear of almost incredible weights on American merinos, but these sheep are housed and artificially fed, and the stipleis coarse and enormously heavy in grease, so that the sooured weights are comparatively small. The sheep enterel at Ctllarat were four-tooth and two-tooth rams, grass fed, and the fleeces were weighed and valued both in ihe grease and after scouring, Mr E. H, Austin, of St. Enoch's, had tbe three best four- tooth sheep. In the grease they weighed from lllb 7f >z to 111 b 13Joz, and after scouring from 51b 14|iz to 61b 14oz, the lowest valne (scoured) beiug 9* OJd and the highest 9i 10} d. Tbe famous Ereildouue flock of Sir Samuel Wilson was next, with a ram clipping 131 b sJoz, but it scoured down to 6 b 4J z, valued at 8-j 1 l£d. The heaviest fliece in greaie weighed 141 b BJoz, but when scoured it yielded only Q b 2Joz, valued abßslOJi. The v onb ram shown gave a fleece weighing Q.b 1$ iz in the grease and slb 6!o? washed, valued at fs 4i<i, The two^ooths wero uofc shown for prizes, bub were the sheep entered for next year's contest, and their fleeces were not scoured. In the grease three of Mr Austin's rams weighed from lllb BJoz (o 131 b lljoz, but tbe lightest was valued tbe highest, at 9s 64, while the heaviest cirried the lowest valuation of Si 9J. One of Sir Samuel Wilson's gave a fleece weighing 12! b 7"Z, valued at 9a 4£d. The highest fleece weighed 81b lOoz, valued at 63 5Jd, but she lowest valuation was 5.1 10 M for a a fleece weighing 91b * 4} -z. We havo given the valuatlqas for the scoured fleeces in the fouritooth competition because very wide discrep inclas existed between the valuations in the grease and after scouring,. nod the latter may ho taken as the most accurate,