A FREAK RAM

Hokitika Guardian, 22 November 1932, Page 7

A FREAK RAM

SUBJECT FOR EXPERIMENT.

SYDNEY, November 19

Little floes a Merino ram, born on a ■western property from high-class stock, realise that the keen eyes of science are upon it. ' The freak is being made the subject of experimental breeding under the supervision of the S’hcep and Wool -Expert of the Department of v Agriculture, Mr Elliott. There is absolutely Bo reason why the sheep should not ii.,. says iVi r Elliott. He came from a line of blood stock which 'had bred \well ! for yeans, yet he was born with abnormally Jong lego, and had no neck folds ; 'df''wdol ) ."which characterises the Mebind. But, most important of all, Hjs coat showed traces of a kernp texture, which, if common, world a*uin woollen fleece for clothmaking. The (only apparent explanation for. the .freak, says Mr Elliott, is that it is ono of those' tore cases of atavism, or throw-back. 'lt took centuries of careful breeding from the wild sheep found jn the old" world to stamp out the hair which was mixed with the .wool in their cent. Experts are anxious to ascertain if the mam will breed one of his own strange kind, or a normal lamb. A sample of the wool contains a hairy substance, much harder than wool. Mr Fl'iobt explained that these strands would not tak Q dye, and cloth made from the fleece would contain streaks of white. It is of the utmost importance to the grazing that the mystery should be solved, and- guarded /against in flocks. Th e throw-back, although a freak, has a long ancestral line. Apart from the fact that the Merino, now. the backbone of the grazing industry in •Australia, was originally of Spain, it is not known how the breed came in ( o existence. One old record at the Department of Agriculture state lS that an “Italian colonist,” Columela, took Tarentine sheep jnto Spain in 41 A.D. Although the “Merino” .is not actually referred as such until nearly 1000 years later, there is a belief that the breed sprang from the Tarentines.