SHEEP RETURNS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4565, 5 November 1937, Page 4

SHEEP RETURNS

TOTALS IN WAITOMO. SECOND LARGEST OF PROVINCE ROMNEYS PREDOMINATE. There are a greater number of sheep in the Waitomo County than in any other County in the Auckland Province save Raglan. Last year Waitomo had the largest total of sheep in the province, but despite an increase of 30,621 during the year has had to give pride of place to Raglan.

At April 30 last the sheep population of Waitomo, according to the annual sheep returns, was 398,550, as compared with 367,929 at the same time last year. Raglan's totals were 404,219 and 360,281, the increase there having been 43,938 as against Waitomo's 30,621. The number of breeding ewes is not far from being equa1—253,834 in April last in Waitomo, and 258,023 in Raglan. According to the returns, the stud sheep entered in the Flock Book in Waitomo are classified as under: — Romneys: Rams, 2-tooths and over, 30; stud ewes to be bred from this season, 1041; stud lambs, 540. Southdown: Rams 13, ewes 282, lambs 144. Interesting information as to the breeds is contained in the classification "Sheep of a distinctive breed but not entered in Flock Book." This shows that merinos are comprised as follows: Rams 44, wethers 340, ewes 1950, lambs 834. Lincoln sheep comprised 32 rams. The bulk of the sheep population of Waitomo belongs to the Romney breed; these animals •are classified as follows:—Rams 4903, wethers 2869, ewes 27,008, lambs 14,245. Other breeds are represented as follows: Border Leicester rams, 3; English Leicester rams 5, wethers 4; Southdown rams 1914, wethers 30, ewes 608, lambs 645; Corriedale rams, 3; half-breeds, rams 26, wethers 20, ewes 101, lambs 9; Ryeland rams 24; other breeds: rams 41, ewes 45, and lambs 30. The.total number of sheep and lambs within Waitomo were computed as follows: Wethers 22,150; ewes to be bred from this season, 223,160; other ewes 3231; lambs 92,189. In this County 125 sheep farmers had flocks ranging from 1 to 200; 189 from 200 to 500; 120 from 500 to 1000; 98 from 1000 to 2500; 16 from 2500 to 5000; four from 5000 to 7500; and one from 7500 to 10,000.