SHEEP.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15921, 6 May 1912, Page 10

SHEEP.

'By W.J.M., in the "Live Stock Journal.")

Tn course of conversation with flockmasters and shepherds handling some '»f our best-perfected breeds, one has been struck with the feeling that seems to be growing that they are getting towards the limit to which their respective breeds can be improved. They may be wrong in their ideas; it is perhaps' that they do not see any special direction efforts will help thorn in the showyard, and that they see the great parallel with food which would render it possible to maintain an improved breed; animals must he fed at all seasons on suitable food according to the age of the animals, and if bins falls short at any season the best results cannot be achieved. Who can suggest modifications' of cropping superior to those provided for tlie Southdowns, Hampshires and Shropshires, with their respective soils and climates? Breeds more backward in their development oiten have- tho advantage that the limit of suitable cropping has not been reached; consequently both the sheep and their food are yet open to modification, or to tnat development in the animal that a few years' feeding on the improved food produces. NORTHERN BREEDS COMING

SOUTH. Leaving the most highly-bred flocks, kept under conditions most suitable for them, and coming to the ordinary sheep on the farm, there is no doubt that a change is coming over sheep farming. Of course, for some years there has been an increasing amount of cross-breeding, notably of Downs on Longwools, to meet the changing taste for mutton of. finer quality; but in quite recent years breeds such as the Scotch mountain sheep and the Cheviot have worked their way south in striking numbers, and they have attained a popularity inconceivable a few years ago. This is novel, because since sheep have been brought under improvement during the past 150 years the trend has been almost undoviatingly to districts north of their indigenous homes; and there are. few instances where they came south. These two breeds are coming south, and are being kept either pure or as crossbreds; and it seems highly suggestive that, not only as far as these breeds are concerned, but in respect to others, we are entering upon quito anotne» phase in sheep husbandry. Nor, when one considers the matter, does it seem to be altogether irrational. In the first place, if British mutton is to withstand competition from that which is imported, and which, though in many cases it is well kept on the voyage, yet has lost the freshness of newly-killed meat, something choice must be raised. The ordinary consumer will not pay the high prices which it is necessary to secure, unless there is a distinctly better article to be obtained. Then there is the question of' the sheep most suitable to soil and district. It has always been held that there is a risk in departing from the breed most commonly kept in a district, and there is mucli truth in this; but, unless risks are run, there can be no change, and the fact that so much cross-breeding and adoption of new breeds is being done successfully is proof that to adhere rigidly to local custom is not always best. However, it is a common practice to'preach against changes in all matters relating to local practices in farming; still, these changes go on and farming improves. Of all things in farming, changes in respect to sheep require to be made constantly, and the changes should be made by the skilled and observant. THE COURAGE TO CHANGE. The reason whv it is sometimes desirable to substitute another breed in sheep is' that often the sheep kept in a district are those of a breed which does remarkably well within but a short distance, but is not grown to -advantage under different conditions of soil and even of climate. The dominatino; breed has powerful advocates, and many are afraid of their own judgment, so accept that of others. Doubtless there is frequently a breaking awav from this thraldom now that more think out matters for themselves than was at one time the practice. There is often a difficulty m that local butchers do not always take kindly to a new tvpe of mutton; conse-

quently for a time it. has to be sold under value, though subsequently, when its value is established, it works out all right. BREEDS OF SIMILAR ORIGIN. It may appear to be strange that the Scotch ' Mountain sheep should be finding its wav into countries long identified with Down breeds. After all, they are distant cousins. AH sprang from the same stock, and before tho term Down became generic of tho breeds brought under the influence of the Southdown, they were regarded as belonging to the Heath breeds, heath being accepted as covering those indigenous to open tracts regardless of the elevation (though generally not valleys), or the nature of the herbage or hush growth carried. They, in tho course of generations or centuries, acquired different characteristics owing to tho nature of tho soil, herbage and climate, but they can bo brought back to closer similarity by altering these. Take tho Southdown, old Norfolk (now generally developed into the Suffolk) and the'Scotch Mountain. The Southdown was reared on the sweet pastures of the South Downs, where there is a considerable proportion of lower legumes, though not altogether because for centuries they were nurtured out on the Weald' pastures, which gave them a fuller frame than those on poorer heaths. The Norfolk heath sheep roamed on poor. thin. *andy land, with very little leguminous herbage, and developed long legs to got over the rough country; hut in tho dry climate tho wool was shorter than the Southdown, which has to face very rough weather on tho exposed hills, and a much wetter climate. If one shears a Scotch Mountain sheep and an old ,Norfolk very eleso resemblance is at onc6 observable: the ewes' heads and'horns were singularly alike. But this breed, which worked its wav during the eourso of timo to Scotland, via the hills of the northern counties, would in all probability have disappeared had it been unable to adapt its wool to the wot and cold of the North; Nature let out the coat, so that it could shoot the rain, and e:ive the animal shelter from the hill cold, but it retained the heath quality of the mutton. It is not." therefore, altogether surprising that on cold, wet land near to tho chalks carrying Down breeds, the Scotch sheep is found profitable to keep ; and how far amalgamations of this with southern breeds to better meet conditions may po will be proved by time. That the Cheviot, a heath breed of another type or modification, coming from a wet district, should suit cold wet soils is not altogether a matter for wondcrr