MASSEY COLLEGE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 230, 29 August 1932, Page 5

MASSEY COLLEGE

LECTURES TO SHEEP BREEDERS.

UTILITY ROMNEYS IN THE NORTH

ISLAND.

(By Mr T. Duncan, Hunterville.)

Romneys aro by far the most popular sheep in the North island, and generally adapt themselves to all classes of our country. Speaking as a sheep lattener, 1 am sure they are also the most profitable of our ewes to mate with Southdown rams tor iat lamb raising. They are good mothers and prolific, and aro large framed, lieshy, good constitutioned sheep. These qualities cover most of our requirements from a iat lamb raiser’s pomt ol view. From this it must not bo taken that I consider the present day Romney perfect, and, though there has been a very marked improvement in the Romney bred in New Zealand during the past 30 years, in my opinion there is still room for further improvement, particularly in uniformity of wool, shape and handle of carcase, and earlier maturity. If these main points can be remedied, and I think they can, it will be reflected in the further improvement of the quality of our fat lambs. At present quite a number of our flock Romney ewes aro plain shaped sheep that handle hard. The touch is most important, as a kind handier puts on flesh much more quickly than the hard type, and is usually away fat weeks ahead of the plain and harder sort. If it were possible, and I believe it should be, to breed the Romney generally shorter in the leg, well balanced and symmetrical, of good constitution, a good handler carrying plenty of flesh without excessive fat, maturing earlier, and covered by a lustrous soft handling wool of about 46 count, I think you would have the ideal sheep for the bulk of tho North Island country. The Romney wether lambs would fatten readily and, being fleshy, command a ready sale, though naturally not so good as the Southdown-Romney cross. At present a percentage of our South- , down-Romney cross fat lambs are graded second grade on account of their shape. This is a serious loss and is largely the result of breeding from ill-shaped, badly bred ewes. This weakness is all too prevalent in New Zealand and, of course, is not confined solely to the Romneys. I feel I cannot stress' this too strongly as our competitors are ever striving to improve their quality, and are succeeding. Therefore, it behoves every breeder with the welfare of New Zealand at heart to do all he possibly can to still further improve the quality of our flocks, and help retain the great goodwill our lamb now holds on tho British market. This can be done only by constantly endeavouring to improve the quality of our sheep and being on the alert for improvement at every point along the chain in transit until the lambs reach the consumer. Another matter I would liko to refer to here is the deterioration in the teeth of a lot of our North Island flocks. Here I feel I am not on such firm ground, as I cannot suggest any remedy, but although I do not think the Romneys are any worse in this respect than other long-woolled breeds, tho seriousness of tho trouble prompts me to refer 10 it. How much of tho trouble is duo to the influence of the pasture and how much, if any, is hereditary I do not know, but the trouble is there, and is, in my opinion, very important. If, eventually, we could breed sheep so that tho cast ewes’ mouths would hold longer, it would bo a great benefit to tho sheep breeders of Now Zealand. My experience is that in very few localities to-day do we find tho five-year cast ewes with good months, although I know of cases where a few years ago these ewes always had . good mouths. In other cases whero four and five-year ewes have been running together, you will find a number of four year gone, while some of tho five year are still good in tho mouth. This almost points to tho weakness being partly hereditary, in other cases in districts whore, a few years ago, the mouths of the cast ewes could bo relied upon, now almost every lino shows deterioration. . , , I mention this matter merely in the hope that its importance will bo realised by the 1 fitiul stock breeders, and every endeavour made to find a remedy for what I consider 1 of great importance to the sheep bieedeis of N Mr Z SwHtf What do you mean by h Mr B Duncan: All fat buyers handle sheep A good handle is a firm but yielding feel. I think it is a most important thing. 1 Mr Swift: Farmers at Homo pay 1 much more attention to this point than wo do. I am always advocating its ini portanco and asked my question in order that it might be emphasised. Mr Nation: I have hoard it said that Romney mutton would never bo much good because of the number of yellow CI JIr Duncan: Years ago a large percentage was yellow, but tins is not so today. There is also a big improvement in the wool of to-day compared with a few years ago and it is a credit to the sheep farmers. (Hear I Hear!) Mr Wheeler: Is there any difference in tho lasting qualities of Merino and Romney teeth? . . . Mr Duncan; I have the impression that some of the trouble with the teeth of the Romney is hereditary and I think that tho Merino and Merino crosses are sounder in the teeth than the Romney. Mr Hewitt: I think that in many Romneys tho teeth go so quickly because the shape of tho lower jaw is wrong, as pointed out by Mr Morton. Mr Duncan: I do think that this is most important and that the breeders should do everything possible to improve matters as the position is more serious today than it was a few years ago. Mr Johnstone: Are bad teeth due to the fact that we aro not running so many cattle to-day? . ~ , . , Mr Duncan: No, as in some districts more cattlo aro being run to-day ■ than formerly and even there the teeth aie just as bad as elsewhere. A Member of tho Audience: .Do I understand from your remarks that the ai er-ao-o Romney lamb bred on ideal country in New Zoaland is heavy ? Mr Duncan : No. If this docs happen 1 is exceptional. ... „ Mr Sherriff: The mistake in a case like this is that the fat lambs should have been drafted earlier. A Member of the Autlienco: Do you think that the teeth of the sheep of today have deteriorated on account of the ageing of tho country ? Mr Duncan: I do not know. A Member of tho Audience : Don t you think that the climate in New Zealand has changed and may bo the cause of bad Mr Porry: A great deal of the country in New Zealand lias improved with ago, but tho mouths of the sheep aro not nearly as good as they used to be. A Member of the Audience: I live in a gravelly district and I find that it cuts tho teeth to pieces. Mr Duncan : We graze the country much closer than wo used to and this may have an effect on the teeth. A member of tho audienco: Wo all grow a lot of dogstail. Do you think this has any effect on the teeth? Mr Duncan: It may have. Mr Speedy: I have two stations. Due right on tho coast (Hawke’s Bay; and the ether about five miles inland, lho teeth on the latter station wear much bettor than on the coastal ono. Mr Duncan: Tho best teotli are found on the pumice country between Ja.hape and Hawke’s Bay. Mr Perry: I have two classes of country gravelly paddocks and river silt land. I thought the best teeth would bo found on the best, land, but this is not tho case, lho river silt land, when sheep are forced to eat close to tho ground, causes tho teeth to grind away far. moro than occurs on my other farms. I attribute it to tho sandy nature of the soil.’ Mr Speedy: Tho earth worms throw up the soil and as the sheep graze so close to tho ground, tlio teeth may get ground away by eating soiled grass. _ Mr Birch: When buying old ewes I have noticed a superiority in the teeth of sheep coming off limestone country. Six-year-old ewes coming from the Pahiatua district have as good teeth as four-year-olds from elsewhere. Mr Morton: Excellent teeth may come from Pahiatua. Pumice country is deficient in lime, but the mouths of tho sheep from Waiouru last longer than any I have had experience with. I raise this point to correct the impression that first-class teeth are only to be found on sheep raised on limestone country.