FARMING NEWS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 246, 15 September 1936, Page 5

FARMING NEWS.

RURAL RAKINGS.

A ewe owned by Mr Andrew L. Coombes, Milton, gave birth to five lambs on Thursday. The filth lamb,, which was a little smaller than the other four, has since died, but the others are reported to be and of good size. “For flock sheep, which of necessity have to seek their living in the open, the first necessity is . ability to sec, says a South American writer (I. C. Norris) on practical sheep farming, “in the Argentine there is an extraordinary craze for growing wool on the face of the sheep, and in the case of Merinos it has reached the stage of being a real disadvantage or handicap. as the animals cannot see without being shorn round the eyes several times a year. Some of the British breeds are also drifting toward that fashion. I noticed many Romneys with increasing covering on the face, wool meeting on the cheek below the eye, and it appears to me that if not checked it will sooner or later lead to a similar defect to that now evident in the Argentine Merino. When classing flock sheep, therefore, a ewe that looked as if it would probably become wool blind should be considered defective.”

As a rule, butchers estimate that fat cattle, when dressed, are reduced to aboht 55 per cent or less of their live weight. Some cattle have been known to dress at slightly more than 60 per cent, but the dressing percentage of the. average beast would be approximately 55 per cent. Following is an analysis of a good Hereford bullock, given recently by .Modern Meat Marketing (London): —Live weight, 11481 b, carcase 6891 b, blood 231 b 9oz, heart 41b Boz, melt 21b Boz, head ex tongue, 421 b, tongue 91b 4oz, thick skirt 21b, tail lib 9oz, liver and gall bag 101 b Boz, hide 651 b 4oz. In this case the dressed carcase was a shade better than 60 per cent, but that percentage. is exceptional.