DOWN BREEDS IN AUSTRALIA.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 205, 31 July 1939, Page 4

DOWN BREEDS IN AUSTRALIA.

FOR FAT LAMB TRADE. MULTIPLICITY OF TYPES. The development of the fat lamb industry in Australia has led to the introduction of several new breeds of British sheep, so that, to-day, no fewer than seven of the Down breeds are represented—Southdown, Dorset Horn, Ryeland, Shropshire, Suffolk, Hampshire and Dorset Down. One breed, however, has not yet reached Australia, although it is very popular in tho United States of America—the Oxford Down. The nearest we have to it (says the Sydney Morning Herald), perhaps, is the Dorset Down, a small stud of which is being developed at Binnia Downs. .Like Hie Dorset, the Oxford Down is an offshoot of the old Hampshire breed. “It is a sheep of great size,” said Mr Elliott, New South Wales sheep and wool expert, “but for the fat lamb trade I do not think it has any advantages over the other Down breeds already here. Wlint we need in Australia is quality in the existing breeds, rather than a multiplicity of types. The Oxford is certainly bigger, more early maturing, and much heavier than the Southdown or the Shropshire, and its fleece, if longer, is slightly coarser; yet, covering is but a minor consideration in fat lamb raising. Two of its hallmarks are its black face and its well-developed forelock.” COTSWOLD-HAMPSHIRE CROSS. Although Jong since recognised ns a distinct breed, the Oxford was originally produced in England by crossing tlie Cotswold and the Hnmphirc. Its black face comes from the latter. Itself the heaviest of all the Down breeds, it is also a very heavy wool cutter, tlie average fleece weighing 10 to 12 pounds, and measuring from three to four inches in length. As a cold-country sheep At is ideal. Experiments in the United States have shown that the rams are very successful in crossing with crossbred Merino ewes, combining mutton characteristics with a very saleable fleece. The mutton, however, is not favoured as much as that of the other Down breeds, because of an over-abundance of back fat. For the home market its early maturity and heavy weight make it popular. Its lambs frequently weigh 101 bat birth, and the mature rams average 2751 bto 3001 b, with the ewes 2001 bor more.