CORRIEDALE SHEEP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19390, 27 July 1926, Page 11

CORRIEDALE SHEEP.

CONSIGNMENT FOR SCOTLAND SELECTION FROM OTAGO FLOCK. [from otra own correspondent.] LONDON, June 15. A consignment of ten Corriedale ram hoggets and twenty Corriedale ewe hoggets arrived by the Rotorua. These are from the flock of Mr. J. A. Johnstone, of Bushey Park, Otago, and have been purchased by Mr. James Piper, the Grange, Burntisland, Fifeshire. Mr. Piper, it will be remembered, bought the Corriedale sheep that were sent from New Zealand for exhibition at Wembley last year. The Rotorua lot arrived in London safely and are now fa quarantine at Silvertown. Coming up the channel the vessel ran into rough seas and the sheep were drenched with salt water. They took some days to dry, but they suffered no ill-effects. Mr. Piper has not much donbt that his new purchases will stand this climate without trouble.

" During the whole of the winter," Mr. Piper said, "the three ewes and two rams which I purchased from Wembley were treated exactly as my other sheep were, and they are now looking as well as any of the others. As a matter of fact during one storm they had to be dug oat of snow Bft. deep. The ewes have each given birth to one lamb, and the lambs are doing as well as any of my other breeds, if not better.

Mr. Piper added that he had also experimented with cross ewes, halfbred ewes, Cheviot ewes and Dorset Horn ewes, mated with the Corriedale rams, and had 50 or 60 lambs, all of which were doing well. "My purpose with these cross lambs," he said, "is to see if I can make any improvement on the wool of our homebred sheep. It is too early to judge yet, but a great deal of interest is being taken by the universities in the experiment.

"Professors and others have visited my place repeatedly, and have taken particular note of the Corriedales themselves and all the different crossbred lambs. It is their intention to follow them up for a year or two to see if there is any improvement in the wool, and if so, whether it is likely to deteriorate in the years to come in this climate."