SHEEP INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21132, 15 March 1932, Page 14

SHEEP INDUSTRY.

SELECTION OF RAMS. - FLOCK-BUILDING TYPE. BY H.B.T. When pries for wool, mutton and other farm products have declined beyond the point, where profit can be looked for, there is always that tendency to lose the keen interest in breeding which, in more prosperous times, is one of the most interesting features of farming with livestock. But times will not always be hard. Good stock and good wool will again bring remunerative prices. It is certain, however, that the man who neglects the breeding of his flock now, will be among the last to benefit from the improvement when it comes along. It is the easiest thing 111 the world to introduce a wrong strain or bad type into a good flock of sheep; one year's use of poor rams will do it; but it will take anything from five to ten years' careful breeding and culling to get rid of the undesirables and bring the flock back to its original standard. It will soon be time now to mate the ewes with 'the rams throughout the North Island, and those farmers who require more sires should lose no time in procuring what they need/ In selecting rams, the primary essential is that they should be suited to thrive on the country which their progeny will have to graze and the buyer should make himself conversant with the history and treatment of the flock from which he contemplates purchasing his rams before he commits himself. Where to k ßuy. If possible, for very obvious reasons, rams should be bought from breeders as near home as possible. Failing good rams being procurable close to home, they should be secured from similar, or inferior quality country to the farmer's own. In the matter of climate, sheep will do well if taken from a wet to a dry locality, but on no consideration should they be taken from dry to wet conditions. The best guide the farmer can have, as to the most suitablo rams to use on his country, is to pick out the best fifteen or twenty ewes from his flock—ewes that are thriving and " fill his eye " in every respect as' his ideal sheep. Then buy rams of similar type, equal or superior to the ewes in every respect. Of course no ram is of any use that has not a robust constitution, for without this, neither he nor his gets will thrive and prove profitable, however admirable ' their qualities of wool or carcase might be. Further if a ram with good qualities is to pass these on to his progeny, he must be what, is termed " prepotent," otherwise the qualities of the ewes with which he is mated may dominate and the llock be very little, if at all, improved by his introduction. Study of the Head. Almost every quality possessed by a sheep can be detected from a study of * the head, hence, in selecting rams, a great deal of atteption should first of all be directed to this feature. The mouth should be big and broad, indicating a big capacity for absorbing food. A jaw that is pointed down to the two front incisors is always the sign of a " bad doer." If buying twotooth, or one shear rams, and the first two incisors are exceptionally well developed at a time or year when flock sheep are just cutting their first permanent teeth. This indicates that the lams have received a considerable amount of forcing in the way of artificial feeding, and their size, woolrgrowth and other features should be discounted accordingly. In order to provide room for capacious food and air passages there should be great width between the points of the jawbones where they join up with the throat. A long head is undesirable in any animal and particularly in a sheep, in which it is invariably accompanied by a long scraggy neck, long legs and general " slabsidedness," characteristics undesirable for either wool or mutton. The head, then, should be short from poll to snout and because of the width between the jawbones such a head always has an appearance 'of being very broad. This appearance of breadth is added to, in the case of a ram which is "prepotent," by the fact that its eyes and eye sockets are prominent, giving great breadth between the eyes. An Inherited Characteristic. Why prominent eyes in animals accompany prepotency, vigour and courage, is a long story, dating back to the time when their wild forebears roamed the mountains, and only those with a. wide range of vision, great activity and unusual courage and resource, escaped their predatory enemies. It is sufficient for us, nowadays, to realise that, rams with prominent eyes throw offspring like themselves, or are " prepotent "as it,is called, and that they are almost always of strong masentive type, very active and courageous. Such rams are invaluable in building up a flock provided they combine excellence of Wool and form with this characteristic. While it is not, desirable in most of the Longwool breeds to have too much wool on the face, there shofild be. a sufficient growth of- dense short wool to indicate thafc the " points " of the. sheep are well covered. If wool is lacking on the face, i< will usually be found that legs and belly are but lightly covered.""Also if the wool on the face and poll is very much diluted with white, kempv hairs, look at once to the breech and flanks of the ram for ■" kemp," the presence of which seriously detracts from the value of the wool. If the head of the ram is such as described. it will be found that the rest of the sheep is much as follows: —Short, strong neck well set on to the head and shoulders, moderately short, broad and level back, giving the sheep a thickset, nuggety appearance, well sprung ribs, great depth of girth and bellv, the whole set on short, strong legs with plenty of space between them. Such a ram will clip a great fleece of sound wool, will produce sturdy, earlymaturinE; lambs, and will build up a flock of which you will have every reason to be proud.