MERINO LAMBS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21440, 14 March 1933, Page 14

MERINO LAMBS

QUESTION OF EXPORT The popular prejudice in favour of the crossbred lamb carcase is stated by the Australian Trade Commissioner in London (Mr. McCann) to be the chief difficulty in the exportation of Merino lambs to England. He suggests that Merino lambs be graded and shipped separately. In a report to the chairman of the Meat Export Board, Mr. McCann stated that he inspected a sample ol each grade of the consignment of Merino lambs, and there was no doubt that the Merino was a type of carcase entirely different from any other breed of sheep or lamb in carcase form. The difference was almost entirely confined to the conformation and colour of the hindquarters. " Til© consignment I inspected," said Ml. McCann, " was exceptionally nice Merino quality, and in the saddles there was little or no difference when compared with similar cuts from crossbred lambs, but the moment you add the hindquarters of each breed two entirely different types of lamb are created. The blue coloured, thin shaped legs of the Merino discount the quality and conformation of the rest of the carcase, whereas the plumpness, symmetry and natural whiteness of the legs of the crossb.ed lambs add to the quality of the carcase as a whole instead of depreciating it, as is the case with the Merino.

"It appears to me that Australia's greatest difficulty in arriving at a standard grade for all States' lamb exports will be tile practical impossibility of reconciling first-grade Merino lambs with a similar grade of crossbred, and it would appear that the only satisfactory solution would be to grade and ship both separately. "I know the virtues of the flavour of Merino lamb meat, having sampled it in various parts of the world, and I agree that there is nothing finer in flavour and texture than Merino meat, but 1 am of the opinion that it is going to be a'practical business impossibility to attempt to convince the British public of this fact. The English buyer has been educated to shape. His own production, and that of New Zealand and many parts of South America, can supply him with uplimitcd quantities of the shape that he has always been accustomed to buying, and consequently there is neither necessity nor reason for changing his ideas or tastes."