THE MODEL MERINO.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1248, 30 January 1896, Page 5

THE MODEL MERINO.

Mr A. Pearce, of South Australia, recently wrote a most interesting paper on the breeding of high-class merinos. We make the following extracts:—

" All two and four-toothed ewes must be culled, for it costs do more to keep a sheep cutting 91b or 101 b clean, greasy wool than to keep a miserable runt, with open fleece only cutting 41b. At the same time, only first class country producer first-class sheep and wool. A model merino with first-class combing wool should be covered all over, back, belly and legs, with an even coat of soft, bright wool, extremely dense everywhere, filling the hand when grasped. It is of great, importance that it should open freely in every part, each fibre from root to point should be independent of any other; should they tangle or cross each other it is a bad fault, and the cull mark should be put on. The yolk should be clean and glistening, and a sticky, cheesy, gummy yolk is to be avoided. The top of the wither should be a solid mass of wool ; j any sign of the wool being short and leaving a furrsw is a sure indication of a light fleece. A poor sheep in wet weather will often show a parting along the back; too often a nice quality of wool on the back is found with a coarse hairy breech and thighs. The legs should be well covered wich wool right down past the knee joints, almost to the hoofs. Sometimes people conclude that because a sheep carries the wool all over its legs, down to its hoofs, that it must be a first-class sheep, but the contrary is often the case, the back being thinly covered with wool of a short, weak fibre. " The face of the model merino should be of the well-known soft, creamy tinge, with the wool covering the cheek, and growing well down towards the nose. The shape of the sire's horns is an indication of the quality of his fleece; for example, the short twisted

horn close in against the ear, belongs to the short, extra close-woolled variety; a widespread horn belongs to the longer stapled, and has the advantage of allowing the wool to be easily shorn around the head. Sheep showing red, thin,, sabby ears, narrow between the eyes, with redness of skin around them, should at once be rejected; they are always thin-fleeced, open in the withers, bad doing sheep, and will not pay to feed ; the wool, too, is'bad, with clotted, cheesy yolk. . " Spots on the nose or hoofs, especially brown spots, are objectionable to the stud breeders, who consider such animals as likely to produce black or spotted lambs; but for ordinary purposes this need not be considered, praviding the animal is good in other respects. Finally, get rid by culling of all mongrels or irregular pheep, breeding as regular a flock with a fleece as even in length and quality as possible."