BEST VARIETY OF SHEEP FOR FREEZING.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1322, 22 March 1884, Page 3

BEST VARIETY OF SHEEP FOR FREEZING.

(London correspondent of the Auckland Star.) Mr Geo. Stimpsoo, of the Central Meat Market, who has from the first been one of the largest purchasers of New Zealand frozen meat, sends an interesting communication to the Live Stock Journal re the best sort of sheep to rear for refrigerating purposes. His views are not singular; indeed, they coincide almost word for word with a letter, from a butcher at Smithfield, which the Secretary of the Australian Company showed rne a twelvemonth back, and which 1 duly forwarded on to the New Zealand Press. Mr Stimp3on says : —"As to the best style of sheep to rear in New Zealand for refrigeration and sale here, I have no hesitation in saying that the highest price would be realised by a cross between a Hampshire Down ram and 3 merino or cross- : bred owe. The carcase of such a sheep would woigh about 9i stone. The ewe ! might be a cros3 between a Lincoln and a ! merino, and even though it approached near the Lincoln type, tho result would still be satisfactory. If- merino or cross- ; bred owes were crossed with Shropshire Sussex Down rams, they would certainly 1 give good quality ; bnt when made up to the weight most sought for hero in refri- ' gerated sheep, viz., 9 to 9i stone, they would be too fat, and would lack the flesh | and muscle of the former breed. The | carcass of the merino sheep is not well | suited for refrigeration, and it is certainly : not liked in this market; but the differS ence in price between such a carcass, if of E good quality and weight, and that of a suitable cross-bred is hardly so great as lid per lb. But supposing that the difference bo taken at say Id per lb, it Is for wool experts to say whether the fleece of tho former is so far superior to the latter as to make the merino the more profitable sheep to breed. Any special suitability of the land in certain districts for rearing sheep of tho merino type must, of course, be taken into account; but speaking generally, and subject to any good reasons that weol experts may advance to the contrary, I feel confident that the breed above recommended would be the 'short cut to the most profitable animal.'"