NEW ZEALAND SHEEP.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19351, 11 December 1924, Page 10

NEW ZEALAND SHEEP.

COMPARISON WITH ENGLISH STOCK. A SHEEP-BREEDER’S OPINION. FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR WOOL. (From Our Own Correspondent.) PALMERSTON N., December 10. Mr J. Knight, one of the best-known sheep breeders of the North Island, has just returned to his home at I eliding after a seven months’ visit to England, where he went mainly to inspect some of the Southdown flocks of the Homeland, and to attend the wool conference at Bradford.

Mr Knight’s impressions, both of sheep and wool will be read with interest by fockmasters of the dominion. He said that of the sheep offering there were few outstanding, and he considered New Zealand sheep were now quite on a level with English ones. New Zealand, along with other countries', had picked the eyes out of Home flocks, and, being prepared to pay' high prices, had secured the best. The absence of outstanding young sheep was a feature. The tendency at Home was to keep to darker sheep, while in New Zealand they were inclined to a lighter colour. In bone and constitution New Zealand sheep were quite as good as English while our wool was much ahead in quality. Mr Knight ventured the opinion that there were Southdowns of both sexes in New Zealand which could more than hold their own with the best English sheep. On account of the prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease there was no export of stock. Mr Knight, however, purchased two lambs, and arranged for their feeding for 12 months in the hope of the embargo being lifted. These youngsters were bought solely on account of their strain of blood. Asked as to Romney sheep, Mr Knight said he had seen Romneys at the Royal Show and had attended the annual show and sale at Maidstone, in his opinion Romney sheep breeders were still practising too much fake shearing and trimming, many sheep having two years’ growth of wool. So far as wool was concerned the English sheep could not compare »with those of New Zealand, while their carcase and bone were not one whit better, so that he considered there was no need to send to England for these sheep. The flocks generally were not as good as they were when Mr Knight visited England in 1910. The Argentine breeders had, no doubt, bid high prices for some of the best English blood, with the result that there was not stock to breed from. Mr Knight considered that New Zealand sheep could more than hold their own in Argentine, and this was proved at the late show in Palermo, where a sheep with -seven months’ wool had to compete with one carrying two years’ growth. The general opinion of sheep breeding people there was that New Zealand sheep were the best, and auction sales proved it, as Mr Perry’s ram brought the highest price. Mt Knight was of the opinion that there was no need to cross Romneys with any other breed, not even the Wensleydale, with its poor constitution, but if they studied the quality of their wool there was no reason why the Romney should be displaced in the North Island of New Zealand. That was Mr Knight’s considered opinion after attending the wool conference at Bradford. The breeders of New Zealand should keep their eyes on the Argentine, as a very large opening existed there for our best stock.

Speaking of wool, Mr Knight said he thought that there would be very good prices for some years to come, as Ije had found in his travels that the consumption was greater than, the supply. He was informed by a Boston buyer that at the opening of the season in Boston there were not 500 bales available. This, after a large acoumulationof Bawrawool, was remarkable, but the demand had been so keen and sustained that this stock had been soon depleted. One of the reasons for the huge consumption of wool was the striking popularity of winter sports such as skating and ski-ing in Switzerland and other countries \vnore most of the hotels were better patronised in winter than in summer. These winter games necessitated the wearing of woollen garments, and this materially helped the consumption.