WOOL.

Otago Witness, Issue 554, 12 July 1862, Page 2

WOOL.

(From the New Zealand Spectator.)

It will scarcely be questioned that wool is, and is long likely to continue, (he most important produce of New Zealand. Nor can there be any doubt that the wool grown in this country is very favorably regarded in Europe. An investment of capital in sheep under ordiuary circumstances may be considered a safe and profitable investment. So far all is clear. But what still appears a most important point, and one which i-3 very perplexing to those bavins? no practical knowledge on the subject, is — What description of wool is the most profitable ? Now it may be quite possible for people knowing nothing whatever about sheep, and very little about wool, to estimate the value of argument based on acknowledged facts. Tho^e who hare thought on the subject suggested in the foregoing question will have found that it leads to two other questions, viz. .- — Which is preferable, long or short wools ? —Is it possible to obtain a good breed of sheep by crossing ? Before an answer is given to the first of these two questions it will be necessary to make a few preliminary inquiries. It may, however, be as well to clear the way by saying that what follows is intended to apply exclusively to wool; that mutton is not taken into account : it is not by the sale of mutton, but by the exportation of wool, that the wealth of New Zealand will be increased. It may, no doubt, be wise for the farmer living in the vicinity of a good market for mutton to attend rather to the size of the sheep's carcase than to either the quantity or the quality of its wool. But that is not the subject now under consideration.

The first thing to be ascertained is the nature of the pasture on which sheep are to be fed Speaking generally, large sheep carry long wool, while small sheep carry short wool. For large sheep to thrive, breed freely, and produce a good clip of woo), they must be depastured on land that is tolerably level, fertile, and producing good grasses. To place sheep on uplands, where they are obliged to travel much in order to obtain their food, would be to ensure their rapid deterioration. Small sheep, on the contrary, thrive quite as well in every respect on hilly country, and in fact maintain their health better than on lower lands and in rich pastures. The nature of the pasture, then, ought to determine the breed of sheep to be kept on it.

Another inquiry is, as to the relative weight of the fleeces of the long and short-woolcd breeds Assuming that they are not fed artificially, but each on the pasture most suitable to the breed, there can be little donbt that the former carry the heavier fleeces. But let it be distinctly noted the fleeces of the larger breed, if allowed to deteriorate by being depastured on uplands, will not, after two, or at most three generations, be so heavy as those of the smaller breed on the same pasture. A further consideration is the price of each description of wool. This is a question easily answered by reference to the London wool reports. The wool realising the highest price is the fine short wool. It is not improbable that on low rich lands producing the best grasses the dit". ierence in the weight of the fleece of the large

breed would more than compensate for the higher price of that of the small breed. But regard being had to the actual quality of the natural pasture^ of New Zealand, and even -with some allowance made for their possible future improvement, there can be no reason for supposing that the fleece of the long-wooled sheep will be So valuable as that of the short fine one. There are pastures of an intermediate description which may be thought suitable to either breed ; in which case it may be more difficult to decide between their respective claims. But even such pastures may deteriorate, in which case the larger breed would suffer, whereas the smaller breed would not. It may be as well to notice a common fallacy connected with this. It is sometimes hastily assumed that a run will carry the same number of large as of small sheep. This is a mistake. Not only does the large sheep require more food than the smaller one to enable it to maintain its condition, but it is not so rough a feeder, not so active in procuring its food, nor will ih so well bear being on a run that is close fed or overstocked. In a country where sheep runs are not of unlimited extent, this may be • worth noticing, as it is likely tliat in a given space a much heavier clip of wool may be obtained from the smaller breed. Tt is frequently asserted that the demand for long wool is increasing, and the supply of short wool is equal to the demand. But the tendency in EuropT now is to cnltivate long wooled breeds, the effect of which will be to increase the demand for fine wools. At the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Professor Wilson saiO : — They (foreigners) also see that whatever fine wool the market requires can be supplied from Australia and New Zealand at a far cheaper rate and far better in quality than any that Saxony, or Silesia, or Moravia can supply," "Well, that at once showed that the foreign powers could not successfully compete in the wool market with England and her colonies ; and I believe that the tendency is for the foreigner to give up growing these fine class wools upon small animals, and to substitute for them the large frame sheep carrying more wool at a lower price." Is it possible to obtain a good breed of sheep by crossing? This question is sugsested by the discussion of the previous one. Some are inclined to ask — Whether ifc is not possible to obtain a breed of sheep by crossing the two breeds above referred to which shall in a great measure combine the merits of both ? There can be but one answer to this question : such a breed cannot be obtained. It may be objected to this that good cross breeds have been established in England, such as the Hampshire and Wiltshire downs. It is well-known that those breeds are the result of crossing the old Hampshire and Wiltshire white-f.wed horned breeds with the Sussex downs. But let it be observed that it was not for the purpose of obtaining an intermediate breed combining the good qualities of both that this cross was resorted to ; but in order to change bad breeds, nlreadv existing in millions in those two counties, and which could not be got rid of, into a good breed possessing -the qualities of that good breed; and that this was ultimately accomplished by the persevering efforts of a majority of the farmers of those two counties, during the space of sixty or seventy years, who used none but pure rams, until thair flocks were not distinguishable from pure Sussex downs. This is evidently a very different thing from the formation of an intermediate breed. It may be advisable to fortify the opinion here so strongly stated. The Economist (in a very nble article on Sir. Spooner's paper on cross-breeding') says : — "There is probably more misapprehension in agricultural circles on the subject of cross-breeding than on any other branch of practical husbandry. Cross-breeding Is merely a plan of producing meat, for cross-bred animals are only profitable when bred for the butcher. They cannot be perpetuated. They are quasi-hybrids, and if used at all for the purpose of brecling they must be coupled with one or more of the pure breeds from which they were produced. A first cross, where both parents are good of their respective kinds, seems to be the most certain mode of breeding for the butcher ; and if the matter rested there it would be well. But not a few agriculturists, finding their first crosses prove profitable, suppose they can perpetuate animals of the same character by breeding from such cross-bred stock. Every attempt of the sort has proved a failure, as a reasonable attention to the main principle of breeding, that 'like will produce like,' would readily show." Again, "We recommend the following remarks, with which Mr. Spooner concludes his paper, to the attention of those who resort to cross-breeding with any other view than that c,f fending the first produce of that cross :— ' Where equal advantages can be attained by keeping a pure breed of sheep, such pure breed should unquestionably be preferred ; and though crossing for the purposes of the butcher may be practised with impunity, and even with advantage, yet no one should do' so for the purpose of establishing a new breed, unless he has clear and well defined views of the object he scr-ks to accomplish, and has duly studied the principles on which it can be carried out and is determined to bestow for the space of half a lifo time his constant and unremitting attention to the discovery aud removal of defects.' And we may add, that there is no instance of any one establishing a new breed which has attained a perfect type." Where new breeds have been established it has been the result of the co-oj e ration of all the farmers of a certain district working in one direction ; but after all, what is produced is but a sub-variety of a pure breed gradually more and more approaching to the characteristics of that breed, — not. a breed intermediate between two other breeds. But there is another condition far more essential to any thins: like success ; it is that in any cross-breed-ing the female should be of a larger breed than the male. There is no poiut on which scientific breeders are more unanimous than this. No greater blunder can be committed than that of using a male of a larger breed than the female. The "late H. Olive, Esq., suigeon, fully established this fact in a work published on the suhject of breeding. It would be easy to give physiolosi«al reasons to aecounfc for this fact. It may be sufficient to Pay that the powers of the dam being overtaxea^her offspring will necessarily be deficient in symmetry and vigour of constitution. An illustration may be supplied from the fact familiar to all who have lived in countries where mules are in common vise, namely, that whereas the produce of a mare is almost universally a valuable animal, the offspring of a she as 3 is invariably a worthless brute. To cw«, therefore, with any prospect of avoiding absolute and ruinous failure, the rams should be of tha smaller breed. There is another fatal objection to a cross. The cHef object to be arrived at by the breeder should 1 c the uuiform character of his wool ; but i cross will occasion innumerable varieties, and not nnfrequently several on the sinie shesp. The well known rule mentioned above that "like will produce like" is the safest £*ukle to all breeders, and cannot be too strictly observed. All violent crosses should be strictly avoided : " unlike will pi o luce nobody knows what. The improvement of a flock can only bi attained with anj pro3pcct of success by using rams as nearly as possible resembling the ewes, though they should be the best of their kind. It may be almost needless to add that breedin? in-and-in, that is from near aflinities s is highly objectionable, and should never under any circumstances whatever be resorted to.

Frauds in Packing Wheat.— lt is humiliating to find that fraudulent packing of grain has not been disaontinued here, althon^h we recently drew such pointed attention to the fact of this species of fraud being perpetrated, as we hoped would have put a complete stop to the nefarious practice altogether. Yet by the very last trip of the Orcadian hence to Ilobart Town, one parcel of wheat was shipped which, on being emptied at the Mill Stores., to which it was consigned, was found so mixed with oats and rubbish as to be totally unfit for milling purposes. The wheat had been sold by sample, and a portion of the top of each bag contained grain of the same quality. This was not noficed until several bags had been emptied, and then the precaution waa taken of slitting each bap; near the bottom before emptying it. By this means, and the marks on the ba»s, it is hoped that clear proof may be obtained against the perpetrator of this disgraceful fraud. The only difficulty is that the shipment being a large one, the fraudu^ lently packed wheat wns mixed with other parcels purchased from different growers. One effect of tliia fraud has been to cause a merchant at Hobart Town to withdraw an order from his agent here for wheat. The attempts made to defraud grain merchants in this way ai-o shamefully frequent, and the impudenceof the parties detected, in stating that such frauds are merely the result of accident is astonishing. We hear with regret that our trade with Otago has been seriously damaged by this villanous practice of fraudulently packing shipped to that market. It is evident from this tbat no description of fraud is so damaging to the interests of a country, and none which when detected should be more seriously punished.— Cornwall Chronicle.

A wounded Irishman wrote home from the hospital, and finished up by saying, "I've fought for this country* I've bled for 4 it, and I shall soon be able to saj I've died for it."