GERMAN RAMBOUILLETS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2471, 24 July 1901, Page 9

GERMAN RAMB OUILLETS.

la the beginning of the last century theGermar merino flocks were mostly of the old Negretti and the famous Electoral tribes, but as time went on these types had become more and more unprofitable, until their former popularity was lost and they were gradually supplanted by the different types of what the German breeders call "Kainmwoll" (combing wool) merinos, and most notable among them the Rambouillet. This transformation, however, was very gradual, and Behmer distinguishes three distinct phases of it. 1. The period of fine wool production (clothing wool) from 1800 to 1833. 2. The production of "heavy -woolled" sheep from 1833 to 1866, and 3. The Kammwoll (combing wool) period, •with mutton production, extending from 1866 to the present time. During the first "phase" the aim was, as tjie definition indicates, the production of high fine wools," and under the favourable conditions of the markets then existing this was pushed to eucb an extent that everything else was made subordinate to this end, and the animals. -so produced lost their 'onstitutional vigour, and the quantity of wool shorn from individuals became diminutive. "Nobility of fibre," as it was called in those days, was all the rage, and no one dared to think scarcely of "nobility of form" or much less "length of staple." These fine wdols were principally exported to England, and the German breeders enjoyed almost a monopoly in tbeir production for many years, and consequently obtained high prices, but as the jupply was comparatively limited the manufacturers were forced to look for othei materials, which found in the "combing merino wools" of the Felaine class furnished by the transmarine colonies. Yet it was not until about the yeai 1860 that the breeders of North Germany ctnsidered the breeding of the Kammwoll types as equally genteel as that of finewoojled sheep. But after that the increase in popular favoni of the former was only paralleled by the corresponding decrease of the old merino types until at the present time the numbei of the Kammwoll flecks in Germany is legion, while the number of \l& old style merino flocks has dwindled down almost to zero. It must not be understood, however, that all German Kammwoll herds are Rambouillets, for this is not the case, and the sooner we American Rambouillet breeders understand this the better we are off. lam acquainted with at least two Bueh flocks, both of which have made splendid showings at the late Paris Exhibition, and these animals will compare favourably with the genuine Rambouillets, yet neither of these herds is of Rambouillet origin, nor are they claimed to be such, for the one is descended from a direct importation made from Spain in 1765, and' the ancestors of the other were brought from the same place in 1814- and bred pure ever since. The ">wners of these herds attribute theii admirable results to the judicious employment of the Darwinian principle of selection. Of the other Kammwoll flocks of Germany quite a number must be accepted as Rambouillets (yet in some instances simply for want of evidence to the contrary), while many of them are old merino- herds bred up and gradually transformed by a steady infusion of Kamnivroll blood, obtained from

French and home bred rams of a more or less certain origin. The purebred Kammwoll Rambouillet flocks of Germany are originally descended from importation'! from the different Rambouillet flocks of France, made from time to time by the various German breeders. Thus we have in Germany many animals tracing back to the same stock that some of our oldest American Rambouillet flocks trace to (Cugnot, Bailleu, Gilbert, etc.). But they have also in many cases a mixture of all kinds of blood, and some of it is, I am sorry to say, questionable under the test of the regiftry rules adopted by the A.R R. But the main trouble is the fact that they have no official record books and no registry associations in the American sense of the term. All they have are private registers, which we must take for,what they are worth, and this> worth depends not on the sheep they represent, or rather their value, but on the individual who keeps them. md for that reason. lam of the opinion that a knowledge of the different types and their breeders is absolutely necessary for importers from Germany, that is, if "we are going to keep our own sheep pure. "We have a right to insist that not any and all animals that the importers choose to bring in from Europe be admitted to record, but as the rules plainly state, only those whose pedigrees conform in every particular to the requirements in the case of fiocks whose reputation is not already well established, and in such cases the pedigrees should be required to trace back to original importations from reputable French flocks. That is my point of view, and it is- the only feasible and just ■way out of the dilemma that I can see. I have in my possespion a list of about 20 different European flocks (so-called RamboTiillets), whose products could not be accepted for registry in the A.R.R., because they have been bred to "merino-precoce" stock, which I am prepared to prove is not the kind of Rambouillet blood the present rules require. "We all know that a mere borrowed name is not sufficient to establish the purity of an animal, and I ha»e fo-and that there aye flocks and breeders in Europe that haAe rold sheep as Rambouillets that 'they have previously advertised aiul still classify as "merino-precoceb." But this kind of business will not do. I say, let every breeder sail under his true colours, and not borrow the name of a popular breed for his sheep simply in order to sell them under a borrowed reputation. I think this is contemptible whether it i* practiced in America or in Europe, and it is to be hoped that e\ery reputable breeder is of the same opinion on this point. I do not v. ish it to be understood, however, that I iii tend to discredit the^ efforts of the German breeder.-; 1 am too well acquainted with the true merit of their efforts for that. I know that they have done gn at thing? along the line of improvement of the old merino types, and their work sapeaks its own praibe in the results they ha\e obtained, results to be compared to those of the Scotch breeders of shorthorns, who, by transplanting the mother stock from England to a much less favoured country, produced new types under seemingly ad\erse circumstances that nevertheless surpassed the old types in hardiness, constitutional vigor, and general usefulness. That is just what the Germans have done during the last few years for the improvement of the old merino, and we should ne\er forget to give them due credit for it.— W. C. Close, in the American Sheepbreedcr.