The Sheep-breeders' Association and the Flock Book.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 24

The Sheep-breeders' Association and the Flock Book.

TO THE EDITOB. Sir, — In Mr Hugh Campbell's letter in • your issut of August 12 h« says he made no statement; but he made an inference, which is much the same thing, that I had not recorded the purchase of 10 Awamoa ewes at Mr Holmes'e dispersal sale. In my letter of July 18 I pointed out to him the volume and page of the breeding returns in which he would find the entry. I obtained the usual vendor's certificate from Mr Holmes, and forwarded it to the secretary of the association, and there my duty ended. I have nothing to do with compiling the different volumes, and if no mention, ie made of the Awamoa ewes in the last published history of my flock it is not my fault ; but I should say the , eecretary had a most difficult task in re- -

cording the history of every registered) flock without making some slight error oq omission. Mr Campbell writes as if I wer« solely responsible for the decision, of fcha association to carry out an. inspection >t all the registered Books. I have no time to answer all his questions, which ara pretty numerous, but he asks me how B can tell a purebred sheep from an impure one. My answer to that is, that for purposes of this inspection, Or for that matter for any other purpose, if a man who has been breeding stud sheep for 20 years a.n<i made a study of his business, and been a, successful exhibitor 'at most of the principal! ■agricultural and pastoral shows in. the South loiand during most of that time, does not know a typical purebred sheep of his particular breed (I refer to Border Leices* ters), then it is about time he gave up sheep altogether. With regard to impure Borders (I hold no brief for any other breed, though I have no doubt my remarks hold good for them also), I say that sheep wanting in the true characteristics of the breed for practical -purposes are not pure. A. so-called Border Leicester without the well-known characteristics is certainly nofc typical, and if an aninial is not typical ofi the breed it represents it had better *bo known by some other name, although its ancestors two or three generations back may have been apparently pure. Every breeder of experience knows that even 1 the best pedigree rams and ewes occasionally) get some inferior progeny. ' Like begets like as a general rule, and if this inferior; progeny ie b-red from (without special selection to counteract the faults) it is only 4 matter of a few generations before you have_a nondescript breed, whether you likei to call it pure or not, though its remote ancestors were admittedly, pure. If a man wante to evolve a totally different typa from a pure breed he can by selection do it in time, but then he had better find (_ new name for it also. A Border Leicester! is a Border Leicester as much as ai thoroughbred is a thoroughbred. For, practical purposes I think this definition,' of pure and impure is quite near enough. Referring to inspectors, Mr Campbell' says thaL owners " have to stand aside andS give an important part of the control ta a rival in the same business, whoee selfinterest it would be to make it (the flock)' certainly no better than his own." Thia is practically insinuating that the inspectors! would act in a dishonest way. How could! they make other flocks no better than their} own? They would require to cull out tho bo3t sheep and leave the owners with, the worst. The inspectors were not appointed; for that purpose. It is not likely thatt breeders would stand that. Even beginners know their best ' sheep from theift worst, though they don't always know thatj their worst are occasionally ec wanting in! character as to 'be practically impure. Ma? Campbell says the Flock Book ie not wortK the paper it is written on unless it gives a correct record of what became of thd Awamoa, Pareora, Clydevale, Ardgowan,; and Castlerock flocks. Perhaps I may foa permitted to point out to him that ifc i? not the business of tht Flock Book tQ record a list of the names of the purchasers of stud sheep at dispersal saleo unless they individually apply for registrac tiou. Tht nanree of all those who hfcvf.