SHEEP-BREEDING EXPERIMENTS.

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 8

SHEEP-BREEDING EXPERIMENTS.

The experiments in the production of j crossbred lambs at the Cookie Park Ksperi- j merit Station. Northumberland, have not i (•says the Field) yielded any very striking ! re-u!t. The breeding of crossbred or com- | meroial lambs is an important feature in ; the pastoial piusv.it on both sides of the ( Tweed, but particularly in the southern ' counties of Scotland, and the experiment-s \ wen 4 conducted with the obj«<c-t of aecer- . taining how far the preference shown in recent years in those districts for tho Ox- ' ford Down ram was unwarranted by exact : data. No doubt the farmers were convinced as to the- high claims of the Oxfoid ! Down. brce<l before displacing the Border L?ice. c fcer, AV-ensl-eydale, or Yorkshire, an-rl ■' othc.- ram*;: b-ir. it is always -ntcr-csting to have estimated p'CJvantacrc"^ r-rduc"''! to con- , crete figures, and h?ntc the importance Xt- ( tachir.sf to the Cookie Park <=xj' l -ei-im?nts rle*sc"ib?d in rht j nc.viy -.issued report upon the woik at that centi-c. ! Ai has been inr.t^l, tli? re^ult-s aro not very der:^;\o. but they contain just ?Lifiicient eMileic? to justify tli » "rowing pepu i-uity of ths Oxford Dow iv n in UiC. | hitherto o-r:i!=:\e ; .a'-.'i sots ot tho BcrcV, I V)ic.'ds. At thf f.ji:io time it in c!cj;- t> ,- Vr.ti Boi<ler F^ic-stor breed is i ot y>'t df,:.-> v.irh. This valuable oft-shcot Oi th^» D.^ilev L'Jic-OjtOi -. !u, b^cn of ir.c-"imab.' vaiu- 1 to tho farmers in t'le t-ouih'-ni half ci Scotland for several <j-i > n-r > uii.^r.-. .inj .-o fa:iis can be ju-c'^-tl at piv" !!:>rr>. is i.o other breed capable of rli-.'>'i ri. 4 it Tin 1 ' nitrcduciion of tlio Osfci-'i l>own 1; ; nioro by way of furrnhhinir fif ': hlor.'i than o! j ftupri-cdina; the \vhiU; fcrtl b ?"«!, which i> likc-lv to lnrni n for an v '"finitp ,x:r.>:.! tho brc<-tl or :\\-." of iMt'.i jKirm.'i ,n a:n' , ■'flyinpr flocks in i'i-j c.ioi-.i t'.vi-.cm <i > Southern Scot'atu!. liv O\f- •<! Dov.i ran has CMrn.d a hijrh iioj:iilat:oii :n: ntsn t s north for his utility in sjctlititj C'C->bif! larnl^«, but it should not '• ? fo;yoti'>:i t!u. his success is in nsi equal (k-zito tho u - ! c<>=s also of ilvs P.ordf) I. i- <0,-, for it -5 when mated witli riffi of tl>ar br^d or c'-jss that 1 o has produced his \>^l rssul's. ' Tiiereforo tha- P-oider Le locator iniluenr. 1 is likely to l&mam supromo in the permanent flocks of tl--?t 1 --? district. • In tho experiments allt'fkd to t!:e cups ; ivctf of fh<» halfbjcd (Border Lsiccmci ! — Chevioti type so common in rhe distnc-r, | and an Oxford Down and a Border Le.- ! eester ram were mated ivith an equal nuni- I ber. A proportion ti th& lambs of both ' types wsrp sold fat in their fii'-t year, the j remainder being k"pt until they were shearlings, afld the lOfults lr.dioits tliafc when vho object is to sell the pioducc as lambs the Oxford Down is superior, and that the advantage lies with the Border Leicester when they are kept till they are shearlings. In shecp-farminj, as in the rearing of cattle, early maturity and quick return^ ara a prominent feature of modern methods, and this no doubt accounts for the preference manifested for the Oxford Down in j the breeding of crossbred lambs. Tha off- . spring of the Oxford Down, jn an average of the 6Msons, have given the better esulr.s, as, lambs, both in regard to the agj ; when this animals were ready for roark-ci ! and the average, pi'ice per head realised, j The sreater handiness of the Border Liei- j,

cester croses, howevex, turns the advantage in their favour When- they have to endure the trials of a winter, and consequently the broad outcome of the- trial is to recommend the Oxford Down ram for the production of lambs for early sale, and' the Border Leicester for shearling or older wethers.