LESSONS FROM THE WOOL SALES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2975, 22 March 1911, Page 14

LESSONS FROM THE WOOL SALES.

Now that the wool sales of the Dominion are practically over, it may not be out of place to refer to the loss the country and the producer annually sustain through carelessness in sheep farming, and also by the way in which the wool is baled and sent forward for sale. In the preparation of the fleece at shearing time a great deal of money is lost by simply failing to skirt the wool properly, as it goes over the dressing table; but probably the greatest loss of all, leaving out the question of carelessness in the shed, is the failure of farmers to breed sheep with fleeces of an even character throughout. When wool represents such an important proportion of the flock-owners' interest, greater attention should surely be given to the quality and quantity produced, as well as to the get-up of the wool. Sheep grown with dense fleeces of good staple, evenly-clad throughout, are certainly "exceptional in many h*ocks. With closer attention to breeding they ought to be the rule, and the sheep bare in the points, thin in the wool, coarse in the breech, and (what is one of the gravest defects) weak in the back, should be rigorously cuiled out, no matter what their frame may be. Sheep such as described do not help to pay the leaseholder's rent, nor the freeholders* taxes. If the points in wool-growing as given above were intelligently attended to, a very largo sum of money indeed would each year be saved l to the flock-owners of this Dominion. If the quality of our wool —and mutton as well —is to be improved—and both are capable of improvement—we must begin with heavier culling out amongst our ewe flocks, and also a much more careful selection of our -rams. The breeders of stud registered flocks deserve more encouragement than they usually get from farmers, and the owners of even small flocksi should buy the best rams they can get of the required breed, and each year cull out carefully the ewe flock, and endeavour to work ur> the character of the wool. grown. • This can be done to a great extent by annually retaining the pick of the ewe lambs, and in this way carrying on any improvement effected in the flock. A most shortsighted policy is to pass by good rams because they may cost more than many indifferent ones offered for sale. With a nondescript lot of ewes, it is impossible for any man to indicate with any degree of certainty what the lambs will be like; therefore a good plan is for the flockowner to mark his ewes at shearing, and in this way to detect wool of which be does not approve, and also to discard sheep that are getting weak on the back or bare about the points. It is without doubt the value of the fleece that grows on the sheep's back which entitles it to claim first place ini all sections of rural industry. Through times of depression it is the fleece that lias paid the rent and kept the wolf from the door, and when times have improved it is surely the fleece that has constituted the most positive part of the flock-owner's revenue. At no time in the history of the Dominion has the question of the quality of our wool production been more needful of careful thought than at the present. Large estates are being cut up, the smaller ones are being stocked with sheep, and if flockowners expect to realise the highest prices ruling for their wool, greater care must of necessity be exercised in the production of quantity, quality, and the get-up of their wool sent' forAvard for sale. This subject has on more than one occasion been dealt with in these columns, and the recent remarks of buyers at our periodical sales show clearly what a, large sum of money may be saved to the producer by careful attention to the very important question of wool-production in this Dominion.