THE BEST LAMB FOR FREEZING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3033, 1 May 1912, Page 14

THE BEST LAMB FOR FREEZING.

Before the freezing works started in New Zealand sheep were bred almost entirely for their wool, and the most profitable sheep produced the largest fleece. The export of wool and the sale of stores practically constituted tha flockowner’s income, the carcase being of subsidiary value. The local market provided the only outlet for fat sheep, and periodically became flooded out so that values fell to boiling down rates. But now we compete with the world in the mutton market, and we must have lambs which combine a good fleece with a valuable carcase. One would naturally suppose that breeders would be much indebted to the sheepbreeders’ associations for assistance in procuring suitable rams for the production of such lambs, but they seem to lack vitality. The last ram fair was a decided improvement on previous events of the kind in that there was a much smaller proportion of rams which were not representative of the breeds under which they were entered. But we have to thank the Otago A. and P. Association for that. How many rams in the fair were fit to place at the head of any flock? A number of them were' wanting in type and quality, and had evidently been* bred either from cull ewes or threequarter breds. How can we expect to grow prime Canterbury when such rams are offered for sale at the price of wethers and used. The breed associations were formed with the object of keeping the flocks jmre and maintaining the standard of the flocks, and we never either hear of or from them. There are several sides to the question of which is the best breed of sheep to encourage in the Dominion for the production of fat lambs, and the conditions in the various districts vary so much that there ought to be room for all the pure breeds. The second cross lamb admittedly finds most favour in the eyes of the Smithfi-eld stallholders, and these should be supplied if possible. There are many points to determine before deciding what breed to make use of, such as the question of wool production, the influence of soil and climate, the relative value and quality of the wool and mutton, the suitability * of the sheep for the land on which they are to be fattened, the adaptability for crossing and the hardiness of the breed and its progeny ; all these points have to be weighed and deliberated upon. In the case of lamb, top weights and prime quality are wanted. The State farms of New South Wales and Victoria are doing excellent work in the way of indicating what crosses are most suitable for each district, what length of time particular crosses take to mature, and what weights are scaled at different stages of their growth. Here we

ar« none the worse of having to find all these things out for ourselves, and evidently w© have succeeded fairly well. If . ew .Zealand lamb can hardly be distinguished from the British home-bred article there cannot be much wrong with it. The choice of sheep to use is confined Jj® the wool and mutton sheep combined. lhere»is no better ewe produced than the first cross between any of the longwools and the merino, and lambs from these ewes by Border Leicester, English Leicester, or Romney Marsh rams produces t# °f lamb that is wanted for export. If this breeding of the rams is right there would be nothing much wrong with such lambs. The value of the skin will always remain a great consideration to the buyer, and important to the breeder because there is always a proportion of the flock which is likely to come to the shearing board. We owe much to the men who, by skill, patience, and reliable judgment, produce material suitable for our purpose in breeding lambs for export, and a good price should not be grudged for the best rams that can be got. Nothing makes a worse show on the hooks than lambs got by mongrel 'rams with long legs, hard backs, and nojigots.