SIZE IN SHEEP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3114, 19 November 1913, Page 15

SIZE IN SHEEP.

There is a tendency {says the Field) with all classes of stock bred on pedigree lines to diminish in size, probably as a natural corollary to improvement in quality. The saying that it is easier to breed a good little than a good big animal finds abundant exemplification in practice, and has gained currency as a moderating comment upon those who have sacrificed scale and weight for symmetry and smallness of bone. Close breeding is inclined to restrict growth in proportion to the influence it produces upon general fineness of build, as has been noticeable in the history of many prominent breeds. No class of animal is exempt from this operative influence of line-breeding, and even if allowance be made for the fact that an animal of well-balanced proportions and of fine quality conceals its weight sufficiently to justify the remark that it is bigger than it looks, the fact cannot bo disregarded that sustained exclusive breeding has to bo guarded against as a factor calculated to diminish size and impair general utility. Instances of this tendency are known in horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Sometimes the effect has been noticed and checked before it became pronounced, but in other cases the refining influences have been allowed to proceed until the utility properties were threatened, with the result that there was a decisive reaction towards types of a bigger build. Sheep have shared to the full in these common experiences, the short wools peihaps to a greater degree than the long wools, for the reason that they are cultivated with a view to mutton of fine quality rather than to quantity and quality of wool. Complaints of undersize in Southdcwns, Shropshires, Hampshire's and others are not uncommon, and the same objection to concentration upon fixity of type has found expression among owners of the hardy mountain breeds. Fashion has fluctuated among those as well as .among the lowland varieties, and most of the changes have been concerned with the size of the popular strains. Formation and colouring of head and legs and the texture of the fierce have all undergone modification, but the point that concerns the commercial interest mainly is the ability of the animals to give a good return in quantity combined with quality for the food consumed. The quality of the carcase and the proportion of lean meat are vital considerations in mutton and beef breeds: but. while the markets appreciate quality, farmers have found that it is easy to discount the additional value of quality by reduction of weight in the effort to procure it. Weight is an essential factor in modern markets, which, owing to the wider sources of supply end changed methods of distribution, do not discriminate so finely us they did before nublic abattoirs became common. The buyer was more exacting when animals wore shown on the hoof than he is now fhev are presented in the carcase, with the result that a big frame and aptitude to weigh in proportion are now accented essentials in good commercial stock.

The case of the Cheviot breed of sheep furnishes a striking illustration on this point. Some years ago animals of small size and of surpassing neatness were the fashion both in the showyard and in the solo .ring. Breeders of commercial sheep, however, soon set their faces against rams of this type, contending that they were not big enough for their purpose. Owners of the well-bred

flocks appreciated the reasonableness of th* arguments, and promptly set about remedying tho error into which eagerness for typs and strains had carried them T'ho result is cr 9ditablo to their business instinct and skill in moulding types to suit popular requirements. The undersized Cheviots are now few and far between, and it redounds to the credit of tho breeders that the added size has been acquired without apreciublo sacrifice of the finer points.