CLIP TOO LIGHT.

Putaruru Press, Volume V, Issue 177, 24 March 1927, Page 3

CLIP TOO LIGHT.

ADVICE FROM WOOL BUYER Breed for Dual Purpose. “In the majority of eases, the sheepfarmer of New Zealand does not attempt to meet us in regard to the quality of his wool. He goes in for meat quality first and wool quality second. ’ ’ Such was the answer recently given by a prominent wool buyer to the question: How do the buyers regard the New Zealand clip? The best lambs go out of the country, he continued. The old-fashioned flock seems to be no longer existent, where the owner used to replace his ewe lambs before he sold any lambs at all. That idea seems to have disappeared with the cutting up of the big stations, and the consequent disappearance of many famous stud flocks, where breeding went on consistently as a sound policy. Gets A Bad Bargain. “I have attended a grod many ram fairs in this country, anft one thing I have noticed which ought to be stopped in the interest of the flocks of the country. You see a very poor type of ram, maybe a small proportion of the lot, ofieri d for sale. While the decent flock rams in the auction sell for three guineas or so, these wasters are knocked down for a ‘quid,’ ami this suits the small cockie. He never got a worse bargain! He should never be allowed to use such stuff. I fc'-i certain that a good many farmers in New Zealand are not careful enough in culling their ewes, and they are certainly not careful enough, in many instances, in selecting the most suitable type of ram for the ewe. Looking at it from the point of view of the man who wishes to get the best quality from the fleece, we buyers are disappointed with th" v '”.v 7 v-oo] n’lp to-dav ’’ “It would be valuable to the wool grower to Know exactly in what respect he falls short of the buyer’s requirement, I suggested. wnat Envers Require. “The New Zealand wool is getting too light,’’ was the prompt, answer “It is getting too open aired, instead of being bold and bright, full of body. They should use stronger sheep, whether Romney, English Leicester, or Lincoln, with very fine Romney ewes, and fine Romney rams on the coarse ewes. Such a plan would the wool of years ago—good, bright, lustrous and deep grown. The bmk of the wool from this market, so far Bradford and America are concerned, is becoming too short in staple, too “airy”! There is not the brightness and solidity we used to have from N w wool clips of 10 or 15 years back. Lamb is their first consul oral iovi, but I hope the growers will take the advice to heart, because it is possibin—it has been done in the past—to b-ood a good dual purpose animal. Rams must be bought suitable for the ewes, and it is no use buying any sort, of rubbish because it is cheap at the time.