THE SHEEP RETURNS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 72, 8 November 1911, Page 4

THE SHEEP RETURNS.

The sheep returns for the Dominion as to April 80th last, show a decrease which is by no moans satisfactory. The numbers returned on April 30tb last were 23,99G,1‘26, as against 24,269,620 in 1910, a decrease of 273,494. The decrease was almost equal in both islands,, the North showing 103,309 less, and the South 170,185. That there will bo a considerable shortage in the number of sheep raid lambs available for export this coming season is apparent from the returns and from the information that has come to hand, showing that the lambing returns are not equal to those of the past two years. The number of breeding ewes returned on April 30th last was 12,324,463, as against 12,575,380, a decrease of 190,917. One authority in Canterbury states that at a very low estimate there will be well over half a million fewer lambs availaide this year, and though wethers on Hand' on April 30th showed an increase of 175,199, there were 354,052 fewer of last season’s lambs on that date tlian the year before. The decrease in the number of sheep and the somewhat lower prices that seem likely to rule for wool this season will reduce the returns from sheep, which, however, we hops may be counterbalanced by good prices for mutton and lamb. The returns showing the numbers of the different breeds of sheep iii the Dominion again prove that the flock merino is a diminishing quantity, only 1,819,339 being returned as against 1,932,663 the year before. The Romney Marsh stands at the head of the list as the largest of the purebreeds among the stud sheep, totalling 256,015, and has made a substantial increase during the year. Lincolns still hold second place, but with only 100,303, a decrease of over 11,000 in the twelve months. The two Leicester breeds, which come close up to the Lincolns, have also gone back, but not to the same extent, and Shropshires have further declined from the strong position they once held as fat lamb producers. Southdowns, merinos and “other breeds” show increases. • •