IMPROVING SHEEP AND WOOL.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 July 1933, Page 5

IMPROVING SHEEP AND WOOL.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—From letters which have appeared in the press and from statements inside at certain meetings of farmers it is clear that some misconceptions exist concerning the proposals put forward by the provisional committee of fourteen set up by the meeting of sheep farmers held at Palmerston North on May 26. This com- * mittee, which I represented the Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa and Wellington West Coast (includes Taranaki) sheep districts attempted to crystalize existing opinion as to weaknesses in the sheep and wool industry which urgently require attention. The proposals which it drew up were published by thirtysix newspapers in the North Island in order to ensure adequate publicity, but it would seem that in certain cases it did. not go into sufficient detail with a result that misconceptions have' arisen in the minds of some people. The following statement has, therefore, been prepared in the hope that it will clarify the situation. It,has been suggested that the main object of x the wool levy is to finance the certification of rams and that the hill country farmer is, therefore, being taxed to provide funds for the stud breeder to “put his house in order,” a matter which he should undertake at his own expense. Such an arrangement would, it "is true, be grossly unfair. The attitude of the committee towards the certification of sires is, on the other hand, as follows:—It is firmly of the opinion that ,the principle of certification is sound; It believes that the quality of our sheep and wool can be more quickly raised by the elimination of the scrub rams which yearly are responsible for a further number of weak bodied sheep and additional hairy wool than by any other , means. The principle has been successfully applied in other countries; notably in Ireland, and has recently been introduced in Great Britain, therefore there should be no insuperable difficulty in working out a scheme suitable for New Zealand. For some time there has been a movement in the South Island j w maxe certification compulsory and this line of action was recently endorsed at the annual conference of the Royal Agricultural Society. Bearing in mind, however, the success which has attended the. voluntary certification of ryegrass seed, the committee is in favour of giving a voluntary system a trial in the case of sires. It believes that eventually the buying public would so neglect uncertified sheep that ram breeders would find it almost essential to have their sheep inspected. The committee' considers that a suitable scheme should involve fees for inspection, which once the scheme was soundly on its feet, would provide sufficient income to support it. The ram breeders -would not, therefore, be using the funds of the industry as a whole for their own particular advantage. It is hard to see how anyone can make out that they would gain by certification at the expense of the buyers. Actually they would find it difficult to market their tail-end rams which at present always find a sale at a, price, whereas the buyers would have the benefit of a pre action against buying seriously faulty slUep. It is djfficy.lt to undersjapd

a ram buyer should raise objections to a scheme whose sole object is to give, him assistance. Certification would only be concerned with glaring faults which should disqualify a sheep of any type or breed. The finer points which constitute type would not come into the picture at al|. The standard adopted to commence with could not be high since there could be no question of causing a shortage of rams. The committee has been criticised for not putting forward a definite scheme of certification. It must be remembered, however, that the present committee has no authority; it therefore feels that it should leave the details of a scheme to the body chosen to carry out the sheep and wool improvement scheme.—l am, etc., G. S. Peren, Secretary, Executive Committee. . Palmerston North, July 17.