SHEEPBREEDING.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14153, 12 March 1910, Page 7

SHEEPBREEDING.

I FASHIONS AND FANCIES. j The beat indication of the variations * in fashion in sheepbreeding is prob- ] ably afforded by the annual ram fairs. , Every dog has its day, and so has almost every breed of sheep. So far as J Canterbury is concerned, different breeds have come into favour and gone 1 out again, and only one has steadily c held its own. That is the English Lei- T cester, and it has been generally ac- \ ceptecl that in New Zealand the home 1 if this breed is in Canterbury. It is < not only suitable for the soil and cli- ' mate, but it is . one of tlio best com- 8 binntions of wool and mutton, and it * therefore suffers less from the vary- ' ing demands and fluctuations in tho wool and frozen meat trade than do V other useful breeds. The Lincoln has 1 quite gone out of favour in this pro- c vince as a general purpose sheep, but j J is still valued for mating with the J merino for providing one of the best ' classes of fine crossbred wool. The " Romney Marsh is likewise in very few hands, though in the North Island it ' is tho most pooular breed, and in Otago r and Southland it has many supporters. I A well-known authority on sheepbbreed- 1 ing holds, however, that a cross between ; the English Leicester and Romney T Marsh will produce an ideal farmer's _ sheep for the- Canterbury Plains. 8 Border Leicesters have increased their c popularity' pf late years, and flocks J have been considerably strengthened by * importations of the best blood obtain- ! able in Scotland, but the enthusiastic supporters of the breed appear to have ? rnthv over-estimated the present de- : ' mnud. Only a few years ago the ' Shopshire breed furnished the second a lamest, entry of rams at the Cnnter- * bnrv Fair, but now it has descended to fourth place. The reason is probably c found in the fact tliat earlv lambs are • ' not now required for the frozen meat * trade, as the Australian and Argentine * supplies must be cleared off the Home i 1 market before New Zealand comes in. i f Breeders of fat lambs have, during the J past three or four seasons, obtained the best prices in the autumn, and they f have naturally made more use of the ■ - Leicesters, to secure a better return I from the. skins. The Southdown has, * for the same reason, not made more ' ' headway, and breeders find the best. 1 TT-rkot for their rams in the North 1 Island, whore they are mated with the t limo-frame'd Romney and Romnov- t T. : n"oln cross owes, and tluis enable' 1 the northern fat lamb raises to approach moro nearly Canterbury lamb in nualitv and price. Since halfbred wool has been in demand the Corriedales have made steady progress, and now occupy much of the country formerly devoted to tnjerinora. Tlie latter to pnt usually make their atthe v?m fnir, and with the subdivision of large estates and the increase of the Corriedales and other crossbred sheep on the hill country, the 1 hrpnd is gradually, but Burely, de- 1 Mining in numbers. Of the new 1 breeds introduced of late years into 1 Canterbury, the Ryeland is training in favour slowly. Those who have tried ' if fnr r T r:si-;ni. for fat lamb production 1 sneak highly of the results, and from [ the fact, that .it mates well with halfbred f>nd crossbred ewes, it will probably in t.hp future largely take tho place of the Down breeds. No part of 1 Mew TieMnnd has moro variety of 1 breeds than Canterbury, because the various districts of the province offer 1 S'i miieh difference in soil «nd climate and «enoral conditions. The aim c.f breeders is to make both wool and mut- . J ton rnv. and they have hitherto sue- ! ; ceeded in doing so.—("Press.") 1 :