RUGS FOR SHEEP

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20896, 27 November 1937, Page 15

RUGS FOR SHEEP

MEAN BETTER WOOL ADVANTAGES CLAIMED Sir Frederick McMaster, of Dalkeith, owner of one of the “show stations” of New South Wales, in addressing a meeting of the Rotary Club at Mudgee discussed many matters of interest to pastoralists. One of the most interesting sections of his address concerned the rugging of sheep. He described the use of the rug as “one of the most wonderful developments in the pastoral industry,” and announced that he intended to rug 13,000 of his own sheep next year. He explained that rugging enables the sheep to grow considerably more wool, and as a means of putting on condition it is unrivalled for efficiency and cheapness.

Tried With Success This idea may come as a surprise to many sheepmen in Australia, where pastoralists seem rather to resent the suggestion that their stocks need any artificial defence or protection. Sir

Frederick’s proposal, however, has received emphatic endorsement from various quarters. The general manager of one of the largest stock and station agencies thinks that the financial benefit to Australia would be great if all sheep were rugged. The plan is not by any means a novelty, for it has been tried with success by Mr Otway Falkiner and other well known sheepmen, but it seems necessary to avoid any sort of cover that is waterproof, as if the air is excluded completely the wool tends to lose Its brightness and become dingy.

The general benefits of rugging seem to be well appreciated in other parts of Australia. Experiments were made in South Australia last year with 50 rugged sheep and 50 unrugged, and it was estimated that the wool from the rugged animals was worth 2d per lb more than the wool from the others.

The general effect of this experiment was to confirm the view maintained by most of the advocates of rugging, that sheep thus treated put on condition more rapidly than uncovered sheep. Wool Protected In any case, there can be no doubt that the rug protects the wool from dirt, from burrs, and from excessive wetness, and in this way helps definitely to improve the animal and the quality of the product. While this method of treatment has been carried out with great success in specially favourable localities, and under the eyes of experienced flockmasters, it is quite a different matter to propose its universal application. There were ab ut 114,000,000 sheep in Australia, and even though rugs of a satisfactory kind can be bought at 1/6 each, the figures suggest that large landholders might find that rugging involves a considerable addition to their outlay In time, trouble and money combined. Still, the opinions of such experts as Sir Frederick McMaster and Mr Otway Falkiner cannot be lightly set aside, and rugging in Australia has evidently come to stay.