A Study in Sheep-Breeding.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5279, 8 June 1895, Page 7

A Study in Sheep-Breeding.

("Bruni," in The Australasian.") SOME MISLEADING THEORIES.

With many young sheep-farmers— and nob a few old ones, too— there is a strong impression that to breed stud sheep of the highest standard one must be able from time to time to secure the besb of the stud sires that come into the market. In a few instances I have known the best rams of the season, judged as such by the price paid for them, purchased for a stud ; and yet, after several years of this Bystem of breeding, the sheep exhibited little if any improvement. Another generally accepted theory among Australian sheep-breeders is tbat a change of blood is absolutely I necessary at pretty frequent intervals to prevent the sheep from degenerating. The advocates of this theory seem to be posi sessed of tbe idea that there is some special virtue in the prac.ic.,aud that it is only by the introduction of a pronounced change of blood that the supposed tendency to degeneration can be prevented. Tho most violent changes of blood are often introduced into a stud in order to avoid tho least approach to that bogey of thoughtless stockowners, clcsa breeding. The flock that has had the benefit of freqent changes of blood from various sources haß invariably no type at aU. No experienced shcepowncr would think of selecting from such a stud either a ram or a ewe for breeding purposes. The foundation of both theories is the belief that great improvements can be made by leaps and bounds, and that a stud flock can be brought to the highest point of excellence by a Bhort cut. Those who attempt to gain the desired end by following thia short cut i will find to their disappointment that they ' have gone the longest way round. There is no royal road to eminence in sheepbreeding any mora than in any other business of life. To Bhow how a great flock has been formed, I give the history of a widely - known and highly - prized merino stud in an adjacent colony — a stud that has had a great past and, I believe, has a etill greater future. THE STOBT OF A GREAT FLOCK. Among the pioneers who made the colony of South Australia was a Scottish sheepfarmer named John Murray. Skill m sheep-breeding waa in him hereditary, for hia "for-bears" for many generations had been adepts in tho business. Soon after he arrived in the infant colony he commenced sheep-farming in a Bmall way at Mount Crawford, in the yearlß42. Hia flock cons'ssed of two distinct types of merincs, one of good-sizsd frame, clothed with bright, long-stapled wool, the other of small size, and carrying fleeces of dense short.staple wool. The larger sheep with combing wool came from New South Wales, and the smaller sheep with clothing wool came from Tasmania. To weld these two types of sheep into one, having the frame and staple of wool of the one type with the density and covering of the other, was the task undertaken by Mr Murray. He possessed all the natural qualities to fit him for the task, and added to these were experience and skill in breeding sheep in the Old Country, backed up with perseverance and intelligence of a high order. Until he arrived in Australia he knew nothing of merino Bheep, but he who has become a master in the art of breeding one variety of our domestic animals has already advanced three-parts of the way towards becoming a proficient in breeding any other variety. In a conversation I had with Mr Murray a good many years ago he described his method of selecting hiß sires in the following words: — "I take great care to breed from rams of strong constitution, with as much quality, softness, and lustre as possible ; with Binple yolk, but never losing Bight of great weight." He valued constitution above every other quality, and this, I believe,' was the main cau&e of the success he achieved. The originals of this flock * must have been fairly good cheep, for I find that Mr Murray gained his first prize [ in 1845 with a ewe that was shown in a ; pen with two of his brother's sheep. Thia ewe afterwards produced a famous ram named Mount Crawford. He was a twin, and had a large fleece of combing wool. Hie twin brother was small, and had a dense fleece of clothing wool. The ewe was accidentally killed when fifteen years old, and she proved to be in lamb at the time. From her have descended a great many famous sheep that have proved invincible in the show-yards of South Australia. The flock may be said to be greatly inbred to her, as for many years no rams but Mount Crawford and his direot descendants were used in the stud. THE SYSTEM OF BREEDING. For over half a century this famous inbred flock has been in the front of the South Australian merinoea. The question may naturally be asked, Have any of those ill effects become apparent that are said to invariably follow the practice of in-breed-ing ? The answer iB very easily given. There are no merinoea in the world that osses3 more robust constitutions than the sheep of this flock. While retaining that robust constitution in his sheep that he so thoroughly believed in, Mr Murray steadily improved the wool-bearing qualities of his sheep, so as to' keep them ever in the van. The pioneer sheep-farmer laid the foundations of his work deep and strong, and it will endure. From the fiist he aimed at breeding up to a well and carefully thought out standard of excellence, and all his

thoughts and endeavoms were directed to the realisation of i-.ia id-id. Without the aid of s-roa from other flecks, and by consummate skill and judgment in the selection of the breeders, he kept equal pace in the improvement of his floekß with the best examples of the merinos of Australia. F<om the time when re showed hi 3 first sheep, half a century ago, tho sheop of the flock ho formed have carried off the greater number of prize, for grass-fad sheep in South Australia. He wns strongly opposed to housing and pampering his show sheep, and never exhibitod in any but the grass-fed sections. Some little time before he died, Mr Murray remarked that he had never bred a sheep up to his standard of excellence ; but I cannot help thinking that had he seen his last crop cf lambs arrive at maturity he would have admitted that there were several sheep in the flock that would " fill the bill." When the old flock was divided among, hia four sons it was singularly rich in sires and dams of the very highest quality. the division op the old floce. Oa the death of Mr John Murray the fl' "c'_ wss divided among hia four sons, Mr John Murray, Rhino Park, Eden Valley ; Mr T. Hope, Murray Mouut, Beevor ; Mr W. A. Murray, Cuppeodeo; and Mr Alec J.Murray, Mount Crawford. The sjs.«ni of breeding precis.d with so much success by the father ia followed by the sits, To the present Jay no foreign blood hrs been introduced ia any of tha four flecks. A few ye_rs back Mr Alec. J. Murray wrs much taken with alVsnanifsn rara named Cra.'ar, | a champion at the Midland Show, that was I pui cbassd by Mr J. H. Angas, of South Aus- [ tralia. He obtained perm s.hn to put a few J ewes to this ram es an experiment, and j raised three ram lcmVs and one ewe lamb, | Of those lambs Mr A. J. Murray writes — ["They were very like my own sheep, j though shorter in staple and smaller in frame, but good" in all points. : Finding I had gained nothing by cbanging the blood, I sold the lot to Mr [ Angos, never used them, and never bred I from tne ewes again." The other brothers ! have carefully avoided the introduction of | cut-fide blood into their flocks. The four I estates are situated in localities having | different climates and soils, and as the | brothers exohange rams, they can practise j that valuable aid in keeping up a stud within i'3_lf which our American cousins c .11 "the climatic outcross." Under these circumstancea, even if a change of blood were desired, there ia no need to go outside the old flock, for a ram raised on any one of the four estates is a very decided caange to the sheep of tha others. The present owners of the flecks are true sbeepfcreedere, for thoy do not delegate to others the task of selecting and mating their rams and ewee. They have that intimate knowledge of the individuals in the studs without which ib is impossible to attain a ! loading position as a stud shospbreeder.

INSTANCES OF ATAVISM AND VARIATION. ' | When sheep having such opposite qualities I S3 those with which the late Mr Murray i formed hia flock are bred together there I are certain to be fof some years cons;derable oscillations in the type of the s.ock raised, ahd this wes the case at Mount Crawford. The fleck was bred to produce good sized sheep, having combing wool with as much density as possible. From the firsb the Tasmanian type has cropped up occasionally, and at times as pronounced as in the original Bheep. Some of these sheep that " throw back " to the old Tasmanian type might almost pass for pure Negrettea. In the experiments tried with them they have shown that they posesss great prepotent power. As Mr Alec. J. Murray says— "Their progeny are all like themselves, only more so." Of another type of sheep that at times appears in the flock, Mr A. J. Murray saya — "I find occasionally a very hairy lamb turning into a large sheep having wool of straight pile, and with lußtre as bright as silver, but quite losing ! the hairiness before attaining maturity." These sheep' have proved to be very prepotent, but no advantage was fouud in using them. The appearance of these bright, lustrous -wpolled cheep has been noticed in many merino flocke in Victoria and Tasmania. It is avidently the result o? the conditions of life in Australia, for nothing like ib was ever eeen among the merino sheep of Europ9 or America. Mr J. L. Currie, o? Larra, formed a tribe of these lu3trous-woolled sheep, and has used them largely in his fleck. The finest examples of this type I have seen were in the flocks of Mr David Taylor, Sb Johnston, and Mr W. H. Gibson, Fairfield, both in Tasmania. A ram in the flock of the latter gentleman had the most beautiful fleece I ever saw. It was like silt., as white as snow, light in yolk, free from dirt and weighed 121 b. CONCLUSION I have selected the history of the Mount Crawford flock for tho reason that it presents a valuable object lesson for young Australian Bheep-breeders. It is a I record of what may ba accomplished by | unremitting cue and skill in breeding up to a well-chosen standard of excellence, taking no notice the while of the fads aad f p.shions of the day, but earnestly following out a well-marked line of action. | Though I have selected the story of an inbred flock as a study in sheep-breeding I do not wißhittobe understood that I recom- [ mend in-breeding to all flocfe-mastera, indeed, I regard the system as one that can be successfully practised only by the masters in the art of live stock husbandry. The originala of the Mount Crawford flock possessed no exceptional excellence, and all the improvements made were the result oE the skill and judgment of the breeder, ; carried on consistently for many years. j The old pioneer has gone to hia rest, but ! he haß left behind him a memory that will endure while the breeding of high-class merinos is practised in the wide pastures of Australia. His career Bhould be an encouragement to those who have chosen live stock husbandry aB the business of their lives-