"THE GOLDEN HOOF."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11947, 5 March 1917, Page 5

"THE GOLDEN HOOF."

SHEEP-FARMING AND CROPPING. It is an old axiom that the "sheep ha 3 a golden hoof." and it may be also added just now that the •' sheep has a golden carcase" as weil, lor there is little doubt that now, as in practically all times, the sheep is the most profitable animal on the farm. 'lhroughout the long years of acute agricultural depression it was the flock that saved many a good man from going under, and in these days, when the cost of production is almost greater than anyone can remember, yet mutton can be more cheaply produced than any other meat, and at the same time is making as good a price as, or even better than, anj other animal food. Sheep-breeding is in many respects on a different basis from the feeding of either cattle «? horses. In cattle-breeding, for instance, tin breeder must look to the animals themselves to pay tho rent, ana the siicces;, of a herd entirely depends on the prices realised bv the sale of young bulls and heifers periodically, and in a dairy herd bv the sale of milk, but sheep-breeding and feeding is a necessary adjunct to high-class arabio farming, and _ the breeder looks to a return not only from the animals themselves, but also from the extra good crops grown on his land as the result of the increased fertility of the soil due to the maintenance of tho flock on present-day principles. No one will deny that there has been great improvement wrought in our breeds of' sheep during the last halfcentury, and this improvement has also been coeval with a great improvement in the system of cultivation on the lighter arable soils, writes ''Border Welshman" in the "Live Stock Journal." OBVIOUS. The improvement in the various breeds of sheep, or, at any rate, in what may be called the more domesticated breeds, has been brought about in conjunction with a broad-minded system of farming, and it is a well-known fact that the breeding and feeding of a high-class flock of sheep goes hand in hand with a high-class system of farraintr. There has been a close relationship between the two from the days of the first great improvers of the soil, for with the growth of turnips and clovers and other green crops the first improvement in our breeds of sheep began to be wrought. This great work has bean going steadily on from the latter part of the eighteenth century down to the present day, and. in every breed of sheep indigenous to the British Isles it is possible to see. The good results brought about by a continuous system of breeding only from the best, even amongst the hill breeds which live under the most natural conditions! can be seen, but there is no doubt; that it is in those breeds which are chiefly maintained on arable land that the greatest progress has been made, and in these breeds we have seen the development of early maturing characteristics and quick-feeding propensities which were quite unknown in the middle of last century, when sheep were kept to be three or four years old before being fed off to the butcher. A CROPPING SYSTEM. The development of these characteristics has been rendered possible only ry the employment of a system of cropping which provides the flock with a supply of fresh, succulent food at all seasons of the year and the growth of roots of all kinds—kohl-rabi, cabbage, rape, rye, winter oats, vetches and so forth —has played no small part in the development of some of the most popular breeds of sheep of the present day. Thus it will bo seen that as in the maintenance of a good flock on arable farms the soil and, its cropping develop the sheep, so the latter develop and increase the fertility of the soil, and that the one i.? essential to the other. One of the greatest mistakes made in sheep breeding is trying to breed a c'.a'-s of sheep unsuited to the soil on which it is to be maintained. One is often asked, "'•' Which is the best breed to keep?" and the only answer that can be given is that no one breed is best suited for all soils and conditions. As a general rule tho breed which contains some of the indigenous blood of the district proves the most remunerative but this cannot apply in all districts, because many have no indigenous breed at all, and these are districts where the cross-bred usually prevails and has become so popular. NOT AN EASY MATTER.

The introduction of a new pure breed into a fresh district is not a matter to bo undertaken lightl\, and a breeder who goes off the customary path must proceed with caution. At the same time, owing to more enlightened methods of flock management, we do sec flocks of some of our best bieeds maintained at a high degree of excellence in districts very romoio indeed from their native haunts. Tho Suffolk, the Oxford, and the Shropshire are bred in Scotland and \ in Ireland with as great a degree of success as they are in their own native J counties, and, on tho other hand, we j find the Scotch breeds spreading all ) over the Midlands and South of England, and on the cold, heavy clay soils j of some parts of tho Midlands the j Scotch half-bred Border LeicesterCheviot crossed with Suffolk or Oxford I rams is becoming quite the most popular class of sheep, the lambs being in great demand for grazing purposes. Still, although we nowadays find sheep breeding successfuly carried on on soils which in days gone by would not have carried a sheep, thanks to drainage and a proper system of feeding, yet the flock will always play the most important role on these farms where the system of close folding can bo employed. If over it was necessary to make two blades of corn grow where one did formerly, it is doubly essential just now, and the manuring of the soil by tho flock on the close folding system is the best and cheapest 'way of ensuring the growth of -nig, substantial crops of corn. In sheep farming on arable land skilled management of both flock and sou is essential, and is always rewarded by a profitable return from both. The sheep farmer must, pay close atten. tion to his flock and to his land also, ; t,o that lie can not only breed the best ! and most suitable class of sheep, but j also manage his land in such a way I that, whatever kind of season may I come, the flock can have a good supply ! of suitable food, and ho must look j ahead and arrange his cropping acj cordingly. A scientific method of mani aging a flock of sheep must depend on j

i c scientific method of farming and I cropping the land, and the combination ! of the two is certain to give tho best j results 4 in the production of mutton, wool and crops.