The Romney Marsh

Tuapeka Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 5961, 17 July 1912, Page 1

The Romney Marsh

The Romney Marsh is making so itjUcli progress in Nov South Wales that an article on the breed in the current issue of the British Journal of Agriculture is opportune. The characteristic of the Homney which surprises most people in Australia is its remarkable hardihood, and the way in whioh it thrives on rough and hungry country. In the article referred Co the original home of the Romney Marsh is described, and makes clear the breed's thrift on poor areas. " This breed of sheep," says the writer, " has for centuries been kept on the estensivo sparsely populated tract of alluvial land on the southern coast of Kent, known, as the 'Romney Marsh. This land was recovered from the sea at a very early period, iand comprises an area of some 40,000 acres of pasture administered as regards the system of drainage and sea defence by " the lords of the level." . . . The soil varies in character from a poor sand and barely covered shingle to a deep rich alluvial loam. . . . The district is bleak and exposed ; hedges are absent, the fields 'being divided by dykes, which in a severe winter, when lightly frozen and filled with snow are a serious danger to the Hocks ; few trees are found or shelter, and the gales from east and west sweep unchecked across the march." As long as records exist the breed has been kept practically pure. Probably- the improved Leicester was introduced to some ox tent into the Romney blood and it is generally considered to advantage ; but the main characteristics of the southern sheep wen- not changed. As a contrast to the tendency to-day to market mutton when very young, it is interesting to recall a writer's statement of 18(HJ, that the ■Romney wethers " seldom reach the market until thev are three years I old."

The influence of the Leicester, says the Journal article, 'was to produce a smaller, better sot-up, more compact, deeper sheep that the old type, and these weighed more- than the long-legged and long-bodied animals ; they were also ready for the butcher a year earlior ; they did nor consumo so much food, and so permitted of increased stocking of Ihe land, whilst the wool was improved in quality without losing its heavy weight. The breed since this period has been maintained pure, and its present high position for utility both as a meat ;l nd wool-producing animal, is due to the skill and enterprise of the breeders, who are reaping their reward in the rapidly advancing popularity of tho breed in the esteem of llockowners all over the world."

The Romney is extolled as a forager, and the article then goes on to say :—" The 'breed is a prolific one. With good management one or two lamb ewes should produce half twins, and tegs 10 per cent, twins, or onethird twins from a mixed (lock. The ewes are good mothers, and produce plenty of milk. The record from ono ilock shows 320 two-lamb ewes, yielding 539 lambs, 200 ewes with doubles, P.) with three and 101 singles." And on tho question of wool and the valu 0 of Romney for crossing purposes : "The wool,'as a rule, sells at a trifle lower price than Down wool i (though it has l»en known to sell at a higher prioe.) The average clip from ewes, washed beforo clipping is 81b to 101b; tegs', lib to 91b.; lambs 1-i'lb', A lamb romj aged four months has been known to clip 7}lb, and rams up to over 201b, showing the possibilitI ies of the 'breed. For crossing purposes the Romney is an excellent; subject, the Southdown, Shropshire, and Hampshire a n d Suffolk rams being used, a nd tho quality of the mutton is improved by the use of the Down breeds. For early maturity the Hampshire cross is by some considered the most serviceable ; other, however, prefer the Shropshire cross, as theyjatten more quickly, whilst for quality the Southdown cross makes a firstclass butchers' sheep. The 'Romneys, being good mothers, feed their lambs well, and a good many arc crossed lor fat lambs."

Mr Charlos Whitehead, a few years ago, called attention to a peculiar habit of the Kent or Romney Marsh sheep, which, he claimed, fits tharn in a special degree for grazing marshes: " Kent sheep always feed singly. On being put into a pasture they immediately disperse all over it, and feed it down evenly and thoroughly, whereas downs and sheep of other 1 breeds feed in groups, and made bare paths in all directions by their " fol-low-the-loader ' habits." This habit, no doubt, is an outcome of the conditions of life. Sheep which pick up a living on comparatively poor pasture would acqnire the habit of scattering in search of food. Sheep reared on rich pasture are under no such necessity.