FACTS FOR FARMERS. FATTENING SHEEP FOR THE BUTCHER.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 150, 24 April 1873, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS. FATTENING SHEEP FOR THE BUTCHER.

(by gkobgb geddks.)

This is an important and special brauch of sheep management that demandf cureful consideration; for the final destination of every sheep that fulfils all the requirements of the farmer is the ihambles. There arc exceptions to this rule, where sheep nre railed mainly for the wool they produce ; in mild climate*, and in vast flocks, of nomadic habits, that wander over extensive pastoral districts in tho puriuit of pasturage, iuvolving a system of management entirely unlike that of small locks kept by farmers, the value of the carcaso of whose sheep ai food for man is of the highest importance. In England the sheep, as a food-producing animal, has become so important that only those breeds of sheep are there raised that pay best when fattened for tho butcher, and tho wool produced ii a matter of secondary consequence. Generally tho case here has boon reversed, and sheep have been raised principally for their fleeces, and their meat as food for man has been considered of less importance. But in this matter as population increase, or bettor methods of meat-preserving are discovered, considerable changes may be looked for. The world is learning that good J mutton ib the \ cry best ef flesh food, and in the ricmily of cities and large villages tho 10-calJed English breeds will soon take the place of the sheep that have heretofore been most profitable because of the fineness of the wool they bore. Not only will the taste of people be educated to the use of good mutton, but the demand for combing wool* that has lately sprung up, and is likely to increase, will naturally lead to the adoption of the Lincnlns, Costwoldi, and Southdowns, and grades between these breeds and the merino as the most profitable sheep to raise near good markets where the very best of mutton is appreciated and paid for. To the uneducated tatte fat mutton ii good mutton, w ithout much regard to the breed of tho sheep that produced it, nnd men who consider themselves very good tasters and judges have more than once been made to praiso merino mutton under the sup]X>sition that it was either Southdown or somo other of t lie English breeds, because it was very fat. An old friend and eminent feeder of sheep, rejoices in telling how a newly-armed Englishman (well known in the agricultural world) enjoyed and praised u roast of mutton at his table. " Ah, Mr r you have kept your taste for good mutton that you acquired in jour native land, and you know better than to cut the little greasy merino shoep of this country-—it is a treat to sit before such a roast as thii." When tho Englishman, with his educated taste, bad fully committed himself in favour of the mutton he was eating, our old friend informed him that in fact it was a part of a well fatted merino wether of his own feeding. Poor mutton, that is, mutton from sheep low in flesh, is very poor stuff —and j>cople that have been forced to eat such meat, and ivho have formed their opinions of the merino's capacity to produce good meat in that way, really know but little on the subject, and might readily fall into the error of the Englishman at our old friend's table. A merino wether, three years old, fatted as he tAlouid be, makes food that most peoplo would be entirely satisfied with. Somo few persons, whose tastes have been educated to know the difference, will pay largely for Southdown, in preference to merino mutton, however well it ra.iy ha\e been fattoned; and still others will pay tho highest price for tho ttuck-meated Cotswolds, with two or more inches in thickness of fat on their ribs. But, in tho London market, the Southdown is generally bought by what are there called " the gentry," at about n penny more a pound than the coarser kinds, such as the Cotsuold, sells for to those less able to pay the highest prices. And, too, the fat of the Cotswold is considered a luxury by the hardworking man, while people of less active habits would reject it as unsuited to their powers of digestion. The relative value of different breeds of sheep to pay their feeders for the food given them, has been a subject tbitt practical men have not agreed about. Reports of experiments have generally been in favour of the so-callod English breeds, us compared with the meriuo —but the gain made in proportion to the food given has not been so very much in favour of an) one breed, as to mako it superior to all others, when the whole case has been considered. The value of tho wool must bo tsken into the account as well as the ability to return much gain in meat for a given quantity of food consumed. The price per pound of combing wool, such *is the English breeds of sheeps produce, is just now a most important item. But the producers of combing wool give so much less of weight of wool, in ptopottion to tho weight of carcase, that the merino pays better as a wool producer, at present prices, than the English sheep. Now, if we cicdit the merino with the greater > alias of his lleeee, he cm bear to be charged with the e\tra qunntit) of food required to fat him for the butcher, and still be, in many coses, the most profitable breed to raise, both for wool and mutton.