SHEEP-BREEDING.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1809, 9 February 1884, Page 2

SHEEP-BREEDING.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— l do not write in reply to anonymous correspondents, but the point I was aiming at having been misled, let me try to explain why I think a Shiopshire flock might in time be worked up from SouthdownLincoln ewes. Taking the history of the oiigin of the Shropshire Down, it was made by ciossing the local sheep with Southdown and Leicester. At that time there was a great urn on Leicester:*. As I am not SO years old I have to take Spooner and other authorities for these statements. The old-fashioned Lincoln about the same time wab cios&ed with the Leicester. Now, there is not such a great difference between the Leicester and the improved Lincoln as there was between the Leicester and the original breed of Lincolns. The eastern counties railways in England are nearly as slow as the Waikato line, and it is bad enough now to travel from Shropshire to Lincoln ;is it likely that in the old coaching days people from Shropshire would go to Lincolnshire to buy rams when Leicestcrs were all the rage, and to be got close to them. If I had the choice of material I would prefer Southdown-Leicester ewes to Southdown-Lincoln, as it would be less of an experiment. However, the bulk of our ewe^ in Aujkland are Lincolns, and Messrs Maclean have a flock of pure Southdowns, and have, or vised to have, South-down-Lincolns. For stud breeding it is all right to give £10 to £30 for ewes, and £20 to £200 for a ram, but these prices would | never pay for ordinary flocks. We can ! breed Southdown-Lincoln ewes for £1 each at 18 months old, and if the cross with the Shropshire proved a failure in establishing a breed suitable to Waikato, I dare say the cioss-breds would be very good mutton, tender and juicy enough to satisfy the general public, who only judge of a sheep as a mutton. There would be no great expense incurred. The only expensive item would be the pure Shropshire ranis. I do not say that everybody would succeed in woiking up, shall we say, a Waikato-Down flock, but I am not aware that the Southdown - Lincoln and Shropshire cross has been tried either here or in England. As the material is so plentiful why not try it? In Cheshire we did not breed for the stud, but for the butcher, and used either a '• Derbyshire Limestone " (a sort of Leicester) to cross with Cheviot ewes or Shropshires. We never thought of buying Lincoln rams in Cheshire, as the Derbyshire Limestones and Shropshires were each in the adjoining countries. If the convenience of buying rams near home affects us in these days of rapid travelling, how much more would it affect people in the old coaching days ; that alone would prevent the experiment being tried. Ordinary farmers cannot give the fancy prices given by stud breeders, and must work with the local breeds. As to a Shropshire-Southdown cross, how many Southdown ewes are for sale in Auckland province, or for that matter in New Zealand ? I look at it from this point of view : In London a Down sheep will bring a, higher price than a longwoo] for mutton. People are preparing for the frozen meat trade, and want to breed sheep that are the best quality of mutton. Ordinary farmers cannot afford to import pure Shropshirss, Southdowns, &c, and must leave that to stud breeders, who in time will work up numbers and bring the prices for Down sheep as low as they have brought the price of Longf-wools, but that will take years, and the farmer wants something within his means to go on with. Whether any of us have genius and patience enough to work up a local Down sheep from local material remains to be seen. Ido not intend to try, as I hope to be out of New Zealand in (Wither. y^.-^-I a,m, fee,., J, A« J>QW6iSt i