SHORN VERSUS UNSHORN LAMBS.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume II, Issue 2, 15 February 1911, Page 107

SHORN VERSUS UNSHORN LAMBS.

To the Editor. Sir, — Having for many years shorn lambs at the same time as the ewes—the end of November (if possible)l feel satisfied that is the best plan, for various reasons. It saves mustering and knocking the lambs about. If ticks are —and there are few flocks where none are found at this season of the year — leave the bare skin of the ewe, and infest the woolly lamb. (If lambs are not to be shorn I advocate dipping off the shears, for this reason.) Again, by early shearing, the covering is removed at the beginning of summer, when it becomes a burden, so that the shorn lamb thrives much better than when woolly, and the fleece has more time to grow before winter sets in, which is of greater importance than is generally admitted by sheep-men, and which the last experiment at Ruakura has proved. With regard to the general utility of shearing lambs, much depends on local conditions, but I have come to the conclusion that when lambs are dropped in the end of August, or September, and shearing takes place at the end of November, it is advisable to shear the lambs with the ewes for the reasons already stated.

I have been much interested in the result of your experiment*, as for many years few would admit that the method we adopted was the most payable. But there is one aspect that has been one of my leading arguments in favour of early shearing that is not touched by the Ruakura experimentnamely, the value of the wool, which is put down at one price. I suppose it was owing to the vagaries of the wool-markets that the value of the lamb’s wool is set down at 7|d., and of the hogget-wool at lid. I would suggest (perhaps you are adopting it in the coming experiment) valuing the lamb’s' wool that comes off in January, and when the hoggets are shorn in October or November value the fleece on the same market basis ; also, that expert value be obtained as to the difference between the shorn and the unshorn hogget-wool. In reality the wool from hoggets that have been shorn as lamb’s is not hogget-wool in the eyes of the manufacturer, as the natural life, which he values, has been removed. Another reason for having the fleece valued is that buyers have been complaining of late years of the shortness in staple of New Zealand wool, which can be partly accounted for by the fact that the greater portion of the hogget-wool, especially that of the North Island, is only of about nine months’ growth, whereas if the lambs were shorn at the ewe-shearing the hogget-wool would have the full twelve months’ growth, and thereby be more valuable.

' I hope you will accept these suggestions in the spirit in which they are offered. They may not be of any great moment in the eyes of some even most successful sheep-men, but my experience leads me to the foregoing conclusions. I am, &c., Feilding, 17th December, 1910. John Linton.

* October number of,the Journal, page 362.

In fed a acreage Otago Canterbury. Full also crop Canterbury.

District, Wheat. Oats. Barley. Peas. Ryegrass. Cocks- | foot. Red Clover. Potatoes. Turnips. Mangolds. Bushels per Acre. Pounds per Acre. Tons per Acre. Auckland 31-74 36-82 32-16 55-42 30’00 492 344 6-45 19-50 21-90 Hawke’s Bay 28-00 34-00 33-00 45-00 25-00 420 137 8-00 17-00 31-00 Taranaki and Wellington .. 29-00 37-00 45-00 .. 420 7-00 Nelson and Marlborough . . 34-70 37-00 22-60 29-50 417 205 198 6-80 18-00 20-60 Canterbury 27-40 34-60 31-40 32-00 398 95 132 7-30 13-65 26-60 Otago .. 24-53 37-63 18-31 33-60 552 242 200 5-45 15-10 14-00 Southland 33-00 41-00 31-00 15-00 528 219 7-00 17-00 22-00 Averages for the Dominion 27-12 36-95 27-22 52-13 31-14 488 126 147 6-65 15-56 21-60 Dominion averages for ten years, 1900-1 to 1909-10 31-39 39-44 34-5 50-34 32-01 505-2 184-05 5-84

ESTIMATED AVERAGE YIELDS OF FIELD CROPS AS AT 31ST JANUARY, 1911.