CHINESE AGRICULTURE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 86, 30 September 1947, Page 6

CHINESE AGRICULTURE

ASSISTING REHABILITATION BEST QUALITY STOCK SHIPPED Of all livestock obtained by UNRRA for the rehabilitation of Chinese agriculture, that from New Zealand possessed the best quality, and consequently has been allotted entirely to the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture as a nucleus for that country’s livestock industry of the future, Five breeding stations, three for cattle and two for sheep, have already been established to maintain the purity of the imported breeds, and to cross them with selected native dams to obtain breeds suitable for - the Chinese environment.

These points are mentioned by Mr Kennth Choy, livestock consultant for UNRRA, in a letter dated September 1. Mr Choy, who left Massey Agricultural College to assist with the shipment of cattle, sheep and poultry from New Zealand to China states that both the sheep and cattle have, become acclimatised fairly well. All the Corriedale sheep—except 04 which were left in Nanking for experimental purposes—were distributed to North-west China, where the climate and topography are somewhat similar to the Corriedale country of tire South Island. They were taken firstly to Nanking from Shanghai by train, and then to Lanchow and Peiping by aeroplane. For local distribution, trucks and drifts made of sheep-skin were used on the Yellow river.

The cattle were allotted largely to three breeding centres at Nanking, Formosa and Kwangsi (Southern China). The last mentioned lot used all means of transport' available, including the hoof, in travelling Central China’s rough roads in extremes of weather, before reaching Kwangsi. “So,” adds Mr Choy, who accompanied this draft, “shifts ing livestock in China is as difficult as, or more difficult than, mustering in the Mackenzie country of New Zealand.”