NEW ZEALAND EWES

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21415, 6 March 1935, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND EWES

PRAISE FftOM AUSTRALIA FINE WOOL AND FINE MUTTON * i Returning to Sydney after a 2000mile tour of the best fat-lamb rearing country in New Zealand, Mr J. M. Coleman, senior sheep and wool instructor, states that his outstanding impression was the significance Place by New Zealand breeders on the quality of the wool of sires of the Downs breeds, particularly Southdowns. As the article shows Mr Coleman s 2000mile tour was exclusively in the North Island, and some of his observations do not applv to New Zealand as whole. Nevertheless, they are mtereSp'rominent breeders maintained, Mr Colemain said, that the finer-wool led sheep of good character produced mutton of finer grain and better and all breeders paid a consideiablt amount of attention to this feature in selecting their sires and m the show 1 phase, to Mr Coleman's knowledge had been more or less ignored by lamb breeders of New South Wales, but if they hoped to hold their place in the fat-lamb industry of the world this factor, and the use of better ewes would have to receive their earnest consideration. Excellent Ewes Referring to the ewes, he was strongly impressed by the types generally employed for fat-lamb production. They were of excellent conformation, "fram.v," deep. and having good milk supply. Breeders never had any difficulty in obtaining all the suitable ewes they required m any ni Thts ""position could be understood when it was realised that the stations in the poorer or hilly country used all Romney Marsh ewes, where they were bred until thev were five years of age, and then sold to the fat-lamb producer. ~ ~ . The procedure was to sell them at the sales or fairs throughout both Islands, and they could be bought in any quantity. The type of ewes em ~ ployed by prominent breeders in Australia are equally as good from the viewpoint of conformation, but the ewes employed in New Zealand throughout the industry were of a higher standard. The price of these sheep ranged from 25s to 375, according to age and seasonal conditions prevailing. Some ewes from the merino base are used in the South Island, whereas the North Island ewes were practically pure Romney. Ilip Priced Romncys The lamb-raisers in New Zealand, he said, had much smaller areas than did the breeders in Australia, with the result that the methods employed were more thorough and the work was more of a special nature. The Romneys bred in New Zealand were of a better type than those used in New South Wales, having better conformation and greater depth, and the importance of using sheep cf good standard would be appreciated from the prices obtained for Romney Marsh rams, which varied from eight guineas to 18 guineas. Superior Southdowns The Southdowns in New Zealand were of an infinitely higher standard, than most of the Southdown studs in New South Wales. This was only to be expected, when it was realised ihat in that state they had only been breeding them for about live years whereas some New Zealanders had hnd their ewe flocks limited to a certain number for 30 years or more. Even with their high standard of excellence, the Southdown breeders in New Zealand were still importing ton sires from England. In his opinion the rams used for fat-lamb production in New Zealand were much of the same standard as those used in his state, but the big factor in the better quality lambs produced in the Dominion was due to the type of ewe employed. This he considers is the paramount feature in the difference between the methods | employed by both countries.