FLEECES OF STUD SHEEP.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 313, 28 September 1908, Page 5

FLEECES OF STUD SHEEP.

THE MAN UFAOTORER' S POINT OF -. ; V'l VIEW. , • ' Mr..S. B. Hollings, in the "Pastoralists' Review," has an; interesting articlc'in which' he criticises the'fleeces of stud sheep from a buyeris standpoint, and in doing so, acts'en-; tirelyjiri the interests of stud breeders all '. over'tee world.>"lt ia just as well (says/the editor\.of the "Review," commenting on. the article) -'to view matters from more than one standpoint, andHho stud breeder, while paying particular attention to character of wool, has so many other considerations to bear in mind that he is not able to consider the. fleece from a manufacturer's standpoint. Mr. < Hollings'take the manufacturer's view only, and calls attention to the unevenness of some stud wool that has' been offered on'the London";market. ,Now the' breeder, at his end of;.the woolgrowing industrj, has always striven for. an even flecco, but at the;; ' same time he has been aiming for a more profitable sheep. He has increased the density and weight of'fleeco, and in doing so he has developed folds and body wrinkles. On these folds and wrinkles the wool nearly always varies in character from that on the back, shoulders,' and plain parts of the sheep! but at the same time it must be said that many breeders have produced rams and ewes with remarkable'evenness in spite ,of i folds. It is also a fact that stud, sheep- with ;good folds get good flock rains, .plain in -body ■ and even in fleece.- These in their, ,'tuinvwork iin the general flocks, and fcho;~unevenncss - found in the stud sheep is lost in the progeny of the flock rams.; The u]timato':aim of woolgrowing -is to ' suit the; 'manufacturer's .;ie* quirements, and Mr. Hollings's comments should suffice to raise a- point which' stud ' breeders all over Australia should consider carefully. They point to the.' fact that stud breeders should not be content t to watch'the results of'their work only ' as; far >S; the' : salo of rams and ewes is conceirned/.ibut'should-study-the ultimate result,' which'x*is -the' manufacturer's 'opinion oh the' quality of wool their rams produce in the flocks to which, they go."