THE BOOM IN ROMNEYS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 811, 7 May 1910, Page 8

THE BOOM IN ROMNEYS.

' WILL IT LAST? The most striking feature of New Zealand sheep-farming in recent, years has beqn the wonderful Komney boom in the North Island. The Romncy is far and away the most popular sheep in the coun-try-at present, and' marvellous" develop- ■ nicnti liavo been niado by leading Komney stud-breeders. The number of flock ranis /gives a .good idea of .the relative popularity of the different breeds.. According to- the annual sheep re turns the .figures last year, five years ago, and ten years ago, were as follow:—. . ■ . - - ; 1903. 1901. 1899. Merino' ... 22,814 30,051 22,310 Lincoln .......... 47,228 37,824 78,230 " Komney 93,639 52,035 29,711 . Border Leicester 37,831 26,255 17,744 English Leicester 41,031 36,600 • 19,794 - Shropshire ...... 9,831 14,130 5,652 Southdown ...... 8.755 5,459 ■ 2,160 Other breeds ... 21,649 18,350 . 6,203 During the ten-year period from 1899 to 1909 the total number of sheep in the country increased from- 19,348,506 to 23,480,707, or by about. 20 per cent.' In the same .period. the Komney flock rams had increased by over 300.per cent. Speaking to a Dominion representative a few.'days''ago a gentleman, who has been connected with the sheep industry .for., many. years past, said he thought the 'Komney boom, would not ,last long. '.In hi? view, the Komney had only one thing to .recommend it, and that was its consti- ■ tut-ion. - Its carcass-was very'ordinary, ind its-wool-was not nearly so valuable as that of the Lincoln. Present-day breeders,,it.'was, true, had developed the Kurriney wool to a-wonderful extent,''but they v.-ero in. grave . danger of 'undermining constitution when they did this. The ' Lincoln breeders had overdone the breed-it&'-'for wool, and had had to pay for it with'' animals that could hardly.-stand up. To recover the lost constitution of their flocks' many of them had been forced to Introduce Konmey blood. ■ Now the Komney men seemed to be in danger of making exactly the'sa-mo mistake. Personally he thought that before-long a reaction in! favour of the Lincoln would take place. "The' Lincoln, in his opinion, garo. the best results in. .'wool '.•and; carcass 'in the. shortest time of any sheep. It-was • a highly specialised machine, and it/ was no use turning it out-and-leaving it to ■ starve, as many farmers did! With sheepfarmers who were business men-enough to their-.sheep..proper treatment, our informant was -positive that soundly-bred ■Lincolns must give better results in most districts of the North -Island than any . other breed of sheep. ■ .