THE BUILDING OF A ROMNEY STUD.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 984, 26 November 1910, Page 20

THE BUILDING OF A ROMNEY STUD.

MR. ALFRED MATTHEWS'S

ACHIEVEMENT' o

FROM .1875 TILL 1910,

Tho road to Waiorongomai leads' ono through several miles of Native , bush' beforo Mr. Alfred Matthows's' home- , stead is-reached. Mr. Matthews is one of the too 'few settlers who have refused to allow the natural verduro of his : land to bo all destroyed. In moir* parts of Now .Zealand ' Mr. Matthews is known, as the owner of ono of the most noted studs of Romney sheep in tho country. ■ His stud was founded in ■ 1875 by tho purchase of eighty fourth[cross ewes, bred by .the late Mr. Alfred , Ludlam, of Waiwetu, Lower Hutt." Fourth-cross in this case means that ■ the first cross was between merinos and ißomneys, arid tho 'threo subsequent crosses bred progressively towards tho Romney breed. Shortly after the purchase mentioned Mr. Matthews bought .about, one; hundred sixth-cross 'ewes, and also thirty purebred Romnoy ewes, and an imported ram named Bismark. All these sheep were obtained from Messrs. J. and H. Barber, who haa .bought them from.Mr. Ludlam. .Mr. ■Matthews was, never ablo to find out who bred Bismark, but, judging by tho style, of the ram, he is kclined to think that the. sheep was a Rigdcn ram. From the purebreds Mr. Matthews bred . tho stud rams ho used in his flock. .. After/a short lapse of tiino

; he.sdld..the foiirth-crqss ewes to Mr. jWilkiifton, of' Lake; Meadows. Later ion ho obtained.a ram from Mr. E. J. Orongoronßd',' .'and" this •rani was by tho'imported ram Colonel, '.which, though imported 1 by'-Mr.-Lud-ilam, was nover used , by him.

_ This ram was of an entirely different •character to. most of tlio Romney sheep Mil tho country at, that time, 'as ho carried a good crimpy fleeco of good .staple ;and -lustre. , Hero, , is a very interesting point in' , Romnoy r breeding: ;Up to. this' time- thp class of Romney wool usually was , of- • a light, fuzzy kind, which, was -quite unsuitable for rough country—the kind ;of wool' of which, it was said,'"You onlyhavoto show a'Romney tho scrub and his wool will fall off.', , , The imported sheep wore Wairarapa, Show,. at Carterton, arid^w.ere^ffthrownlout , ' ibytho judge, a man well' known'through New -Zealand- who , was judging moro than, one breedof sheep ■' that day. ,Tho reason given, for .the throwing ;out. was that tho sheep of.tho other exhibitors showed ;more of tho eld Romnoy type.■■- To those r whb know the class of wool aimed'at .by the breeders of to-day this is a highly-interesting point. At the first committee.meeting after the show, Mr ' Matthews stated,, that he would decline to exhibit again unless a Romney judge was appointed, and the.result was that i 10lI ol ' 1 0 7 ln e .year Mr. James Little, who had been overseer, for Dr. Webster, a South Island Romney breeder, was •appointed. The-same class of shoep were exhibited, and . Mr. Matthew's fairly scooped tho pool. And for seve-ral-years the progeny of that ram carried all before them..

. ..From, about 1880 to 1895. Mr. Mat-,thews-..was. a regular'exhibitor at the .Urterton-.and the. Wellington' Shows ■ (while, the latter was in existence), and . ho., invariably carried off' the lion's sharp, of tho Romney prizes. Ho exhibited at two dozen.shows, and only lost tho..,champion rain prize on thre'o occasions. '..

Ho also exhibited largely in the fat sheep line, in the two-tooth, • and four-tooth, and sixrtooth classes.. Tho first time ho showed fats ho was heathen'in. the. six-tooth class by a pen'of old Lincohis. After .that, year sheep in the wether class, beyond' forty-two months, were, not .allowed to be exhibited, and from, then forward,. during, the' whole time lie. was showing fat sheep, he was never defeated in" the twfrtooth, the four-tooth, or' the sixtooth classes. Tho last occasion on which Mr. Matthews'a. fats went'into

the show .. pons waa about', five years ago, when they.took., nearly all the' prizes. ....''• .'..'•'-■ ■', ■ ' V. lmportations. : : ' In, about ; 1882 ; llr. Robert , Cqbb irhporjtcd half, a'dozen, rams on Mr. Matthows's behalf. / Tho sheep were bred by Thomas-Cobb,-Giles, and Finn. Mr Cobb also brought out nine ewes of which-Mr.-'Matthews secured -trio two ho considered the .choicest.- -Mr.-1 Matthews got no.more imported sheep till about 1893 or 1894. • ■' At', that time' ho' found that his'flock was running down 1bone and constitution, and ho felt it necessary; to' at once import largely. Mr.Elgar, of Fcrnsidc, selected sixteen ewes, and . nine! rams, for him. Three of tho rams woro bred by Wightwioh, four by Eigdon, one by Neamo, and ono .by File. The ewce wore bred by File,

G. W. Finn, G. G. S. Godwin,, and •Millen. Mr. Milieu, by tlie way, died ■quite recently. The ewes from Finn wore first at. tlio .Canterbury or Royal County Show, first J at the Royal "at Cambridge, and were defeated at Tunbridge -Volls by sheep Mr. Matthews had already purchased from File. As :to Godwin's, Mr. Matthews had the pick of all his owe tegs, and ho took' six for. £100. ■ Mr. Matthews reckons Godwin had the best flock in Kent at that time, and bo now wishes he had availed of an opportunity.of purchasing half the flock. The effect of theso importations was very, noticable in a 'short.tinio. They put bone back into tho flock, and strengthened tho character.

About ' three years later Mr. Matthews imported three young rams ol Godwin's breeding.: They., were lambs which bad been exhibited, and a photograph of them was sent out to Jlr. Matthews, who liked their appearance so much that he at once sent Home for them.

In 1903 Mr. Matthews visited Eng.land, and whilo there he, selected five ;rams. In no case was he able to get moro than one ram at any stud;, ho could nob seo more than one of any particular breeder's which altogeuier pleased him. Ho recognised that it might, generally, bo unwise to ro from flock to flock, but ho thought ifc was 'no.uso bringing out sheep unless he liked them. ...Tho five came from ■Godwin, File, Arthur Finn, Rigden, :and L. H. and G. W. Finn. The sheep ho cot from-tho Finn Brothers ho lostthrough blood poisoning, but not till it had left some good stock.. The! ram from File had taken first at Southampton, second at tho Royal (where ho ; was beaten by a stud mate), third at. Folkestone, and second at Tunbridge Wells, i,Ho was preferred by Mr. Matthews; to a first prize-winner at Tunbridge. Wells, as the latter had ahead , *7hich .would condemn him at any New Zealand show. ; Mr. Matthews was surprised . at tbe small amount of attention the English judges , pay to tho

heads;, and: ho;.also7considered■•• 'that ■they went ( ,al)Qut .their;judging- work -in a very leisurely way* .Since-.1903 Mr. Matthews has only imported three rams. They were bred .hy C. File, ,and purchased at Ashford Fair. One ■ cost 130 guineas. . '■ . Curious incidents of various kinds bofol Mr. Matthews when he was exhibit- 1 mg. In-1891-the 'Wellington Society offered a points prize of £50 in tho Ilomnoy Marsh division. Tho Waioro'ngdmai breeder • went, over .with- only seventeen sheep, whilo other .competitors took over fifty, and so on. Mr. : Matthews' was asked how he expected to fare, and'replied that he did not like : his .chance, as ho had brought over 'such; a .sinall. number-of sheep.- ■'lα' fact, -Mr;. Matthews '.had' , been ; persuaded, 'against. : his wish, to go,, but' ho_ cot' .tho,big prize,. 'with fifty-five . points , ;, Bffaihst twenty-seven:. In cobd humour, he was loudly .denounced; as a , , fraud by.-the man whom, he: h'adtold thatj-li,o;,iio ,'chanooi >':-, In' 'one-class' he •prizes,,and was a'sneepti'liich" had;just previously' wmi< a -chanipioashiri. at. Cartertonl '. ' ' ■■'■'■ ' -,'■

f On one occasion Mr. , ' Matthews sot a -very good ram in', a strange- way; ' A :Kiwitea breeder; exhibited two ranis at a show at'which.-' Mr. . Matthews was .nidginc. Thp' rani which the exhibitor fancied was,, passed over'.-'altogether, and' the other 'ram was placed third. Tho breeder had some questions-to ask tho .judge after tho awards 'wero announced, and, after jriyjiig' his Mr. Matthews .said that if tho exhibitor wished, to sell tho third prize Tarn ho would 'buy him. Shortly afterwards ■tho ram was offered for £60, and, without hesitating. Mr. Matthews closed the bargain. The ram was leggy, but otherwise a remarkably fine "animal. By judicious matins the leggincss did not appear in tho progeny, which were excellent specimens of the breed: One of Mr... Perry's this ; year's ■ champion rams is a grandson of that ram. , Three years consecutively, at Cartprton, the Now Zealand Loan and Mercantile.Agency Co., Ltd., presented cups, one-valued at fifteen guineas and two at twenty guineas each, for tho best collection of sheep irrespective of numbers or.breeds, except that fat sheep were not'included in the first year. On the three occasions Mr. Matthews won the prize. At Wellington a valuable '. cup was offered under similar conditions, and that also fell to tho Waioron°;omai sheep. In fact, he claims that he never competed ■for any big prize without winning it. Tho Stud To-day. ; For some-- years Mr. Matthews has not oxhibited ,_his sheep at tho shows ;but th'n stud ,is still WoEiiised as one lot' tho. foremostMn : Npw Zealand; Therecan bo no better.criterion of the regard ;in whioh-a..breo.dor , s stock.is-.held than ; the.constant renewing of orders.bj men of ..good standing as!, breeders. Men who. lyoro' dealiii£s- with. Mr.' Matthews •twenty yoars jago are 'still doin" biisitness ujith him;. Ono'of tho best known iHawke's -Bay! families dealt with him' .a .scorp of .years, .ago, jand.-to-day.three ■branches, of that family-order 'sheep ■every lyear. .The head'.of that.family jnot .long, afjo! paid Mr.' Matthews a ;high tribute by way of coinplimontinK ;him on tho excellenco of tho -sheep sold ovory >sea:son. ! : One breeder has had ■purchase -dealings rbo tho- extent" "of £10,000, has .175, stud-.sheep-booked'at •.present, and in one year took '350. • For tho last thirty-five' ycjrs Mr. Matthews has devoted, all .his'time to his sheep.' Ho says ho-cannot', keep away from , ■ them, . .Every yea* ho is jutlging.'sdmowhere, and he takes 1 every opportunity .of studying ;the classes of. sheep being raised in various'parts of tho country.- ' . ■•■'.■'■'■' . ■'.Mr. .Matthews.is.very.'.well known as ■a-jmlgc..: Ho has officiated on fourteon 'or fifteen, occoisions at Palmorston 'North - Show,: and about evory third year ,at--.Hawke's Bay,- besides many other shows.- ; .. '■ .. :v ■'~ His collection'. of medals and-certifi-cates, show clearly tho standing which ho' attained as-an exhibitor. ■ , . Ho was.onco president, of. ■ the .Wellington Agricultural and twice .president, of the ,Wairarapa Society. . : '..■'■