WOOL-CLIP LOSSES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1080, 20 March 1911, Page 8

WOOL-CLIP LOSSES.

, HAWKE'S BAY. MISSING £170,000,' THE ; ROMNEY BOOM DISCUSSED. [To the Editor.] Sir,—For the benefit of those readers .of your-paper who did not rend the Hawke's. Bay . Fields' Supervisor's report ' to the Agricultural Department, I pen the same again. -He says; "I iind that there will be a considerable shortage of wool in-'Hawke's Bay. The winter and spfirig seasons wer'o bail. The wool is light and short in staple. The Mangawild re clip is 30 bales-under last year's totiil, and every station is affected. It is estimated that' the total shortage in Hawke's Bay will equal 15,000 j bales, equalling in monetary value say about .£170,000. Good, rains have fallen everywhere, and inland pastures are looking ' well." Now, sir, if Hawke's Bay's loss is what can the total loss through- . out .the Dominion amount to? There are lio, doubt many people, guided by above report, who would conclude that the sea-t-cms named were responsible for this enormous shortage in our main industry—all practical sheep men are aware that a wet .winter and a late spring are not beneficial to the growth of wool. I will now, as a sheep hian, give you my opinion of the main cause of- this wool shortage. The Romney Clip. To start. I maintain that the Romney (like the Goldfinth lnine).h'as been boomed. It is a recognised fact that he is a light clipper. The fleece on the table, to the eye,: appears to be heavy, but it is ' bulk-only, and the weight is not there. Romney stud breeders will not swallow this, but if we compare the ' average .weight per bale of 50,000 Lincoln ewes with the same number of Romrteys (all „ things being equal), we find that the 'Lincoln leads by about 21b. per ewe, or ' on 50,000 -the lead is 100,0001b., and say at lild. per lb. the gain to ' the Lincoln equals '£4,166 13s. 4d. Romney men will -, bleat, "What rot!" and will say that they get Is. per lb. for their wool, which, being twopence' more per lb. than their rivals, equalises matters; but'we all know from experience that no one class of wool holds sway with'the Wool-buyer for any definite period. Each breed, or class of wool, has its turn ,at the head of the market, and, like the barometer,. rises and fhlis. Tho sheepbreeder of to-day is a fickle jade.' In the' majority of cases, he has started his flock with a Lincoln or Lin-

coin cross. Nat being. altogether a practical man, he fails to feed well, and cansjaot /bring them out. so, as mutton is selling well, ho probably tries' a streak of rolaek face for a few seasons; but as he is ieetting no wool now ho is advised by Brother Cockatoo to try the Leicester, or Border! or perhaps both, as.' ~in experiment. "Whilst this . latter, cx-■V-rimenl. is being carried .out, the Kom/tiey Marsh is being boomed north, south, | east,'and west, so., being'a fickle jade, i Komney ho! must'have'. Dp to tho present his flock consists of a <?onglomeraj tion of breeds, colours and shapes, and iTi'ow he is going to add another to the [list. He ; treks it,.to the fair (bear in' '.mind he .does not ' know a ; ,Koniney ram,, '.from a. Polled Annus c%}, and. buys, yes, - -, '.he buys.a real'live Kpnmov ram'. gets-. Shim cheap, as there are hundreds to , choose'from, for the Romney is boomling, you' know, and the Hoinney. breeder has now forgotten what a wether lamb is. . All his -ranis will sell as the boom is on. i . Mixed Breeds. j„ I'iiU liljljfst purchasers driven home, and IS CMSiiedjJ.witk all his flock of conglomeration of lifceeds. i'lie new sire, natnrally a light clipper, his ewe flock ditto, he finds when shearing time has passed that he is a certain ■number-of bales of "wool to the. bad. The above style of breeding ap-' plies, I am sorry to say, to hundreds of sheepbreeders, not only in Hawke's Bay, but to men all over the colony. As this enormous wool' shorjpgo is a direct' loss to the whole Dominion, would it not be beneficial to ' all' concerned "if tho . Government stepped in and caught hold of the ribbons, more especially, of course, for the benefit of those owners who do not : understand their work ? Let the Government appoint good, sound, practical men : (bar importations), give each a district, and, as their duties would be light, they . could examine- (by riding through tho 1 intended breeder?) many thousand sheep ■each day, giving advice when and where ■ required. ' '

: Some Strong Points. Well, Mr. Editor, as X have as yet shown, nothing in favour of Mr. Romney ■ Marsh, I will now proceed to regain his ! lost laurels for him. He is naturally a I' strong constitutioiled sheep (originally - i being bred in the cold, wet marshes in ! old England), and has plenty of bone, : with good loins and chest. If ho is : crossed with any breed, lis leaves con- . stitution in his track. Therefore, the i demand for his services has exceeded the supply, for the farmer, when ha breeds d lamb, wants that lamb to come on to 'the shearing board.as a lionet healthy • and strong, for he matures earlier than others, and here the Romnev escels. If w-e compare 1000 of each Lincoln and Rdniney lambs at weaning time, and give them equal treatment through the winter, . ' we. find the Romnoy lamb in the lead at \ the -llogget shearing. V With tho Lincoln or Lincoln cross lamb the death rate will probably be 20 per cent., tho Romney about 5 per cent., which means a gain of 150 hoggets in the. 1000 for Mr. Romney, so you Will see that he is not all bad, and, no doubt, through his hard constitution, he more than gain" in mutton that which ho looses on tho wool-table. As. I have written this pro bono publico. I give these last lines as a parting fmot. All farmers and graziers should cull .their ewes for breeding purposes, tho Sanie as a dairyman would cull his dairy nerd. Take time and examine vour ewes, throw., out all with lieht bone, all narrow chested and badly ribbed-up ewes, and next, those; with very little wool on the .points.. See your rams are good, and I Inst, but not least, give them all some grass to eat, and success is vour reward.— I am, etc., A. P. WILSON. ■Akirio.