SHEEP GOT UP FOR SHOW.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1127, 15 May 1911, Page 8

SHEEP GOT UP FOR SHOW.

j JXTMSSTIXG fIf&'CCSSION. I AN OFFER JTADE BY ME. PERRY. f . (By Teleerapli.—Suoeial Correspondents > Masterton, May 11. { M tho General Committee meeting of (tho Masterton A. and P. Association, Mr. iD. M'Uregor, jun., brought forward a ; motion of which he had given noticc: ! "That the Association's rule in conuec- | tion with the unfair shearing of slfeep, . which, says that the giving of a prize ito a. sheep shall imply that tho judges i are satisfied that such sheep has been j'fairly shorn, bo reconsidered." Mr. iM'Gregor said that ho had been absent j when the Question of "sheep-faking," folI lowing correspondence' appearing in tho (press, had been discussed. He was sorry (that the matter had not been gone mora ! fully into. Stud breeders were charged Lwith four separate tilings, the iirst of fwhich,' was "stuffing." Of course, show ! sheep were well fed, but he would like ito know whether the charge was more (justifiable against sheep-breeders than i against horso ani cattle breeders. He J admitted that two wrongs did not make ?a rightj and the practico (if going on) •should be stopped. It would bo impossible for tho association to frame a resolution preventing it, aud, on that ac[count, he could pass over the charge i altogether. As to tho second charge— ["colouring"—it was much the same. He /opposed a system which had crept in in • England of oiling and colouring, and | hoped that it would never creep in in ;New Zealand, where, so far, there had I been no such practice. To prevent colourling, however, would bo to. prevent breedjers whoso' sheep had run on poor clay 'land, or dry country, from exhibiting. Such, breeders .were justified in colouring their sheep, in order to stand a fair chance "against breeders whose sheep had ibeen in rich lamd. Tho other two ' charges—"trimming" and "unfair shearing"—were not synonymous. It could [not be detected whether' sheep were j trimmed or otherwise. Some years ago ja motion had been brought before the [association proposing to prohibit trimming, ( but the motion had been thrown out owning to one of the, biggest• breeders in i the district stating' that, if the motion • were carried, he would'never again exj hibit at a Masterton show. Tho assoiciation " could not fairly prevent a man .from taking, off the, "tips" from sheep j running on rough ground among thistles, i Unfair shearing also could not easily be | detected. The jmlgo could not seo if tho ! wool was liable to produco "tips" or '[.not. Tile suggestion as to what was comimonly known as "block .shearing" - was [unfair, and the ordinary level of the \ sheep classes could not be kept up if | block shearing were prohibited. None >of the best breeders were debarred at | the spring shows, but what everyone | wished to prevent was the making of j the fleece untrue by shearing. The com- | niittee had been accused of neglecting i their duty, and casting the onus on tho i judges. The committee as a whole was Snot in a position to judge the genuine- ; ness of the sheep exhibited, as some of ! them were horse-breeders,. and others ;.cattle-bieeders, and quite incapable of T deciding whether sheep woro trimmed ; unfairly or not. One writer had spoken ■o{ the difference in the measurements of the ' wool 'on different parts- of the : body, of a sheep which competed at the ; Masterton show, stating that this was ; due to.unfair shearing. He (Mr. M'Grei gor) would point out that such was not : the case. He had seen machine-shorn ; sheep with a difference of two inches, i and there was no faking about them. Tho i judsre was tho man-on whom tho responsibility'should rest. Ho had the rules | to support him, and the judges, employed rtt tho Masterton Show were very comipetent men. In conclusion, Mr. M'Gregor ;said that he felt sure that all members | of the .'committee wished to prevent unifair shearing, but ho-considered the only. I way was to read tho rule concerning the : matter to the judge before he commenced : his work.

Mt.."'"\V. H. Buick seconded Mr. M'Gregor's motion. Ho stated that he fully endorsed the mover's remarks.

Mr., E. Harper agreed with Mr. M'Gregor, and thanked him for his able address/

!■ Mr. Perry stated that Mr. M'Gregor's ; suggestion was practically tho only thing ; that could be '.done: Those, who . had . acted as judges .could realise the posi- : tion which tho judge occupied. He was : not anxious to "tread on anybody's : corns," but he wanted to give the prize ;to the 'best animal. Mr. Perry qnito 'agreed that faking matters might go too .-far, but, to draw a line between sheep 'in their natural condition, and one "got 'up a little" was impossible. If tho :. rules were read to the judge ho would j; understand that the sheep was not to ' get a prize if it had been very much : 'tampered with. "With ..regard to block -, shearing, Mr. Perry stated that he had invariably found that early-shorn sheep ;<aefeated block shorn animals. He hitnj, self had experimented, but- would not '■repeat his experiment, nor did he think ' that anybody else would who had once ■ tried it. If it were decided to have a .committee to decide which sheep.were ■tampered with, that committee would ■ iind that they would have a very difficult I duty to perform. With regard to colour- ; ing, the speaker said that he had had ; to do some on account of his sheep rrm- : ningon clay land. Ho thought that it .. would he a good idea to provide four ; extra open classes for sheep in their naj tural condition, and throw the onus on : accusers to prove whether they wero : coloured or "faked." He was prepared ; to donate the prize-money. ' Mr. H. Morrison said that lie thought ; that a. good deal of "faking" was done, : "but it did not do the harm that people thought. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the best sheep won. With re- ■ gard to. "stuffing," he said, that ho had had wido experience of all descriptions of land, and found that the condition of ■ sheep changed with the quality of tho Jand. A man, on good rich country, could produce' good sheep without "stuffing," while a. breeder on l;ad land had to do u bit of "stuffing" to make his sheep suitable for show purposes. Rape-grown . sheep did better on hills than sheep well ■ "stulfed" with grass. Tho whole matter must be left to the judge, and, if tho judge was not capable of giving a fair decision, he ought not to be judging. Mr. J. Strang said that he thought that there were a good many sheep men who would not be able to tell whether sheep w'cro "tipped" or not. Ho himself had been very nearly caught on one occasion. The public wero considerably misled on the question. The whole trouble was that beginners thought that they benefited by chipping, but had mode a hash of it. (Laughter.) Sheep had originally come to New Zealand from England, and tho speaker said that lie was sure that New Zealand breeders could competo favourably with Homo breeders. Ho failed to see what harm resulted from block shearing.

Jh\ Jl'Gwgor, in reply, said that he ■was pleased to find the committee so unanimous, tout would like to have seen a little opposition. Ho disagreed with Titr. Jlorrieon that a good deal of "fnkIhk" went on. 'Mr. Filmer said that ho supported Mr. M'Orepnr in all that he had said. Mr. Perry said that the miction was one that sjenernlly cured itself. The motion, on being put to the. meetii)!,', was carried unanimously. A committee, consisting of Messrs. J. 0. Bidivill and H. .T. .William?, was appointed to consider and report upon Mr. Perry's offer of prjze-mon?y for four open classes of sheep in natural condition. .

Tho annual meetinfr of tho Bush Districts Sheep Dog Trial Club has been opened at Oringi. The heading, bringing back, and holding in ring competition, in which the maximum points were !M, resulted :-.T. MDonaW's Don. 30; W. I'ringlo's Cherie, 23; W. Whyte's Boy,28; A. M. Harmor's Laddie, 20. '

\ cheese vat that gets Tid. of the wht>y quickly saves timo every day it is used, and that means a big saving in one season. Tho "Victor" Vat (protected by patent applications) is tho only vat made with a drain down the centre. Dr u p a postcard to Albert J. Parton, Carterton, for further particulars.—Advt,