DISTRICT’S RAMS.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10318, 29 January 1927, Page 3

DISTRICT’S RAMS.

LESSON OF REGENT FAUI.

ONLY TWO BREEDS WANTED

Practically all sheepmen have by this time filled requirements in regard to rams for the present season. Many have had to go on the market for fresh blood and, recognising this, it is interesting to consider the trend of sheep breeders to-day. “ An indication of what the' people want can be gained Horn a review of this week’s Ram Fair. Admittedly the majority of the Poverty Bay and East Coast farmers must have bought privately, but enough operated at Matawhero to show what the farmers are wanting.

Lincolns have undoubtedly gone out of favor. Only a limited number of breeders wishing to introduce a coarser strain into their flocks will have anything to do with them, and Matawhero certainly proved that it does net pay to breed Lincolns for sale for stud purposes. Of the 500 odd Lincoln rams offered, the majority sold at .little above store wether values and many pens again did not attract even a bid. The poor demand proved clearly that Lincolns have little to offer the East Coast farmer, and, as a payable proposition for flock purposes, are considered well below other breeds.

Undoubtedly local conditions appear to favor the Romney as a general utility breed and during late years the only opposition has come from the Southdown. Demand for these rams is increasing as farmers recognise in the Down cross lamb the mos* payable proposition for the fat lamb market. Only a limited numbei of the Downs can be used, however, and Romneys monopolise the rest of the work. Only isolated fax mors use other breeds. On last year’s prices Matawhero Romney values registered a reduction. This cannot he taken as an indication that the demand is falling off, but merely as proof that the breeders’ increasing annual quota lowers competition and enables farmers to benefit. Certainly 6gns for fair quality Romney flock ranis is better buying than has been the case in some past years, and it gives the farmer a chance to introduce a better class of ram into his flock.

While it was pleasing to note that two local breeders, Messrs. Cbas. Matthews and J. E. Benson, each yarded several pens of good quality Southdowns, it must be admitted that the average price at the Fair of high quality Southdowns (9gns) was nearing the" impossible for the farmer who breeds for the fat pen. Some breeders use two per cent., others two and a-halt, and others again three per cent, of ram«, and certainly the last-mentioned quota per hundred assures the best results. On this basis, therefore, it can be seen that for the small farmer to pay out 27gns per. hundred ewes makes it questionable whether Southdowns are more profitable than .Romneys in the fact that the extra prolS gained from the stock buyer is likely, if values harden, to bo eaten up by the extra cost of the rams. It is recognised that three years is the average workable age of a ram, for there are always casualties to he accounted for.

Apart from the fact that the sale of Lincolns proved practically a fiasco, it can be reckoned from the farmers’ point of view that the reent Ram Fair was successful.

Romneys, the rams in greatest demand, were down to reasonable values and, while Southdowns were in good demand,- they were still payable buying. The fair was a striking indication that it pays to breed only Romneys or Southdowns for the local market and of the two Southdowns will he the most profitable for the next year or so.

CALF-FEEDING.

FACTS ABOUT THE STOMACH

When food is taken into the body of a cow it is first chewed in the mouth sufficiently to mix it with the saliva and form it into small masses which are then swallowed. The first three stomachs of the cow are merely enlargements of the gullet, and when first swallowed the masses of food slip into the paunch, as they are squeezed down the gullet, but after regurgitation and the chewing of thecud they slip past the entrance to tlie paunch and reach the third ana fourth stomachs. The fourth stomach is the true stomach, where the food is acted upon by the gastric juice. One of the uses of the first three stomachs is to store the food until after the cud is chewed, but during the period of storage the food is softened and to some extent "round up by muscular action. This is particularly the case in the third stomach, into which the food passes after the cud has been chewed, and where it is ground up between the many folds oi this enlargement of the gullet. It is important, however, to note the difference between the stomach of the young calf and the stomach oi mature animals. In the young call, when first born, the paunch is hardly developed at all, while in the mature animal it holds very muCh more than the other three stomachs 1 together. In the young calf the true stomach holds more than the paunch, owing to the fact that it does not eat a» much roughage, and, therefore, has not the same ixeed for the paunch. The first three stomachs of the young calf develop only as the calf grows and takes to eating roughages and coarser feeds in greater quantities. By the time the animal has matured the paunch is developed and the dairy • animal has become the most economical user of roughages among all classes of live stock. While the calf is voung it has not the power to make use of any large quantity of roughage, and must therefore be fed on concentrated foods largely, as in the case of the pig. One of the best ways to stunt the young animal is to feed it on rough feeds, which it is unable to make use of. On the other hand, the most likely way of developing the calf at a maximum rate is to feed it with plenty of milk supplemented' by concentrated feeds, together with what hay and other rough feeds it will naturally learn to take as it grows older, from having it constantly available. The feeding practice should he such as to carry the calf from calfhood to maturity Avithout a setback.