THE MERINC

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 205, 15 September 1937, Page 13

THE MERINC

World's Oldest Sheep Breed A BRIEF HISTORY Undoubtedly tho most interesting— and the most spectacular If sUch £ term may be used— -breed of sheep ii the DominioU is the MerinO, says s writer iu the Christchurch Press, This is not only because of the fact that xl was the first of all breeds to iiihabh the South Island. It is believed tq b( the descendant of the fifst bi'eed tt inhabit aiiywhere. ' The precise origiti of the breed is Uncertain, but it is held that the breed gprung from Tareutine gheej imported into Spain about the beginning of the Christian era. As tht centuries passed other breeds from Africa were mixed with the Merino and it has been gleaned from aacieni writings that the Merino breed wae established in Spain before the Moorish conquest. Then ihe Spaniards came ftlong, but under "their mismanagement and neglect," We are told, "the fitte wool sheep of the country wSieh had numbered mere than 7,000,000 under tho dominion of tho Moera, became so reduced that in the days 01 Philip IV. the numbers had faller to 2£ million." The English Attempta. The Merino, therefore, is tho aristocrat of the sheep world in the matter of blue and ancient blood. France and Saxony developed the type further, and the breed drifted to other 'countries in Europe and the New World. Singularly enough it never made headway in England. In the fifteenth century, according to some writers, Edward IV. introduced 3000 Spanish Merinos, but all trace of these imported sheep were lost In 1787 Georgie IV. who was greatly interested in the breed, attempted to found an experimental flook at tho Royal Farm, but the sheep were of very inferior quality. But in 1791, the royal eheepowner was more fortunate with four rams and 36 ewes with which he was presented by a Spanish noblemaft. This second attemot to es-

tablish the Merino was successful "and the sheep after being acclimatised, yielded wool equal to any that could be imported from Spain." The flook soon multiplied, and at a sale held in 1804 we are told 45 sheep were disposed of at higli prices. Among the purchasers was a eertain Captain MaeArthur, who bought six sheep, wliich he sent to his farm in Now South Wales. In 1808 a Merino Society was formed in England, but efforts to consolidate the breed were unsUccessful, as "the reduction of the foreign WoOJ duty about this time made it profitless to eultivate the purebred Merino in preference to the home breeds." So ended tbe Merino in England. Arrivai in Austraffa. The sheep MacArthur bought however, were not the first to come to Australia. At a sale in Cape Town in 1794 10 Merino sheep were bought by Captains Waterhouse and Kent and sent to New South Wales. They were distributed among some half dozen individuals, of whom Captain MacArthur was the most important. "The captain became an enthusiastic breeder," so the chronicles say, It was from the descendants of these sheep that New Zealaits first supplies nearly 50 years later, MacArthur, however, would have somo trouble identifymg the Merino of to day with the lean and hungry type With Which he founded the great Australian wool industry. An Australin» writer some years -.go vient very fully into the evolution of the Merino, as it was developed 111 the last 40 years and tho ihustratdons of the tyjjts evoived 11 •• very chcade from the samo strains eonveyed as 110 other means could the immense improvement that had taken place in stamina, iu size, and in weight and fineness of fleece. The improvement of the Australiaxi Merino is the outstanding featurd (J the world's sheep husbandry. Stocking the Ranges This neeessarily scrappy sketch oi the great bi'eed may be ixil'orliiativo to tho average sheep man aud perhaps to some Merino breeders as showing tlie antiquity of the breed. Without tho Merino, the South Island i'angos eould uover liaye been stoeked, and without. strains or crosses which are proniinent, if not doiniuaub, in NeW Zeuhunl sheep husbandl'y lo-day would never have been evoived. Though oxily a littie more than 1000,000 in number the Merino and its offshoots are oovering much of the pastoral area of the South Island. Corriedales number just on 1 \ million, and half breeds close od 21 million, so that after making allovvance for the few fine wool sheep in the North Island, close on 4f million of the 13^ million sheep in the South Island have sprung from the Merino In passing the point is worth stressing that successive Governments — and the State is the owner of much of the Merino country— should have the fact impressed on them that stronger measures will liave to be taken to preservo tho naturai liabitat of tlie breod from tlie increaso of pests anf] the consequent deterioration 'througib these and other cnuses. Doer and rabbits hare alreacb" depleted the naturai covcring, aud tbe work lias been aided all too frequently by bad husbandry— carolessness in pest suppreasion and injudiciou* burniug.