NEW RACE OF SHEEP

Hokitika Guardian, 7 February 1925, Page 4

NEW RACE OF SHEEP

INCREASED YIELD OF WOOL.

VO It OXO FF ’S EXPEIMMENTS.

(Sydney Paper.)

The remarkable results reported to have been achieved by Dr Serge Voronoff, the celebrated Russian surgeon, | in his rejuvenation experiments, by 1 the use of certain glands graited into ■ the system, now derive fresh interest to Australians from the news that he , proposes to employ this method upon sheep in order to increase the yield of their wool, and cattle in order to increase their yield of wool and meat. Dr. VoronofF, who is director of the experimental station of the College of France, in Paris, and deputy-director of the bioligical labatory of the Ecole des 11 autos Etudes, has conducted many experiments in support of his new theory, and believes that, as .1 result of the grafting process, it will he possible to breed a new race of sheep of larger and stronger frame, and bearing more abundant wool. The experiments are described in a lone article in “L’lllustration.” from the" pen of M. Hocfor Ghilini. Part of this article has been translated, and is here reprinted. Having found the means by which the limits of old age may be extended, Dr. Voronoff seeks to-day to confer profit upon the economic world from Ids discovery. In the course of his numerous experiments upon animals, lie was struck by the fact that one of the most characteristic manifestations of the secretions of the interstitial glands is that it stimulates the growth of bair. A number of rams upon which the grafting operations had been performed increased their Reeces in a considerable degree. When animals which in ordinary conditions have short fleeces, were subjected to this process, | these fleeces became very long and jiilky, frequently exceeding a length of 40 centimetres. Dr. Voronoff then had many conversations with M. Ala thou, president of the Wool Syndicate, in which they discussed the fact that France imports each year foreign wool to the value of about two millards of francs, and that by reducing this charge upon our resources, we shall ho contributing in a very large measure to the. restoration of the franc, in addition to which, if we are able to grow upon our own soil sufficient wool to supple our own needs —and perhaps more—we shall very probably pay less for it. In attaining this end. we shall secure a double advantage. On the one hand, we shall increase the natural resourc- . es of our country, and extend one of I the most interesting industries of France; and, on the other, we shall 1 contribute to the lowering of the cost f of the wool, and bring eventual benefit to the consumers. Dr Voronoff t established that the animals upon , which these experiments were praoti- . sod became, as a result, larger, liner . and stronger, when compared with.

others of the same breeding. In view this fact, and if it be remembered that the world’s production of wool may diminish, that there is the gicatest difficulty in re-establishing the weight of our flocks, and that meanwhile the world’s consumption of meat and wool has increased, it will be realised how great an economic advantage will result from a general application of Voronoff’s system of grafting to t|,e meat-bearing and wool-hearing animals. Inasmuch as we arc scarcely able to suggest the numbers of our sheep and cattle. Dr Voritiioif proposes to try t,, increase the yield of wool and flesh. It is manifestly not possible in each country to gralt all the existing sheep, which number millions; but Dr A oronolf maintains, as a solution ol the problem, that it will he possible to raise, by means ol the gralting !•>'>- cess.’a new race of sheep hearing more ,l.i"i and I,merr "<m! me:r>-' ol the gralting prove*-* in stgricul'.u.'c it is aimed to transmit, ncwl.v-ai quivd characteristics of grains, su that these may become hereditarv ; and the fact that characteristics acquired by animals may lie transmitted is equal:.* known to breeders. These considerations urged all concerned to pro'red with the experiments. Dr Voronoff, accompanied by Di Puelina and M. Schmitt. veterinary, surgeon of the AI fort School, betook himself last winter to Algeria, at the invitation of M. Xouvion, director of the Algerian Society of Agriculture. Dr Voronoff had, at that time, the opportunity lint only to practice trailing operations upon a great 1 an, young rams and goats, but also to instruct in the technique of his process the majority of the veterinary Hugeous of Algeria, civil and military. Ho afterwards submitted to the Gov-ernor-General of Algeria, M. Stogg. his plan to graft three successive generations of sheep. ’I he realisation of this project, he pointed out, would require from five to six years. 11 is proposal was accepted by the GovernorGeneral, who possessed a flock of .‘IOOO sheep, and it was upon this flock that the experiments were made. Though sheep were the first subjects. Dr Voronoff’s experiments may he performed uqnally well upon all animals whose flesh is used as food. It is surely important, also that cattle or pigs may he, developed to furnish a. flesh more abundant and of better quality. However, the facts speak ior themselves, and there Is no doubt that breeders when they learn of the substantial advantages to lie derived from this operation, will clamour for those advantages. In any case, the experiments are of such a character that they should he watched attentively by the industrial and agricultural world. Most fruitful results should follow this collaboration hetweeen science and industry.

Ur Voronolf has embarked lor Morocco, thence he will go to Dakar, visit Senegal, proceed to Guinea, and traverse the Soudan, and will conclude his itinerary in Dahomey, The object of this tour is to instruct ali the veterinary surgeons of the principal centres of these colonies; and he is undertaking it at the solicitation of -M. Garde, Governor-General of West Africa, at whose request the Minister for the Colonies has given an official mission to Dr Voronoff. Many of the veterinary surgeons who will meet Dr \oronoff on this tour have already been in Paris for a course at the College of France. They know how to perform the grafting operation, and they will he the pioneers in the new crusade, which is designed for the regeneration of our African flocks. Tor it really assumes the character of a crusade, its aim is to restore the animal races —horses, sheep, working-cattle, pigs—too often weakened by the severe climate of the Equator.

New horizons open themselves to our gaze, through the efforts of Dr Voronoff. By the grafting of the pitutai v gland it is possible to increase the frame of the animal; the grafting of the thyroid gland will improve the quality of the flesh, and its force, energy, and vigour may he augmented by" the grafting of the interstitial gland. It is easy to perceive, therefore, the results of the simultaneous

erfornianco of these operations. For 00 years the grafting process in agriulture has given us beautiful fruits, rees, and flowers. A higher conquest ow awaits us, that of obtaining idenical results in animals and in men. ‘his is to-day’s .affairs.

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