FARM AND GARDEN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 326, 7 January 1911, Page 6

FARM AND GARDEN.

HISTORY OF ROMNEY .MARSH SIIKKI'.

A very interesting address was delivered by Air A. Matthews, Waiorongomai. Western Lake, Featherston. to an audience competed of wooiclassing pupils ftori's the Alasterton Technical i-ioiwrii and she.'p-breedir#. '•The liomney Mat'gli breed oi sheep," paid the lecturer, " takes its name from an extensive tract of land lying between Snndgate and Rye, in the south of Kent, ami which was recovered from the sea several centuries ago. Although extremley fertile it is bleak and cold in winter, so much so that breeders usually send

most of their young sheep to the highlands or the adjoining county of Sussex, during that period of the year. Youatt states that the Leicester (that great improver of neatly all our longwoolled sheep) was used to some ex- ; tent in the Ronmey Marsh, and mater- > ially improved tho breed. I am ni- | clined to think that there has been a slight admixture of Leicester blocd ! with the Kents, many years back, a3 : I have occasionally seen a sheep bred i even from imported ewes of a distinct 1 Leicester type. The breed is not con- | fined to Komr.ey Marsh, but extends ! over the whole county of Kent, and most of the sheep we see come to New Zealand are really upland sheep. The upland Rornney has more bone, and is not so coarse in wool about the breech as the Marsh sheep, but the latter ia more hardy, and I think I have obtained better results when using them. The Rornney breeders in Kent until quite recently paid no attention to wool, but bred i for a heavy carcase only. I do not | think they have paid as much atten- ■ tion to the symmetry of their llocks as we have in New Zealand. My

; experience has shown that where ! there is no lime our sheep are liable : to deteriorate in bone and constitution, ; and that is one reason why I have ; found it necessary to occasionally im- : pert the robust English sheep. Wool, however, is of the greatest importance : to us in New Zealand, and to produce the best Romneys for all round purposes we must select ranis and ewes having good symmetry, good constitutions, and a good fleece of fairly long stapled wool. There is now a very noticeable improvement in our flocks generally, and the Romneys of i to-day are much better grown, carry more even fleeces, with less kemp

: than they did a few years ba.:k. i There is, however, a tendency with a few breeders to grow a short dense wool, having more of the density of ii.r Mown and not that of a longv.-« iit d sheep. I look upon C'c Komney - a long-wool, and ...u not pre-

pare.. to adithat it is only a

mi'.'J.r-wi'ol, unci certainly nrt a s!-.:a-v\ool. Jirec-'ik-ra are not likely U> :i"rtn as to the besfcßclass of wool A iv'umncy breeder should try to grow ilie woo'. most suited for liis own

locality. I reside in a district tiiat is prol:;biy cue of the windiest in the world, Ki;d h:i3 a very heavy rainfall. The fleece tii.it I iind Fuflers least from bad weather is one that has a good length of staple, is fairly dense, but opens freely and is free from cross fibres. Such a wool will turn rain like a shingled roof, and you will find it at shearing time blight and lustrous. The short stapled dense class of wool doea not winter well in any locality. The rain drives straight into it, it becomes washed out, loses life, and is often full of cross fibers like Down wool.

"I noticed in the report of the last, conference of A. ar.cl P. Societies, that breeders were strongly cautioned against allowing their in iamb ewes from becoming too fat. Although I would not think of stuffing my stud ewes with turnips I am never afraid of letting them run on good pasture, and always make it a practice to place them in good fresh paddocks about a month prior to and dur- : ing lambing. If that is done y6u will rarely lose an ewe from paralysis, but if you keep them on short and stale pastures during that time you will probably suffer a heavy loss. If ewes are kept in low condition they cannot grow a healthy fleece, but a large proportion of the wool will be cotted, and as there will be little secretion of yolk, dry and light. Next to feeding sheep well it is necessary to keep them clean; I mean free from ticks and lice, if you wish to grow wool of good quality. At the last Agricultural Conference a gentleman read a ■ paper on ticks in sheep, in which he i stated that the cost of dipping sheep | throughout New Zealand annually I was £187,(K)!), and that the injury jto wool through ticks amounted to ! .-£727,000. I think the latter amount I is exaggerated, but I always consider | that when sheep are badly infected with ticks the value of the woo) ia j depreciated to the extent of 2d per lb. | Some of the gentlemen at the con- : fere nee recommended two dipping:.;, ; hut if we are not going to get rid of : fciice ih. ;y al>*oiut"ly it i;s iibsur.l to IHi t jjiriiict 5 to the expense oi a double >!i"i>;>imand knock <iur eiieep abou I lin ne tvif.a ril.v.

.Mr Matthews then the t'ollowinu closeripLion oi' a Komnev sheep : lit'at! u ick*. level between ears and good thick i'orelop, no hunts, nor dark hair on the poll, which should bo covered with woo!; face it; twes full, and in nun;, broad and nuif.'uliue in appearance; nose in a!! cases broad and b'.a.-U; necl> well s"'■ in at iho shoulders strong and ihi.d; ; shoulders wid", well in and 'level with the back ; clu'fl wid;- and deep; back straight with wide lint hhn; run:;) wide, ioia; a •id well tiirn».*tl; tail s=et ala.'u't love! with the chine ; thighs well 1 ei do'.va and d'-volopeti; ieefc and black; the |! .-ve oi. even texture, unilorre, and et >;ood decided f-tap!" ; the i4.in should be oi' a e!e:sr pink colour. Mr Matthews then roiatod roini' oi' the histeay of the breed in the North Island of New Zealand. "Most of ear Kearney Marsh sheep," he said, "have been bred up Horn Merino ewes

as, until the last few years, scarcely any pure-bred ewes were imported. The early settlers selected their sheep runs along the coast line or on the banks of rivers, in order to obtain water carriage of their wool to the nearest shipping port, there being no roads or bridges in those days. The sheep introduced from Australia were Merino?, and probably ihe most useful breed for settlers' purposes, when one took into consideration the rough condition of the country at that time. It required a light sheep to climb t!:e rung!) and sleep hilb of the coast, and to travel to the Wellington market over the coast tracks. About the year 185G a Mr Leonard Young imported two or three Komney Marsh ewes from England, which after running for some time at Rorirua, on Mr Drake's property, passed into the hands of the laE2 Mr Alfred Ludlam.