HINTS TO INTENDING SHEEP-FARMERS IN NEW ZEALAND.
By Frederick A. Weld, Esq. [Continued from our last.] The first care of the intending sheep-farmer will naturally be to select a 'run* or sheepwalk. Induing so he will he guided by the accessibility of some shipping port, to which he may send his wool, and where he may dispose of «Bsis fat stock, receiving in return the supplies that may be needed at the station. Again, he will be influenced by the desire of obtaining a sufficiently spacious extent of country to admit of the increase of his flocks up to a certain point; he will also look to the supply of water and firewood, and to the advantages which may he afforded him by natural boundaries, which are often the means of a great saving of expense ; but above all, the first consideration will be the nature of the soil and pasturage, and the natural features of the country. A cattle holder will of course look to rich succulent pasture, and will probably prefer low-lying land. The sheep farmer, on the contrary, seeks hold hilly land ; or, at all events—if it be low—stony and dry land, with short fine pasture and shelter from wind and weather, as afforded by the natural features of the country. He also looks on the country in a twofold point of view, as woolgrowing or as fattening land. The best woolgrowing land is generally that on a sandstone formation. The wool from it is bright in colour and clean. That grown on the limestone is less bright, whilst the volcanic formation produces a fleece discoloured and stained with red and yellow dust. As regards fattening, lam inclined to reverse the order, and put the volcanic or limestone first in the list. The richest natural vegetation I ever saw was that on the inland spurs of the Kaikora mountains,on hills that bore as evident traces of volcanic action as a brickfield (which in parts they much resemble) does of the action of fire. As to the limestone formation, its vegetative powers are well known ; and I am inclined to believe that grasses grown on limestone formations are less liable to be affected by heats and droughts than any other. But if the selection of the " run " is important to the intending sheep-farmer, how much more worthy of his attention is that of his breed of sheep! If the "run" turn out inferior to his anticipations, it will not be impossible to remove flocks and herds, like the patriarchs of old, and go in search of a better one ; but if the flocks themselves be of inferior quality, it is a work of time and difficulty to remedy their defects, and what is worse, they may not even be saleable except at a sacrifice. And yet, amongst beginners, on no point has more indifference been shewn than iv regard to the breed and quality of their sheep. Nevertheless, it is selfevident that the difference of a few ounces in the weight, of a few pence in the value of the fleece —a slight comparative difference in the propensity to fatten, or in the predisposition to disease, may, and indeed does, often make the difference between the profit and loss in an annual balance sheet. I will then propeed to inquire into the kind of sheep best adapted for the natural pastures of New Zealand, first premising- a few starting points from which I shall draw my conclusions. My fundamental principle is this: adapt your sheep in any country to the peculiarities of that country, always remembering, that to make the animal profitable, you must, as I heard it once pithily expressed, " keep your pasture too good for your sheep, and not your sheep too good for your pasture." That is, in order to employ your land most profitably, you must place on it an animal to which it will afford superior pasturage aud other advantages than are strictly necessary for his peculiar breed. This will appear more clearly as I proceed. The second principle which I shall lay down, and which is very generally admitted, is, that in a pastoral colony, the first thing to be looked to in the sheep is the value of the fleece ; the second, the weight of carcass; but that these two requisites more commonly go together than is easily imagined, I think I shall succeed in showing hereafter. In seeking for a, breed of sheep fitted for New Zealand, with its changeable weather, its rough and hilly surface, and its wild natural pasture, we ase-naturally led to inquire for a hardy, active animal, that does not derive its origin from rich and cultivated England. We require a compact sheep, not too large or lengthy, but deep, well-barrelled, and well-chested. Such is the best form of the Merino—a sheep which is singularly adapted by its -rambling habits for
feeding on natural pasture, which loves the hills as if from a lingering hereditary recollection of its original Spanish sierras, and which, moreoverfulfils the second condition of bearing the finest wool; a fleece so close and thickly matted as to afford the animal a greater protection from the weather than that enjoyed by any other sheep. With well-bred Merinos, too, the fleece is not only more valuable, but it is commonly found (especially when a run is full stocked, or the feed of comparatively inferior quality) that in weight also the Merino fleece is decidedly superior to that of its larger competitors. Indeed, as a general rule, the heavier breeds of sheep, formed for a life of luxury and ease, are as much out of their element on our New Zealand uplands, as an alderman of London would be, had he daily, gun in hand, to seek his sustenance in our tangled forests. The consequence is, that the heavier sheep, in many cases, will not keep up their condition, and very seldom yield as heavy a clip of wool as a good Merino, whilst its value is of course far less. I think this is now so generally admitted in the colony, that it is needless to enter more at length into the subject. A few years ago ; Leicester, Romney-marsh, and Southdown sheep, were often in request ; but now the two former have scarcely a single advocate, and the last named is only recommended as a cross, and that by a limited number of admirers. For my own part I do not approve of crossing too distinct breeds; and I am borne out in my view by the opinion of Blacklock. in his excellent little work on the sheep. I think with him that you are apt to get a mongrel animal that may frequently show the bad points of either race, or, at least, be wanting iv the peculiar beauties of either. Blacklock gives some remarkable instances of this, and I regret that I have not the work by me to point out the passage; but where this does not occur, so many generations are needed to form a new breed, such extensive culling and rejection are absolutely necessary, that, practically, the attempt ends in obtaining a mixed flock, whereof some individuals will present the desired characteristics, others will show the blood of one or other of their parents, and others again will be mere mongrels. Now, I believe that every- practical man will at once agree with me, that a mixed flock is the very worst thing you can have ; and the reasons are so obvious, that it were needless to recapitulate them. I will, however, enumerate one or two of the advantages of the pure Merino over the crossed South-down and Merino of the better class. In the first place, the Merino has the more valuable wool, being finer, and particularly superior in the ' skirts,' which are remarkably deficient in the crossed sheep. The Merino carries a good fleece to a much greater age. In weight of wool (even when both are young), in my opinion, a well-bred Merino would carry off the palm ; and in weight of carcass, especially on a rough run, I am satisfied that the pure sheep would contest it equally with a threeparts bred competitor. But with regard to weight of carcass, there is another point of view in which it is to be regarded. Not only does the small, hardy, fine-woolled sheep fatten better on indifferent pasture, but the quantity of land which will keep a given number of heavy sheep, will fatten a much greater quantity of the smaller ones ; and as the best runs in the country become fully stocked, the question will not be so much that of the weight of wool and carcass of the individual sheep, as what is obtainable from a certain extent of land. This is another argument in favour of a comparatively small breed of sheep. The objections made against Merinos are chiefly drawn from the badly-bred sheep which, under that name, are often imported from New South Wales. These, in many instances, are nothing but drafts from inferior flocks, in which the form, constitution, and, as a natural consequence, the weight of fleece, have been sacrificed, either by careless breeding, or by a blind indifference to everything but obtaining a small quantity of very fine wool on part of the body. There is, however, no want of sheep in several New Zealand flocks, bred from the best Tasmania!], New South Wales, and European Merino blood, and to these I may fearlessly point as bearing me out in the observations I have made. The others must, in my opinion, seek improvement by judicious selection of rams of different varieties, but of pure Merino blood ; and as much as possible by killing- off any decidedly inferior sheep as the flocks increase. In choosing a Merino sheep, I should take care that he be well woolled; that the fleece be heavy, filling in
the hand, or springy, fine, close, and wavy ip the fibre. Length is also to be looked for, but' as a secondary advantage. The, presence of hairs in the fleece, or on any part of the body, or a marked inferiority of the breech 01 belly; wool to the rest, should instantly cause, the ie* jection of the sheep. The form and symmetry, of the animal must also be taken into consideration. The late Lord Western, in a little pam^ phlet on his Merinos, truly observes that, as a general rule, good form shews good constitution, and hence not only indicates aptitude to fatten, but a good weight of fleece. The great characteristic is its silky, or satin-coloured face, an 4 its well-woolled head and legs (at least, the upper part of them). This will at once strike the eye. Moreover the head should be fine, the eye full and expressive, the chest wide and deep, ihe body well-ribbed, deep, and level on the back ; the back not too lengthy, the thigh rather long, the bone fine aud flat, the skin under the thigh and brisket clear and bright. The Merino ram has commonly horns, beautifully spiral; many, however, are polled, which I am inclined to prefer. I have dwelt at length on this part of my subject, as I cannot overrate i^s importance. Whatever breed may be chosen, to aim at perfection in that breed should be the endeavour of every farmer ; aud it must not be forgotten that the time may come when inferior stock will be merely saleable for boiling down, whilst that of a superior breed may still "fetch , highly remunerative prices. I think that I have already shewn ttie importance of obtaining the best possible stock to commence with. They may either be obtained from Sydney, which is generally done through an agent, or bought in the colony. The latter course, when practicable, is decidedly preferable. Newly-lauded sheep can never yield a full crop, either of lambs or wool, the first year ; and they are liable to losses after delivery, all of which may be avoided by buying sheep bred in the country, which consequently I should recommend, even at a very considerable advance of price. As this is not, however, always practicable, it -may not be amiss to say that the best time for obtaining stock from the neighbouring colonies is early iv the year, when they are newly shorn, and may consequently be obtained more cheaply, and when they will be landed in fine weather, with the further advantage that a. longer time will elapse between the period of their landing and the next lambing and shearing time. The intending sheep-farmer then, having ordered his sheep and entrusted that part of his business to a trustworthy agent, will do well to jproceed to the site of his intended station, and make preparations for their arrival, by erecting the necessary buildings, sheep pens and other conveniences. Iv doing this, I should recommend him to do every thing well and permanently ; I do not mean that he should necessarily commence,' for instance, by putting up an expensive dwellinghouse or wool shed, but he will find it the truest economy to build everything that he requires substantially, and with a view to the future. His original dwelling may, when he gets more settled, be changed into a cooking-house or stable, but in building it let him keep in mind its future destiny. He will find it advisable also to construct a good paddock or two with the least possible delay, and if he spends a spare hour in breaking up a few yards of garden ground to serve as a nursery until he can form a garden, he will not regret his labour, as it may be the means of putting him a year in advance in that respect. But, above all, to have everything ready for the arrival of his sheep, must be his first care ; good pens, and an appa- _ ratus for dipping in case of disease, should at once he erected. The wool and shearing sheds, though always useful, are of less immediate importance. The dipping apparatus to whichT . have alluded consists of a trough or tub, in which the sheep is immersed, and a sloping watertight platform, on which he is placed to drip, and which returns the drainings into the trough. The platform should he large.enough to hold about fifty sheep. The amount of labour and expense saved by this plan is verygreat. In general it will be advisable to make use of this as soon as your sheep arrive, and are fit to bear it, dipping them in a strong decoction of tobacco, to which a little soap may be added, the object being to destroy any incipient scab that may have been contracted" on the voyage, or after landing. Every sheep should be thoroughly examined before he is passed to the dippers, and if any symptoms of scab should be discovered, the spots must be scarified, and
dressed with a little spirits of tar, well rubbed in, besides the dipping in tobacco water. Spirits of turpentine will do in default of spirits of tar. Indeed, there are many remedies for scab, though I think none equal the tobacco and spirits of tar. A very small quantity of blue-stone and soap may be added to the "tobacco wash. This should be used strong and as warm as you could conveniently bear your arm in it. (To be concluded in our next.)
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Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 59, 21 February 1852, Page 1 (Supplement)
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2,574HINTS TO INTENDING SHEEP-FARMERS IN NEW ZEALAND. Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 59, 21 February 1852, Page 1 (Supplement)
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