SHEEP FOR FARMERS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LVI, Issue 6489, 14 December 1881, Page 6

SHEEP FOR FARMERS.

(LwcUr.) Wo hare frequently recommended our readers to keep sheep, both on account of the profitableness of this kind of etook and their usefulness upon the.fam. The keeping of a flock of sheep is not only one of the best means of adding to the resources of the farmer, but alto affords valuable assistance in cultivation. In avoiding the unwise practice of relying entirely upon the grain crop, which may prove a failure, owing to an unfavourable season, the produce of the flock will bo of considerable assistance, for drafts of fat lambs and fat sheep usually find a ready market, while the wool clip may bo relied upon as a steady sonrce of income, which will itself generally wall repay the outlay involved in keeping the flock. Taking into account the profits to be realised from the wool and the surplus increase, there is perhaps no kind of stock that will, taking one year with another, give a better return than sheep, while the comparatively limited variations in the price of the clip makes the income from the flock generally more certain than from cattle. In addition to tho profitableness of sheep, they are useful in utilising tho waste of the harvest field, as well as the weeds upon the fallow and other parts of the farm, and in this connection their value as cleaners of the lend may be referred to. The importance of keeping down weeds is well understood by all practical farmers, and in this work the flock will render more assistance than any other kind of stock. Sheep being doss feeders, eat down each weeds as sorrel and wild oats so closely that the work of cleaning tho land is greatly assisted. Where a flock is kept no weed is allowed to come to seed, and the fallow is kept so bare that many of the obnoxious plants are eaten out or killed. Those farmers who hare for many years been combining sheep-keeping with cultivation in the southern districts have proved their usefulness os cleaners of the land, and in the northern areas of the colony the advantages to be derived from such a system are oven more important. Tho rains in the northern wheat-growing districts are so slight and so infrequent that ridding the soil of weeds it exceptionally difficult. After harvest, perhaps, no rains of any value fall until cowing time, and the weeds and wild oats are never sprouted until the wheat crop is sown; so that no preparatory ploughing or scarifying is possible that wul hare any material effect. When the soil is soft enough for cultivation, it is too late to begin destroying the weeds, bat where a flock of sheep is grazed upon the stubble, the wild oats and other objectionable plants are kept down, and if a few light showers have fallen, much of the seed hao sprouted and been destroyed before seeding time. The bare fallow is also kept free from weeds, and when the stripper is used it is essentia! that some such effective means of eradicating the wild oats should be adopted. After land has become fool and let out for a rest in bare fallow, it is necessary that the wild oats should bo allowed to sprout without coming to seed, and nothing is so effective in this direction os the grazing of sheep. It has often been sold that the sheep is the farmer’s friend, and if this is true of the farmer in those parts of the Colony where the climate admits of a system of rotation being adopted, it is especially applicable to tho case or the wheat-grower in the northern area. If tho value of sheep in connection with manuring be considered, it will be found that they also have much to reoommbnd them. The fertilising effect of sheep manure is well known, and the evenness of ita distribution by tho flock is also a point of considerable importance. Where the land is too poor for cultivation without manuring, good crops are raised by folding the flock upon the paddocks intended for tillage, and if this can be done it follows that a similar system would have a beneficial effect in maintaining the fertility of rich soil. These considerations, together with the recent discouraging prices obtainable for cattle, have caused many farmers to turn their attention to sheep, and the result has been that numerous enquiries have boon sent to os on the subject. As supplying some of the information required by oar readers, we shall now refer to the different kinds of sheep. The various breeds of sheep are generally divided into two classes, viz., merinos and long wools. The merino represents the fine wools; and the different varieties of English sheep, euoh os Lincolns, Leicesters, Cotawolds and crossbreds are designated as longwools. There are pints of excellence possessed by all tb« English breeds, but as the Lincoln may be taken as combining the greatest number of valuable qualities, we will, for the present, deal with this class of sheep and merinos. The merino is incomparable as a fine wool sheep, and tho Lincoln holdf a somewhat similar position among longwools. Both classes of sheep have much to recommend them, and circumstances alone can decide ae to which is tho most profitable to keep upon a given property. As a general rule It may be taken that upon poor or medium pasture* in dry districts tho merino will do better than any other breed, while in a moist climate, where the soil and pastures are rich, the larger return is procurable from the longwools. Upon a large ran where woolgrowing is relied upn as the chief source of income, merinos will have the preference, owing to the high value of tho fleece, but to a bolder of a smaller area who depends upon the sale of the surplue fat slock to contribute materially towards the profits, tho large carcase of the long-wools is an important consideration. Where the land is ordinarily fertile, and dry and healthy, the difference In return# obtainable from pure bred lonirwools and merinos is not large, and each breed has Its friend*, who claim for it superiority t bat upon the richest of toil, and where a moist climate, while encouraging a luxuriant growth of artificial pasture#, alto renders the land somewhat wet during the winter, merinos do not thrive so well as upon drier pastures, and in suoh circumstances the the long-wool* are undoubtedly the best. There is another consideration which has a a good deal of weight in deciding which kind of sheep a landowner should kepp, viz., that long-wools are a quieter and more steady feeding breed of sheep than merinos. Merinos tend to feed In a flock, are averse to go into the corners of email paddocks, and being rather restless and timid, tend to destroy the pasture by frequently walking and running over it. Long-wools are more quiet and contented and less timid, while, being more inclined to spread out and feed individually, they are less calculated to destroy the pasture. Other things being

Ut«M habit* ol the long-wool* *•*»»«■ them mow initabl* few farm* and •»*U holdings than merino*. After considering the point* referred to and other let* iraportent detail* a farmer will hare little difficulty in deriding which breed of sheep to adopt, With poor land them 1* Hill* choice, for pom merino# will be fotmd to yield more profit than snr other kind of stocks with very rich and damp iand# lonewoole roust of neoewtty b# kept, while with posture* of medium quality either may be selected aecording os other circumstances may decide. It may be taken as settled that merino# can* not be improved, but the fact that longwools can he improved by crossing with the merino account# for the fact that amt number* of cross-bred *h»ep are kept both upon largo and •mall holdings, The first cross between the Lincoln and merino result* in very little lot* in sire of carcase or weight of wool, while much is gained in the quality of the fleece. These feet# make cross breds of thi* kind very useful to those who aim at getting high re* turn* from both wool and careaeo. Upon very fertile land it is probable that pure Lincoln* would be more profitable than crossbred*, and we are inclined to favour the pure breed upon medium pastures, but the great majority of sheep farmers find the cross-bred to suit their purpose very weli. It is not olway# convenient to obtain a pure flock, and there i* no doubt that very satisfactory re* turns can bo obtained from a good claac of oross*brcd«. What should be particularly guarded against is the common custom of Keeping sheep of a nondescript breed. Gross* log cross breds with cross-bred# time after time results in nil the valuable qualities of the original strains being lost, while the frame be* comes small and ill-formed, nod the wool on the badly clothed carcases short and wanting in character. All ill-bred sheep of this kind requires os much, it not more, food than a well-bred animal, and will not give half os good a return. It is difficult in working with cross-bred* to wholly avoid- deteriorating the flock, but much can be done by the system of keeping either the male or the female side pure. Using a pure Lincoln ram with pure merino ewes gives the first cross, and continuing to use pure Lincoln sires in the crossbred flock will not show any considerable deterioration for a few year*. There will be a tendency in the stock to loee the merino character but the merino being a pore breed of ancient origin maintain* its influence effectively for three or four years against the Lincoln strain. When the sheep begin to become too near the Lincoln a fresh start should bo made with pure merino owe#. Bv keeping the lire* pure, the brooder knows what be is doing, but by the system o! using cross-bred rams it is impossible to avoid getting into an undesirable class of sheep. Great can is necessary in making the first cross to avoid losing the owes in lambing. Aged, large-framed merino ewes should be selected, or otherwise the use of Lincoln rams, which are a large framed breed with very broad heads, will result in very serious losses. Upon no account should young ewes be used in this way, but by selecting from a flock of old merinos a draft of large ewes, the first cross can be obtained with little danger. Sometimes pure merino rams are used with longwool ewes, and this is effeolive when the object is to improve the quality of the wool. If, however, it is thought desirable to maintain weight of carcase, the object is best attained by the judicious use ol longwool rams. The essential point in cross* breeding is to keep one side pure, and then any object sought after can bo consistently aimed at Whether merino Lincoln or crossbred sheep are kept, the work of selecting and culling the breeding ewe* must receive careful attention, and those animals which show any falling off from the standard aimed at, either in clothing, quality of wool, or size and symmetory, should be rejected. With ordinary attention to such details as we have referred to the flock will become one of the most profitable branches of the farmer’s business.