THE BEST BREED OF SHEEP FOR SMALL PROPRIETORS.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 395, 26 September 1884, Page 5

THE BEST BREED OF SHEEP FOR SMALL PROPRIETORS.

On this subject we take the follow- ] ing practical observations from the columns of a Northern paper : — - I It is too commonly- the practice of ; small proprietors to be careless as to the breed and quality of the animals they keep. The flocks of sheep we ' see running on the roads and depastur- ' ing in the paddocks of selectors are ' usually of a very mixed natui-e, and : indicate by their, neglected and gene* ' rally unwholesome appearance that ■ they are looked upon as a secondary ( consideration. This is the very op- ' posite of what it should be ; as a flock of well bred and well fed sheep is one of the most profitable adjuncts of a ! farm. As to the best breed for a small flock of say 500 to 1000 sheep, a great deal will depend upon the nature of the country. Where the soil is moder- • ately rich — any land, •in fact, capable 3 of carrying two or more sheep to the acre all the year round, and doing < them justice — some variety of the ' longwool is unquestionably the animal required. As to the particular breed there is considerable variety of opinion. The Lincoln is at present the most fashionable animal, and he undoubtedly carries the heaviest fleece; but the Lincoln' lambs are very delicate, and seem to. be much more subject to obscure diseases of various kinds which carry them off in great numbers after being weaned. The end of the summer and the. beginning of autumn is a i very trying time for weaners, and the Lincoln weaner is especially delicate. When the Lincoln has attained his second year he is able to hold his own pretty fairly, and as a six-tooth he is perhaps as hardy as any other breed of longwools. ...The Leicester is now hardly recognised in the colonies as a distinct breed, although . there may be a few pure flocksyet extant. This is very much to be regretted ; and the general practice of classing, all the* different , varieties of longwools under one.head-

ing, which now so frequently obtains at agricultural and pastoral shows, is bad. Among longwools the improved Leicester is, perhaps, the most valuable for general purposes, and the Gotswoid is also an animal of great merit. ' The Leicester is hardier than the Lincoln as a weaner. He matures earlier^ and his wool is more valuable, although tht ro is not much of it. But the best , long wool sheep would appear to bo a j cross between the Lincoln and Leicester. This, indeed, can hardly be called a cross, as both breeds are from the same original stock, the only difference being that the Lincoln was bred more for wool, and the Leicester for carcase. The combination of the two strains produces an animal superior in many respects to either the pure Lincoln or pure Leicester ; and, while retaining the frame and fleece of the one, tbe improved animal has not lost the^ symmetrical form and rapidly, maturing qualities of the other. It is difficult to account for the fact that the Lincoln is so delicate as a weaner, while the Leicester is comparatively a hardy animal at that critical age. But there can be very little doubt that the Leicester is the hardier animal of the two. Anyone who has had the opportunity of observing the two breeds under similar conditions is forced to recognise the fact. Even the cross between the Lincoln and Merino, on the one hand, and the Leicester and Merino, on the other, shows the distinct peculiarity that the Leicester cross is the hardier of the two ; and the writer of this article has a vivid recollection of the fact being illustrated, on one occasion, by the weaners on a property dying wholesale, while those on a contiguous property were comparatively exempt from deaths. All the conditions • and surroundings were similar — the same soil, the same water, a similarity of pasture; the only difference in the conditions was, apparently, that the one set of weaners were the LeicesterMerino cross, and the other were the Lincoln-Merino cross. In the tendency to fatten, tho Leicester has a distinct advantage over the ' Lincoln. A Leicester-Merino crossbred wether is fit for market at two years of age, if, he has had fair feed from the time of weaning. And here it may be remarked, parenthetically, that in sheep breeding nothing pays so well as feeding. The man who starves his sheep simply robs himself. And of all the sheep on a farm the flock that demands and should get the best food available is the weaners flock. Any animal that gets a severe check in its youth is never worth much afterwards. Starving young animals is a crime, and it is what some people consider worse than a crime — it is a blunder. Taking him all round the most valuable sheep for the large or small proprietor whose, land is capable of carrying two sheep to the acre, is the first cross between the Merino and longwool. We say longwool because ifc is unnecessary to specify any. particular breed. The main thing to consider is the quality of the individual animals. A Merino ram from, so me well-established flock, with a good constitution, carrying a dense fleece, not too fine and free from any signs of waste at the points, is the animal wanted for a sire. Such an animal put to a flock of pure longwool ewes will produce very valuable lambs. But it is not easy to get pure longwool ewes, and in any case, tbey are too expensive. The next best thing is to get some well-bred crossbred ewes, as near the longwool side as^ possible, for the sake of the frame, but rejecting any that show a tendency to. delicacy of constitution or thinness of fleece. The progeny from such a cross should be a sheep with a good constitution, carrying a] good fleece of wool. As a four-tooth wether he should be fit for the butcher ; and, if he has been properly fed, he sh9utd : weigh from 651bs to 70lbs when dressed. That is the ideal sheep for the Freezing Company. The value of a fourtop th; crossbred wither, such as the ope described, ds from 10s to' IJ._' directly after shearing- His fleece is worth at least 6s. The returns from a flock of wethers may then be fairly estimated at from 10s to lis; per head per annum.; We have not room to go into particulars just now; but we are not certainly beyond the mark when we estimate .the returns from a well-bred flock, including breeding ewes, lambs, and everything in the ordinary proportions, to be at the rate of 4s per head per annum. This may not seem an extravagant return, but consideringjthat the sheep require very lifctlo attention, that they do not exhaustthe land, and that the risk in connection with them is very slight, we submit that every well-conducted farm should have such a flock as a stand-by.