NEW ZEALANDERS QUITE SATISFIED.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1098, 25 January 1912, Page 4

NEW ZEALANDERS QUITE SATISFIED.

Continuing Mr Thomson said the talk about New Zealanders wanting to leave Australia was all nonsense. He was very satisfied with his holdings, and if he wanted more land to-morrow he would buy in Queensland. He went iu for a good deal of cropping now, but intended as soon as the whole farm was down in lucerne to make a grazing place of it. The English Leicester sheep which he would take back with him from New Zealand he intended to cross with the Australian merino, and thus get a good wool and mutton sheep, and good fat lambs. In having the merino to cross with the longwools, Mr Thomson considers the Australians have a great advantage over their fellowfarmers in New Zealand, and on this point he is in thorough agreement with Professor Lowrie, who has had experience in both countries.

THE FUTURE OP LAMB-RAISING. The best ewe is a halfbred or three-quarterbred, and using the English Leicester ram, with the advantage of the blood from the excellent merino sheep available in Australia, Mr Thomson considers that lamb-raising in Australia should have a bright future. He qualified the remark with the statement that the necessary works for treatment should be available. In New Zealand the breeder has the advantage that if he does not like the price offered by the buyer he can deal direct with the works. That is not so in parts of Australia, and especially on parts of the Darling Downs, where he is settled at present. On the wool side, Mr Thomson gave his support to the English Leicester lor crossing purposes, The Lincoln is regarded as the best of all lustre wools, but the two breeds are closely related. Mr Thomson is enthusiastic over the wool which results from the cross with the English Leicester ram.

Mr Thomson, before leaving Australia on his present trip, made known his intention to import some English Leicesters, and the Sydney Mail said that ‘ ‘it will be interesting to observe the effect in the fairly dry climate to which Mr Thomson will take his little stud of Leicesters, as compared with the comparatively moist climate from which they will be brought iu New Zealand. The chances are that the advantages claimed on the mutton side of this cross will repeat themselves on the wool side, for the breeder will not only be working on the large framed and healthy type ot merino, but sheep with a tendency to produce superfine wool. It is difficult to say exactly at this stage what the effect will be, but there are good chances ot success. Mr Thomson has already experimented with some halfbred Lincolns, which were the only ones available ; and although the season was very dry, he states that the result was splendid. It was partly this fact which determined him to go over to the Dominion and purchase a number ot English Leicesters for stud purposes.' ’