TIMARU SHOW.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 244, 7 November 1873, Page 6

TIMARU SHOW.

MEBItf 0 SHEEP; The first thing to.stride the.eye, on looting . oyer the. catalogue was me .la-] mentable want of eompetitiou, in the merino sheep class. This"we think is"-very-much to be regretted, because,- though long-wools are now the fashionable sheep in this and every showyard in the Colony, still, in a district like, ours, which possesses a large area of back country, there will always be a demand for good merino sheep, and we sincerely trust we may have more rivalry next year. Amongst exhibitors in this class, we miss very much the names of Messrs. Tolmie and Studholme. The former gentleman is well known as a successful exhibitor—in this.and, indeed, in most show yards—and we do trust that next year he will revisit the scene,of his former triumphs with sheep equally as good as those he showed two years ago. For the first time since the starting of the show, eight years agp, Mr. Studholme's name is absent in the list of exhibitors.; but we hope that this is only temporary, j and that another year we may see samples of his well known profitable, kind of sheep competing against the fashionable Australian type. There are very few remarks to make as regards merinos, but there is one point in; which the Association may think, themselves, singularly fortunate in obtaining,: and that is—good judges. The judges who acted in merino classes on "Wednesday were not remarkable for consistency, which, however, we think is no drawback to their performances, as their decisions on tbs ground show that in Timaru everything is not sacrificed to quality, but that quantity and profit are also taken into consideration. All the merino sheep in the yards showed at a certain disadvantage from be* ing exposed to the wet, more particularly Mr. Elworthy's exhibits; but making every allowance for weather and condition, we believe that the opinion of judges on the ground was unanimous that the show was not equal to former years. We trust that breeders will not neglect merinos altogether, and would point out for their encouragement the high prices now ruling for rams, and the great scarcity of any really good stock. LEICESTJ3BB. As was the case last year—the Leicester sheep :were the main feature of the show —the entries in the classes for such nearly doubling those in merino, thus showing that the former are still growing in favor. The increase of lohg-wooled sheep is but the natural result of colonisation and agriculture, and : doubtless year by year, we shall see them swelling in numbers, Until the whole of our fertile waste lands fit for the plough shall have been brought into cultivation. But the merino will always continue to occupy an important po-. sition in the country, and turn to profitable account those many thousands of acres of our mountain ranges, which but for this description of animal would be of little The improvement therefore of both merino and long-woooled sheep can but be the earnest wish of every true settler, for upon the article which they sup-1 ply the main prosperity, of the country' will always depend.—* Timaru Herald/