DORSET SHEEP.

Motueka Star, Volume II, Issue 100, 29 July 1902, Page 5

DORSET SHEEP.

Saturday’s New Zealand Times says : —The Gothic, whichU r ived, on Wednesday, has on hoard eleven Dorset sheep for Lyttelton. These 'animals, which ai e the first of that breed to be brought to the colony, are for Mr Hay, of Pigeon Bay, who intends to establish a flock of them. ‘ The sheep have arrived in excellent condition. They have very comfortable quarters on board, and appear to *haVe been well tended and fed on the voyage. AH but one are shorn, and the animals thus afford good opportunity of judging of their suitability for mutton and wool-producing - purposes. B The shorn animals show a fine round > carcase, not too large, and give promise of turning out excellent mutton she,ep. It is chiefly for this purpose that they have been imported, as the Dorset . breed somewhat resembles the merino in the matter of early and often. It is considered a somewhat old fashioned breed,„but it produces a fine wool, and lambi* perhaps earlier than any other English breed. The Dorsets are horned, and the horns aie not the least handsome part of the sheep, which are, on the whole, one of the best English breeds ns far as harmony and proportion are concerned. The unshorn animal on the Gothic presents a fine, close fleece, not so close or so fine as the merino, but rather longer. The animals are purebred, and these feature-; are characteristic of the breed. There are many large Dorset flocks m the home county of the breed. In the neighborhood of Portland there is a small variety, the mutton of which is an established dainty. The quarter weighs only eight pounds. The venture of Mr Hay will be looked upon with considerable interest by breeders throughout- the colony. The sheep on the Gothic seem particularly suited to the climate and configuration of Banks Peninsula.