CORRESPONDENCE.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 298, 14 August 1875, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

Our columns are open for free discussion; but we do not hold ourselves responsiblefor the opinions of our Correspondents.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOE. . SHEEP BREEDING FROM COOK’S STRAITS TO CAPE MARIA VANDIEMAN. Sir, —I have always thought that the proper seasons for lambing, both on the East and West Coasts of the island, is from about the loth of April to the 15th of June, these being the proper yeaning months in the Western districts and sea bpard of Victoria, which I consider a colder climate in winter than the sea board of the North Island of New Zealand. Tologa Bay is in about the latitude of the city of Melbourne, when in 1838 I saw in June of that year snow three inches deep on the ground where that city is built on now. I do not think that this has been seen on the sea board of the North Island, especially so far north as Poverty Bay. I have, in the winter of 1848, seen sharp frosts every night for five weeks on the Goalbourn river, a hundred miles north of Melbourne; and I cannot imagine why sheep farmers do not try fall lambing, instead of late spring lambs, which very rarely come to be strong and vigorous sh ep. I have seen it proved by results in pounds shillings and pence (in Victoria) that 50 per cent of April and May lambs, pay the flock master better than 75 per cent of September and October ones. So well is this understood in that colony that they never have now any yeaning in spring, except for lambs to supply the butchers in the large towns. Not only do fall lambs make better sheep, but there*are many other advantages ; the lambs at shearing time are six months old, and can be shorn with the ewes, and you get say from 1| to 21bs real lambs’ wool off them ; and if any of them gets “ unmothered” during shearing they are old enough to take care of themselves, whereas if spring lambs get unmothered at shearing they are virtually done for, and should they live they are only a source of unprofitable annoyance to the owner, but also an eye sore, while ten per cent of these worthless and motherless lambs will make the whole fiock look bad. Again, fall lambs especially in this district, are apt to scour ; spring lambs while sucking the mother the first winter are not apt to scour, and when get ting milk the second winter, their digestive organs are matured, they being then from 13 to 14 months old, whereas the fall yearling is only 8 months. I am perfectly aware that it is difficult to get the present stock in this district to lamb early as the ewes will not come in season till the month they were served in when maiden ewes, and in hill flocks they must commence with maiden ewes, but those who havef paddocks, especially in the neighbourhood o Gisborne, can make their ewes come in season, (if kept in fair condition) by growing a few acres of rape. By Mr. Meld rum’s returns the sheep have not increased since last year, the sole cause of this I believe to be the late lambing. I feel confident that this climate is is as good for wool growing and rearing sheep as any part of the British Empire. If farmers in the North Island would only adopt the system of sheep farming which obtains on the large sheep walks in the Highlands of Scotland, where they have a far severer climate to contend with and a more barren soil to subdue, they would soon have strong, vigorous, and heavy fleeced stock, notthe shirved looking animals you see in many place’ In the Highlands they never take more than three crops of lambs from a ewe ; the yeaning is in the latter end of April, and beginning of May ; the lambs ar-’ weaned in October, and in the latter end of November they are sent to the low country to winter on turnips. Then ewe that has reared her third lamb is sold in O tober to dealers from the south, at the Ord •

market, or, perhaps, at some of the border trysts; they are generally purchased by dealers from England who sell to small farmers, and the ewes age having been twentyfour months when she had her first lamb the party that purchases her from the dealer gets a splendid lamb for the butcher from her, and that lamb being sold at four months old she is in a month or six weeks afterwards served with the tup, and sold fat in two months ; when nearly half gone in lamb she is full of inside fat, and very good meat But here they breed from ewes till they lose all their vigor, and will never fatten, neither will they get good stock from them ; actually there are thousands of sheep die in this Buy yearly, from sheer old age, and I may add, in some instances from starvation. 1 never yet found breeding promiscuously from old ewes, turn out vigorous sheep, and no man ever saw the increase of an old ewe grow a heavy fleece ; so well is this understood now at home, that they never think of breeding from the increase of old ewes. I may state that in 1868 Captain Read had the best sheep in this district, some of them were really fine, healthy, strong sheep; and I am now certain that the principal cause of their being better than others was that they generally lambed in May and June, the rams being then always with the ewes. 1 had last yenning season a few lambs yeaned in the latter end of June all of them are now doing well, and each of them worth two of the very late October ones.—l am, &c., K.S.C.