wool IN PERU.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 119, 4 February 1926, Page 7

wool IN PERU.

A GROWING INDUSTRY. Crossing Native Sheep. Great headway appears to be in progress in Peru in regard to the impovement in the fleece of the native sheep, and a new wool competitor is looming on the horizon. From time to time the operations of the Scotsman, Colonel R. J. iStordy, DJS.O., have been noticed in English papers, as when he offered to supply merino sheep bred in mountainous Peru to improve the wool of Scottish sheep.

From a publication issued by the Peruvian Government it is learned that, with the double objective of wool and carcase, Colonel Stordy first introduced Dorset Horn sheep to cross with the native sheep. Ultimately, the The average native fleece weighs about 1 h lbs, with the yield from the first cross with the Southdown averages 4i lbs. The degenerate native sheep are devoid of belly wool, and the crossbred is clothed all over. This fleece has a percentage yield of 60, which is held to be equivalent to 6 lb 3 or 7 lbs of ordinary wool. The first consignment of wool which reached England last year was classed as “ extra fine, crossbred super-soft hosiery type of wool from a staple of good length, and very light in condition.”

The grading -was from 59’s to 60’s, so that, whereas the wool of the degenerate Peruvian sheep is worth 9d a lb, that from the halfbred Is said to be worth 20d. This means that the wool of a native sheep realises about Is lid, while that of a halfbred sheep will make 7s Id. On this Southdown cross is being used the Ramboulllet merino to produce an animal yielding; a fine wool as well as a good mutton carcase. In the first cross mentioned above :of native ewe and Down ram it is noted that 451 b ewes are having lambs weighing 8 lbs to 8i lbs, and halfbred sheep at 15 months old are now yielding dressed carcases of 15 to 16 kilos (33 lbs to 35 lbs) In weight. Underneath all this it is quite apparent that the degenerate native sheep is a most inferior animal. The ■ question will naturally occur to many flockmasters as to whether Colonel Stordy might not more quickly reach his objective by introducing such breeds as Corriedales and Polwarths (writes a commentator in the Melbourne Australasian). In New Zealand the first-named sheep Is a very good doer in tussocky hill country, the scarcity of wool below the knee being held a good feature in snowy country, where woolly-legged sheep become snow-bound. There is already an export trade in purebred stock between New Zealand and Argentina. It is possible that this might be extended to include Peru and Chile on the other side of the Andes.