PRODUCTION OF WOOL.

Shannon News, 26 April 1929, Page 3

PRODUCTION OF WOOL.

STANDARD OF CEOSSBKEDS. BREEDING FOE QUALITY. Dr. J. E. Nicholls, of Bradford, who is at present touring the Dominion, is engaged on a. survey of wool producing conditions and types of .purebred flocks with a view to the isolation and correction of those faults and defects which are causing waste and loss at the manufacturing end of the Dominion. When in Dunedin last month Dr. Nicholls told a writer to the 'Otago Daily Times' that it was his intention to see as much as possible of the stud flocks of the Dominion in prosecuting his inquiries, and it would appear that be has adopted this course to the almost complete exclusion of the ordinary flock.sheep which contribute by far the greater volume of the Dominion's wool

exports. The thought that immediately occurs to one is that the- studrnaster's methods need far less inquiry and examination than those of the ordinary biectler of flock animals. There can bo no doubt whatever that where the. Dominion's chief danger lies at present is in the production of inferior cross-bred wool, and in this connection it would certainly appear that the farmer whosb methods and types can stand. the greatest correction and revision is the small flock owner who produces this type of product. Every year crossbreds are winning increasing recognition as a valuable means of supplementing the revenue from the mixed farm, and the. number of small flocks is steadily increasing. The principal mistakes at present being made are: —(1) Using rams of different breeds in the same flock, and many of them eften not purebred. (2) Breeding from mixed grade ewes; and (3) selling the best ewe lambs and keeping the rejects to breed from. To secure success with sheep as with- all other classes of live stock, it is essential that the animals should possess sound constitutions, be. true to type, and carry even quality wool. In days gone by ewes fulfilled these requirements— full-mouthed, station bred marinos—could be obtained readily enough, but with the advance of closer settlement a,nd the reduction or complete dispersal of large station flocks, the purchase of straight lines of such ewes has become increasingly difficult. To build u'p a good flock of breeding ewes it is necessary now to pursue a different One sound method is to obtain as even a lot of ewes at the beginning as possible. With these mate the best purebred rams that your funds will enable you to purchase. Put the best of the rams with the choicest of the ewes and retain the pick of the ewe progeny. In selecting rams coarseness should not be mistaken for robustness. A sire can be full of quality, carry a typical masculine head, have a strong neck and lively expression and yet be free from coarseness. Good quality bone and sound feet are matters of much importance. Strength and quality of bone without coarseness can be secured by judicious selection. A sheep may be of typical conformation and carry an extra good fleece, but if it is more or less down on the pastern joints it cannot move about with freedom.

No sheep, wheth.er male or_ female, can -possibly move about gaily 'and last if it is not well equipped as regards bone and feet. Remember that once weakness of the pastern joints, shelly, small feet, and sickle hocks get into a flock it will take a long time and considerable culling to get rid of them. In breeding up a flock the owner should first of all strive to make it as uniform in type, wool and character as possible, and by using picked rams of one breed the flock will soon bear the stamp and character of the breed it represents. | This alone, when marketing, will attract the attention of buyers. Every breeder looks forward to having a full percentage of lambs from prolific breeders which will rear them well. To attain this object, every "unproliiic" ewe should be fattened and sold. This term is applied to all etfes that are non-breeders, or have a lamb only every other season. Those with faulty udders, whose lambs die from want of sufficient milk, and the bad doers that regularly drop a lamb but are such poor milkers that their lambs never thrive or get fat, must also be rejected. An unprolific ewe is unprofitable, as she eats food that could be used to bettor advantage in maintaining the condition of those rearing their, lambs well. By systematic getting rid of these unprolifie ewes, there should be a 1:, least a lamb dropped by each ewe, and no one breeding with erossbreds should be satisfied with less. In New Zealand and elsewhere there are records of up to 130 per cent, having been dropped, and it is not uncommon for carefully selected flocks, properly looked- after, to produce 100 per cent. of lambs and rear them well. Of course, such results can be expected only if prepotent rams'are regularly used, and it is always a wiae policy to pay a few pounds extra for rams from a good regular breeding stud. Breeders have only to calculate the difference in the returns from a 75 to 80 per cent, drop of lambs and those from a flock producing 100 per cent, or more to realise what prolific breeding means in not profits. Wool of an indifferent character will grow on any nondescript sheep, but only where the animals are even in type and adequate consideration is given to the wool, as well as to the frame, can the fullest measure of success be registered. Many , who breed fat lambs have an idea that so long as the lambs are fat it does not matter what the wool is like. This is a big mistake, because the well-bred, even type lamb not only looks better; - but sells more readily than the inferio: r product, and a factor in its'favour ii fe that it carries a skin of greater valufi In all crossbred flocks ■whtere the woo

is losing density and quality, the pen- ~, cdical use of'merino rams carrying ,: dense, medium staple good quality wool ,; is desirable.