LAMB FOR OVERSEAS

Shannon News, 17 May 1929, Page 4

LAMB FOR OVERSEAS

LONDON BUYERS' NEEDS

"It .. must be gratifying to South down and Corriedale breeders to learn, according to expert London advice, that the most suitable fat lamb for ex port is a direct cross between these breeds, and that a line of such lambs realised Jd a pound over best New Zealand,", writes a London correspondent of Country Life. "Until recent years tin threcquarter bred longwool was considered the most desirable 'lamb for export, but now that prime lambs of loss weight arc in more demand, the Southdown Corriedale cross should be the most profitable lamb to the grower, because the Southdown improves the conformation, while the Corriedale improves the skin value. "1 do not, however, agree with Colonel Dunlop-Young, that a cross between cast Merino ewes, and South - clowns is a desirable one for the lamb export trade, as, although the skin might be a little more valuable, the carcase would not be so shapely, nor would the colour be so good, and the lambs would not bo so prime—the Cor riodnle being so much better a mother. "The ram to join with cast-for-age Merino ewes is undoubtedly the long wool, and to the progeny join a South down, or in Australia—where so many seasons are adverse—a well-shaped and well-bred Corriedale. "The latter cross would be a more profitable lamb to carry over in adverse seasons, because the skin value would more than balance the improvement the Southdown would make in conformation."