ROMNEY MARSH SHEEP.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9613, 6 October 1909, Page 3

ROMNEY MARSH SHEEP.

AN INTERESTING ADDRESS, j 2 In spite of the adverse weather conditions which prevailed yesterday j afternoon, there was a good attend- j ancenf both students of the wool classes of the Masterton Technical School and sattlers generally at the Showgrounds to hear the lecture on Romney Marsh sheep given by Mr Alfred Matthews, of vVaiorongomai. Mr Matthews is one of the Romney Stud breeders in the North Island, a well-known prize-taker at agricultural show?, and his breed of sheep have been largely sought after. He handled his subject in a masterly way, and his remarks were ( listened to with the keenest interest' by all those present. Mr W. H. Jackson, one of the managers of the Technical School, extended a welcome to Mr Matthews, and thanked him for his generosity in coming forward to deliver a lecture on a subject on which he was an authority. Regarding the classes the managers had endeavoured to have the instruction not only practical, but of such a nature as to fit injwith the actual requirements of the district. Mr Jackson also referred to the liberal manner the Masterton.A. and P. Society had backed up the efforts of the Technical School managers with the classes ever since the classes were first established. Prior to the lecture Mr Matthews carefully inspected the. six sheep previously submitted to the judgment of the students from the Technical School. From these he selected three sheep which he considered the best and most typical of the breed. Rain having in the meantime j set in, the sheep were removed to the Produce Hall. Mr Matthews, in the course of his remarks, said: — The Romney Marsh breed of sheep takes its name from an extensive tract of land lying between Sandgate and Rye, in the south of Kent, and which wus recovered from the sea several centuries back. Although extremely fertile it is bleak and cold in winter, so much so that breeders usually send most of their young sheep to the highlands or the adjoining County of Sussex, during that period of the year, states hat the Leicester "(that great improver of nearly all our longwoolled sheep) was used to some extent in the Romney Marsh, and materially improved the breed. lam inclined to think that there has been a slight admixture of Leicester blood with the Keuts, many years back, as I have occasionally seen a sheen bred even from imported ewes of a distinct Leicester type. The breed is no confined to Romney Marsh, but extends over the whole County of Kent, and most of the sheep we see come to New Zealand are really up- | land sheep. The upland Romney has 1 more bone, and is not so coarse in ' wool about the breech as the Marsh ' sheep, but the latter is more hardy, * and I think I have obtained better 1 results when using them. The Rom--1 ney breeders in Kent until quite recently paid no attention to wool, ', but bred for a heavy carcas? onjy, 'I do not think they ha*e paid as! , much attention to the symmetry of their flocks as we have in New Zeaj land. My experience has shown that I where there is no lime uur sheep '.':; .liable to deteriorate iii.boh' Jnu ' constitution, and that is one reason '•■ why I have found it necessary to | occasionally import the robust Ei;g----i lish sheep. Wool, however, is of he 1 greatest importance to us i:i New Zealand, and to produce the best Romneys for all round purposes we must select rams and ewes having good symmetry, good constitutions, and a.good fleece of fairly long stapled wool. There is now a very noticeable improvement in cur flocks generally, and the Romney* of today are much better grown, carry more even fleeces, with less kemp and show more even fleeces than they did a few years back. There is, however, a tendency with a few breeders to grow a short dense wool, having more of the density of the Down and not that of a longwoolled sheep. I look upon the Romney as a longwool, and am not prpeared to admit that it is only a middlowool, and certainly not a shortwool. Breeders are not likely to agree as to the best class of wool a Ronmey should carry, but one should certainly try to grow the wool most suited for his owe locality. 1 reside in a district that is probably one of the windiest in the world, and has a very heavy rainfall. The fleece that I find suffers least from bad weather is one that has a good length of staple, is fairlydense, but opens freely and is free from cross fibres. Sucla a wool will turn rain like a shingled roof, and you will find it at shearing tune i bright and lustrous. The short stapled dense class of wool does not winter well in any locality. The rain drives j straight into it, it becomes washed j out, loses life, and is often full of cross fibres like Down wool. I noticed in the report of the last conference of A. and P. Societies, that breeders were strongly cautioned against allowing their in-lamb ewes from be-

coming too fat. Although I would not think of stuffing my stud ewes with turnips I am never afraid of letting them run on good pasture, and al- - make it a practice to place them in good fresh paddocks about a month prior to and during lambing. If that is done you will rarely lose a ewe from paralysis, but if you keep them on short and stale pastures during that time you will probably suffer a heavy loss. If ewus are kept in low condition they cannot gruw a good healthy fleece, but a large proportion of the wool will be cotted, and as there will ba little se ■ cretion of yolk dry and light. -Next to feeding sheep well it is necessary to keep them clean; I mean fre from ticks and lice, if you wish to grow wool of good quality. At the last Agricultural Conference a gentleman read a paper on ticks in sheep, in which he stated that the cost of dipping sheep throughout , New Zealand annually cost £187,000 \ and that the injury to wool through ticks amounted to £727,000. I think the latter amount is exaggerated, but I always consider that when sheep are badly infected with ticks the value of the wool is depreciated to the extent of 2d per lb. Some of the gentlemen at the Conference re- \ commended two dippings, but if we . are not goiiig to get rid of these \

pesta absolutely it is absurd to put farmers to the expense of a double dipping and knock our sheep aboul unnecessarily. Mr Matthews then gave the following description of a Romney sheep: Head wide, level between ears with good thick foretop, no horns, nor dark hair on the poll, which should be covered with wool: face in ewes full, and in rams broad and masculine in apearance; nose in all cases broad and black; neck well set in at the shoulders strong and thick; shouders wide, well put in and level with the back; chest wide and deep; back straight with wide flat loin; rump wide, long and well turned: tail set almost level with the chine; thighs well let down and developed; feet large and black; the fleece of even texture, uniform, and of good decided staple; the skin should be of a clear pink colour, and every effort-should be made to improve the quality of the breech wool. At the conclusion of the address Mr Matthews described the several points of the she«p, pointing out the difference in the three animals, with regard to frame and bone, constitution, length and quality of the fleeces. His placing of the sheep in order of merit differed widely from the ideas of the students, but wore generally in accord with the opinion of practical farmers conversant with Romney sheep. At the conclusion of the address Mr D. McGregor senr., on behalf of the settlers present, and the students, thanked the lecturer for his lucid and most able address. Mr Matthwes suitably responded.