THE ROMNEY SHEEP.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9621, 14 October 1909, Page 7

THE ROMNEY SHEEP.

MR A. MATTHEW'S ADDRESS. (Contributed). The address on Romney Marsh sheep so ably handled by Mr Matthews on Tuesday last before the students of the Technical School and a number of sheep farmers was of a most instructive nature, ana bristled with practical knowledge not onl applicable to the Romney but to the breeding and management of sheep generally. Such addresses are most valuable and should be encouraged and fostered by our Agricultural and Pastoral Societies by instituting regular cunrses of them from time to time as tending to educate not only students of the school but all persons who desire to attain to proficiency in sheep husbandry. If more attention was paid to the bleeding of stock on the lines indicated by Mr Matthews there would soon be a change observable by a diminution In i the number of ill-formed animals which it is regrettable to see form such a large percentage of the farmers' flocks. The benefit the lecture was from a wool classing point of view was not quite so apparent as was the general management of sheep. But it may be pointed out that if farmers breed them on the lines of the sheep which Mr Matthews accorded first place, that there such an improvement in the quality and evenness of the wool that there would soon be less and less necessity for the wool classer. The sheep in question was well-clad all over with a good and even type of wool, free from bane "kemp," and had all the characteristics of. an animal which would be profitable to produce, j There is nothing to prevent one farmer from breeding the same class of sheep, i.e., auimals with good symetrical bodies, strong constitution and an "even" staple of wool and naving all good points essential to a perfect sheep. It has been remarked upon by capable authorities who handle thousands of bales of New Zealand wool, that there is no very marked improvement in our clips, in fact in some instances the reverse is tlae case. No matter what particular breed a farmer decides upon as suitable to the peculiar class of country he holds, let it be Romney, Lincoln, Leicester, Down or Merino, his aim should be uniformity and evenness of type in what he produces. Care and discretion will bring this about, and the return in wool and meat will tar more than compensate for the trouble and outlay, whiie the Dominion would be noted for the upward tendency in the quality of its wool clip. It must be manifest to any person exercising a little thought that if a flock of sheep are bred of a like type the worfc of classification of the wool would be almost if not totally unnecessary, and it is in this direction that our farmers should be educated, and perhaps no medium would give better results than lectures and demonstrations conducted by such practical and expert sheep breeders as Mr A. Matthews.