"FAKING" OF SHOW SHEEP.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10181, 6 March 1911, Page 4

"FAKING" OF SHOW SHEEP.

AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION

MASTERTON BREEDERS INTERVIEWED.

A good deal of comment was occasioned on Saturday by the publi- - cation in the • "Dominion" newsr paper of a letter from Mr H. G. Williams, of Masterton, vigorously assailing the practice of exhibiting "faked" sheep at agricultural shows. Mr Williams alleged; that most of the stud ibreeders in NewZealand are sheep "painters, housers, ruggers, oilers, dyers, trimmers, simpers, and stutters." He furtiier alleged ,'that the practice of "trimming" was* winked at by every' agricultural society in New Zea* . land, "because most judges do the same things themselves/' and urged that the public was being deceived. In conclusion Mr Williams suggested' as a remedy that farmers give Jbheir donations, subscriptions or trophies to agricultural societies on the distinct understanding that they are not to be, used if "faking" is allowed.. In view' of-Wi, outspokenness of the letter, and the importance of the .subject to settlers generally, a. representative of the Wairarapa Age interviewed a number ; of prominent. .Wairarapa "< breeders' to the matter. Mr William Perry,- the; •wellknown "Penrose" breeder of Romneys and Lincolnis, and President ; of the Masterton A. and P. Association, stated "that he had visited most of the; shows in the North Island during the past season> and had acted as judge at the Auckland Show r , He had-seen no \"faking" at the spring shows, so far as the . "shaping" of sheep was concerned: <A certain amount of oiling was , done, but this was "a, general pracitice among 1 breeders. No person experienced in the breeding of Lin-, coin sheep would condemn it, for , the reason'that if the sheep were to be shown at more than one show ■ the oil must be used to keep the wool open. In- regard to the ing or rugging of sheep, Mr Perry stated that no man of experience would /take sheep to, unless : tney ? were coveredi There ing harmful in , the x Mr., Perry was decidedly opposed to the "trimming" of sheep, as it was occasionally seen in the autumn. /Me did! not think, however, that the trimming usually resorted to was objectionable. Experienced s-eep-breeders were not misled by it. A glaring case of over-trimming had recently come under notice, but everybody had detected it, and even Mr Williams would not have been by it. Mr Perry pointed out that the breeders who -were: showing their rams in the spring .would ~not shear them close, otherwise 'they would, be deceiving the public. A man who knew his business would clip* the ■sheep after the spring shows so that, when they were shown in the autumn, they would have the same quantity of wool on their backs as if they had been shown in September or October. According to the theory of Mr Williams, this l might be regarded as "faking," or "blocking." Mr Perry contended, however, that nobody was deceived 1 by the practice, and no harm: at all could be done so long as the sheep were fairly shorn. He -strongly deprecated the "shaping" of sheep, but the judges could be trusted to prevent this. It was impossible to stop a measure of and it was the duty of breeders to present their sheep in, the most attractive form. . Mr J. Strang, of Glenside, who is a breeder of Southdowns, and i who had acted as judge at the Hawera, Hamilton, Auckland and Pukekohe shows during the past season, said that personally he did not trim, rug, oil, or otherwise deal with his own sheep. He was strongly opposed to the "shaping" of sheep with the shears, but he had noticed very little of this at the shows he had visited this year. Personally he would) not throw out a sheep if it was "trimmed," so long as it possessed the type and purity of blood which made it superior to the other competitors. He saw nothing particularly wrong in the oiling of sheep, and thought it well that exhibits should be brought to a show in. the very best •condition. The judges could tell if a sheep had been "shaped," and they would not give a prize to such an animal unless it possessed other striking characteristics. The public could not be very much deceived if the judges acted rightly, for the prize tickets spoke for themselves..^ Mr William QRayner, a breeder of Lincolns and Romneys, said he

was strongly averse to "shaping," which lie thought should be put down. He had seen several glaring cases of late, .he was aiso opposed to the oiling of sheep, but did not object to a little trimming. He though, it would' be difficult to avoid trimming, and considered that if judges were to disqualify sheep which appeared to have been trimmed ■ a hardship might be inflicted. Bome top were bred to C •that had no tips to tire wool, lhese mi aht be nn,tak&iV for trimmed S heep and b 3 disqualified. Personally he thought that the practice of overbrimming should be condemned. i Mr Duncan McGregor, junr., who is also a breeder of Luk-olus and Romneys, assorted that practical!* every sheep that goes: mto a show is trimmed. A hard and fast rule, absolutely prohibiting trimming, would mean that an honest man -would have no chance. An expert would do the trimming so long before a show, and so skilful* that nobody would detect it. A judge who was fit for the position would not be influenced by the trimming of a sheep. He could easily detect an inferior sheep that had been so shorn as to make it appear superior. Sheep had been disqualified at the Masterton show because they had been unfairly shorn. Mr -McGregor stated that he did very little trimming himself, but he could not see how a fixed rule could be introduced to stop the practice. Another br-der of Komneys admitted that i- ' "shaping" of sheep by .trimming had become too common of late, and it was unfortunate that the judges did not take a firm standi in the matter. At the same time, he pointed out that the type of a sheep could be readily judged by Mb head, ears, mouth and legs, which could not well be faked. The Secretary of the Masterton A. and P. Association (Mr G. R. Sykes), when spoken to on 'the subject, .stated that'the Association had a rule that judges must not award a prize to any sheep which had been "unfairly" shorn. If judges adhered to this rule; there should be no complaint on the score of "shaping." The Association, as a body, was opposed to undue trimming.