FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 215, 25 September 1873, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

SHEEP BREEDING ON FARMS. (By the Secretary of Agriculture, Victoria.) Now that our richest agricultural lands are gradually passing into a state of exhaustion, or, to speak more correctly, now that those aie gradually becoming grain-sick, and refuse any longer to give a remunerative return of cereals, it is rendered daily more and more apparent that to make farming more profitable, more particularly in our oldest settled agricultural districts, tho rearing and grazing of stock must go hand in hand with tilligo husbandry. Then arises the question, what description of stock is most profitable lor tho farm to keep? This query, I think, may bo easily answered. The sheep, undoubtedly, of all other farm animals, is the one which gives the largest and most speedy return for capital invested, besides being a valuable auxiliary to tillage husbandry ; hence it may be regarded as the most desirable stock for tho colonial farm. Hut, of the various breeds, which is the best adapted to our climate, and which is the beit suited to supply our wants ? The merino, from its lightness of ileecu, its smallness of carcase, its inability to arrire at early maturity, its propensity to roam and consequent unsuitnbleness for confinement, is certainly not the kind of sheep which the farmer should keep. Nor is it probable that any one of the British races will prove suitable to the varied conditions of our soil and climate. In the different districts of Great Britain wo find various breeds of sheep admirably adapted to the locality which they occupy. No one appears to know their origin. They are indigenous to tho soil, climate, and locality in which they aro bred ; but if removed to new pastures they deteriorate and gradually lose the typical form. For the example, tho Southdown breed on the Cots wold Hills is a very different sheep to its congener reared on the natne downs around Brighton. Again, the Lincoln, though beautifully adapted to the bleak wolds and fen lands of Lincolnshire, it removed to the downs of Hampshire or to tho mountains of Wales will, and that soon, change its typo. How much greater then is this likely to be, and how much more rapidly brought about, in a breed taken from a bleak, cold district in England and subjected to the varied climato influences of Victoria? 1 licit- can, I think, be no doubt that the heavy, course- woolled Lincoln, or the somewhat lighter-fleeced Leicester, will, in this genial clime, assume a new form in accordance with local conditions, if bred tufilciently long without any infusion oi imported blood. Indeed tho Leicester, as we shall hereafter see, already exhibits signs of change. Wo should not, then, place t o great relianco in nny one English breed, or assume that, because it thrives well and is eminently suited to its native pustures, it will succeed equally well under new and altered conditions. The question will then be asked, where are we to seek n sheep which shall, in every particular supply our wants? Tho reply, I think, is simple. To obtain a breed of sheep to suit the climate, soil, and pa«turngo of tins country, »c must do as others have done before us ;we must develop it. And if we cannot, by careful selection and rigorous weeding, produce it from any one pure h pc, then we must induce it by an infusion of two or more kinds. But there are persons who maintain that a desirable breed of sheep cannot be produced by crossing, no matter how r-nrefully or systematically the work may be undertaken. Yet how contradictory this seems when we have so many well-marked instances on record. Wbat, then, is the Oxford Down but a cross between the Cotswold and Hampshire Down, or tho Border Leicester, but a cross between the Cheviot and the Leicester, or the improved Lincoln but a cro»s between the old ungainly sheep of Lincolnshire and the Leicester oi Bakewcll ? Indeed, so advantageous has Leicester blood been found in improving this last-named rare that, in some instances, it is difficult to discern nny trace of tho original sheep in the improved stock. If, then, the crossing of distinct races has been so thoroughly and so satisfactorily effected in England, surely the same can bo done in Victoria. Unquestionably there are among those enlightened farmers who have lately partly laid aside the plough for the breeding of sheep, men who will be able, if they set themselves the task, to produce, by careful and judicious selection some pure type easily procurable in their district or rlsewhrre in the colony, or by the judicious blending of two or more kinds a breed admirably adapted to local circumstances. But not overy man is destined to become a brooder, that is an improver of a race of sheep. Probably not one man in a thousand hai accuracy of eye and judgment sufficient to make an eminent breeder. But ho who does possess these qualifications is able, by careful selection, to modify and remodol the frame of an animal almost as readily as a tailor modifies his cut in accordance with the everchanging fashion-t. In short, the principles of breeding are now so well understood, and the details so efficiently applied in practice, that wr may obtain our stock to order much in the same manner aa we do any other commodity. Lord Somerrilfe, speaking of what breeders have done lor sheep, remarks : — " It would seem as if they had chalked out upon a wall a form perfect in itself, and then had given it existence." (Darwin, " Origin of Species,") sth cd. p. 33.) But let us pass rapidly in review some of the more importnnt breed*, with a view to ascertain which of them it will be most desirable to select as a basis for future operations. First in order is tho merino. True, I have already condemned it as the farmer's sheep ; nevertheless it does not follow that the race i« an undesirable one for crossing with Home of the long-woollod breeds Exp nenee, indeed, has taught us the contrary. Take, for example, the three-quarter und seven-eighths bred sheep sold at the late Thomas Austin's sale at Barwon Park. These wrro, perhaps, tho cheapest and most useful lot* disposed of The quality of the merino ileece unquestionably is of the first order, but like all other good thing*, there is not sulUeient of it. Tho carcase of this breed, however, is miserably deficient ; but this point may be much nupro\ed by a cross with tho Leicester or some other large framed, symmetrical, long-woolled breed ; whereas simultaneously the fleece may be considerably increased in weight without being much deteriorated in quality. But it is the modification of tho long woolled breeds ol Britain, or the crowing ol these with the merino, upon which wv must chiefly depend for tho production of u breed or breeds to suit local conditions and supply local wants. Before entering upon a description of tho severul breeds of long-woolled sheep, I may mention that I propose to take the Leicester as my type, since this breed is more widely ilitfused and has played n more prominent part m the improvement of other races than any of its congeners. Indeed, with the oxception of tho Cotswold, and the Cheviot in its pure state, all the modern breeds have been modified more or less by an infusion of Leicester blood. Strictly speaking, the Leicester, Cotswold, Lincoln, and llomney Marsh are the only breeds included under the head of "long-wools" Tho Cheviot belongs more to the middlo than to the long woolled breeds ; and the so-culled Border Leicester — a cross between tho Cheviot and the improved Leicester — is also, m point of tleece, more nearly allied to tho middle than to tho longwoolled varieties The Leicester, for compactness of form, finenem of bone, perfection ot symmetry, mid meat-producing qualities, is unsi(ipii«seri, if ci|iiii]lc(l, bj any other breed. Its t'Uiet characteristic-* nre extreme docility, great aptitude to fatten, and the enrl\ n«o sit which it comes to maturity. The principal diMnutiw fentiues of the breed are the small slight^ -elongated head, covered with short, white, silky hair, bur, with it lotnl >ihsoneeof wool ; the long, thin, well-placed ear; tho lull and prominent, jet quiet eye, standing deeilike, rather beyond the general outline of the head ; the fine, clean, well-formed jaws ; the wide nostrils, capable of being considerable dila'ed when tho annual it oxeited ; and the jet black nose; tho lull, but tnpnmg, neck, well-woolled to the | setting-on of the lieud ; tho wide, deep, and slightly pi <>• I iimieiit chest ; the ftriim'it. fiat, und uniformly broad back ; | the will-de\eli>)vd liiiiil-<|ii.iiUr» ; the full woll-p!;uul

riliouldcr ; t'uo well-archoil ribs ; the fine, compact litnb bjiii-s, uiul Hie long, aolt, curlr, but lialy -opening fleece, weighing, on an aterage, from »n to seven pounds. The flccco of the Leicester, Lowe* or, « not sufficiently charged with jolk to protect it against the (-lunatic dunces ana tho hot suu of Victoria ; it becomes dry and funy, winch circumstanoo niateriaUjr loducei tho \arnt 1 of the Leicester as a desirable ulieep for tins countrj J3ut crossed with tho merino it has producod aatiifaclory results. (To bo continued )