FACTS FOR FARMERS. SHEEP BREEDING.

Waikato Times, Volume 354, Issue VII, 20 August 1874, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS. SHEEP BREEDING.

A LETTfiu appeared in an Auckland paper from tie pen of Mr McLean, in which the writer set forth the great advantages of his favourite breed of sheep, the Leicester, and as Mr McLean is known as a very successful breeder, it was re»d with great interest. Near the conclusion of this letter he introduced a subject that he evidently considered nearly new, and no doubt it was so to a very large majority tof the public. The subject referred to is the production of Merinos with a length of wool equal, or nearly so, to that of the Leicester by an infusion of Leicester blood into the Merino. It has long been known that a pure ewe of any 'breed that has once been put to a nun of another breed, cannot be depended on for stud breeding purposes, although the taint thus produced does not always show, even though the ewe was a maiden ewe at the time of the crCss. This article is not intended to show how far it will affect the progeny of the ewe from this point, but to show, as far as the knowledge of the writer will permit, the fallacy of 'Mr -McLeans project. The idea is by no means so new as most people may imagine, and has occupied the minds of a few people who, although not anxious to appear before public, have nevertheless established to their own satisfaction that it is almost, if not quite, "impossible; and the following will tend to show that the production of sheep having the length of wool of the Leicester, and the fineness of the Merino would be attended with difficulties far greater than is contemplated in Mr McLeans plan. A gentleman with a flock of Lincolns as good .as could be procured in the Colony, had a number of the ewes, both young and old, accidentally tupped by a fine wooled ram. The progeny, of course, showed the usual mixture, and they were one and all condemned. As all the pure bred ewes of this flock have numbers tatooed in the ear, it was a very easy matter to distinguish those that had bred to the fine-woolled ram from the remainder of the flock. Greater care was taken to avoid the recurrence of such a mishap as that above mentioned, and the result of the next lambing anxiously looked for. Until the lambs were six or seven months old no appreciable difference could be noticed, and they had every appearance of the purtt bred. By degress, however about one third of them began to show signs that should not have appeared in a pure sheep. The carcase was in no way different to that of the remainder of the flock but'thef wool appeared a trifle shorter, and on comparison was found to be a shade finer the wool on the other sheep of the same age. It had further lost a great deal of the strength and gloss that the Lincoln is • justly famous for, and in place of the latter quality a bluish tinge, sometimes found in half breds, appeared. As a whole the sheep were decidely inferior to the pure ones. This will tend to prove that what Merino blood had remained in the dam, tended' in every way to deteriorate her future progeny. But what may appear as still more interesting and< of the greatest importance is the fact thai, at the ' next lambing not one of the lambs out of the ewe 1 tainted by the Merino showed the slightest sign, ofthe taint which had appeared in the lamb of thf i year before, and it may be justly concluded that it' had worn out. It may be asked how this, applies to Mr McLeans system. This however is easily explained. The facts stated above relatg to longwooled ewes and fine wooled rams,' while Mr. McLeans process places the sexes in the opposite positions. The facts put forward tend to shew that the sheep produced by the infusion of strange blood was decidedly inferior, and the writer holds that the result arrived at by using the Leicester ram and Merino ewe would be precisely the same namely, that the second lamb would only show the bad qualities of the ram used to taint the ewe. It is true, Mr McLean proposed that the process should be gone through twice, but if the results arrived at' above are found to be correct, it will follow as a natural conseqence that the second taint would produce a still more inferior, animal. Nor could the substitution of the Leicester for the Lincoln improve the prospect in any way, as it is well-known that the wool of the former is in nearly every point inferior to that of the latter, and we have it on the anthority of Youatt that the Lincoln wool has lost somewhat in strength through the cross with the Leicester.— 1 - Wanganui Herald,

Journalistic rivalries are sharp and decisive in Chieagp. A younc man acting aa reporter, of tbe Cbigago Pott, called ' to ree Mr Storey of the Times, th* other day, and asked him if he had shot Dr Johnson, aa was rumoured. The old man immediately pulled off his spectacles, squared round to tho reporter, and replied: "Young man, do you think Iwas feol enougli to do it in time for the evening papers f" It is be hoped that tbe additions made to our population by tho Great Immigration Scheme " will not result in an mcrense of crime ; but it is, nevertheless, a fact that of late reports of acts ot TioJence uro augmenting. On Saturday night, a young man and woman * ere "stuck up "in the Shakc«^eaie Bond, but the screams of the woman brought' eomo ot the residents to tho rescue, and the miscreants at once made off without committing further outrage. Tb» necessity of an increase of'onr local police force seems to ba^ necessary at the pvestnt time.— Sawke's Bay Herald,,