STATION, FARM AND GARDEN. STUD SHEEP FOR FARMERS. BY AN OLD COLONIST. Agriculture.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1580, 19 August 1882, Page 6

STATION, FARM AND GARDEN. STUD SHEEP FOR FARMERS. BY AN OLD COLONIST.

Agriculture.

It is Burptfjri4g£hftt our farming classes do not devote more attention to the raising of qlOUM&eep.. Wo do not in tbia paper refer merely, to the keeping of small flocks for tpfeir 1 wool and mutton ; but to the keeping'Und improving of Btud flocks for sale purposes. ' The business is suited roeoially 'for men of intelligence and judgment who farm a few hundred acres of land. Jt is a business which is in infancy as yet io the colonies and before which 1 fchero is a great future. Only recently the news was spread all over' Australia 1 that an enterprising squatting firm ufiyiotoria had sent all the way to Vermont in ' the United States, purchased th'ero a number of rams and ewes, and, at what must have been very heavy expense brought them to this country. We need' say but little here concerning the "'American Merinos'' in question. Our concern, at present is with the stamp of ifien from whom they were purchased, and to show that the business carried on tiy them is suited, in a peculiar degree to colonials. But ere leaving the sheep recently introduced, it may be said they hdve a strong dash of the ram-boinlet merino blood in their composition ; they look strong and hardy, and carry heavy fleeces of very excellent wool. The ramboinlet is a breed well known in the colonies. In years gone past flocks of rams, some having as many as two hundred in a flock, were brought ever in vessels direct from Hamburg. The lead - ing features they present in comparison with other merinos, is in having series of deep wrinkles from the head downwards over the body. The wrinkles are coated with wool, and aid in yielding the heavy fleeces we hear of as being shorn in America. But, although the breed is an undoubtedly fine one, tho wrinkles and extra heuvy fleeces did not prove such an attraction in the colonies as they aro to the Americans. And the breed never came into favor, although there are very high class flocks in Victoria in which traces of the ram-boinlet are visible, but the wrinkles have been bred out. They are not suitable were tens of thousands of sheep have to bo shorn expeditiously. It dbes not pay to shear wrinkles under such circumstances. Hence, amongst other re*asons that is one why the ram-boinlet have not made headway in the colonie3 ; and our belief is that the Victorian firm who imported American descendants of that breed would have done quite as well by judicious Selections from colonial flocks. It' can be said with every confidence that for constitution, freedom from heriditary disease, and quality of wool tlie Australian merino stands in the front. There are not, to-day, their equal in all the world. This is a great claim to make for any animal, bnt, as concerning the first class flocks of this country it is the sober truth. While claiming so much for the Australian merino it is necessary to add that the excellence of the breed, in the very best establishments is maintained only by the continuous application of great skill and care. We do not for a moment assert that the grand, and, as it stands, almost perfect Australian merino could hold its position for any length of time, even in this favored climate, were it not for the skill and care devoted in selecting and breeding. To some of the first-class flocks, also, fresh blood is being introducedalmost continuously. Regarding the weight of fleece, too, although far from accepting all we hear of the tremendous fleeces shorn in American, we willingly allowed that heavier clips can be cut from single animals and even from small flocks, kept as the stud sheep of American breeders are maintained, than is likely under the conditions of woolgrowing in the colonies. And it is for those veiy ieason& that theie are openings here for men of skill to go in for the developing of stud flocks, upon something like the American system of proceeding. For in the case of their small flocks of stud sheep the Americans have systemised the business as they have many other features of agricultural industry which deserve our serious attention. It simplifies matters very much where we know that a man with limited means and a small area of land can commence a stud flock by selecting animals in the colonies. We arc not saying where he is to go for them ; that would be unfair to the many others who sell stud sheep of the very fiist order. The very best course is to wait for the periodical sheep sales that now take place regularly in Melbourne, Sydney, New Zealand, Mudgee, and other places. The choice of ically highclass animals from Tasmanian, Victorian, New South Wales, and other established flocks is of a high order. Were the world traveled, iti 3 dobutful if flner stock fer Australian pasture could be got .anywhere than have been offered during the last few years under the hammer of the ordinary auctioneer. The prices, too for both rams and ewes are now reasonably low considering the quality of many of the animals sold, and the high cast of blood from which they spring. Were the prices very low, or anywhere approaching the 'market rates for ordinary sheep, there would bo no longer any inducement to go into breeding for stud purposes. But they have como down very much of late years, though still high enough for others to enter the business ; and if a beginner is satisfied to make a start without taking some one or more of the fancy rams with great names into his little flock, a few hundreds laid out skilfully in purchases may give the basis for a very fair commencement. We will suppose, then, that the sheep are chosen. In all, they may not exceed a score, which may make a very fair beginning in the hands of a man who is taking to the raising of stud sheep as an addition to the other branches of farming carried on by him. There must be good natural pasture available to induce the first start being made, and it should be so fenced off in pens, yards, and small paddocks, as to keep the sheep apart' singly, in pairs, or in small families as may be desired. It is supposable also, seeing we are dealing with land under v cultivation, that there is sufficient lucerne, "rye, prairie, or other cultivated grass t>aviulable for both green feed and hay. f^Roots also, and indeed nearly all cultifc/roted green and grain crops are available L~xo* stud sheep. If there is sufficiency of cultivated feed, it will be quite safe to increase the flock to four, six, or even . yAwenty'sheep per acre of the grass land *Ja. the farm. The stud sheep men of tt/£merica, of Vermont, Maine, Rhode and other placeß, of which wo hear "Jtjery much, operate with very small \'Jmolct, and upon farms more frequently ', in^fler than over 100 acres in area; and ■M **M r Q 00!™Q 00 !™ are m <> re generally counted by 4'"M^ n nun^ re^ 8 * 1° their case > Jyx«tvily constructed and warm stables or ■Miinns'for.the sheep have to be erected-, ■aaad feed ban to be stored up for the four, lB8 v ye W" l * 6l mtmttis each year, during flwhich the sheep ; have to be kept under J-Imver. ; ,Ser^» tho ease is very different. $fiyip haVe! a climate, the moat favoraDßJLori ll&krth/ias has been proVed abundantly %J Wjaikpp':'"^S^^dij „or at' most,' well-roofed? jU^^^Amti/aTe'puflicientfor stud sheep, the very coldest locations ; and, HBtt'carefiil'f arming,' it is 'seldom' Indeed Jpt; more dry feed than might,' it dry

weather prevailed, for say,' two months, becomes necessary. -The m&in stand-by of the colonial farmer should be his cultivated grass paddocks. With reasonably goed land, and sufficiency of cultivated feed he has nothing to fear. What are the inducements for entering upon such business ? is a reasonable and a prudent question. Tho answer can be found, to somel extent, in the stud sheep sales referred to. Most of the animals therein sold are from small flocks, and others of good blood and judicious breeding and handling would be equally welcome at the snleg. If up to the standard the animals would Tory soon establish a reputation, and win the beat prices going. Then there are the new sheep runs being stocked and increased in the far west and north, and the numbers, which must increase, of farmers goingr into sheep. The vast majority in both cases cannot devote the time and skill which are necessary to successful breeding of stud stock. The latter is really a separate occupation, and is carried on most successfully by men who devote themselves ts that branch of sheepfarming alone, and who keep none but stud stock. Thus the risks of contamination are lessened, and buyers gain confidence in dealing with men of that stamp — that they can depend upon the sheep supplied. The demand for oarefully-bred stock of the kind must inorease j and, as stated, it is a branch of colonial agriculture peculiarly suitable for the intelligent farming classes who have suitable land and moderate capital to invest in live stock.