THE RIGHT GLASS OF SHEEP TO BREED.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3104, 7 June 1892, Page 3

THE RIGHT GLASS OF SHEEP TO BREED.

TO 'NIK KIMTOK. Sill,—lt, has been a matt rof some doubt to me in to whether the public an-, chielly indebted to Mr MbNicml ' [, r his vigorous letter, or to myself fur causing him to write it. But as there is a doubt, I freely give that eentlem.tn the benefit of it. In his letter Mr MeXicol considers that I should have signed inv name: this might he so if ifjl were putting my know edge again-t*h:s, but I had eo thought ol d iin,' so. What I wished to dr.uv attention to was that in the advice tendered by Mr McNicol, he was c;ivim; that which was directly opposed to all the experience trained by us, and I respectfully enntend that his letter has in no way altered that impression. This advice related definitely to the Lincoln and Merino cross, yet he knows full well that no fanner in Waikato will now touch the JVlerino, particularly if they are to feed otf turnips. When I pointed this out, Mr McNicol shifts his position somewhat by Raying, "that where ymi can carry the Down you can carry the crossbred." Certainly—but not the Merino; and if anyone lias any doubt still left upon the point, let him look over the (locks that are now upon turnips in Waikato and see how many Merino will ho found. The advice Riven, " to buy our crossbreds,'' is sound enough. Towards the close of hislett»r, Mr McNicol quotes the opinion of Mr John Grigg, of Longhead), Canterbury. May I, also, ask y:m to insert the enclosed extinct from a recent reply from that gentleman. He goes fully into this question of the best class of sheer) to breed, and while it supports Mr MeNicol's views as to the weight of the fleece, it leaves no room for doubt as to the most profitable kind for freezing; and also, it will be observed, it rather discounts the value of Wellington and Hawke's Bay testimony in respect to the frozen mutton trade.—l am, &c.. Sheep Farmer. Mr Grigg writes in the New Zealand Fanner for May:—"l would say that, there is no cross of two pure breeds that would produce the most suitable, wethers for freezing. I would prefer a crossbred ewe either a second or third cross from Merino with Leicester rams, or these ewes to use the Shropshire Down ram. I use nothing but Shropshire Down rams on my crossbred ewes, and I have frozen as lambs at least 110 per cent, of the increase. Never use the Merino ram as a sire ; always the pure-bred longwiol or down breeds, A wether should be frozen at no particular age; but as soon as can be made to weigh 0 llbs in the carcase, provided the quality of the mutton is first-class. There are breeds such as the Lincoln or Romney Marsh that may become that weight as a lean carcase, therefore a most unprofitable class of sheep for freezing. To ewes having a strong dash of Lincoln in them, I should say use the Shropshire Down ram. If Merino, or any first cross Merino, then I prefer the English Liecester. I find my Shropshire wool, or strong dash of that blood, gives about lid per lb more than any coarse cr.>3sbrad. The relative weight of fleeces from the different breeds may be pi iced roughly as follows! —Lincoln cross, 101b; Romney cross. 91b; Leicester cross, 71b; Shropshire cross, (Jib. These relative figures will only hold good starting with a mean average of the crossbred sheep in New Zealand, I maintain that there would be no loss of weight from u first crop of either Leicester or Shropshire Down on a heavy wooled cross-bred Lincoln ewe. Practically no experienced sheep farmer should ever see any wether in his flock beyond four-tooth, or not more than 20 per cent, of them ; unless lie holds a very inferior farm or high hill country. There is no reason why every wether should not be frozen is 20 months old. This should apply to all cross breds. 1 reply to this question without hesitation. There is no sheep equal to the Shropshire Down for producing lambs for freezing. My average lambing for three years has been 125, 124, 127 per cent, and I have frozen fully 110 percent. The largest man of frozen meat was a-=ked this question and he replied as I have done. The average weight of my lambs, aged from three to four months old, was about 3!llbs each carcase. Lambs -hould come as soon as yon can supply them with sufficient grass, and run no risk of any check for want of {■> <d. Lambs once checked will never fully recover as lambs. It will not pay ge;;-r.',!y to provide food for cross-bred with their lambs. No lamb should weigh more than -lOlbs. For hill farms the f-.r all in all, is still the best sheep. The foundation of all crosses through.oil N-*\v Zealand is the Merino ewe. I have tried a cross of Shropshire ram upon both Leicester and Lincoln ewe, and the re-sit ha- b-:<-rt magnificent, but practictlly it i- "s----insomuch as sneh ewes are 'in -.turnable in any numbers, and if th'-y were would not he sr profit ti-le r-d ewes. The Merino cn,-s is\ery iub;.i,!e, as it tends to give a Lrg-r pr rt/>n of lean meat in the caica-", I ,;e tendency of crossing two pr.i-j JSrit:.-.. *>; sheep, as above, is to pr >dtic.; a tv.reas : over-large for freezing, and t-.\treirie.y fat. There have been t.voor three attempts to maintain the crossbreed heUve- a ti.e Linceln, and also the Leicester arid Mei.n >. by inter-crossing the product*, wita Lei doubtful lesalts. In answer to t,!e- question, " When any pure breed of sheep is for several generations bred to males of a distinct dilferent pure breed of the one strain, will not the olf-spring become undistinguishable in character from the pure race from which the sires originate ; if so, are not the progeny resulting from such breeding over large and fat f. r freezing,'' most certainly suuh is the result. This is the main reisori why Wellington and Hawke's Bay mutton sells at such a low price in London. To obviate this, u*n Shropshire rams. I believe that the greatest mistake made by the sheep farmer of New Zealand, and especially those of tho North Island, has been to attempt to grow Lineolns and Romneys on land that :iu English farmer would not dream of

attempting to do. No doubt they have reasoned in this way : "If the Lincoln will give me an average o[ lOibs of wool, and the Leicester only 71bs, it must be better to use the Lincolns; forgetting that much more important question, "How much wool and mutton cati I get off an aere of land." They omit altogether to consider the earlier maturity of tho Leicester and Down cross, and also they do not appear to see that the 001b two-tooth of ripe quality is worth ;|d per lb. in London more than the 751b. Lincoln crossbred

which has also to be kept four months longer to be fattened. They appear, also, not to realise the fact that the young sheep of the Lincoln cross, carrying so much wool, has such a dtain on his constitution that a large percentage die of lungworin, etc. The farmers of Canterbury discarded the Lincoln cross almost to a man. They have been wavering for the past five or six years between tho Border and tho English Leicester. The Border Leicester staited first favourite, but the English Leicester, at the last ram fairs in some districts, sold at about 25 per cent, higher on the average than the Border Leicesters. It we go to English experience for a guide, wo will find that the Lincoln is only bred on a limited area, the Romney only on the Isle of Thanei; and suiali surrounding districts, whereas the Leicester* are used to improve almost all flocks throughout England, Ireland, and Scotland, and the Shro|.shires have run over England and the South of Scotland iu a remarkable manner during the last ten or fifteen years. Surely those facts should help New Zealand farmers to come to a right conclusion. Ido not wish to condemn the Lincoln altogether ; no doubt he may have his place for an occasional cross. The best sheep, in my

opinion, of the longwools is the English Leice-t"]' ot a large and stroiig-wooled_type, aud tho best I) urn is the Shropshire.