Sheep Breeding.

he following paper on "The Breed of Sheep best adapted for the Courtenay District," was read by Mr. W. B. Tosswill, at a meeting of the Courtenay Farmers' Club, held at Courtenay on the 26th March, 1877.

The paper which I purpose reading this evening has for its subject the relative value of the different breeds of sheep, always bearing in mind that the real question is, what is the best and most suitable sheep for this district. There can, I think, be no doubt but that for heavy land the long-woolled sheep are the most profitable, wherever the land is moist during the summer and clover grows freely; the Lincoln sheep will give not only the heaviest carcass but also the greatest weight of wool; but it is not a suitable sheep for our district. During the hot weather Lincolns rapidly loose condition, unless their feed is abundant, and in a very few years they would become leggy, and their wool lose its length and lustre.

The Leicester will certainly thrive on shorter commons than the Lincoln, and has the double advantage of early maturity and a fairly heavy fleece of valuable wool. Mr. Ellman, himself the breeder of another class of sheep, writes of the Leicester in the following high terms:—"Fattens kindly and early, being admirably calculated for the market, thriving on pastures that will scarcely keep other sheep, and requiring less food than others, tolerably hardy and vigorous." Another authority, Mr. Spooner, in his book on sheep, writing on the other side of the question, says:—"The disadvantages of the Leicester as compared with many other breeds—a certain weakness of constitution, an inability to bear exposure to the weather, and a greater predisposition to inflammatory disease; to which may be added, a want of prolificacy in the ewes, and an inferiority as nurses." Of course both writers allude to the Leicester sheep in England. But I think their remarks hold good here also. There is no doubt, in my opinion, that the Leicester class fatten earlier, and do better on such land as ours than any other long-woolled sheep. At the same time, the young sheep especially, are delicate, and the percentage of deaths amongst them is much heavier page 193 than in some other breeds. This may be much lessened by the growth of artificial food, and the saving of stubble feed for winter use, but we shall hardly altogether get over what is allowed to be one of the peculiarities of this breed of sheep.

I will now pass on to another breed—the Southdown. This is admitted to be the oldest and one of the best breeds of sheep. Spooner writes of it as follows:—"It is unquestionably the purest and most unmixed breed in the kingdom; it holds a place in the esteem of breeders inferior to no other, and though its different qualities preclude any competition with the Leicester, year after year we find the elite of this breed carrying off prizes of equal amount and importance." Later in his book, he writes:—"The chief principle in improving them has been to amend the evils of a thin chine, low fore-end, and rising backbone; and in so doing, the improved breed have become smaller in bone, with greater disposition to fatten, with an earlier maturity, and a heavier carcass, whilst still retaining their former hardihood and capability of doing well on scanty pasture—this constitutes the perfection of the breed. They can endure the rigour of the weather, and preserve their flesh when a Leicester sheep would die. And thus they are so admirably adapted to the downs, often travelling a considerable distance each day, and bearing with impunity close folding to a degree that no other sheep can endure, and thus are so well adapted for the system of agriculture practised on light lands." My own experience of the Southdown has quite borne out Mr. Spooner's opinion. I feel sure that a larger number of those sheep can be kept in good condition on a given average than any other breed; and also, that a much larger percentage of lambs will be obtained from them than from the Leicester. The lambs will command a higher price in the market, and the losses amongst the hogget's will be much less. On the other hand, the wool is not so valuable, and there is less weight of it, especially as the sheep grows old, than there is with the Leicester. Still, if the Downs had the same pasture as the Leicester, I very much doubt if the difference would be as large as most people imagine. Col. Packe informs me that some of his ewe hogget's have this year shorn eleven pounds of wool; and I recollect some years ago the flock of Archdeacon Wilson shearing between seven and eight pounds all round, of course they were in good condition, and had been well kept through the winter. The question as to what breed of sheep is most suited to this district is, to my mind, narrowed down to—weather is the Leicester or the Southdown the best; and the answer I should give would be both. On the large holdings, where the quantity and quality of the wool becomes of considerable importance, the Leicester is no doubt the best sheep, especially where the land is better than the average of the district; but where the farm consists of from fifty to four or five hundred acres, I am convinced a larger annual return would be made by crossing with the Down, than with either the page 194 Leicester or any other breed. I have already given the reasons I have for coming to this conclusion, but will shortly recapitulate them. 1st. A larger number of sheep can be kept. 2nd. A larger number of lambs will be obtained. 3rd. The lambs will be more valuable. (I have myself bred 98 per cent, of Cross-bred Downs, and on the same farm were bred no more than 80 of cross-bred Leicesters.) 4th. A less number of the hogget's will die during the first winter, and they will do far better on turnips than any other breed; I may also add, the higher price which these sheep will always fetch from the superiority of the mutton. The loss attendant on the lightness of the wool may be to a great extent overcome by never keeping any sheep over three years old; if this is done, and they are well wintered, I feel sure that the number of pounds of wool produced will very nearly, if not quite, reach the same average as Leicester sheep. Of course the additional number that would be kept is the essence of this calculation.

Before concluding, I will only add, that year by year I am more strengthened in the conviction that the breed of sheep we use is of less importance than the doing justice to them. Overstocking has done more mischief, and put us to greater loss than we are yet aware of. With one of the finest districts in New Zealand for the growth of turnips, our sheep should be, and I trust and believe will be, far better in the future than they have been in the past.