IC-NRLF
ALAND
SHEEPFARMING
WOOL - MUTTON
PASTURES
o
in
o
CvJ
WOOL from Sheep dipped with
LIT
Tiro ourrn
Rec
Rec
Rec
From 1906 onwards.
land
land
land
ion
Top Price, Christchurch
For Ten years in succession.
CHIfcF NEW ZEALAND AGENTS :
BLACKBURNE, SMITH & CO.,
146, MANCHESTER ST., CHRISTCHURCH.
COOPER'S
Sheep Dipping Powder
Used most because it PAYS BEST,
The Sale of "COOPER"
during the early days
of Queen Victoria was
sufficient to dip
200,000 sheep annually.
In King George's reign
the sale of Cooper is
sufficient to dip over
260 millions sheep
annually.
What better proof of the Superiority of " COOPER ? "
Cooper's Dip is the Original Powder Dip
OTHERS ARE BUT IMITATIONS.
Some of the imitations are better than others,
but none are equal to the original.
COOPER affords the most lasting protection to sheep
against parasites. The particular method of manu-
facture makes it " stick " and once dry in the fleece
ordinary rains will not wash it out.
COOPER'S POROUS FLUID DIPS
are first in their class for dipping off the shears and
dipping lambs especially before putting them on the rape.
PROPRIETORS :
Wm, Cooper & Nephews, Berkhamsted, England,
N.Z. Branch : 4Oa Durham St., Auckland.
Ill
THOMAS'
Carbolized paste Dip
lUii IT is easily mixed in cold water.
IT is death on vermin.
VOtt SbOttld IT is more lasting than other Dips in its
effect.
IT contains an oily secret that does improve
the Wool.
IT leaves no sediment in the bath.
1 case containing 1-80 Ib. drum or
1 case containing 4-20 Ib. tins ... £2 15/-
1 case containing 9-8 Ib. tins ... £2 10/-
Separate tins each 20 Ibs. ... ... 14/6 each.
flbout a
farthing is
toe cost
per sheep.
1 drum equals 80 Ibs. paste with 1000 gals,
water for 2000 longwools or with 1250
gals, for 2500 merinos.
1 tin equals 20 Ibs. paste with 250 gals,
water for 500 longwools or with 312 gals
for 625 merinos.
1 tin equals 8 Ibs. paste with 100 gals.
water for 200 longwools, price per tin 6/-
These figures are estimated for dipping sheep ten weeks off shears,
but if the sheep are dipped off shears a very much larger number
can be treated with no more expense. It is, however, desirable to
delay the Dipping, go that each sheep can carry away its proper
proportion of deterrent poison in its fleece.
CHIEF AGENT IN NEW ZEALAND
James Totbcringbam,
IV
•a
National Mortgage & Agency
Company of New Zealand
LIMITED.
Branches and agencies throughout
Hew Zealand.
Auctioneers and Live Stock Salesmen.
Wool Brokers.
Frozen Meat Brokers.
Dairy Produce Exporters.
Land Salesmen.
General Merchants.
flints for:
Jftttts & Sparrow, Dairy Produce Buyers.
Shaw, Savill & Albion Coy., Ltd.
National Insurance Coy., Ltd.
Little's Sheep Dip.
Lawes' Sheep Dtp.
The Farmers' Co-operative
Auctioneering Co.,
Limited.
Authorised Capital
Subscribed Capital
Paid-up Capital
Uncalled Capital
Reserves and Undivided Profits
£300.000
£164.872
£156,566
£7,608
£44,021
STOCK AUCTIONEERS, Land, Commission and
Insurance Agents, Wool Brokers, Manure, Seed,
Produce and General Merchants.
Head Office : HAMILTON
Branches : Ohaupo, Mata Mata,
Te Aroha, and Te Kuiti.
Regular Stock Sales held throughout the Waikato, King
Country, Thames Valley and Bay of Plenty Districts.
Six per cent. "A" Cumulative
Preference Shares
of £1 each.
Applications for the above shares are now being
received at the Head Office of the Company at
Hamilton, where all information and necessary
forms may be obtained.
W. H. HUME, Secretary.
THE NEW ZEALAND
FARMERS' GO-OP.
HEAD OFFICE: CHRISTCHURCH.
Branches at Ashburton, Rangiora, Oxford,
Hawarden, Leeston, Rakaia, Methven,
Kaikoura, etc.
Agencies at Principal Centres of the Dominion.
Stock & Wool Auctioneers
Land & Estate Agents.
RELIABLE STORES
FOR
GRAIN and SEEDS.
Farmers are invited to apply for Samples and
Quotations of Agricultural Seeds. None but the Best
Procurable in stock.
We also supply Cornsacks, Woolpacks, Seaming Twine,
Manures, etc., etc.
THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS' CO-OPERATIVE
ASSOCIATION OF CANTERBURY, LTD.
CASHEL ST., CHRISTCHURCH.
VII
LISTER Sheep-Shearing Machines.
! LISTER Oil Engines.
LISTER Separators.
Snglisd Manufacture
tdrougdout
The SALES of Lister Shearing Machines
and Engines as under speak
for themselves :
Year. Shearing Machines. Engines.
1910 500
1911 611 102
1912 621 213
1913 700 301
1914 724 323
1915 Three mths. 223 198
WE GUARANTEE SATISFACTION.
LEVIN & CO., Ltd.,
' WELLINGTON.
Sole Agents for New Zealand.
VIII
The "SANDOW"
WOOL PRESS
Is a money saving proposition
for Wool Growers.
IT embraces the following
* advantages: Power, Speed,
Simplicity, economy of labor
and space, indestructibility.
It is low set (giving ample
head room for small sheds),
and is easy to sew.
Can be Worked
by One Man.
The top box is made either
to swing round or tip over
and fill from floor.
Testimonials from numerous
wool growers in the Dom-
inion including the following
well-known names:
T. A. Duncan, Esq., Otairi, Hunterville ; H. V. Hammond,
Esq., Lismore, Wanganui ; Matthew Bros., Aurere, Taipo,
Auckland ; P. Studholme, Esq., Waimate, S. Canterbury ;
Wm. Little, Esq., Cave, S. Canterbury; J. A. Lambert, Esq.,
Kaituna, Marlborough ; R. J. Fleming, Esq., W.aipukarau,
H.B. ; Messrs. R. & H. Fenton, Crosland, Kaipara, and
many others.
Send for Catalogues and particulars to
N,Z, Loan & Mercantile Agency Coy. Ltd,
National Mortgage & Agency Coy, ol l.Z. Ltd,
GEORGE CUMMINS, Maker, MARTON
IX ..
Otago Farmers' Co-Operative
Association of N.Z., Ltd.
DUNEDIN.
Owing to t&eir effectiveness and moderate price
numerous wool growers are now asking
for t&e celebrated
BELFAST
DIPS
Manufactured
in IRELAND
Belfast Universal Powder Dip (Poisonous)
Belfast Antiseptic Liquid Dip (Non-Poisonous)
There are no better Dips than these
manufactured by anyone.
a Millions of Sheep now dipped with these Preparations
in Britain. Australia, and New Zealand.
Sole distributing Hgents in Soutd Island
Otago Farmers' Go-Operative Association
—of N.Z., Ltd.
DUNEDIN.
ANDREW TODD - - Manager.
NEW ZEALAND
SHEEPFARMING.
WOOL - MUTTON
PASTURES.
BY
J. R. MACDONALD.
AUCKLAND :
PASTORAL PUBLISHING CO.
1915.
PHIPPS & HALL, LTD., PRINTERS, 34-36 Wyndham Street.
AUCKLAND, N.Z.
XI
MZ,
4O Years ago
NIMMO & BLAIR,
Seed Merefiants,
DUNEDIN,
Started tfair business in JJgrieultural Seeds.
Our 40 years' experience is at the service of Farmers of the
North Island and Farmers of the South Island, and our
Stocks of Agricultural Seeds are the largest
and best in New Zealand.
Ryegrass Perennial
Pacey's Evergreen
Devonshire Evergreen
Italian
„ Giant
Western Wolths
Cocksfoot, Akaroa grown
,, Otago grown •• "'
Clovers, all varieties
Crested DogataiJ ?! ' ;
Meadow Foxtail
Fescues, all varieties
Fiorin
Oat Grass, sorts
Poas, all varieties
Timothy
Yarrow
Mustard
Rape
Sainfoin
Burnet
Chicory
Turnips
etc. , etc.
Samples and prices with delivery at any main port,
quoted on application.
REMEMBER— We have for 40 years had the confidence and
support of the farming community, a record we are proud of.
NIMMO & BLAIR,
Seed Meredants - - - DUNEDIN
PREFACE.
The author, when he became interested in sheep-
farming, was impressed with the absence of a treatise
on the subject suitable to the varying conditions
prevailing in New Zealand, and decided to attempt to
supply the want. He hopes his effort will be of
assistance to those who contemplate engaging in the
industry and to many who are already employed at it.
Part of the matter contained in some of the
chapters was contributed to the columns of the
" PASTORAL REVIEW,'' under the nom de plume of " Top-
house," and to " DALGETY'S REVIEW," and the author
desires to thank the Editors of these journals for
permission to reproduce such portions as have been
used.
The author has also to thank the Editor of the
" NEW ZEALAND FARMER " for supplying the illustration
blocks of the different breeds, and sheepfarming
friends for assistance given in reading over the proofs
of the book.
359C62
XIII
To FLOCK-OWNERS
Have you used
McDougall's Dip?
Nothing will give so much
satisfaction as
M c Do u gall's
Arsenic-Sulphur Paste Dip
No need to soak this Dip 24
hours before use ; it mixes at f
once with cold water.
McDougairs Dip
will not only keep your flocks
clean, but it gives a beau-
tiful soft lustre to your wool.
All you require.
N.Z. LOAN & MERCANTILE
AGENCY CO., LTD.
SOLE AGENTS.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Aspects of a Sheep Farm - - 1
II. Sheep in relation to their Surroundings - 5
III. The Romney . - 13
IV. The Lincoln - 15.
V. The English Leicester . - - - 19
VI. The Border Leicester - 21
VII. The Southdown - - 23
VIII. The, Shropshire - - - 25
IX. The Corriedale . - , , - ...27..
X. The Merino . - - 29
XI. Various kinds of Sheepfarming - - 30
XII. Value and prospects of Sheepfarming - - 33
XIII. Breed distribution in New Zealand - 36
XIV. Ewe Management - - 38
XV. The Ram - - 43
XVI. Choosing a Breed - - 44
XVII. Flock Improvement - 47
XVIII. Crossbreeding - 50
XIX. The Lincoln-Romney Cro* s - 52
XX. The Usefulness of the Merino - - 55
XXI. Sheep Feeding - 57
XXII. Roots and Fodders - - 60
XXIII. Small Flocks - 62
XXIV. The Scope for Intensive Sheepfarming - - 65
XXV. Lambing - - 68
XXVI. Shearing the Farmer's Flock - - 69
XXVII. Dipping . - - 70
XXVIII. Water Supply - 75
XXIX. Salt for Sheep - 76
XXX. Shelter - 78
XXXI. Wool and its Growth - 81
XXXII. Sheep Land Values - 89
XXXIII. Capital Required - - 94
XXXIV. Grasses preferred by Sheep - 97
XXXV. Cocksfoot - - 101
XXXVI. Hill Pasture Improvement - 106
XXXVII. The Grazing of a Paddock. - 110
XXXVIII. The Elements' Influence on Pasture Growth. - 113
XXXIX. Fern Land - - 115
XL. Diseases - - 119
XLL Bookkeeping 123
XV
COOPER'S
Little Wonder Shearing Machine
Many hundreds doing good service
throughtout Australasia.
The Little Wonder is specially constructed for shearing and crutching flocks up to
5000 sheep. It comprises a two H.P. Benzine Engine, well finished and perfectly
constructed, fitted with a High=grade Magneto, Hit or Miss type, Sensi-
tive governor, Automatic Lubrication, Water Tank, Power Grinder
complete, Oil, Oil Cans, Screw Drivers, Brushes.
The Shearing Attachments comprise tubes and cores of good length so that all
parts of the sheep can be comfortably reached, also two Latest Model Cooper
Handpieces. The Machines are thrown in and out of gear by one stroke of the
hand. The Little Wonder is a complete Two Stand Power Installation in itself
and gives more real value at the price than any other two-stand portable plant at
double the monev.
.jyi)
The Price of the
Little Wonder is
£50 Complete
as illustrated f.o.b.
main ports.
Please write to MS or
nearest agent for full
particulars.
COOPER COMBS AND
CUTTERS will fit any
make of handpiece,
cost less, and are better
than any other. See
that you get the
"COOPER."
Wm. Cooper & Nephews, 40a Durham Street, Auckland.
AGENTS : Donald & Sons, Ltd,, Masterton, N.Z.
Caverhill Shearing Machine Coy., Manchester St., Christchurch.
INDEX OF ADVERTISEMENTS.
DIPS. PAGE
Belfast - - ix.
Cooper's - - ii.
Little's - - i.
McDougall's - xiii.
Ness's - xxii.
Quibell's - - xxi.
" Highland " xviii.
Thomas' - - iii.
WOOL PRESS.
" Sandow " - viii.
SHEARING MACHINES AND ENGINES.
Cooper's - xv.
Lister's - - vii.
SEPARATORS.
" Domo " - xvii.
Lister's - - vii.
STUMP GRUBBERS AND JACKS.
" Monkey " and " Wallaby " - xix.
GRASS SEEDS.
N.Z. Farmers' Co-op. Assn. of Canterbury, Ltd. vi.
Nimmo & Blair - - xi.
GENERAL.
Farmers' Co-operative Auctioneering Co., Ltd. v.
National Mortgage & Agency Co. of N.Z. Ltd. iv.
N.Z. Farmers' Co-op. Assn. of Canterbury, Ltd. vi.
XVII
HERE IT IS II
After years of experimenting experts have invented a
Milking Machine that more than eclipses all
others.
It has beaten in Government trials all the leading
'Milking Machines.
It is SIMPLICITY ITSELF. It has NO RUBBER TUBING.
It WORKS ON LESS VACUUM THAN ANY.
It MILKS QUICKER THAN ANY.
It is CHEAPER THAN ANY.
One of the several •• OMEGA " Milking Machines working
in New Zealand.
We milked 60 cows in 90 minutes this morning, and
are delighted with our ' OMEGA: "
MUGFORD & BROWN, Christchurch.
WE have secured the New Zealand
Agency for this Milking Machine.
WRITE US HOR A F?REE
COOPER & DUNCAN, Ltd.
562 Colombo St., CHRISTCHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
ASPECTS OF A SHEEP FARM.
The features of a sheep farm to come under observa-
tion are the soil, the drainage, the herbage, the climate,
the shelter, and the water supply, and the more one
knows about their bearing the more exactly may he
determine the capacity and value of a property for the
purpose of sheep farming.
The ideal soil for sheep is recognised as a sandy
loam. There are all sorts of modifications in soils, how-
ever, and so long as the natural drainage of the country
is good, by porosity or waterflow, the land is invariably
adapted for sheep. Limestone soils are good for sheep
raising ; in fact a great part of the sheeplands through-
out the world exhibits a greater or less proportion of
limestone in its composition, visibly or upon analysis.
The sea coast lands, often rough and rocky and of a
sandy nature, suit sheep well, and so do the carboni-
ferous soils of the coal regions.
Drainage may be by porosity, as exemplified by
sandy soils and loams, or, oil the stiffer lands, by the
escape of waters into creeks and rivers. Hilly and
rolling country are well adapted for sheep, there is ready
drainage ; while swampy and wet sodden land is quite
unsuited to them. Where the land is such that water
stagnates and finds no ready escape the health of a flock
is always liable to be affected. Continuous damp condi-
tions will cause internal complaints and footrot, most
unwelcome and profit-destroying visitors to a flock. The
original haunt of the sheep was the hill or the mountain,
and the animal was naturally therefore accustomed to
a dry footing, which it requires if health is to be main-
tained. By the handiwork of domestication, skill in
2 Aspects of a Sheep Farm.
breeding, and with the assistance of time, some breeds
have been established to accustom themselves and to
thrive on flat lands, but the drainage must be good or
they will not do well. The health of a hill flock does
not require the attention that one on the flats would.
The hills provide better drainage, sweeter .grasses, and
exercise towards the maintenance of health, for the
sheep is an animal that is restless and foots it a lot.
Damp and undrained land, with its growth of reeds,
flax, rough grasses, is more adapted to cattle, and unless
it forms but a small part of the property, and fenced-off
at that for preference, sheep are better absent from it.
The conditions all round for sheep-farming in New
Zealand are so favourable that there are not a great
many properties that are not adapted for the grazing of
sheep, mainly, or in conjunction with other stock, or at
certain times of the year.
A good proportion of the shorter grasses would be
in evidence upon a typical sheep farm. Such grasses do
well on limestone and sandstone soils, and on hills.
There are hard or Chewing's fescue, sheeps' fescue and
crested dogstail, and two or three of these may be ob-
served in proportionate accompaniment of such grasses
as cocksfoot and white clover, and if the soil is not too
hard or dry, with some meadow foxtail and timothy.
The two latter are good sheep grasses, but they grow
best on soils that are not typical sheep ones, i.e., soils
of a retentive nature and more adapted to cattle and
cereal growing. They do not thrive on dry hills. Ken-
tucky blue grass is a fine sheep grass for New Zealand
hill lands that are not to be ploughed, for it is of a
twitchy habit; and wherever the native danthonia grass
thrives it at once suggests suitability for sheep in prefer-
ence to other stock.
New Zealand can claim to having the finest climate
in the world for sheep farming, being neither too hot,
too cold, too wet, or too dry. The annual rainfall over
Aspects of a Sheep Farm. 3
the greater part of the Dominion is not too much for
sheep comfort, and it is fairly well distributed through-
out the year? assuring a more even growth of grass
than in any sheep fa-rtoiing country in the world.
There are exceptional seasons, naturally, but an inci-
dence only in comparison to Australia, South America,
and South Africa, where sheep farming is a leading
occupation and droughts bear telling effects. But the
recorded annual rainfall of a locality is not always a
quite satisfactory guide in estimating exactly its sheep
farming capabilities. Light showers at frequent inter-
vals are preferable to occasional downpours that may,
however, make un a considerable total rainfall. The
grass is often green in the former case, and frequently
dried up in the latter. A very wet climate is undesir-
able for sheep ; they do not get a dry footing, and con-
tinuous rains, accompanied by cold, biting winds, will
undermine their constitution. Sheep will overcome any
temporary hardship, but unsuitable weather, long-con-
tinued, will put them off the feed and pave the way for
the encroachment of disease.
The shelter features of the sheep farm are of import-
ance, and the ideal shelter is composed of patches of
bush or plantations suitably distributed throughout the
property, and in such places as they will best temper the
prevailing winds. Shelter will make the climate more
equable for stock, will improve the pasture and make
its growth earlier and more sustained throughout the
year, winter and summer, will lessen the asperities of
rough weather, and will make the stock more contented.
A well sheltered sheep farm 1000ft. above sea-level may
be said to be better than one but 100ft. above sea-level
that has no shelter, and is bleakly exposed to the biting
winds of winter and bleaching winds of summer. Well-
sheltered stock will require much less feed to keep up
condition ; body heat and energy are conserved. It is
not too much to say that the most useful and payable
4 Aspects of a Sheep Farm.
improvement that could be undertaken upon the great
majority of New Zealand farms is shelter planting. The
climate is at any rate a windy one, and to take steps to
moderate the effects of the cold blasts of winter and the
scorching winds of summer would add greatly to the
income of the farmer. A shelterless fa.rm may be
appropriately likened to a hearthstone without a fire in
winter, and with a fire in summer. Aspect of the
country, where it is hilly, may give one farm much
better natural shelter than another. Hills or ranges
favourably situated will temper the winds.
The lay of the land to the sun is a considerable
matter in hilly country. The sunny side will carry
more stock than the shady side, and where the land lies
badly to the daily swing of the sun's rays in a valley
flanked by high ranges, it is not to be compared to the
other side of the valley that enjoys the beneficial effects
of the sun, healthful alike to soil, plants, and stock.
Good, pure, running water is of great importance
in sheep farming. New Zealand has a better supply of
such water than any country, but it is necessary that
access to such for the sheep may be had from each
paddock of a property.
CHAPTER II.
SHEEP IN RELATION TO THEIR
SURROUNDINGS.
New Zealand is by nature well endowed with respect
to its suitability for sheep farming. Conditions that are
favourable for sheep mean greater immunity from
disease, to which the animal, under adverse circum-
stances, is so subject, and greater the profits obtained at
a relatively lesser cost. From one point of view almost
any breed would suit the average conditions prevailing
in New Zealand, but from the serviceable or economic
point of view such favourable conditions may the better
be taken advantage of to attain a maximum of success
and profit.
Methods of sheep farming are based upon profitable-
ness. What pays best is what is sought for, and
the question of suitability of one breed over another will
always engage attention in any country and under any
circumstances. With aspects favourable it is not a
i natter of this breed does well, but which breed does
or pays best, and although nature is so lavishly disposed
towards New Zealand sheep fa.rming conditions, the
variety of geographical aspects, of climates, and quality
of la.nds, will always create a regard for discrimination
in the selection of breed.
The increase in land values, caused largely itself
by improved sheep farming methods, interacts influenti-
ally towards further improvement, and the bases to
work from are the consideration of market requirements
and the selection of the proper breed for one's land.
The day when a good clip of merino wool would cause
the sheep-farmer financial satisfaction is superseded by
6 Sheep in relation to their Surroundings.
a devotion to cross-breeding and the co-production of
wool and mutton, to provide the income necessary to pay
way on higher values.
There are two prominent features in a consideration
of the question of sheep selection. The country must be
known, with its favourable and unfavourable aspects,
and something must be known of the characteristics of
the breed in view. The two matters are paraphrases of
one another. If it is not a provable fact, it is an indis-
putable assumption that all breeds of sheep are descended
from the one common ancestor, and that the dissimila-
rity of climate and soil, aided by the skill of the breeder,
has divided the family into many distinct varieties —
nearly 100 — scattered throughout the world, accustomed
to thrive under particular conditions that long use has
made second nature to them. These varieties or
branches of the original family have, quite naturally,
acquired, in the course of time, characteristics which
make them prejudiced in favour of the fixed idiosyn-
cracies of their location, just like the nigger would
prefer his tropical surroundings, the Esquimo his snow-
bound home, and the Englishman a bracing climate.
The partiality for its special surroundings is with
the sheep much more striking than with any other
domestic animal, and when a breed does not do well on
certain land it is proof that it is out of its element. The
animal thrives in nearly every country of the world,
but taking an extreme example, the breed that would
prosper on the Russian Steppes would fail in tropical
India. With man, the Russian could not live with im-
punity in the fever-infested Gold Coast of Africa, and
the aboriginal from there would quickly languish in
Petrograd. Likewise with sheep may be reduced the
leaven of contrast to hilly and flat country, warm and
exposed situations, damp and dry country, heavy and
fine pastures.
Sheep in relation to their Surroundings. 7
Sheep, like the human family, are so divided into
types, that a climate and food are to one breed what they
would not be to another. Grass is the natural food of
sheep, but the Shetland breed of Scotland is said to live
largely on seaweed. Necessity probably with their fore-
fathers; choice now. The Turkish porter on a diet of
some figs will carry enormous loads ; the French peasant
will work hard on a piece of bread and an onion, and the
Jap. on some rice; but an Anglo-Saxon would not only
be unable to work on such diets, but would soon get ill.
So with the feed customs and requirements of sheep.
The heavy breeds thrive on good, easy country, growing
the richer foods, but are profitless on steep or second-
rate country, where the lighter mountain breeds are in
their element, and turn every blade of grass into money.
Although all breeds are responsive to a change to
better conditions, such conditions should not, from a
serviceable point of view, be of a nature that the breed
has been totally unused to. It would no more
pay to transfer an active and restless mountain-roaming
breed to rich flats than it would to remove a heavy
flat-accustomed animal to the hills. It would be possible
in the course of time to radically remould the nature of
any breed of sheep. It would have to be done gradually,
and great loss would be incurred from a financial point
of view in so altering the nature, habits and constitution
of the animal. For what purpose ? To adapt it to
conditions to which already there is a breed more suited.
The sheep is an unhappy animal, as Virgil says, and
it is known that the removal of a breed to an alien clim-
ate and soil but a short distance away will often materi-
ally affect the animal's serviceableness. The distance
does not count in the reason ; it is the conditions •
locality. Any special interference contrary to the
animal's built-up nature may not be expected to conduce
to its welfare. Arthur Young, the noted English pas-
toral authority, states the following interesting fact,
8 Sheep in relation to their Surroundings.
wliich goes to show how much its surroundings influ-
ence the sheep. Three different flocks were grazing at
freedom on the same property, with access to three dis-
tinct types of land. The flock whose parents were
accustomed to rich, flat grazing took possession of same,
while those whose parents were used to good hill grazing
confined themselves entirely to the hills where the
pasture was good. The third flock, whose parents were
accustomed to poor hill pasture, sedulously grazed the
worst part of the hills. There was no attempt of one
flock or any member of it to straggle into another, and
it was observed finally that the condition of the poor hill
grazing lot was as good as any of the others. Know-
ledge of the climate and soil and the characteristics of
the breed, it may therefore be seen, are great aids in
choosing a breed for any particular land. The alterna-
tive is elusive chance with shrunken profits.
Dealing with the influence of soil alone on the wel-
fare of sheep, it is a.n acknowledged fact that the wool
and flesh of a sheep are but a counterpart or result of
the particular plants or pasture of a soil, and the pasture
or plants are likewise the result of the soil's particular
constituents. The sheep is, therefore, largely what the
soil, by the medium of the pasture, has made it. We
know how man's condition, energy and happiness are
influenced by his food. If a plant, on transfer to a
strange soil and climate, will undergo, as it is well
known to do, great changes, it is natural to expect that
the artificially-domesticated sheep will do so even more.
There is an outward change in the quality and quantity
of the wool and an inward change in the flesh, great or
small, according to the extent of the changed conditions.
A radical change in the sheep's surroundings is against
the animal's welfare and serviceableness, and is con
trary to the recognised scheme of sheep-breeding. Breeds
adapted to any particular sheep conditions are in exist-
ence, and it is necessary, from the point of view of profit,
Sheep in relation to their Surroundings. 9
to select from them the most suitable to any special
aspects of climate or land, just as surely as it is necessary
to graze no sheep on certain lands that are not suited
to sheep.
A breed of sheep may be kept on unsuitable land
for many years, but profits absent themselves, and what
kind of a sheep does time degenerate it into ? Proximate
profits or fancy often influence farmers in their selection
of kinds or breeds. Questions of the suitability of clim-
ate and land a.re removed from their place of central
importance, and a certain breed of a certain animal is
frequently introduced to the cold friendship of unsuit-
able surroundings. The extreme of this may be observed
when land that is preferably adapted for cattle, and a
certain breed of cattle at that, is used for a fancied breed
of sheep, less suited maybe to those conditions than
another breed of sheep. This is in conflict with the
special or individual provisions of nature, and does not
tend ultimately towards the greatest utility and profit
of the land involved. Also it may deny to a permanent
pasture — which is particularly important to a country
like New Zealand, where logs and hills often preclude
the renewing of such pastures — the best chance to pre-
serve its usefulness, and therefore in measure affects the
value of the la.nd as a marketable commodity. This may
be better understood when the result of continuous
grazing of cattle land by sheep, or sheep land by cattle,
is observed. Many pastures however, can be more profit-
ably and successfully used for the grazing of both cattle
and sheep in a proportion and manner determined by the
peculiarities of each case.
To each province of New Zealand nature allots wide
variations with respect to soil, temperature, rainfall,
altitudes, grade of land, shelter, etc., providing if the
best is to be made of the land, unlimited scope for study
of kinds and breeds of stock, and their adaptability to
10 Sheep in relation to their Surroundings.
the conditions at hand. Not only is the pastoralist's
occupation a study, but it is one of constant scientific
investigation.
With respect to sheep-farmer's flocks in New Zea-
land, the aim is to obtain a sheep that produces a good
meat carcase and at the same time grows a satisfactory
fleece. The importance of this may be grasped when it
is stated that the wool returns for year 1914 came to
£8,200,000, and mutton to £6,300,000. A dual purpose
sort of animal, like the dairy farmers are after in com-
bined milk and beef capacity, and the poultry farmer in
egg production and flesh. The cross-bred is generally
conceded as the most desirable for average conditions,
but which cross-bred is the question that opens up scope
for disputation, which must remain disputable ground
so long as climates and soils vary; observation applied
to each individual property's potentialities settling it.
Broadly speaking, the breeds that are known popular-
ly in New Zealand have characteristics that suit them to
the following conditions. Good country, with abund-
ance of rich grasses — Lincoln, Leicester, Romney.
Such country is comparatively limited, cattle breeding
and agriculture taking up most of it. Good and easy
hilly country — Crossbreds, Corriedale, Southdown,
Shropshire. High and sparsely grassed country —
Merino.
Whilst the Lincoln suits good country, with not too
much rainfall, the Romney will thrive where the land
is poorer and rainfall heavier. Heavier the breed more
suited is it to a pasture of strong - growing
grasses, like cocksfoot, perennial ryegrass, meadow
foxtail, and such, that grow robustly on good
land. Finer the grasses, as the fescues and dogs-
tail, whose fineness of growth is accentuated by the
hills to which they are adapted, more suited are they for
the grazing of the lighter or mountain breeds. Cocks-
Sheep in relation to their Surroundings. 11
foot is well suited to New Zealand hill lands, for it
prospers and grows with a modified robustness thereon.
Damper the land more call is there for the footrot-
resisting Romney. Drier the country, with sparse vege-
tation, more is the lighter, more active, merino looked
to to fill the bill. Crossing meets with the wool-cum-
mutton consideration, and it is in accord with the diverse
physical characteristics of the country, where upon many
New Zealand sheep farms may be seen flat land, hills,
and steep country.
ROMNEY MARSH RAM
ROMNEY MARSH EWE
CHAPTER III.
THE ROMNEY.
This is the most popular breed in New Zealand. It
is more of a general purpose sheep than any other,
giving satisfactory mutton, not so inclined to abnormal
fat as the Lincoln and the Leicesters, and good wool.
The flesh of the animal more nearly resembles that of
the Downs breed than does that of any other long-wool.
Its hardiness and power of resisting footrot and fluke
adapts it to conditions that are often unsuited to other
breeds, and this clearly has enlarged the scope of sheep
farming country. The way in which it withstands un-
favourably moist climates makes it a general favourite
where sheep conditions are at all doubtful, as witness its
apparent success on the west coast of the South Island,
where the rainfall is an excessive one for ordinary breeds
of sheep. The Romney came originally from the
marshes of Kent, a fine training ground for the breeding-
up of a sheep to unfavourable sheep conditions, which
are the diametrically opposite of the surroundings of the
ancient sheep family, the hills. In New Zealand the
Romney has suited itself to almost any state, and in
consequence of this there has arisen contrasts of type in
the animal, according to the particular country where it
is pastured. Fundamentally, the breed shows less uni-
formity than any other, and it may therefore be realised
that variety of environment conditions will help to
accentuate this irregularity. No other longwool sheep
shows such marked differences, noticeable in the car-
case and the wool of the flocks of the different parts of
the Dominion. The Romney ewe is a good mother, if
not very prolific. On most New Zealand Jiill lands the
wool of the Romney has a tendency to become light and
feathery. The introduction of strong-woolled rams will
14 The Romney.
correct this fault. In respect to weight and value of
fleece the Romney's would, approximately, come after
the Lincoln's and English Leicester's. At price per Ib.
the Romney's wool would be more valuable than any,
perhaps, but in such considerations with respect to the
wool of any breed, moods of fashion or market weigh,
and also the soil and conditions under which the wool is
grown .
CHAPTER IV.
THE LINCOLN.
The Lincoln is the largest and heaviest sheep of all
breeds, and requires, therefore, the best and most succu-
lent herbage. Size of animal and fairly moist condi-
tions, producing good feed from good land, are linked
together with sheep. Like all the British longwools the
Lincoln was originally a native of the rich lowlands of
England. This again indicates the type of country to
which it is adapted, but it does well on good New
Zealand hill land. Being a heavy land sheep it will do
better on clay soils than other breeds. The Lincoln
carries the heaviest, strongest, and longest-stapled fleece
of all sheep. Its mutton is coarse grained and fat. Its
size indicates this, as also the rich pasture growth so
essential to its prosperity. It is a sheep that will not
stand the poor fare of poor country. Delicate in early
life, once it passes its first year it maintains robustness
when other longwool breeds begin to decline. In other
words, it is a longer lived animal. In New Zealand
the Lincoln blood is in many of the crossbred flocks,
and it is prominent in the composition of the new
Corriedale breed. The Lincoln ram — fine-headed ones
are selected on account of the animal's preponderating
size — is used largely for crossing with Merino ewes, and
the Lincoln-Romney cross of the North Island is well
known. The Lincoln is a most valuable sheep on
i
LINCOLN RAM
LINCOLN EWE
The Lincoln 17
account of its great wool production, the coarseness of
which is more than made good by weight of fleece,
length of staple, and lustre. And the heaviness of its
fleece demands that the feed conditions under which it
lives should be favourable,, so that the animal gets
sustenance io carry the load without injury to its re-
stitution.
ENGLISH LEICESTER RAM
ENGLISH LEICESTER EWE
19
CHAPTER Y.
THE ENGLISH LEICESTER.
This is the purest bred sheep of all the British long-
wools, and it has been largely used in the improvement
of other breeds. The Lincoln, the Romney, and the
Border Leicester bear a large trace of the blood of the
English Leicester. Great purity of blood suggests
delicacy of constitution, and this cha.rge against the
English Leicester may be best met by seeing that the
conditions under which it exists are favourable. Dry,
arable land, devoted to crop growing and mixed farming
is a favourable lodging place for the English Leicester,
but it will thrive on poorer pasture than the Lincoln.
Like the Lincoln and the Border Leicester it grows a
lot of fat. It is a very valuable sheep for cross-
breeding, for it produces an evener set of lambs
than any other breed, which is another result of purity
of blood, and it does not transmit any weakness of con-
stitution to crossbred descendants. The wool of the
English Leicester is of good length, lustrous, and hangs
curly rather than in masses. The fleece weighs heavier
than the Romney's or the Border Leicester's.
BORDER LEICESTER RAM
BORDER LEICESTER EWE
CHAPTER VI.
THE BORDER LEICESTER.
The crossing of the old English Leicester, before it
was so vastly improved, with the Cheviot, produced this
breed, which has the noteworthy characteristic of grow-
ing- quickly a maximum of meat and wool with a mini-
mum of food consumption. Little food is supposed to
satisfy the animal, and although hardy, its rapid grow-
ing capacity is better availed of on land and with shelter
that are good. The mutton has a large proportion of
fat. The ewes are more prolific and are better mothers
than the English Leicester. The Border Leicester ram
is popular for crossing purposes, and produces excellent
lambs, which, however, are not such an even or sym-
metrical lot as those out of the English Leicester ram.
SOUTHDOWN RAM
SOUTHDOWN EWE
CHAPTER VII.
THE SOUTHDOWN.
This is the great standard mutton sheep, which has
exerted the same influence in the improvement of the
Downs breeds as the English Leicester did with the long-
wools. It was originally bred on the chalk downs of
southern England, which contain fine, sweet pasture
and a dry footing, and this gives an index as to the
type of country on which it thrives. It is essentially a
mutton sheep, cutting 50% less wool than the longwool
breeds. It matures early and fattens rapidly, and is
a good breed where fat lambs are the aim. It is hardy
and active, and with a fairly short and compact fleece,
stands exposed situations well. A Southdown will do
fairly well where a Lincoln or Leicester would do poorly,
but it is not so suitable or hardy for wet districts. For
the small sheep farmer it is an excellent sheep. The
ewes are prolific lamb-getters and are good nurses. The
ram is largely used for crossing with longwool-merino
crossbred ewes, all the lambs to be sold, none being
suitable for retention for a breeding flock. All the
Downs breeds are very hardy sheep, and dp well where
long-wools could not prosper. The Southdown fleece is
not so heavy or so valuable as the Shropshire's; in fact
in New Zealand sheep farming and crossbreeding con-
siderations it is mutton and not wool that weighs in
respect to the Downs breeds. The Downs are used to
obtain the fat lamb which, ewe or wether, goes immedi-
ately to the block.
SHROPSHIRE RAM
SHROPSHIRE EWE
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SHROPSHIRE.
This is a hardy mutton breed, with early maturing'
and fattening qualities. It is a good forager,
and is easily kept. It is larger and grows more wool
than the Southdown. The ewes are first class lamb-
getters, and are very good mothers. For crossing with
the longwool-merino crossbred ewe they are desirable
sheep, but all the lambs must go to market; the ewe
lambs being unsuited for flock purposes.
CORRIEDALE RAM
CORRIEDALE EWE
CHAPTER IX.
THE CORRIEDALE.
The general opinion is that this new breed — the
result of the careful selection and breeding of progeny of
a. cross between the Lincoln and Merino or the Leicester
and Merino — seeking to permanently unite the qualities
of both the longwool and the Merino, is destined to be-
come popular. In the meantime it is not very much
used, but this counts for little on account of its short
history. It is impossible to build up in a day breeds of
sheep with even denned qualities, and there is little
reason to doubt but this useful type of animal will find
a widening sphere of usefulness. The Corriedale is a
well woolled sheep and, as its origin implies, is suited
to moderately good country. The Corriedale ram is
useful for bringing back the desirable Merino strain
in crossbred flocks. Corriedales have been exported
to America.
MERINO RAM
MERINO EWE
CHAPTER X.
THE MERINO.
A notable feature of the Merino is its fleece of com-
pact, abundant, fine and yolky wool, which adheres
tenaciously to its body. The Merino is a hardy, long-
living animal, and, if well looked after, will
breed up to 12 and 15 years. Long life means late
maturity, and the Merino, both from a carcase point of
view and its lateness in maturing, is not suitable, except
in crossing, where sheep breeding for mutton is the aim.
It is a restless sheep, disliking confinement, and natur-
ally therefore it matures slowly. It is not at all suited
to confined areas and the cultivated farm, but its useful
qualities can be availed of there in crossbreeding it with
the English longwool. Fnadapted as the pure Merino
is for mutton export, crossed it has contributed a lot of
the meat frozen and shipped to England, the strain of
this breed giving the fine grain in the mutton, and
establishing the famous " Canterbury brand " on the
London market. The bulk of the crossbred flocks of the
Dominion of New Zealand have the Merino strain in
them. It is a sheep with a great Australasian history,
but the policy of subdividing large estates is seeing its
numbers gradually thin out. Wide settlement and the
Merino, close settlement and the longwool and mutton
breeds, is the rule.
The Merino, by reason of its superior hardiness, is
better adapted than any breed to the poorer pastures
of rough country.
CHAPTEE XI.
VARIOUS KINDS OF SHEEP FARMING.
The large holdings of pastoral areas are surely dis-
appearing before closer settlement, and soon their num-
ber will be confined to holdings of more or less rough and
high country, deemed unfit for subdivision. They will
be the last sanctuary of the great Merino breed that has
played such a prominent part in making New Zealand
what she is. The frozen mutton interests have diverted
the course of sheep farming largely from the Merino
and wool to the crossbred and wool-cum-mutton. The
Merino, however, appears as if it will always be keenly
sought after by many South Island farmers for breeding
half-breds, and the large pastoralist, who sees to the
maintenance of a good class of Merino sheep, should
derive profit from this branch of the business, and mate-
rially supplement his income, often none too certain
through losses by bad seasons.
Next in importance with regard to size of flocks, is
the grazier of lesser areas, not so rough or broken, and of
a milder climate than the pastoral runs. The land might
be said to be third quality, holding native grasses. The
small run grazier has, like the large pastoralist, often to
contend with distance from market, and those parts of
his run that may be subject to improvement by plough-
ing, grassing, and cropping, have in the meantime to
await improved access, which, with better prices, is
coming along fast. At present he looks largely to wool
as his source of income, but the time is not distant when
it may as much depend upon mutton, if not directly
then by supplying a good stamp of store sheep for the
better and more fattening lowland country.
Various Kinds of Sheep Farming. 31
The owners of original bush and scrub areas, of not
more than about 2,000 acres, are the most numerous
sheepholders of the Dominion. Logs and stumps strew
a great many of their properties, some of which were
badly grassed in the first place. In numerous instances
the land has gone back in carrying capacity, and im-
provement cannot be looked for until the timber decays
and the plough set going. Even then there may be little
improvement created, except in cases where there is
some depth of soil. In most places there is this, but
not in all. Injudicious stocking has contributed a good
deal to the lessening of carrying capacity. Where rub-
bish enables some to get a burn, the land can be re-sown,
and more careful grazing should set up an improvement,
but this subject is dealt with more fully in the chapter
devoted to hill pasture improvement.
A large number of farmers mix sheep with agricul-
ture in New Zealand. This kind of farming, properly
conducted, as an outcome of experience, is very profit-
able. The fertilising and cleansing power of sheep on
cultivated lands is very considerable, and they are there
to consume on the place any crop that may not be profit-
able to market. Skilfully worked large profits may be
derived from this type of farming. It is recognised that
sheep aid materially in improving good land, and are
an important instrument in making a good pasture of
what may be regarded as inferior land.
While the average return from sheep for the
Dominion, including all classes of sheep farming, is 13/-
per head, it may roughly be estimated that the large
pastoralist will secure a gross income of from 5/- to 8/-
per sheep ; the small gra.zier from 7/- to 12/- per ewe,
and the ordinary small sheep farmer anything from
10/- to 25/- per ewe.
The following figures show the numbers of the
32 Various Kinds of Sheep Farming.
different breeds, as compared to the Merinos, making up
the total flocks of the Dominion in 1913 : —
Males. Females. Totals.
Merinos 641,819 872,854 1,514,674
Crossbreds and other longwools .. 6,372,332 16,304,805 22,677,137
7,014,151 17,177,659 24,191,810
Generally, the Merino may be placed in the pastoral
run country, and with the small grazing run holder, who
will also have some Romney, Lincoln, and Corriedale
blood in his flocks. The selector of felled bush areas will
have crossbreds with Merino, Eomney, Lincoln, and some
Leicester blood. The purely agricultural farm growing
root crops will use the English or Border Leicester,
Southdown or Shropshire rams on crossbred ewes. In
the North Island the Lincoln-Romney cross is in general
use. In the South Island the Merino blood appears in
most crossbred flocks, in the North Island in few.
CHAPTER XII.
VALUE AND PROSPECTS OF SHEEP FARMING.
The income provided to New Zealand by sheep
farming for the year ending 31st March, 1914, reached
£16,000,000. £8,200,000 of this wa.s for wool, £6,300,000
for mutton and lamb, and £1,500,000 for by-products,
etc. These important figures speak for the country's
prosperity. The pastoral industry, by way of sheep and
cattle products, accounts for more than three-fourths of
the Dominion's total exports. New Zealand would be of
but small consideration, were it not for the exported
products of her pastures.
The total number of sheep in the flocks of the
country is 24,700,000, and according to the above figures
of income, the return per head it may be noted is 13/-.
In 1912 it was 10 /- per head. The frozen mutton trade
has given a wonderful impetus to sheep farming, and
although wool is such a large product it is questionable
if it would be half as much were it not for the mutton
influence. The most striking and interesting feature of
the sheep farming occupation, however, is that "although
a great increase in the price of wool and mutton has
occurred, and land development is rapidly going forward,
there has not been nearly the increase in flocks one
would expect, as the following figures will show : —
Number of Income from
Year. Sheep. Industry.
£
1902 20,300,000 7,000,000
1907 20,900,000 12,400,000
1912 .. .. .. 23,700,000 13,100,000
1914 24,700,000 16,000,000
There is obviously a large slaughter of lambs and
sheep every year to furnish the mutton export, but one
would, nevertheless, expect a compensating extension of
34 Value and Prospects of Sheep Farming.
pasture for increasing flocks, and this would be so were
it not for the constant encroachment of dairying.
The values of the wool and mutton exported for
these years are as follows : —
Year. Wool. Mutton.
£ £
1902 3,300,000 2,100,000
1907 7,600,000 2,800,000
1912 7,100,000 3,400,000
1914 8,200,000 4,400,000
A leading aspect of sheep farming, looking at it
from a world-wide point of view, is that the total num-
ber of sheep shows no signs of increase. In regard
relatively to increased population there is a large de-
crease. No better exemplification of this fact could be
given than in the tangible increase in wool and mutton
prices. Everything points to exceptional inducement to
New Zealand to increase her flocks. The questionable
point, however, is whether any great increase can be
expected. It is true that there are large areas of native
and unoccupied Crown lands and partly improved pri-
vate properties yet to be developed, but for every such
acre that will be allotted to sheep pasturage it is possible
that an acre of the more accessible and improved land
will be diverted from sheep to dairying and cereals.
Influenced, however, by the improved prices of
mutton and wool, there are already signs of greater care
and interest being taken in flocks and a more skilful
system of pasturing and feeding undertaken. This
should tend to make sheep farming well hold its own
against dairying, and it is justifiable to expect such
additions to the flocks of the Dominion as to increase
their total to 30,000,000 within say five years. With
a more generally improved class of animal in the many
small farmers' flocks receiving greater attention the
annual income to the country from sheep farming
should, with increasing prices, soon reach fully
£20,000,000.
Value and Prospects of Sheep Farming. 35
The enlarged demand for mutton and the keener
enquiry for wool may reasonably be expected to induce
owners to subdivide their holdings on the ensuing raised
land values and unsatisfactoriness of rural labour. It
will cause others to increase their carrying capacity by
fencing, ploughing, grass sowing, root and fodder crop
growing, and generally encourage them to give more
care to their flocks and to provisioning for bad seasons.
Improvement of land in this manner may, of course, be
the precursor of other farming methods, but in the
meantime it should have the effect of increasing flocks
to the extent indicated.
Improved methods of commerce and transport have
contributed to a higher scale of living in all civilised
countries, and its most striking expression will surely
be evidenced in a greater demand for flesh food and
woollen clothing, and this in spite of the present great
war, which is merely a contest entered into to suppress a
vain, decadent, and superficially-civilised people.
CHAPTER XIII.
BREED DISTRIBUTION IN NEW ZEALAND.
Each province has a few of all the leading breeds of
sheep used in the Dominion, but some provinces have a
very much greater leaning to a certain breed than other
provinces, and to seek the reasons for this may as inter-
esting as it may be instructive.
First of all, it is seen, according to the Dominion's
total stud and flock ram returns, that the Romney breed
preponderates in popularity, followed by the Lincoln,
or, if the two Leicesters are counted together, these two
breeds. The Romney and Lincoln are much crossed
with each other in the North Island, and accounts to a
considerable extent for the Romney's marked prefer-
ence. In the South Island, the two Leicesters, taken
together, lea-d in popularity, followed by the Romney.
Full figures give the following: —
Breed. N.I. S.I. Total.
Bomney
Lincoln
Border Leice
English Leic
Merino
Southdown
Shropshire
Other breeds
ster
ester
'• •
219,744
86,382
10,020
10,829
10,361
25,782
6.821
81,868
9,821
74,395
73,295
42,259
12,322
12,771
38,894
301,612
96,203
84,415
84,124
52,620
38,104
19,592
45,672
$ 6,778
It will not be overlooked that while the above is the
' return of stud and flock rams, the breeding flocks of the
Dominion are mainly crossbred, with the Merino blood
still prominent in many of them.
These figures are taken from the official sheep re-
turns, which may be dissected in several other ways, and
from them, by quoting in the next table the rainfall
figures for each district, the bearing which rainfall to a
considerable extent has upon breed distribution in New
Breed Distribution in New Zealand. 37
Zealand may appear. There are, of course, other influ-
ences in breed distribution, such as quality and face
appearance of land, but rainfall is always a dominating
factor. In the table the two Leicesters are taken collec-
tively, as also the two Downs breeds — Southdown and
Shropshire : —
Rainfall. Prominent Breeds of Rams
Sheep District Inches per in
Year. Order of Importance.
Auckland (N.I.) 62 Romney, Lincoln, Downs.
Hawkes Bay (N.I.) .. .. 50 Roinney, Lincoln, Leicester.
Wellington (N.I.) .. .. 44 Romney, Lincoln, Downs.
Marlborough, &c. (S.I.) . 42 Romney, Merino, Leicester.
Canterbury (S.I.) .. .. Leicester, Downs, Merino.
Otago, &c. (S.I.) .. ... 33 Romney, Leicester, Merino.
If this table is noteworthy for nothing else than the
attention it directs to the small rainfall of Canterbury,
and the striking absence of the Romney among the lead-
ing breeds there, it is interesting. The fairly dry agri-
cultural areas of this province or sheep district claims
the Leicesters and the Downs, as placed to crossbred
ewes, as the most profitable kinds of sheep; the early
fat lamb being the primary objective. The Merino
provides good wool returns in its natural quarters — the
mountainous back blocks — and indirectly contributes a
large quota, of mutton in furnishing half-bred ewes as
the foundation of the crossbred flocks of Canterbury.
The preceeding table shows that out of the six sheep
districts the Romney is the most popular breed in no less
than five of them. The three districts of the North
Island — Auckland, Hawkes Bay, and Wellington — with
their good rainfall, unmistakably claim preference for
the Roinney and Lincoln breeds.
CHAPTER XIV.
EWE MANAGEMENT.
In the tending of animals a knowledge of natural
laws is an important requisite. Natural laws bear upon
all things, however complex, and constructively or de-
structively is everything shaped in accordance with them.
Domestication negatives to a considerable extent the
bent of the sheep. The loss of its free, wide range implies
that judgment is required to make the best use of the
artificially-imposed conditions. The food may not be
exactly to its liking, and the features of the fenced-in
land may not be what it would choose of its own accord.
The sheep has been civilised just as man has, and it is
not expected that the human being can prosper without
arrangements are made for his proper feeding, comfort,
and health. As the scientific and the medical man aim
a.t overcoming the ills of human civilisation, so is it a
dictate to the farmers to devote skill in counteracting
unsuitable sheep conditions, and making the calling as
profitable as may be. Holding sheep imprisoned in the
confines of a paddock without bestowing attention to
their requirements is not making the best of sheep
farming conditions, and it is as futile to expect the
animal to respond to inattention as it is to hope for a
horse to haul loads without seeing to its feeding and
health.
What -the breeding ewe wants above everything is
reasonable treatment and good food. Wild animal life
displays devotion to the obligations of maternity, and
care is taken to ensure quiet and comfort for the young-
bearing female. With the lamb-bearing ewe, living
under the artificial conditions of confined areas, it is
.Ewe Management. 39
necessary to give as near as can be concordant privileges,
and as little disturbance as possible should be extended
if the pregnant ewe is to be encouraged to express its
propensity to liberally reproduce its race, and if the pro-
fits of sheep farming are not to be tagged with a heavy
discount. Under good treatment lambings of 150%
are not uncommon, and proper attention given to robust
ewes will in favourable situations earn this high reward.
Many New Zealand lambing percentages do not reach
half of the natural capacity of the animal, and the mean
for the whole of the Dominion is about 85%.
So that the ewe's condition of wellbeing may be
thorough, the best time to begin attention to her is in
her youth, as a lamb, so as to fit her properly and get
her body developed on sound lines towards the improve-
ment of future sheep generations. Great attention is
wisely paid by many to the selection of the ram, and to
its condition for breeding purposes, but however good
the ram is, the minimising of the ewe's condition is as
so much nullification of the ram's qualities.
If, as a general principle, the ewe lambs destined for
flock breeding, purposes are, when weaned, placed on
good, clean, short grass, and afterwards on moderately
good country, calling for some travelling or ranging,
making the conditions conducive more to fitness by
sound feed and exercise than to poorness or fatness, it
is the first and best step towards making good ewes of
them. They should receive a rational wintering, so
that they get no check to their progress at
this taxing and lowering time of the year, by
avoidance of overstocking on a purely pastoral farm, or
by root and fodder supplementation where the growth of
such is undertaken. If a bad season pinches, the careful
stocking is all that can be done on a pastoral place, and
the loss of profits means also a discounted value for the
land. But the supply of roots and fodders at the pinch-
40 Ewe Management.
ing time is exceedingly profitable. It should cost no
more than a shilling or two per head, and gives extra
satisfaction at the time the ewes are mated to good rams.
The cost will be recouped many fold in cutting a better
fleece, and in having a healthier sheep produce more,
better, and cheaper and quicker fattening lambs.
There are two diametrically opposed conditions for
the ewe to be in for breeding purposes — too poor and too
fat. In a starved sheep there is no potentiality for
breeding, and a fat cow or any fat animal is regarded
as most unprofitable stock to breed from. The rule for
successful sheepbreeding is to supply the ewe with a
sufficient quantity of wholesome grazing that will at
one and the same time impel to exercise so as to develop
constitution, and create immunity from disease, thereby
a.bolishing any probability of failure, and according
favourably with the sheep's natural state. Paddocks
with an all-the-year-round carrying ability of up to two
sheep to the acre are suggestive. Closer the surround-
ings are to a natural state, where the sheep roamed over
considerable areas, obtaining exercise and choosing suit-
able feed, more easy is it to breed up sound-constitu-
tioned, hardy mothers of healthy lambs that will raise
the standard of the flock, or that can be quickly and
easily fattened upon the richer pastures and crops of the
farm. Ewes placed in better and heavier carrying pad-
docks will require more attention and more frequent
change from paddock to paddock. That is, better the
feed heavier the stocking must be to avoid coarse and
indigestible fibrous feed growth, and sooner the paddock
gets fouled and health of the ewes injured by the tainted
ground, if changes are not effected. Greater attention
must also be paid here to the ewes not getting over-fat.
Prior to mating the ewes with the ram, particularly
for the first time, or if they are anyways lacking in
condition, it is a beneficial custom to put them on to
good feed. A paddock with grass in good heart will do,
Ewe Management. 41
and immediately after lambing tlie food may be made as
substantial and milk-producing as possible. A good
warm paddock on a pastoral place, and, where roots and
fodders are fed, by the supply of such of them as local
conditions will permit. Hay, oat chaff, with turnips or
mangolds, can all be profitable produced, and fed to
sheep, trebly profitable when supplied to save the con-
dition of the ewes and their lambs. Hay, in conjunction
with roots, is a good food ; the hay neutralises the
wateriness of the roots, and the roots are
a corrective of the costiveness caused by hay alone.
If the ewe has been well done by all along
she will possibly bear twin lambs, and these
will make a heavy call upon her reserves, which,
founded upon fair treatment, the best of food will but
sustain. The difference in the profits of a well-treated ewe
and one that has to run the gauntlet of a skimpy diet,
cannot be told in figures. It denotes largely the basis
upon which successful or unsuccessful sheep farming
rests. On the one hand, a well-treated ewe will, besides
cutting a weighty fleece, rear, may be, two fine healthy
lambs. On the other hand, the ewe may, if bad treat-
ment does not cause its premature demise, cut but 3/-
worth of hungry wool, and possibly introduce to a
miserable life only one — luckily for the ewe, the lamb,
and the farmer — unsatisfactory and flock-degenerating
lamb, difficult and costly to fatten. In the former case
the ewe may return over 20/- a year; in the latter 10/-
or less.
Sheep invariably do well on carefully-stocked pasture
up to and past the shortest winter's^ day, after which,
until the spring growth sets in, likely difficulties have to
be provided for. On a purely pasture farm this will
have been considered in the stocking, and where fodder
and roots are supplied, sufficient will have to be provided
for the requirements of the flock. The months of Sep-
tember and October are sometimes very hard on stock,
42 ,Ewe Management.
and provision for these months is often the token of
success in sheep farming. The pasture may have been
fully stocked, and, with inclement weather, the sheep are
placed at a dual disadvantage. They enter the lean
period on eaten-down grass that is unresponsive to bad
weather conditions, and at any rate is unsustaining. The
human being even thrives none too well as the spring of
the year approaches, and the hard tax upon sheep, and
ewes with lambs in particular, may be avoided by having
a reserve of fodder and root foods to see them through.
Feed like Italian rye grass, which, sown in February or
early March will provide splendid feed in two months'
time and right up to spring, Cape barley, vetches, steal
a long march in the spring on the pasture growth, and
their production makes for good sheep farming and
increased carrying capacity and land values.
On sheep farms where the sole reliance is placed on
pasture feed, the liability to overstock should never be
lost sight of. This is the only provision here, and unless
followed generally it cannot be but expected that the
ewes and ewe hoggets will have a full share of the poor
treatment. Wherever possible, however, it is always a
good and, now with the higher prices ruling for sheep
products, highly payable investment to specially feed
ewes, or indeed any kind of sheep, at the bad time of the
year, particularly in cold and exposed situations, where
sheep short of feed have an extra trying time of it.
The steadfast aim in successful ewe management is
to keep the ewes from losing their good, healthy condi-
tion, which, once built up, is difficult and costly to
recover in themsejves, and impossible in their heredita-
rily affected offspring. The tax of bearing and rearing
young under artificial conditions is strain enough with-
out having the spiritless support of unsuitable or in-
sufficient diet imposed upon them.
CHAPTER XV.
THE RAM.
A good body, set on sound legs, and a strong neck
set well on the body, with a masculine head, free from
coarseness but suggestive of strength, may generally de-
scribe the look of a good ram. An all-round, vigorous
appearance, with a free, easy carriage, and a bright and
observant eye, are features that indicate sound health.
A good, uniform coat of wool, free from the presence of
hair or kemp, should be worn. Deep, broad chest de-
velopment, indicates robustness, and with the well-
sprung rib, are evidences that the vital organs are per-
forming their functions healthily, and entitle the a.nimal
to reproduce its race.
A good ram will turn a second-rate lot of sheep into
a good Hock, and there is never any argument for
using an inferior one. It is quite impossible to expect
satisfactory lambs, wool or mutton, without using a good
ram, whether the ewes are good, bad, or indifferent.
The selection of a good ram is a vitally important point
in successful sheep farming, and if one has not confi-
dence himself in making the selection, he should entrust
it to some experienced person.
Sheep, like other domesticated animals, are
liable to throw - back to the pre - domesticated
type in some point or other, and as the pre-
domesticated type of sheep did not boast of a valuable
commercial class of wool, care should be taken to select
rams with no hair or kemp in the fleece, otherwise the
objection will be transferred to the flock. The robuster
male is always more liable to show this hair or kemp.
CHAPTER XVI.
CHOOSING A BREED.
In considering the question of the breed of sheep
to use for the conditions of any particular locality, not
only have the qualities of the land and the bearing of
climate to be accounted, but the particular market it is
most profitable to serve has to be weighed. In regard to
the latter, if the land is good and near market, and the
climate fairly humid, as it is in most parts of New
Zealand, the breeding of fat lambs is the most profitable
pursuit, and the fleece takes a place of minor import-
ance. The ewe gives, say, 7/- worth of wool, and the
lamb returns, we shall say, over double that, and there is
generally a larger lambing percentage than is given by
the purely wool ewe in its usual sphere. The extreme
opposite is in the case of poor land, such as dry hills of
no moisture containing ability, a distance away from
market, and then clearly wool is the foremost considera-
tion, for much flesh cannot be economically produced,
whatever the breed, on such land. There is the modi-
fication of poorish land near market, where mutton
growing may be strained at, and made profitable by the
aid of fodders and roots, manured at an expense propor-
tionate to the poorness of the land. And there is again
the case of good land of market inaccessibility where
a leaning may be made towards mutton growing, if not
directly, then by the rearing of store sheep of mutton
qualities, for disposal to the farmer with fattening land
near market. With a moist climate the good land for
successful mutton growing not only benefits by a larger
quantity of succulent grass growth, but whatever fodder
and root crops are grown do better. Perhaps the only
chance of successfully growing mutton in a very dry
Choosing a Breed. 45
climate, and there are comparatively few such in New
Zealand, is by establishing on suitable soil the deep
rooting lucerne, but no methodical attempt has so far
been made in this direction in New Zealand.
The dual purpose of wool and mutton is a main
feature in sheep farming, and after it is seen that the
land is of a nature that it is not more profitable and
suited for cattle farming or cereal growing, the next
best thing is to look for the best ada.pted breed of
sheep, or cross. Reviewing the prominent breeds in-
dividually it is seen that the Lincoln, pre-eminently a
great wool sheep with mutton qualities of a high order
for crossing — its fatness and size must be toned down
to suit the consumers taste, and the Merino blood does
this — must have the best of pasture and conditions.
Neither will the Lincoln nor a cross containing much of
its blood succeed where the land is rough and pasture
scanty. It is an easy country animal, and the easy
country must have a fair rainfall to provide sufficient
succulent food. Scouring a poor pasture of rough land
with a heavy fleece carried on a heavy carcase could not
be expected to uphold the animal's constitution. There
would be no economy of purpose with regard to either
mutton or wool results. Heavier the sheep is more need
there is for favourable conditions, for it is a liberal food
supply that has made a heavy breed heavy, and good
feed grows on good, rich land, and sheep cannot succeed
and be profitable on land foreign to what their forbears
were accustomed to. The Leicester is not so heavy nor
carries such a load of wool, but the conditions also must
be good, for the Leicester is the purest bred longwool
sheep, and purity of blood always means a certain fine-
ness or delicacy of constitution requiring favourable
conditions.
The Border Leicester is of more robust constitution, but
the environment chosen for it is of a favourable class,
for it makes good use of such by rapid maturity, and
46 Choosing a Breed.
consequent profitableness. The Romney is noted for its
soundness of constitution, and it and its blood in a
cross is of particular value where there is dampness of
conditions making liable to footrot. All English long-
wool breeds, to do themselves justice, require essentially
succulent herbage, a fair amount of which a moist clim-
ate provides, and stand in contrast to the Merino breed,
which will thrive on poor, dry country, giving meagre
pasture, and to the Downs breeds, which are more
adapted to a medium state of pasture — not too dry and
sparse, and certainly not too moist, for the Downs, like
the Merino, are very subject to footrot, and require a
dry footing.
CHAPTER XVII.
FLOCK IMPROVEMENT.
Prime lambs are now selling at such a satisfactor}7'
price as to induce some farmers to dispose of their best
and keep their inferior ewe lambs to breed from or pass
on to another. Such a practice is near-sighted, and
cannot be too strongly condemned. It creates retro-
gression in flocks, lessened profits, and recoils upon the
sheep farmer himself in depreciating the profitableness
of the occupation, and in its ulterior effect of making
the land used for sheep farming of less value. Sheep
farming is considered the most interesting occupation
in Australasia, and the way to make it still more in-
teresting and profitable is for those engaged in it to
keep on improving the class of their sheep, which is a
fascinating and highly profitable study. A person who
has not some such desire with regard to his flock is
better out of the occupation, for he derives but poor
pleasure from it, unstable profits, and gives no moral
help to his fellow sheep farmers.
Culling for disposal of the inferior members of the
breeding flock is the essence of remunerative sheep
farming, and unless the rule is methodically carried out
opportunities for gain are squandered in supplying feed
to wasteful stock to support the growth of poor wool,
deficient lambings, and inferior, slow-growing mutton.
It is only by watchfulness that the best of anything is
attained and maintained. The professional and the
business man know this. Jettisoning the dross is an
everyday practice. The vegetable garden and the agri-
culturist's field are economic institutions by virtue of
weed eradication, and the wide application of stud stock
48 Flock Improvement.
rearing is sufficient to prove that selection is a most
important factor in flock improvement and successful
sheep farming. There are always faults or room for
improvement in anything, and the ewe flock is no excep-
tion to the rule. In fact, culling is a prominent feature
in the improvement of the best stud flocks.
More than one opportunity for culling to improve
the breeding flock is available during the year. An
examination of the ewes as they come to the shearing
board may be made for faults in the quality and quan-
tity of the wool, and all with weak wool or uneven fleeces
should be marked to the skin for disposal. Bare bellies,
bare legs, those too fine or too coarse in the wool should
be singled out. The breeder should cull to the attain-
ment of an ideal in view, and will seek to establish a
family likeness in the flock, which makes it of much
greater value than one of nondescript unevenness. The
ewe that does not carry a good fleece is not an acceptable
member of the breeding flock; neither itself nor its de-
scendants will cut the most satisfactory fleece. While
attention is given to all this it should not be forgotten to
see that the ram is of a proper stamp for mating with
the flock.
When putting the ewes to the ram a thorough and
patient examination of each animal should be made, and
those with defective teeth and udders and bad legs
should be withdrawn from the flock. Where early
lambs are the aim, large frames, well sprung ribs and
fine bone give satisfaction, and where flocks are mode-
rate in size and under the eye of the farmer throughout
the year he may be able to single out and reject the
ewes that gave him poor lambs the previous year. Ewes
with dry, pale skins will give a poor fleece, and the
carcase growth will not be satisfactory. When the
teeth begin to go sheep should be culled. Young sheep
Flock Improvement. 49
are more profitable than old ones. They cost less to
keep by about 20%, and they cut fully 20% more wool.
Their wool also is of greater value, and altogether it has
been proved that it costs nearly double to grow the
same quantity of wool from old sheep as it does from
young ones. Young sheep count better in both wool
and mutton returns. The older ewes, of course, make
better mothers than the quite young ones, but when the
ewes are very old they cannot furnish sufficient milk for
the lamb, for their failing teeth prohibits them, on
ordinary pasture, from keeping up their condition. A
systematic yearly culling of the inferior and ageing
ewes, and saving of the better ewe lambs, will keep the
flock permanently young. and improving, and earning
greater and greater profits.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CROSSBREEDING.
Crossbreds, to do well, should have fairly good
pasture at the least. Rapid and profitable mutton
maturity require this. There should be defined method
in the system pursued in all crossing. Without dis-
crimination the flock will be of a nondescript character,
disappointing for the owner or a purchaser to look at.
The great bulk of the flocks of the Dominion are com-
posed of crossbreds, and provide most profitable returns
where careful methods are pursued, but there are many
flocks that do not tend towards the best results. There is
the blood of so many different breeds in some flocks that a
permanent-flock sheep farmer often finds that he has to
do heavy and constant culling if his aim is a satisfac-
torily even flock. Changing and chopping around in
the selection of the ram will not assist towards obtaining
for one's land a suitable breed for the environment, and
will never attain that most desirable aim in evenness of
flock, nor will it ever determine satisfactorily what the
particular blood it is in a cross that gives whatever
success may be obtained.
The Lincoln, the English Leicester, the Border
Leicester, and the Romney ram cross well with the
Merino ewe. When the Lincoln is used the ram
should have a small, fine head, and the ewes should be
roomy and robust, otherwise the tax upon the smaller
Merino ewe at delivery may end fatally, and when the
Border Leicester is used on the Merino the ewes should
also be roomy and robust.
The half-bred is produced by the above crosses, and
by placing the same kind of ram again to the half-bred
Crossbreeding. 51
ewes the crossbred, so much prized for mutton-cum-
wool, is obtained. To maintain the crossbred calibre,
with an increasing leaning to the mutton side, the use
of the original sort of ram is continued, but it is appar-
ent that this continuance sees the Merino influence virtu-
ally disappear. When this transpires many farmers
place a Downs rani to the ewes, so as to get early fat
lambs, all of which go to the shambles, none of the ewe
lambs with the Downs blood being desirable for reten-
tion for breeding from. To maintain the desirable
crossbred qualities with a due proportion of the
Merino blood, many have successfully re-introduced the
Merino by using a ram of this breed. But, continuing
to use Downs rams on the crossbred ewes of long-
wool preponderance the ewes are finally fattened along
with the lambs and sold, and the farmer seeks for the
acquirement of a new breeding flock, unless he has on
hand a small flock of Merino breeding ewes so as to
yearly supplement the farm flock from half-breds, which
may only be done on a large and well equipped sheep
farm.
The Merino is the foundation of the bulk of the
South Island's flocks, and now that the breed is becom-
ing scarce it perplexes many what is to satisfactorily re-
place the highly prized product of the half-bred long-
wool-merino ewes. The crossbred with the Merino
strain bulking sufficiently is what is sought. Some
farmers, as stated, are satisfied in bringing back the
Merino strain by using the Merino ram, what is termed
a come-back, but it is not generally followed, although
there appears to be no strong reason why it should not.
This is the opportunity for the Corriedale, and the use
of that breed is on the increase. The Merino is not now
generally used in the North Island for even the founda-
tion of crossbred flocks ; the Lincoln-Romney cross com-
posing the calibre of most of the crossbreds flocks there.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE LINCOLN - ROMNEY CROSS.
Variety of country calls for variety of breeds of
sheep, just as varieties of sheep call for varieties of
country. The breeds suited to the hot plains of Austra-
lia or the Urals of Russia are not what are called for on
the average New Zealand country. This difference in
sheep conditions is well exemplified in the singular
popularity of the Lincoln-Romney cross in the North
Island of the Dominion. The cross, which is probably
unknown elsewhere in the world, has come into vogue
as the result of experience, observation, and practical
trials. Special conditions call for it, and the stock
farmer's aim is to take the most profitable advantage of
such conditions by selecting the most suitable sort of
animal.
The type of country covered by the cross is fairly
diffuse with respect to climate, which is generally moist,
and the appearance of the land is from flat to high, and
in some places fairly rough. A grea.t part of it is fallen
bush land, log strewn, which has been sown down in
English grasses. The general appearance and feed capa-
city of the country suggest it as a lodging place for a
rather large type of animal, active and hardy. The
Lincoln-cuin-Romney supplies this, and the abundant
feed of English grasses, seldom under two sheep to the
acre, and a necessity for such an animal, is there.
The Lincoln itself is out of the question for such
conditions. As a lamb and hogget it is not generally
robust, and the fleece in such country is a big encum-
brance. The Lincoln would come to the shearing board
in a poor condition, weighed down with a profusion of
exhausting matted wool in unsuitable surroundings.
The Lincoln- Romney Cross. 53
The already more or less delicate constitution in early
life would not be improved. The Romney, on the other
hand, would come to the shearing board parti-fleeced,
the charcoal of the burnt timber in log country breaking
the finer fibred and more upright wool, which would be
readily torn off by logs, branches of trees, stumps. The
Lincoln has the type of wool and the Romney the con-
stitution and sound hoof, and the blend seems to be all
that is desired for the special conditions, and its adapta-
bility to the country concerned seems to brand it as a
cross of marked utility. The fleece of the cross rapidly
dries after rains, which is not the case with the Lincoln,
and this, where there is much wet, has an important
bearing upon the health of the animal. Half or three-
quarter Lincoln-Romney ewes make first-class mothers
for the rearing of fat lambs.
Objections have been heard to the cross, but they
are more on theoretical than practical grounds. The
best objection should come from those who have tried
the cross and compared it with other crosses or breeds
on the particular country involved, and they don't seem
to make their appearance. It is argued technically that
a cross of a full-lustre woolled sheep such as the Lincoln
with a demi-lustre such as the Romney is wrong in prin-
ciple from a wool point of view. This is met by the con-
tention that the large numbers of farmers who use the
cross are satisfied with their wool returns, comparable
at all times with the wool returns of other breeds and
crosses, and the fact that the scope of use for all or any
wool is much increased of late years, and wool is by no
means the sheep's chief source of income from such
good country, even were the Lincoln-Romney wool of
an unsuitable kind, which it most certainly is not, for
it is much prized by the American wool buyers. But
overbearing any objection is the argument that the cross
is one eminently adapted by size, constitution, sound-
ness of feet, good lambing, wool and mutton return, in
54 The Lincoln- Romney Cross.
an environment that requires a special kind, and cannot
be criticised until a suggestion offers for a more suitable
sort to take its place, and one seems to look around in
vain for this. Neither does the Merino or Leicester, or
their blood influence in a cross, suggest the qualities
contained in a Lincoln-Romney cross for the particular
conditions involved.
CHAPTER XX.
THE USEFULNESS OF THE MERINO.
Although the scope for the use of the Merino in New
Zealand is diminishing before closer settlement, better
access, greater demand for mutton, it may, nevertheless,
be remarked that there are certain classes of land, par-
ticularly in the South Island, which it might be more
profitable to devote to the Merino than to crossbreds.
It is seen that the crossbred is sometimes used on coun-
try that appears to be essentially the home of the Merino
— poor high land, dry, growing native grasses or tus-
sock, and in places covered with a good deal of fern or
scrub. Considerable mortality may frequently be ob-
served amongst crossbreds on such country in a bad
season, poor lambings, and the flock comes to the shears
with but a poorly-grown fleece. All this prompts the
question if the best is being made of the particular class
of country involved.
At a sale of Merino sheep in New Zealand a little
while ago, no less a sum than 26 /- was obtained for
young Merino ewes, and the consideration whether it
would not be a more profitable investment to breed
Merinos on country which nature eminently designs as
their quarter, for their good and sure return in wool,
and for the purpose of supplying Merino ewes for half-
breeding purposes, may very well be entertained. There
is a strong demand for the Merino ewe in the South
Island for half-breeding purposes, and it is not long
since a section of the farming press of the Dominion re-
commended that Merino ewes should be imported from
Australia to meet the demand. Half-bred Longwool-
56 The Usefulness of the Merino.
Merino flocks are very popular in the Canterbury Pro-
vince as the genesis of the crossbred mutton so success-
fully grown there.
The crossbred to succeed and be profitable requires
reasonably succulent food growth, and there is a mini-
mum of this on the type of country described, particu-
larly in a dry season. There is, of course, the personal pre-
dilection for using the crossbred, and this carries with it
the easy liability to overlook natural conditions. When
anything over £1 is obtained for a Merino ewe it obvious-
ly suggests profitableness in Merino sheep farming, and
where two Longwool crossbreds are kept on such land
returning a precarious profit three Merinos should do
much better. This is a factor in itself that should
weigh. Figures might be compiled to show that on
much of the country under consideration a decided ad-
vantage rests in favour of the Merino. In using the
Merino there would be the problem of dealing with the
wether, but it would always cut a valuable fleece, and,
fattened, should command a satisfactory price in the
local market in these days of growing meat scarcity.
There are large areas of country in New Zealand, in
any country, that will never be capable of subdivision,
that are inherently poor, and it appears that a consider-
able portion of such country is being used to carry stock
that it is not fundamentally adapted for, and the grow-
ing scarcity of the Merino and demand for the ewe of
that breed should draw attention to a way of making
more profitable use of such country.
CHAPTEE XXI.
SHEEP FEEDING.
Freshly grown, sun licked grass, is what the sheep
thrives on, what it has been accustomed to thrive on for
ages ; it is succulent and nutritious, tasty and sustaining.
Grass is in a prime state for grazing when light or sun
is plentiful, when gentle breezes stir the air and supply
the plants with an abundance of carbonic acid gas, when
water is forthcoming in mists and rains, causing the
minerals and decomposed vegetation of the soil to be-
come solvent and feed the root system. During what
may be termed the cool or moderate times of the year.
With such grass in reasonable supply, come and go,
throughout the year, the conditions for sheep are ideal,
and, providing the surroundings are hygienic sheep
ones, health is assured.
But the grass is not always in a prime assimilable or
nutritious state. Much wet weather makes it slushy,
watery, and winter growth with a maximum of cold or
wet and a minimum of wholesome sun is, when it is not
quiescent, unsustaining. Condition making of the sheep
is here suspended, and supplying appropriate substitutes
for the subtracted qualities of the pasture prompts itself.
The burnt appearance of grass during a dry summer
spell does not suggest the pastures unsuitability for
sheep, for they will do very well upon this sun-cured
feed and fatten, but they should have plenty water, for
the moisture in the grass has evaporated. The saccha-
rine and fattening properties are there, but the digestive
and solvent aid of water is particularly required.
In its free and natural state the sheep would, when
favourable pasture feeding was unavailable, change its
grazing quarters or resort to an altered diet composed of
58 Sheep Feeding.
i
such things as scrub, bushes, leaves of trees, etc. In
the winter time the Shetland breed of sheep supports
itself on seaweed and shell fish, and a Nova Scotian
coastal wild sheep descended from a domesticated breed,
does practically likewise. The salt bushes of Australia
are a great reserve for sheep during droughty times.
But such things as scrub, bushes, etc., quite inferior as
they may be for the domesticated sheep, are not gene-
rally available on the fenced-in sheep farm, and an
experienced sheep farmer, recognising seasonal necessi-
ties, counts all this, and figures out according to local
conditions that the cost of growing such immeasurably
superior things as roots, hay,, oats, catch crops, is well
recouped by condition saving and making. Money and
time are conserved ; the farm carries more stock, and it
stands appraised accordingly. With the ewe, for in-
stance, if it is not properly looked after and fed — not
overfed, for fat-feeding a breeding ewe or any female
breeding animal is a mistake — its growth, robustness,
fertility, wool and mutton transmitting qualities, will be
affected, and its descendants will not rejoice in improved
physique or constitution.
Proper and change food, according to the season's
requirements, has a marked, immediate, and ulterior
effect on the profitableness of sheep farming, and grow-
ing fodders when weather conditions are favourable to
their growth, and feeding them when weather conditions
are unfavourable to the sheep's growth, is the acme of
scientific sheep farming, for it harnesses the sun and other
elements in favour of the farmer. There is quite ob-
viously an artificiality about the treatment and pro-
sperity of a domesticated animal at any time, and no-
thing is so consonant with that treatment as providing
artificial foods when conditions emphatically suggest
their use. The sheep is a good animal exemplar of high
profits for good treatment, and low profits for bad treat-
ment. It can withstand cold and exposure well provid-
Sheep Feeding. 59
ing feed is available in reasonable quantity. In high
country much wet and cold with decimate underfed
flocks, but with a reliable supply of food the sheep, in-
cluding ewes, and lambs too, receiving adequate
nourishment, will not only resist a lot, but flourish.
The sheep is a restless and spiritless animal, whose con-
stitution readily caves in to bad treatment. It may, in
truth, be said that no sheep can be properly healthy and
profitable unless it receives sufficient suitable food, and
good running water wherever possible, which is just as
much of a necessity. The worst treatment that sheep
can receive is to be placed on insufficient and unsuitable
feed ; the best treatment, on a proper supply offering
variety with gradual and not with radical or sudden
change. No animal appreciates variety of food so much
as the restless sheep. A breeding flock badly dieted
may return a profit on the venture of a few shillings
per head, or a loss, but one well managed and reasonably
fed will return something nearer and even over £1 per
head. What science there is in growing wool and mut-
ton, after the breed is selected for the particular country,
rests largely, under modern conditions of sheep farming,
in the study of appropriate and balanced feeding —
grazing the pastures with economy and care, to extend
their usefulness as far into the unfavourable season as
possible, and supplying substitutes when nature, by
cold or drought, calls upon the pastures to halt their
activity and take rest. It is only with the immovable
or fixed things in creation, such as plants, that the sea-
sons suspend or make active growth ; in the animal sec-
tion growth or thrift should be continuous.
CHAPTER XXII.
ROOTS AND FODDERS.
Dependence on pasture growth generally extends in
New Zealand from about October to March. The growth
then is fairly reliable for fattening purposes or good
condition maintenance. For the other six months of the
year these ends are only intermittently attained on pas-
ture growth, and sheep have often to put up with a
scanty or watery and poorly sun-strengthened growth, or
one of inferior, sun-cured grasses that may be more or
less soiled or rotted — grasses that have been allowed to
get away by the stock on account of their inferiority.
The position obviously suggests the taking of steps to
create a more proportionate perennial thrift of the
animal towards a greater and better output of wool,
mutton, constitution, and fecundity. Thrift should be
continuous with stock, and there is every encourage-
ment to make it so by growing special crops on the good
soils, with the favourable climate and rainfall of New
Zealand. The number of fodder and root crops that can
be set on a journey of successful growth when the ele-
ments of sun and rain are favourable is very great. They
come in for direct use at several periods of the year, or
can be conserved and fed to sheep as opportunity re-
quires. The grasses and the great lucerne may be made
into hay ; oats may be grown, cured and chaffed ; rape
and thousand-headed kale are valuable fodders, and tur-
nips and mangels are roots of importance to the better
carying on of the sheep industry. Peas are a good and
profitable topping-off food for sheep, and it often pays
well to use oats for the purpose. It is surprising the
small attention that is paid to the growing of lucerne.
Probably the time will come when a good part of the
Roots and Fodders. 61
feed consumed by sheep in New Zealand will be com-
posed of lucerne. Variety of food plays a more import-
ant part in successful sheep farming than is generally
recognised. Sheep are fonder of variety than any other
animal, and as fond of it as man, and variety does the
sheep more good, for it lives entirely upon the almost
continuous pleasure of eating.
CHAPTER XXIII.
SMALL FLOCKS.
The serviceableness of the sheep in New Zealand is
not at all confined to spacious areas of mountain, hill,
or dale, for the successful operations of many small
agricultural farmers are largely due to the profitable in-
fluence of the animal. As prices for sheep products are,
a carefully tended flock of a few hundred sheep will pro-
vide a most satisfactory income to a farmer from a small
area of land, growing root and fodder crops to be fed to
the sheep on the place.
The sheep's direct and indirect influence towards
profitableness on a mixed farm is very marked. Even
on flat, rich lands, essentially adapted to cropping and
grazing cattle, there is a lot of feed that can be turned
to account by one of the heavier breeds of sheep. Pas-
ture patches, ignored by other stock, and weed growths,
are wastes, when not a nuisance, and sheep will profit-
ably transform them into mutton and wool while cleans-
ing the land and fertilising the soil. Any agricultural
produce that might have to be carried to a depressed
market can be inverted by sheep to the portable products
of wool and mutton, that command staple and rising
export prices. All, too, without robbing the land of its
heart and strength ; indeed, adding to it. Sheep will
physically improve the texture of the soil for grain
growing, a-nd are particularly useful in consolidating,
and conserving the moisture in light soil. They act as
a most efficient roller on light rolling and hilly land
tjiat requires compacting for the better growing of a
crop, and saving of the land's mineral and decayed vege-
table matter from loss by heavy rains ; land that is not
easy to satisfactorily roll otherwise.
Small Flocks. 63
Professor Wrightson says that sheep are the means
of nearly doubling crops of barley, oats, and wheat, and
that hay and root crops are made incomparably better
by them. A flock upon the farm can at any time stay
a profuse pasture growth which otherwise might go to
waste and cause trouble and loss in grazing. Sheep will
also feed in a paddock after it has been grazed by horses
and cattle, and will pleasingly even-up a pasture. Their
restless movements make of them efficient manure dis-
tributers. By m&nufing the flats with artificials, and
growing crops, and feeding them to sheep, and allowing
the sheep access to the rising ground, a farmer can have
his adjacent hill land manured cheaply.
Prices for sheep products are so satisfactory that
with a permanent flock upon the farm it will pay to
grow special crops to keep them going and making con-
dition in times of weather severity or drought. Besides
having always on hand a reserve of hay, catch crops can
be grown and fed to sheep. The land's fertility, carry-
ing capacity and value will be enhanced, and whatever
extra feed is provided for the pinching time of the year
will, with careful grazing of pastures during the balance
of the year, enormously increase the carrying power of
the farm.
«
Sheep and appropriate working of the land and
cropping, with the start of a cheap minimum of arti-
ficial fertiliser, will transform second rate land into real
good cropping or grazing country. So responsive is the
pasture growth in New Zealand for the greater part of
the year that it is possible to double and treble the num-
ber of stock carried on many sheep farms by growing
proper crops. If successfully done the labour bill will
not interfere much with the substantially increased
capital value and earning power of the farm. The
climate's action on the pasture growth is more favour-
able in New Zealand than in any other country.
64 Small Flocks.
While it is not possible to go in for breeding sheep
on a small place, if the area is at all considerable a little
skilful arrangement will make it quite feasible. A
small yard and an improvised dip can quickly and
cheaply be erected. If the land is inclined to be damp
conditions are not favourable for a permanent flock,
although some sheep may be pastured during the drier
months of the year and sold, or removed to the higher
ground in the winter time. The labour required in the
attention of sheep during the year is small, and the
trouble is a minus quantity if the fences are secure.
CHAPTEE XXIV.
THE SCOPE FOR INTENSIVE SHEEP FARMING.
A New Zealand farmer lately described to a meeting
of farmers how £700 a year is earned from an area of
40 acres devoted to sheep. Lucerne and rape are the
mainstay ; five acres of the former and three of rape,
with the whole farm, which is not the very best of land,
divided into ten paddocks. The lucerne is made into
hay. Naturally there is an element of " dealing " in
the operations as carried out in this case, for it would not
do to keep a permanent flock on such a circumscribed
area. The following account of the transactions for one
year indicates the course pursued : — Bought 430 ewes in
the autumn; had a 127% lambing; sold all the first lot
fat to the butchers for 21/-, 21/6; in December all the
ewes went off fat, and a line of wethers were purchased
to be also fattened before it was necessary to obtain
the breeding ewes for the coming winter.
No definite experiment has been made with lucerne
alone and sheep in New Zealand, but it is known in Aus-
tralia that an irrigated lucerne paddock carried 75 sheep
per acre for four months. The lucerne, which was cut and
fed to the flock in an adjacent paddock, was growng
just as vigorously when the sheep, at the end of the
time, were disposed of. Last winter a South Island
farmer, from two acres of pitted mangolds, fed, with
some straw, a flodk of 400 ewes through the winter in
good style.
These are bases that give great inducement to a
consideration of intensive sheep farming. Regard must
be given, however, to the points surrounding the under-
taking in other respects. It does not do to close feed and
66 The Scope for Intensive Sheep Farming.
close herd sheep for a lengthened period ; there must be
range for exercise for the breeding flock, unless with
buying and selling opportunities favourable, such is not
kept. Necessary care and attention must be devoted,
particularly to that of treating the cropped areas well,
and it must be seen that the land and the climate are
adapted. If in addition to the above fodder and root
areas, a further area of 200 ai res of fair grass land, or
400 acres of inferior, goes along with it, there is the
opportunity of successfully running 1,000 sheep on a
property of such dimensions, suitably fenced and grazed,
particularly if an extra paddock of lucerne is available
for green feeding and occasional grazing, or some other
cognate feed grown, for the range of fodders and roots
need not necessarily be confined tx; those named.
That the sheep themselves could be availed of as an
excellent means of keeping the cultivated parts in a
high state of fertility, and indeed improving the whole
farm, if skill in grazing is used, there is no doubt, for
the animal exercises a powerful influence in the direc-
tion of fertility. If the special crops grown get a send-
off with a suitable artificial fertiliser, the sheep will
speed up the transition of an ordinary cropping paddock
into superior land.
A certain amount of labour is involved in under-
taking such a method of sheep farming, but it is in-
significant in comparison to onerous dairying. Atten-
tion, more than labour, is the requisite. When the in-
tensive sheep farm is small and the soil good a system
of " flyin^stock " fanning may only be pursued. Mar-
ket must be close, which it invariably is in such a case,
and the soil must be light enough to withstand impac-
tion under constant heavy grazing, fences secure, and
each lot of ewes must go before health is affected by
prolonged close folding. Where a breeding flock is to
be kept, and this gives additional interest to any system
of sheep farming, it seems as if the more satisfactory
The Scope for Intensive Sheep Farming. 67
size of farm for the practice is one of from 200 acres
upwards, not necessarily of first-class land, and it should
be in a fairly humid district, for reliable crop growth
is essential. Carried out under whatever conditions, it
should at any rate be seen that the area devoted to
lucerne is carefully treated and sown to ensure a success-
ful establishing of this valuable fodder. Large cuttings
from small areas economise labour. Thorough treat-
ment and working of the cropping paddocks require also
to be undertaken, together with a judicious subdivision
of the whole farm into well arranged paddocks. Very
often the price of oats is so low as to make it payable to
feed them to fattening sheep, and supplying under cer-
tain conditions some of the concentrated foods may also
often pay, particularly when the great benefit sheep's
manure does to the land is considered.
CHAPTER XXV.
LAMBING.
Three or four weeks before lambing time the ewes
should be dagged, and if crutching is followed, any wool
that might hinder the lambs from sucking may be
clipped in a careful manner. Rough handling of ewes
in lamb is very reprehensible.
A well-sheltered, sunny paddock should be selected
for lambing. Inclement weather and exposure are
great enemies at this time. If bush, hedges, decayed
logs, or hills do not provide shelter, it should be fur-
nished in the shape of windbreaks of scrub or straw.
Sooner, however, good, permanet shelter is provided,
where it is wanted, the better, for the property will then
be regarded as a more suitable one for sheep, and be
valued accordingly.
Dogs should be strictly kept away from ewes heavy
in lamb and at lambing time. It is prime folly to have
any other state than that of quiet and comfort at this
juncture.
When the lambs begin to arrive the flock should be
visited constantly, and assistance given to ewes that
require it in their delivery. A short, practical experi-
ence or direction by a neighbour is the best way to learn
how to help. When the front feet and the head of the
lamb do not appear together assistance may be given by
pushing back the part of the lamb that emerges un-
timely. Sometimes the hind legs are the first to appear,
and the ewe may be successfully delivered this way ; but
if all the legs or the back show first help is necessary,
and a careful effort should be made to push back the
part appearing prematurely, and turn the lamb, so that
the front legs, with the head, or the hind legs, may be
got hold of and the ewe gently assisted, in unison with
her efforts in travail and without any dragging. Car-
bolic oil should be carried so as to smear the hands after
each operation.
CHAPTER XXVI.
SHEARING THE FARMER'S FLOCK.
The shearing shed should be well cleaned out, so
that no rubbish gets mixed with the wool, to depreciate
its value. If the sheepyard is not paved, the grass should
be allowed to grow before shearing, so as to avoid dust.
Dust spoils the appearance of wool. Sprinkle water to
keep it down where necessary.
The sheep should be dry or shearing should not be
proceeded with, and when the weather is inclement the
shelter of trees, etc., is a great comfort to newly shorn
sheep, and often saves the lives and health of many.
The wool table, about 7ft. x 5ft., is made of battens
about IJin. wide, with a space of about Jin. between
each, to permit of the locks or second cuts to fall
through. When the fleece is placed on the table, out-
side uppermost, the stained and fribby pieces should be
taken off the edges, and after shaking the fleece to rid it
of dust and short pieces, it should be rolled, from the
breech to the neck.
When the flock is small this is all the wool classing
that is necessary. When a fleece is decidedly below the
standard of the flock, or is dirty, it can be pulled to
pieces and thrown in with the short pieces.
CHAPTER XXVII.
DIPPING.
The dipping of sheep is not compulsory in some
countries, but where it is increased production of wool
and excellence of mutton are prominent features.
Although certainly not accountable for it in full, it may
be stated that the wool production per head in non-
dipping countries is as low as even 2 Jib. average per
sheep, and in countries where dipping is general it is
as high as nearly 81b. average per sheep. Dipping is
rightly compulsory in New Zealand, and it is only a
matter of tiine when it will become so in all countries of
pastoraj and agricultural stability, and where sheep
farming is followed on business or commercial lines.
The sheep cannot be expected to contentedly dispose
itself to thrive on the pasture when under the thraldom
of irritating parasites, to which, of all animal covering,
wool gives the finest sanctuary. If insect pests impel
the sheep towards restlessness, it will manifestly fall
short of its maximum capacity of wool and mutton
growth. The fence and shepherding have domesticated
the sheep and made it a more social animal. Its fore-
fathers lived a free and roaming life under a more
natural state. The sickly ones dropped out quickly as
unfits ; but under modern conditions a sickly sheep, or
a dirty one, infects the other members of the flock, and
parasites are quickly passed from one to another. The
sheep's health — for many troubles can be avoided by
cleanliness obtained in dipping — upkeep of condition,
and contentment, and therefore mutton and wool pro-
duction, are improved by proper dipping. There is no
argument in favour of taxing the sheep with the main-
tenance of any other life but its own, and the animal in
Dipping. 71
its own efforts to rid itself of the pests by rubbing
against fences, etc., tea.rs and loses a deal of its fleece and
ceases to thrive properly.
Though experience clearly proves the necessity for
dipping sheep, there are, nevertheless, some points in
connection with the manner in which the work is carried
out that tend to show an insufficient appreciation of the
great benefits to be derived from a thorough perform-
ance of the operation. It is a most striking fact that a
very large proportion of sheep owners do not devote
care in performing the work. While every experienced
sheep farmer admits the necessity for dipping, probably
not 20 in 100 fully realise that it is of primary import-
ance to have the work well done to insure the most
profitable results. No matter what preparation may be
used the manner in which it is used is only second in
importance to the intrinsic merits of the preparation
itself. To anyone familiar with the work of a sheep
farm, thoroughness in dipping sheep is singularly want-
ing, and he cannot but observe that the majority of
dippers simply " run the sheep " through the bath, tak-
ing it for granted that by ostensibly complying with the
law and getting the unpleasant work over, some miracle
will secure the satisfactory results. This but stultifies
the benefits that science and skill place at the door of
the sheep farmer.
It is needless to set forth all the conditions for
complete success in sheep dipping, seeing that whatever
is the brand or make it is the custom to attach directions
for use on every packet or drum. One or two of these
conditions, however, are of such leading importance that
brief reference may be made to them. The first is to
exercise sufficient care in mixing the preparation ; to use
measurements and not guesses ; and to thoroughly dis-
tribute the dip throughout the bath water at just the
direction strength. Another point is to keep the water
thoroughly stirred during the dipping, for the reason
72 Dipping.
that a proportion of most dipping preparations is not
intended to dissolve at once in the dipping bath. By
sufficiently stirring, the still undissolved particles are
kept in suspension, and are thus carried out by each
sheep, and, becoming dried on the fleece, afterwards help
to preserve it from re-infestation for as many months as
possible. If sediment is found in the bath after dipping,
apart from the droppings of the sheep, one may rest
assured that he has been proportionately neglectful in
this respect. Another important point in securing the
best results is that sheep should have sufficient growth
of fleece to enable them to carry out of the bath enough
dip to insure protection, and, therefore, two months
after shearing should be the minimum interval before
dipping. It is also importantly necessary to be most
careful to insure sufficient immersion. Merely wetting
sheep instead of dipping them yields only trivial results.
The fleece and the insects infesting it must be thoroughly
soaked, otherwise the insects quickly regain the chance
of resuming their annoyances and depredations. In
carrying out these requirements little is added to the
labour of dipping, but much to the profit which dipping
yields. The waste from careless dipping aggregates an
immense annual loss to the sheep farming industry.
Not only is care necessary in conducting the opera-
tion, but also in selecting such weather conditions that
are not detrimental to the realisation of best results.
Should, for instance, heavy rain fall on newly dipped
sheep and before the dip has dried on to them, a large
proportion of the remedy will be washed away, and the
consequent effect of the work be rendered more or less
transient. To regain lasting results in such instances
sheep would require re-dipping at reduced strength, but
not within three weeks after the first dipping. While
rain has this detrimental effect on newly dipped sheep,
if it falls instead some time after the dipping it greatly
enhances the effect in re-wetting the fleece, and so reviv-
Dipping . 73
ing the activity of the dip which had become dried on
to it. The effects of dipping are thus never so complete
in a dry spell following dipping as in a moderately wet
season. These remarks particularly apply to the use of
the poisonous dips of lasting properties. Quickly acting
dips of the carbolic or non-poisonous liquid class are of
more transient effect. It should be added that the use
of any home-made, unscientifically prepared dip is re-
prehended by all wool and sheep experts, and dips com-
posed essentially of lime and sulphur or crude arsenic
are not only destructive to the wool directly, but pre-
judicially affect it also by their inimical effect upon the
skin of the sheep, which is, after all, the soil upon which
the wool grows.
The nature of the water used in dipping is of im-
portance. When the water is hard the difficulties not
only of imperfect mixing but also of penetration through
a greasy fleece affect results. These difficulties can,
however, be greatly lessened by adding common soda
to the bath water, at the rate of about 21b. to every 100
gallons of water. This soda requires, of course, to be
first dissolved in hot water before being stirred into the
bath. A very general means of mitigating the detri-
mental effects of hard water is to add to the bath water,
into which a poisonous dip has already been mixed, a
non-poisonous fluid dip at the rate of about one-third
gallon to every 100 gallons of bath water. This most
effectively augments the penetrativeness of hard water,
and, at the strength mentioned, it can be safely added
to the poisonous dip without the least risk. In using
short baths this advice is increasingly important. Every
sheep owner should have a dipping bath on his own
farm. It is a valuable asset, for it insures the chance for
dipping to be done properly and without the annoyances,
loss of time, and risks attending the travelling of sheep
for it to be done elsewhere.
74 Dipping.
Some New Zealand flock owners consider it a bene-
ficial thing to dip their ewes and lambs twice in the
year. First, with "a non-poisonous or carbolic prepara-
tion, soon after shearing, when the wool is short. The
lambs, which are dipped at the same time, should be
forward enough to look after themselves, in case their
mothers, after the ablution, are inclined to disown them.
By the adoption of this method, the lambs are saved
from the ticks which migrate to them from their mothers
at the shearing, and the latter are also kept clean for two
or three months, at the end of which period the lambs
are strong enough to be again dipped with the ewes in
the more efficacious poisonous preparation, possessing
more lasting properties than the non-poisonous dip, for
the reason that by its presence in the fleece the newly-
hatched ticks, as they issue from the eggs, sicken and
die. Only poisonous dips possess these protecting and
lasting properties. This method of dipping ewes and
lambs at the shearing, and again subsequently, obviates
two losses to sheep owners. It saves the lambs at a
sensitive age from attacks of insects, and the hoggets
from the annoyances of ticks.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
WATER SUPPLY.
Fresh growing pasture, upon which the sheep
thrives so well, contains a large percentage of water, for
the soil, as the feeding intermediary of such grass, is
moistened by rains. Sheep can do very well without
water when grazing upon pasture that is in such a state,
but the pasture is not all the time in this condition. In
dry weather, or in country that is deficient in rains or
dews, the need for an available supply of water is clear,
otherwise the working of the digestive organs of the
sheep becomes disorganised by an oversupply of dry,
moistureless feed, and instead of putting on or maintain-
ing condition, the sheep goes back. The feed is not
being made the best use of, and the animal becomes
thriftless. Even in moist sheep country there are times
of the year when a dry spell reduces the water in the
grass to under the quantity that is required by sheep,
and they look around for the running creek.
More particularly is abundance of water necessary
when sheep are fed upon artificial foods of a heating
nature, and it is always incumbent to have it available
for animals that are being fattened. When the grass is
dried up by a drougbt it is freshly cured by the sun and
contains good fattening properties, but its feeding must
be accompanied by accessibility to water. Much loss of
sheep in Australia through drought could be avoided if
sheep had access to water. The feed is often there, of a
very dry nature certainly, but the water is unavailable.
Without water, in a dry spell, sheep have to contend
with the manifest disadvantages of assimilating dry food,
difficult to digest, and with great and taxing heat, which
draws upon the animal's reserve strength. The drain of
heavy perspiration is unreplenished, and the actions of
the digestive organs are put out of gear. It is quite im-
possible to expect sheep to thrive under such unnatural
conditions.
CHAPTER XXIX.
SALT FOR SHEEP.
On a large property sheep invariably obtain salt in
some of the herbage to satisfy their needs, but on a
sheep farm of moderate dimensions, and where artificial
grasses have been sown, there is a strong craving for
salt. All animals in a natural state roamed about a lot
and came across salt grounds or herbage possessing a
good percentage of salts. This they will invariably get
on a large sheep farm containing natural pasture, but in
the confined paddock, of English grasses particularly,
and still more particularly where artificial foods are
furnished, the supply of salt is strongly advisable. This
is well evidenced by the sheep's great fondness for it
under such conditions. In moist, damp situations, too,
salt is a powerful preventive of the parasitical stomach
complaints sheep are so subject to thereon. Salt aids the
digestion and invigorates the system, two great essen-
tials in the production of quickly grown mutton and of
a good fleece, and the flesh of sheep is made sweeter by *
supplying salt.
More artificial the system of feeding sheep is
more requirement there is for salt. An experiment in
relation thereto, conducted by the French Government,
may be quoted. The period covered by the experiment
was 134 days, and the feeding was highly artificial,
consisting of hay, beans, potatoes, and straw. Those
sheep that received Joz. of salt per day gained in that
time 4 Jib. more weight than the sheep which received
no salt, and cut Iflb. more and better wool. These
figures show an extra return, at our prices, of over 2/-
per sheep for mutton and wool for the 134 days, or say
6/- per sheep per annum. This, of course, is on extra
Salt for Sheep. 77
artificial feeding, which hastens on maturity in con-
trast to our pasture grazing, but for pasture grazing
only the supply to flocks of a few pounds of salt per
head per year would mean a substantial increase in wool
and mutton returns, and repay manyfold the infinitely
small outlay in trouble and cost. Artificial feeding and
salt and access to water are an essential combination in
successful results. The value of salt in unfavourable
sheep conditions is very great. It is a deadly enemy
of internal parasites.
Salt, ordinary coarse in preference to rock, may be
given to sheep by itself in a box, placed under a tree, or
with a raised roof providing protection from the rain,
or, it may be given along with other sheep tonics,
especially during the spring and autumn, when the
sheep's state requires stimulus to resist disease: lOOlb.
salt, 61b. lime, 31b. sulphate of iron, with, sometimes
added , lib. flowers of sulphur, all mixed, is good. This
is much liked by sheep, and anything that is liked by an
animal does it good by bracing up the system. And the
above acts as a safeguard against internal complaints,
and helps to cure them.
CHAPTER XXX.
SHELTER.
The need for housing of stock in Australasia is
absent, and for this reason Australasia steals a long
march on almost any other great pastoral country in
the world. Belts of timber or hedges will provide all
the shelter that is required at any latitude or any alti-
tude. But even such a form of shelter is, in New Zea-
land, rather conspicuous for its absence. And too strong
a complaint cannot be laid at the pastoralist's door for
this, for New Zealand is not an old country, and the
pastoralist is pre-occupied with other matters in the
shaping of his property from a crude wilderness or forest
to a comfortable family belonging, with often not too
much money to do it.
Blessed as New Zealand is in genial climate, it
should nevertheless be understood that sensitiveness to
weather and season changes is a relative consideration.
The Canadian or Russian could sleep out comfortably in
our winter, but not after he had resided in the country
for some years, much less so his descendants. Similarly
with an animal. Under any conditions of climate shelter
is a necessity. No race of human beings exists without
a sheltering habitation, and all animals by natural
choice avail themselves of the use of shelter against un-
favourable conditions, severe or slight. There is a
finesse a.bout comfort and thrift at any time. In the
lower scale of nature, too, down to the tree or grass,
shelter is arranged for one way or another; the large
tree has the shelter of the smaller ones, and the small
that of the large ones, and grasses shelter one another.
But the domesticated animal has often no choice in the
Shelter. 79
matter, and it cannot be said that its domestication is
complete without the privilege of shelter is available,
by way of tree, hedge, or otherwise.
Sheep farming is the mainstay of Australasia. It
furnishes the material for our almost entire prosperity,
and the magnitude of the benefits arising from shelter
to the industry may well be closely reviewed. It cannot
be overlooked first of all that a property with a judicious
planting of timber has a very much greater attraction to
the eye than one that has not. It is, as a matter of fact,
very much more valuable. Intrinsically, we find that
shelter for stock provides protection from excess of cold
and excess of heat. It brings the domestication of the
animal more to the real plane of such domestication.
Where a large area of land has belts of timber or hedges
planted at discriminate distances apart, or is broken by
hills or undulations, the velocity and intensity of the
cold and hot winds are found to be broken. Not only to
the stock does this give warmth or coolness, as the case
may be, but to the soil, and the grasses or the crops. It
is a threefold benefit to the stock; they enjoy more
equable temperature personally, which adds to their con-
dition ; they get a better pasture supply, and have the
opportunity of protecting themselves under the shelter
or on the lee from trying heat, rainfall, sleets, or maybe
snow. The effects of winter's storm and cold and sum-
mer's heat are moderated. There are breeds of sheep, of
course, that can withstand all these things better than
others, but permitting them to so do is not according
with the positive law that everything in nature seeks
shelter under whatever conditions. Even if the accepted
principle were to breed-up stock to a withstanding re-
sistance of all the forces of constant changing climate,
which is absurd in the consideration of anything but
stationary plants, still, the artifice of the sheep farmer in
shearing his sheep calls for a corresponding move to
give protection from the ill effects of exposure after de-
80 Shelter.
nuding the animal of its fleece. Then again the ewe in
its natural state would select a sheltered spot for lamb-
ing. A chance storm, and what true barometers animals
are, would not hurt its lamb or itself. This cannot be
said with the ewe living in the bare exposed fields of a
property. Shelter also is beneficial to sheep after dip-
ping. Stock, if given the chance, will avail themselves
of shelter every day of the year, and it cannot be con-
tended that the opportunity to so do is not of the highest
economic benefit to the owner of the stock, \vhose aim
is to maintain thrift and hasten on maturity. Proper
shelter for sheep provides more and better ^ool, more
and quicker growing mutton, more and better lambs,
less disease and better health all round. Lack of shelter
takes from an animal, pampered and softened by domes-
tication, that which it had free recourse to in its natural
state.
CHAPTER XXXI.
WOOL AND ITS GROWTH.
The technicalities of the wool trade do not appeal to
the ordinary sheep farmer. He can, however, gather
information in respect to the treatment of his sheep from
a simple study of the common points of interest attached
to and surrounding wool that has left the sheep's back.
He can note from the remarks and criticisms passed
upon wool as it passes on to the manufacturer that pro-
per husbanding of his flock is essential to the satisfactory
growth of a fleece. He can realise that wool is but the
product of the soil, less perishable than food or grass,
and that equivalent care is necessary in the cultivation
of the fleece as in the securing of a satisfactory agricul-
tural crop. He can also observe that when the condi-
tions tending to a valuable growth of fleece are lacking
the general bodily and mutton welfare of his sheep will
also show shortcomings. He can note such things that
the less densely covered longwool breeds do not with-
stand climate asperities so well as the denser woolled
Merino and Downs breeds.
Every sheep farmer desires to grow good wool in
preference to inferior. The nearest thing approaching
and comparable to wool is hair, and inferior wool may
be likened to hair, either coarse or thin and poor. To
conceive the relationship and yet the great difference
between wool and hair is of advantage. Where sheep
are well bred there is an absence of hair or kemp in the
fleece, but badly bred or inattended they grow a good
deal of hair, which much depreciates the value of the
fleece. Allow any breed of sheep to revert to a natural
wild state and it would not be long before it developed
hairy tendencies. The proper husbanding of the animal
makes for wool production in contrast to a hairiness if
32 Wool and its Growth.
neglected. Wool may be said to be tlie result of sheep
culture. In contrast to hair it is what grows on the
sheep by a long course of domesticated attention and
selection.
The distinguishing features of wool as compared to
hair are that it is of a finer and denser growth, and that
its fibres have waves, curls, or crimps, and, as observed
under the microscope, cone-like serrations. These
crimps and serrations facilitate the working of one fibre
with another into a manufactured article. Hair is en-
tirely, or practically entirely, deficient in crimps and
serrations, as well as in softness, fineness, and elasticity,
and it is therefore unsuitable for the grea,t manufactur-
ing purposes of wool. Breeders know that odd reversion
or throwing-back to the pre-domesticated type may be
expected in animals, and in the case of sheep tending in
this direction in respect to their wool, care may be taken
to see that the ram used has no hair in its fleece. Being
naturally the more robust animal, the ram is more likely
to show it, and if care in selecting the ram is exercised
the tendency to hair in the fleece will not be transferred
to the flock.
The Merino has from 12 to 30 waves or crimps to an
inch of wool fibre, the Southdown 10 to 18, and the Lin-
coln only 2 or 3. The Merino has about 2,400 serra-
tions per inch of wool fibre, the Southdown 2,000, the
Leicester about 1,800, and ordinary crossbreds about
1,000, with inferior wools as low as 500. Merino wool,
which has high felting qualities on account of the
greater number of serrations, is soft and warmth giving.
It is eminently adapted for such things as flannels,
blankets, broadcloths, jerseys, etc. The Downs wools
are adapted for flannels and hosiery, and where the staple
is long for cloth. Lincoln wool is too coarse for such
purposes. It is used in making serges, dress goods, etc.
Each breed's wool is valuable for some special purpose
or purposes, and the best object to attain from the wool-
Wool and its Growth. 83
grower's point of view is to grow the wool of the par-
ticular breed he is concerned with as well as may be.
Certain land and conditions may be suited for the breed-
ing of a fine woolled or a medium or a coarse woolled
sheep, and the farmer's aim is to grow the wool of which-
ever breed he selects as satisfactory as he can. Wool
from badly-bred sheep will not spin well ; the poor hairs
will not take the dye, and the manufactured cloth does
not give satisfactory wear.
Each fibre or hair of wool is like a plant rooted to
the skin, drawing its sustenance from the body of the
animal, which fills the same purpose as does soil to an
agricultural plant. Nourishment is manifestly neces-
sary for the sheep if the wool is to receive its proper
supply of fibre-growing food to maintain its strength,
quality, and value for manufacturing purposes. Sheep,
unless they are being fattened, want just food enough,
resembling in this respect a successful crop, which re-
quires neither too much nor too little manures or foods
of the proper kinds. In purely pastoral grazing good
and bad seasons follow one another often, and it requires
skill to make the best of the pastures, but where fodders
and roots are grown there is better chance of seeing that
the fleece, along with the mutton, does not suffer from
uneven growth.
Yolk is an important feature of wool. It is an oily,
soapy, or lubricating substance, furnished, in quantity
according to the good or bad treatment extended to the
sheep, to the skin glands, and as it accumulates and
exudes from the skin it incorporates itself with the wool
fibres. Were it not for yolk the wool fibres would mat,
would lose their pliancy and softness, would wear by
friction, and become brittle. Without it wool would re-
semble more a poor, thin hair. Yolk also gives lustre to
the wool, and its oiliness protects the sheep from in-
jurious entry of rain to its body, and also protects the
wool from the entry of foreign matter. Lack of feed is
84 Wool and its Growth.
followed by la.ck of yolk and lack of lustre in wool,
although overfeeding1 produces an over-supply of yolk.
Abundant feeding is for mutton production; good wool,
health and constitution are better for feeding enough.
Where there is exposure to much rain the function of
yolk is diverted by being washed out of the fleece or into
a pasty mass which clots, stains, reduces lustre, and
depreciates the value of the fleece. While this is happen-
ing the general condition, including the mutton quali-
ties of the animal, suffers, and it directs attention to the
need there is for some description of shelter from fre-
quent storms. Longwool sheep are more prone to mat-
ting of the wool, and the maintenance of lustre is an
important factor in long wool ; it is a manufacturer's
requirement, just as he looks for crimp and serrations in
short felting wool. The close, shield-like protection
from the ingress of wet of the short, dense-woolled breeds
makes them less disposed to matting of fleece. There is
a cousinship between the best mutton parts of a sheep
and good wool and yolk ; where the best mutton is on
the sheep there is found the best wool and the largest
quantity of yolk. Deficiency of yolk in wool may be
noted by the want of softness and pliancy in the touch
and lack of brilliance in the lustre.
Wool is used for the manufacture of clothing,
termed carding, and the manufacture of worsteds,
termed combing. Wool that is short, crimpy and well
serrated is invariably preferred for the carding or cloth
making, the longer sorts of over two or three inches
invariably for the worsted or combing. Shortly, the
carding process takes the shape of breaking and dividing
the wool fibres into many pieces, and intermixing them
prior to consolidating them by pressure into a felted
mass of cloth. The serrations or scales on the wool fibre,
which are so numerous on the shorter wools, aid largely
towards this felting, for they interlock one into another.
In worsted making the process is one of combing, laying;
Wool and its Growth. 85
parallel, and stretching out the fibres and then spinning.
The serrations in the wool do not count as of use for
this purpose. Whichever purpose the wool is put to the
sheep should be well bred and fed so as to ensure such
qualities as strength, evenness, crimp, elasticity. Pro-
per selection and breeding and proper feeding accom-
plish all this. Wool buyers are highly skilled in the
technical requirements of the trade, and every attention
devoted to a flock readily and competitively receives its
reward at their hands.
After the Merino for density of wool comes the Downs,
and the long-wools are the least dense. The Lincoln has
the coarsest and longest wool among the breeds known
in Australasia. Its greath length is what gives it its
heavy weight of fleece. Warm climates in their ultimate
effect tend to decrease the density of a sheep's fleece,
making the fibre coarser. The change is slow in accli-
matised sheep, and appears nmrked only after a few
generations of the breed have passed. It is a naturally
expected law, for density of covering towards animal
warmth may be looked for in cold, and thinness of cover-
ing in warm climates ; although it will be understood
that a breed of sheep noted for its wool qualities for
maybe hundreds of years will take a long time to radic-
ally change its coat in a changed climate, particularly if
the change is not a marked one. Selection of stock in-
fluences density of fleece, feeding not much, although
feeding influences soundness, pliancy, and softness, and
evenness somewhat. Dense wool is more elastic ; there is
more rebound to the touch by reason of finer fibres of a
greater confined waviness or crimp and serrations. All
these qiialities tend towards elasticity as against the
limpidness of coa.rser and more hair-like wool. Density
obviously makes for protection of the animal, hence the
power of withstanding storms that the Merino has over
the longwool, and over the Southdown and Shropshire
to a lesser extent.
86 Wool and its Growth.
Heavy land will give a coarse wool, and the coarse-
woolled, heavy-carcassed breeds are more adapted to
such land than the lighter breeds, whose quarters are
more properly the light and sandy soils. The Merino
grows splendid wool on what seems, and actually would
be, a sparse or starvation diet for a longwool, but which
is the ideally suited diet for the active, hardy, Merino
breed, accustomed to patchy nibbling over a wide range.
The fine-woolled breeds grow the softest and most
pliant wool, but the condition of the sheep, the quality
of the soil, and the state of the yolk have an influence
upon softness. Poor treatment will obviously lessen
softness and pliancy ; the wool grows thin and scraggy
and lifeless. Poorer the treatment more nearly to death
does the sheep get, and more nearly lifeless and poor is
the wool. A feast to-day and a starve to-morrow will
cause breaks in the Wool fibre, to which the manufac-
turer objects by paying a lower price. Although there
are modifications in such considerations, there is an
association between clay soil and soft, lustrous wool.
A limestone soil, which, however, is a favourable sheep
soil in other respects, will tend to a certain dry ness or
harshness in wool. The herbage of a clay soil is mel-
lower and softer, and wool responds sympathetically to
its influence. What may not be of advantage for one
thing, however, may be very good for others, for sheep
obtain health on limestone country, and bone and mutton
grow well.
Each breed has its own characteristic length of wool,
and length is not so momentous at any time as quality.
A poorly-bred sheep will have its breed's characteristic
length of wool, but it will be of inferior quality. Food
exerts a greater influence on the soundness of the fibre
than on its length. As a sheep gets older each yea.r
shows a decrease in the length and weight of its fleece.
Good wool, it has been seen, is the result of good
husbanding of sheep in domesticated or civilised sur-
Wool and its Growth. 87
round ings. It is the outcome of culture and attention.
Prime, rugged health or fitness would be found in a wild
sheep, but accompanied with hairy tendencies of wool
that would be of small marketable value, and accom-
panied also by a slow growth of mutton. To raise good
wool it is necessary to breed good sheep, and to attend
to their wants. Unless the benefits of selection and care
are exercised it is not possible to obtain satisfactory re-
sults. Inattention means reduced calibre of the wool
fibre. It means more, for it means less mutton, less
lambs, less constitution, less land value for the purpose
of sheep farming.
The following technical trade terms, with their
explanation, are of more than theoretical interest to the
sheep farmer as bearing upon the practices followed by
him in growing his clip :-—
Clothing Wool — A Merino wool of short length.
Combing Wool — The longer Merino sort, and the
longwool and crossbred.
Condition — Heavy - conditioned wool has a large
quantity of yolk and other matter adhering to
the fleece; light-conditioned is freer of these
and is bright.
Cotted Wool — Bad treatment and undue exposure to
rain will mat or felt the wool on the sheep's
back. Crossbreds and longwools more liable
than Merino, whose fine and dense wool acts as
a protective shield.
Mushy Wool — Shows no pronounced staple; from
badly bred or old sheep.
Quality — Eefers to fineness or coarseness.
Shaftiness — A wool with a pronounced staple.
88 Wool and 4ts Growth.
50's, 60's, &c.— Represents the number of hanks of
yarn of 560 yards long each, that lib. of
scoured wool will spin. The terms " 60 's to
90's " would embrace ordinary to superfine
. Merino, good half-bred would be " 50's to 56's"
quality, quarter-bred "56's to 58's," three-
quarter, on longwool side " 46's to 48's," ordin-
. ary crossbred about " 40's." A Lincoln's wool
would be "36's to 40's."
Slipe Wool — Wool that is taken from the skins of
sheep ; not shorn Wool.
Stained Wool — As done by the sheep's excretions.
Staple — Wool grows in clumps or bunches, and one
of these bunches is a staple.
Tender Wool — Wool that will not resist reasonable
strain without breaking.
CHAPTER XXXII.
SHEEP LAND VALUES.
Land values have so increased of late years as to
create special demand for skilful management to make
the working1 of a property a success. The layman is apt
to overlook some important factors contributing to the
increase of land values. It should be realised that the
inverse influence of the higher cost of living, of labour,
and of all appliances required for the farm, has, to a
great extent, appraised values higher, the growing
scarcity of country available for settlement helping. As
a given sum of money will now purchase less labour,
machinery, stores, etc., likewise must that sum purchase
a smaller area of land.
At best it is but an empirical business setting values
on sheep country. There are no two properties alike,
and values are based primarily upon the carrying capa-
city, and the carrying capacity leans upon methods of
management, particularly where English-sown grasses
and crop cultivation are involved. This turns the ques-
tion more into a kind of personal consideration of the
adaptability of the individual. While a man of indiffer-
ent experience may make only 5% interest on outlying
capital the skilful sheepman may make 25%. This in
itself indirectly appreciates or depreciates the value of
Jand to an important extent. When land is talked
about as being worth so much an acre it must always
be in more or less indefinite terms, and those only who
can regard the matter with any fixity are the ones who
are experienced in the methods of dealing with such
lands. While A with his skill and experience can easily
see his way to give. £20 an acre for land, the best thing
that B can perhaps do before giving such a price for
similar country is to compare his experience and know-
90 Sheep Land Values.
ledge with that of A, and thereby decide whether or not
he is adapted for the particular venture. He may find
that, expressed in money terms, it may mean a differ-
ence in value of £5 or £10 an acre. It may be set forth,
therefore, that one man may make a splendid living
out of land that another has failed on, and it may be
observed, broadly speaking, that a leading influence
definitely operating towards the increase in land values
is individual skilfulness, and towa.rds the stagnation of
values individual lack of knowledge. Successful effort
is what counts.
Irrespective of the personal equation, however, land
that has often changed hands at certain prices gets re-
garded as being of that standard value by the producing
and business community, and there is something to be
learnt in the tendencies of land value of recent years.
The value of good sheep land has risen very much as
compared to a dozen or fifteen years ago; quite natur-
ally, too, for the products of such land have gone up in
price.
Conditions throughout the Dominion, with its many
latitudes, varieties of climate and soil, and nature of
access, make it not easy to quote a standard price for
sheep country, but it seems as if in most parts a cross-
bred ewe is made to carry a responsibility of £6 up to
£10 capital expenditure. It may be difficult to get in
any part of New Zealand really reliable two-ewe-to-the-
acre country, purely pasture, favourably situated, for
less than £15 an acre. There is therefore the capital
expenditure of £15 per acre for the land and £2 for the
ewes, total £17, which the farmer will look to provide
an annual return of, say, 12/- to 15/- for wool, and, say,
20/- to 30/- for lambs. This is a gross return, striking
a mean, of 38/6, or 11% on capital, from which has to
come management, upkeep and living expenses. In
quoting figures the writer wishes to state that it is done
suggestively. Figures are but statistics, it is well
Sheep Land Values. 91
directed effort that counts in the success of anything.
Many sheep farms in the Canterbury Province have
changed hands at as high a price as £10 an acre for
one-ewe capacity, and where the labour of turnip-grow-
ing is involved. It is a high price, based upon a 100 per
cent, lambing, which is usual. After all expenses are
provided nothing much is visible by way of return to
the owner. If wool, and lamb, fattened on cultivated
feed, make, say, 25/-, from which comes 10/- interest
on outlying capital, there is as a set-off in this class of
sheep farming heavy expenses for cropping, labour, up-
keep, which quickly dissolve the bulk of the 15/-.
Relatively £10 an acre for one-ewe country is the equiva-
lent of a full £25 an acre for two-ewe country, and
this sounds more like a dairying price.
Speaking generally, and taking the Dominion as a
whole, it may be said that prices ruling for sheep
country, where the chief or sole reliance is placed upon
pasture, and where a.n experienced man may hope to
engage himself in a profitable occupation, are, except
where access is bad, £4 an acre for one-sheep country,
£5 or £6 for one-ewe country, £8 or £9 for one and
a-half ewe country, and £13 to £15 for two-ewe country,
and in some parts £18 to £20 for two and a-half ewe
country of fallen bush land not yet ploughable, and
where lambs are sold as stores for about 10/-, with
lambing of 100 per cent, and over. Where the country
is really suitable, and access and locality reasonably
favourable, such prices are paid by experienced men.
The sheep farm that has a good proportion of cultivable
land fetches considerably more, but then the mixed
farming capabilities of such and prospective use for
dairying enter into consideration, and it may be said to
be more, or less speculatively held as a sheep farm,
ultimately destined for dairying. vr
The foregoing prices are for sheep farms of a gene-
ral average area of up to a thousand or two acres. The
92 Sheep Land Values.
larger estates of the better kinds of land are fast dis-
appearing in subdivision. It can hardly be said, under
existing methods of sheep farming and without the aid
of root and fodder crops, that there is much scope for
increased production from sheep in New Zealand. With
the development of easy communication to the back
country, it is much more likely that in such a well-
watered country, with estate subdivision so active,
dairying and cattle raising will, to a considerable extent,
displace sheep. The prevailing price of land supports
this theory, for the returns from sheep can barely war-
rant the figures given for many properties. To be sure
there is room for improvement of sheep flocks which
will result in additional wool and mutton output. This
will come about gradually as the new type of farmer,
evolved in the altered subdividing conditions of New
.Zealand sheep farming, gains greater experience in
sheep management, but while it is coming about dairy-
ing will be extending its influence, and instead of land
values remaining at what may for sheep farming be
regarded as a maximum, they will in many cases pro-
bably advance. Although sheep country has gone to a
big figure, there is with most farms a great scope for
further improvement of the land by way of fencing,
shelter provision, and more skilful grazing and feeding
arrangements. By more skilful methods and improved
labour conditions the flocks of the Dominion should,
however, increase a full 50 per cent., providing no en-
croachment of dairying occurred.
Generally, it may be said that the farmers of New
Zealand, in their consideration of land values, make no
allowance for their own labour. The same has been
remarked qf the farmers of the United States, and it
applies equally to the farmers of other countries, no
doubt. They base their prospective profits upon figures
of expenditure that allow nothing for their own or their
families' efforts. This may be well on a rising market
Sheep Land Values. 93
for laud values. Taking such a view of things has,
however, in the past meant that, while many bought
properties and sold out exceedingly well, it is doubtful,
if they had prospectively debited their own labour,
whether they would have become purchasers at all.
The independence of the life seems to be regarded as a
valuable asset, which one's own efforts are not allowed to
stand against as a liability.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
CAPITAL REQUIRED.
To buy a large pastoral run requires a lot of capital ;
to buy some of the small grazing runs of the Dominion
also takes a deal of money, but as this chapter is written
primarily for the average sheepman, an estimate of
capital required by such is quoted. Knowledge of the
art of sheep husbandry is often as good as half capital,
and the man who is acquainted with the business can
safely work upon much less capital than the inexperi-
enced person, whose income may be much lessened by
faulty methods or by cost of employing capable manage-
ment. The man with knowledge, but small capital,
can much more confidently arrange finance and leave
on mortgage a large percentage of the purchase money.
Let an example be taken of what capital expendi-
ture would be involved in the undertaking of a sheep
farm running, say, 1,000 ewes. It is doubtful if any-
where in JSew Zealand reliable two-ewe country can be
obtained reasonably accessible to market for less than
£15 per acre. Therefore : —
500 acres at £15 £7,500
1,000 good breeding ewes at £1 1,000
20 rams at £5 100
Extras— Implements, etc., Bay 250
Total .. £8,850
According to this each ewe carries a responsibility
of close upon £9 capital expenditure, and the fact
forcibly illustrates the call that there is for skilful
management. There is no doubt that with the farm of
the proper class the proper man could do a lot to make
ends well meet in this case. To earn a gross return of
10 per cent, on this capital the 1,000 ewes would require
to return £885 per annum, or some 17/6 per ewe, from
Capital Required. 95
which, of course, has to come expenses of management,
upkeep of flock, etc. For the year 1914 the average
return per head of sheep for New Zealand flocks came to
13/-, inclusive of all classes of sheep and all classes of
country. But the type of country under review is
specially adapted for sheep, and presumed to be reason-
ably near to market. A good ewe will cut, say 6/- or
7/6 worth of wool, and give a lamb worth, say, 10/-
to 15/-. Everything depends upon skill in manage-
ment, and in some instances lambs are turned oft' good
grass or specially-grown feed at higher prices. Some
fortunately situated and capable New Zealand sheep
farmers will get a. gross return of 25 /- to 30 /- per ewe
per year, but they have suitable and good country, close
to market, and naturally such land is worth more than
the fair average good land under review.
It is also possible for a man to buy a place suitable
for sheep of lesser value and capable of great improve-
ment by ploughing, subdivision, fencing, shelter pro-
vision, and hope to make a good thing out of it. Say : —
500 acres at £6 .. .. £3,000
500 ewes at £1 . . • 500
Extras 250
Total ;.. .. £3,750
This man may by fodder and root crop growing,
increase his carrying capacity to two ewes to the acre.
The flock of 1,000 ewes would then return at 17/6 each
an income of £875, representing a gross income of 11
per cent, on a capital of £8,000. He has more than
doubled the earning value of his property. Certainly he
is carrying on at a greater expense than the purely pas-
toral man, but, nevertheless, he has made a property
that may ultimately be laid down in good pasture.
There are good opportunities offering to the intend-
ing sheep farmer with small capital, if he is prepared
to put some energy into the occupation, in buying
second-class country unimproved, which may be covered
with ti-tree, manuka, fern, etc. There is a lot of such
96 Capital Required.
land available, and often of very fair quality. Provid-
ing lie satisfies himself there is some potentiality about
the soil, and that the plough can be got at part of it, the
prospect lies before him of turning it into a productive
place by fencing, ploughing, crop growing. Such land
is obtainable cheap, and a lot of money is yet to be made
out of improving it to satisfactory sheep land. Perha.ps
figures of suggestion may again be quoted as to what
can be done with such country. Say, 1,000 acres fern or
ti-tree land, with part ploughable, capable of carrying
at present a handful of sheep in an indifferent manner,
it could with proper treatment be made to carry possibly
1,200 to 1,500 ewes. It might be considered dear un-
improved at £3 per acre, but if made to carry 1,200 ewes
it should be worth £7 per acre.
Then there is the man who can go on to a bush
section with very little capital, and, gaining experience
as he gra.dually improves his property, has the satisfac-
tion of seeing his interests become more and more valu-
able as the results of his efforts and improving prices of
stock.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE GRASSES FAVOURED BY SHEEP.
The slieep was originally, indeed is now largely, a
hill or mountain living animal. At no time probably in
its natural state did it resort much to the lowlands. The
ever present danger from enemies, such as wolves and
wild dogs, made of them by compulsion if not by choice,
high land frequenters. Judging from its timorous dis-
position it must have been one of the most hunted of
animals. Its utter helplessness and simplicity suggest
it as being an easy prey to organised bands of carni-
verous and cunning wild animals. Possibly the only
time it showed up on the low, open country was when
driven in search of food, when an incommensurate in-
crease in their numbers depleted the grazings of their
usually safe grounds. Undue increase in numbers was
a common enough fate of the human family before the
better economy of modern civilisation became estab-
lished ; how much commoner it must have been in the
animal world. Sheep show marked characteristics prov-
ing that they must have been hard hunted through
countless ages, and their facility for segregating to-
gether when danger pends indicates deficient wariness
that would give packs of wolves or dogs favourable
opportunities for successful hunts. When sheep are
cornered they follow the lead of any header in breaking
away, and going with notable aimlessness, as they have
so often done, tumbling one after another over a preci-
pice or some such unreasonable place.
Through lacking originally in quickness of foot and
intelligence, everything points to the sheep having been
compelled to continue as a mountain-living animal, and
the habits acquired by camping there for many ages
y8 The Grasses favoured by Sheep.
naturally gave it a predilection for the short and sweet
grasses that are the earth's covering of the hills. The
great territorial flats of Australia are, in many respects,
the equivalent of the hill conditions of other countries.
The rainfall is small, the growth of grass therefore fine,
and the food sparse enough to compel ranging for a
meal. The heavier breeds, the result of artificial con-
ditions, will thrive on the richer and ranker grasses of
suitable flat land, but the preference of the average
sheep is for the finer-bodied, sweeter, grasses of the
hills.
The robustness and coarseness of the grass plants of
flat land are measured by the quality of the soil. Rich
land and a good rainfall will grow much feed of such a
nature, making the grazing of it more adapted for
cattle. It is such land that gives us grasses that grow
a big leaf ; they have lived for ages on good soil, induc-
ing a heavy growth. Ryegrass, meadow foxtail, timothy,
all are at home on such land, and the large breeds of
sheep have lived so long on such pastures that they have
become large of carcase. Good, flat land, and large-
leaved, bulkily grown grasses, and large carcassed sheep
go together. Similarly, the finer and smaller-leaved
grasses have acquired their fineness of growth through
ha.ving grown for ages on the meagre meal of what is
termed second-class soil, the natural home of the sheep.
The hard fescues, poa pratensis, and crested dogs tail
grow well on and are suited to medium lands, where the
Downs breeds of sheep thrive, and these sheep inherit
a partiality for such grasses.
"When the question of skill in sowing grasses to
establish themselves permanently is considered, we axe
met with the logic of the fact that the grasses of the
good, flat, heavy lands, such as rye, timothy, foxtail,
although they may do modera.tely well on the hills for
some time, with manure or the ash of burnt vegetation,
cannot be expected to compete with the grass plants
The Grasses favoured by Sheep. 99
whose habits are native to such second-class land. As-
suming that there were no second-rate land grasses, and
that the better grasses had the undisputed field to them-
selves, it would be seen that some of them only would
permanently establish themselves on the hills, but they
would degenerate in size and in economic value, and
become really less valuable than the grasses at present
adapted to such land by reason of their long lodging
there. It may easily be understood, therefore, why
such grasses as sheep's fescue, hard fescue, crested dogs-
tail, etc., are spoken of in association with sheep pas-
tures, for they are the natives of the haunts of sheep.
Sowing these grasses on rich flat land essentially adapted
to cattle grazing would obviously be economic Waste.
They would not provide the bulk of feed for large-hoofed
stock, although they would produce more than what
they would do on the hills. And sowing the heavier or
better grasses on hill lands would likewise fulfil no
serviceable purpose, for not only would it mean a smaller
bulk of feed, but the ultimate decay of many would
transpire, besides a dispossession by other grasses al-
ready better suited to such land.
Grasses behave differently in different soils. Take
a case in point, an extreme and very illustrative one.
Tall fescue, by its strong growth on the good lowlands
of the North Island, makes of itself a perfect nuisance,
fit neither for cattle nor sheep consumption, but on
some hill soils of the South Island, or any hill soils
for that matter, it may be seen growing not nearly so
coarsely, and grazed well by all stock. It is doubtful if
it will last on these hills, and if it does it will be due to
its being an inherently very healthy and resourceful
plant, and, at any rate, in the course of time will be-
come more and more like the ordinary sheep fescues of
such country. Then, again, other grasses, such as
timothy and foxtail, growing on good lowland and in
bulky fashion more suited to cattle grazing, may on
100 The Grasses favoured by Sheep.
dampish hill country exist for some years, and their
growth of herbage be so modified as to suit the pastur-
ing of mountain sheep well. Their permanency would
obviously in the natural order of things be always doubt-
ful; the local resident grass would oust them where
natural decline through lack of accustomed soil diet
would not do it, questioning the wisdom of their ever
having been sown out of their element. The term hills,
in these remarks, should not be confused with uplands,
for flat lands in hilly country will often carry perman-
ently the best of grasses.
Cocksfoot is, in New Zealand, a wonderfully re-
sourceful grass, and grows and apparently holds perman-
ently on most kinds of land of any quality, barring poor,
dry hills, or where the soil is of insufficient rooting
depth. Its bulk of growth is, however, less on the
poorer lands, but wherever it holds it is preferred by
the farmer to some other grasses quite native to such
soils, and which might give a greater total annual bulk
of growth. On inferior, dry hill and mountain country
the native danthonia thrives, and where it is the domin-
ating grass the suggestion is for a light breed of sheep,
accustomed to hills and accustomed by long inheritance
to the poorer feed of the poorer kinds of country ; a wool
type of sheep, in fact.
In a general consideration of the respective stock;
uses of grasses, a distinct line of demarcation may be
drawn between the heavy-growing grasses of lowlands,
suited for the grazing of cattle, and to a minor degree,
the heavy breeds of sheep, and the finer grass plants,
whose natural abode is the hills, and which are essen-
tially adapted for the grazing of the lighter mountain
breeds of sheep, whose sound health will always be a
leading factor in the economy of sheep breeding.
CHAPTER XXXV.
COCKSFOOT.
If one were asked to state to what, more than any-
thing else, may be attributed the weath and prosperity of
New Zealand, the answer would be, to cocksfoot grass.
The pastures of the country provide principally the
material composing over three parts of the Dominion's
exports, and these pastures are constituted in the main
of cocksfoot. In all the provinces, in every nook and
corner, at every latitude and every altitude, from sea
level to 3000ft. up, the plant may be seen flourishing;
fine specimens often on steep, if not abrupt, land. It is
difficult to realise that any grass plant could be so gene-
rally adapted to the all-round conditions of any country
as cocksfoot is to New Zealand. It is eminently respon-
sive to the country's liberal rainfall and sunshine, and
when an occasional drought makes a call it responds on
most soils. Many pastures of the Dominion are com-
posed almost entirely of cocksfoot with clover.
The sowing of cocksfoot as the leading grass in New
Zealand is a good principle in establishing a pasture, but
it is no argument for sowing it to a very predominant
extent on some soils. Where it is prominent in a pasture
the grazier has to contend with its extraordinarily robust
growth in the spring or early summer time, when it is at
its best, completely overtaking the consumption of the
stock, and where sheep are the leading stock this throws
one's grazing arrangements out of gear. A profusion of
feed is made available suddenly, and two features become
prominent — waste by trampling, and the grass running
to seed and becoming fibrous and unsuitable for sheep.
This suggests the question if it would not be better to
have in the pasture a larger proportion of other grasses
Cocksfoot.
that would, by a better winter growth than has cocks-
foot, give a more balanced supply throughout the year,
which is perhaps the first consideration in the constitu-
tion of a pasture. For soils that are anyways good, and
not too dry, two grasses immediately suggest themselves
for the purpose — meadow foxtail and timothy. The first
is a much superior winter grower to cocksfoot, resembl-
ing it in appearance. It is not sown to anything like
the extent it should be on suitable New Zealand soils.
It is also the very first standard grass to come away in
the spring, and a grazier knows the value of this quality.
Timothy luxuriates as the summer is well advanced, and
is also a good winter grower. Where the land is suit-
able these two grasses will hold their own, and provide
the necessary inversion of cocksfoot's usefulness.
But all lands are not adapted to meadow foxtail and
timothy, and the drier soils where cocksfoot is in posses-
sion enter into consideration. Meadow foxtail and
timothy are quite unsuited to dry, hilly country. Where
sheep grazing is the primary object, as it is on such
country, there are other plants that deserve considera-
tion, and will help to equalise the pasture's usefulness.
Hard or Chewing's fescue, crested dogstail, and poa pra-
tensis, or the Kentucky blue grass, as it is otherwise
known. Opinions are extraordinarily divided about the
first-named grass in New Zealand. Very little of it is
sown in Canterbury, and not very much in the North
Island. In the provinces of Southland, Otago, Marl-
borough, and Nelson, however, it is regarded with great
favour by old, experienced and observant pastora.lists,
who maintain that no sheep pasture should be without
it. It seems as if there can be no more certainty about
grasses than about breeds of sheep for any particular soil
and climate, and practical experience is in the main what
dictates the best. Sheep are very fond of Chewing's
fescue in the provinces named, and it is known to grow
in the winter, when cocksfoot and other grasses lie dor-
Cocksfoot. 103
mant. In a pasture composed equally of cocksfoot and
Chewing' s the sheep will prefer the cocksfoot during the
spring growth, leaving the Chewing's, which runs to
seed in a fibrous stalk. It is therefore necessary to sow
only a small quantity of Chewing's. The dogstail is a
wiry-stalk seeder, but has proved itself to be a first-rate
dry hill grass, for it resists the effects of drought, and
sheep are always partial to it. Poa pratensis suits most
New Zealand hill land, and sheep are everywhere fond of
it. These grasses might well be used more generally in
New Zealand on such country, so as to reduce the quan-
tity of cocksfoot, and to provide a bite when cocksfoot
slackens off from its rushing growth, and when it lies
quiescent in the winter. With these grasses for the
poorer lands, and foxtail and timothy for the better, the
economic usefulness of the area under pasture should be
materially enlarged.
It is a mistake for the average grazier, or indeed
any grazier, unless he is experimenting on well-defined
lines, to burden himself with the consideration of too
many kinds of grasses, so few of which receive attention
in ordinary commercial farming operations. The un-
mistakable all-round usefulness of cocksfoot removes this
largely from him in New Zealand. He should, however,
know something about the main standard varieties, and
it is surprising how few are the sorts used in practice in
New Zealand, or indeed in any country. When the rye
grasses and cocksfoot are mentioned, and hard fescue,
dogstail, timothy, poa pratensis, and meadow foxtail to
a lesser extent, with the clovers, one quotes all the
grasses used to any great extent in New Zealand, and
about all that are necessary to use on the average grazing
property. In certain exceptional localities, of course,
other grasses are used to meet special conditions. Brown
and red top are sown on the dry parts of the Auckland
Province. They are practically the same grass as florin,
which, under normalconditions, is eschewed. And the
164 Cocksfoot.
danthonia or native grass is sown on fern country, so
that its fire-resisting power will enable'frequent burns to
be made towards fern eradication. Prairie grass is a
magnificent winter grower in any part of New Zealand,
but will not withstand ordinary stocking. It is,
albeit, surprising that more New Zealand graziers cannot
report success in dealing with this valuable plant on
lines something like the following : Sown in a paddock
entirely by itself, it could at all times be carefully
stocked, removing the animals before they get at the
heart of it. and allowing the paddock to run to seed
every second or third year. It is a most valuable winter
grass, and there would not be much loss incurred in
allowing the paddock to seed, for when doing so the
paddocks of the other grasses would be in good spring
and summer growth. The growth of prairie when every
other grass is in repose is truly wonderful.
Cocksfoot is indeed the sheet anchor of the New
Zealand grazier, and to establish a satisfactory pasture
he need not concern himself with the names of many
other grasses to go along with it. If the grazing is
meant for cattle there might be more foxtail, perennial
rye, and timothy on good land, with cowgrass included,
than is generally used, and if for sheep, hard or Chew-
ing's fescue should be added. A grazier may be able to
make up his grass seed mixture from the following
kinds and quantities used in conjunction with cocksfoot
and the rye grasses : —
Meadow foxtail ..
Hard of Chewing's fescue
Timothy
Crested dogstail :.
White clover
Cowgrass
Sheep land. Cattle Land.
Per Acre. Per Acre.
2 Ib. 5 Ib.
lilb. 0*lb.
lilb. 3 Ib.
IJlb. —
2 Ib. 2 Ib.
- 21b.
Where the land is not damp enough for foxtail and
timothy they may be left out, and Kentucky blue grass
given a trial, but not where the land is to be ploughed.
Cocksfoot. 105
Too much observance cannot be taken of the fact
that in a pasture of mixed grasses the better relished
sorts are seldom allowed to evidence themselves, so close-
ly do stock graze them. These are the grasses that sus-
tain the good carrying capacity of the land, whatever it
may be. For example, in one paddock under notice,
where timothy and foxtail were sown liberally, the stock
never allowed a plant to run to seed, but in a fenced-off
part, which they could not reach, the plants leafed and
seeded luxuriantly. It should not be difficult for any
grazier to allot a small area of ground for such observa-
tions, and it would certainly be the means of adding
very much to his knowledge of grasses and the land, and
give him the superior practical acquaintance that seems
so essential in the consideration of grasses, more so than
on any other subject appertaining to farming in pastoral
Australasia. While soils and climate* vary, it is not
feasible to expect that the subject of grassing can in any
ways be reduced theoretically to a defined theme.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
HILL PASTURE IMPROVEMENT.
A great part of the hill country of New Zealand
under pasture is devoted almost exclusively to the graz-
ing of sheep. In its original state such land presented
three different aspects — that under bush, that under
scrub, and that which was open and bore a covering of
native grasses and tussock. The fallen bush lands and
some of the scrub lands have been surface sown in
English grasses, and the prevalent complaint now is that
the carrying capacity of them has receded from what it
had originally been, much in some cases, considerably
in others.
That failure to graze cattle in conjunction with
sheep has a lot to do with the decreased carrying ability
of hill land that had been fairly suitably grassed, the
writer is inclined to think there is but little doubt. Of
course, if grasses quite unstated to those hills were orig-
inally sown it is natural to expect retrogression under
any circumstances.
A note which comes from Scotland with respect to
its sheep-grazed hill land is but an endorsement of what
is the cause of the decrease in carrying capacity of the
New Zealand hill pastures. An English Board of Agri-
culture publication on the subject declares that it was
found that many hill grazings in Scotland date their
degeneracy from the clearance of Highland cattle to
make way solely for sheep, and adds that it is not too
much to say tha.t proper grazing of all pastures, whether
hill or lowland, is at least as important as manure.
Constant grazing with sheep alone, the publication con-
. Hill Pasture Improvement. 107
tinues, will ultimately spoil almost any pastures, except
those on soils composed of chalk or mountain limestone,
which naturally grow little but close, fine herbage.
It would be a big gain to New Zealand if deteriora-
tion of hill pastures, where it occurs, could be stayed, for
it is the hill pastures which provide the great bulk of the
sheep exports of the Dominion. It is too costly to top-
dress more than but an infinitesimal part of these lands,
and at any rate it is questionable if in many cases it
would not be money wasted, unless accompanied by
proper grazing methods.
It is observed with respect to the land under con-
sideration that grass plants which to all appearance had
been firmly established in the soil, sooner or later begin
to exhibit signs of decay. Sheep return to the land not
much less than they take away from it, but in spite of this
the plants quite obviously lose some attribute attending
their previous virile growth. There seems to be cause
for believing that the influence of the weather has,
fundamentally, a great deal to do with it. It is recog-
nised that the frosts of winter have a particular tend-
ency to raise or displace grasses and loosen the soil.
The expanding power of frost is well known. Frosts
will lay the soil open to weather influence ; the sun will
bake the soil, causing fissures, and rain following will
deplete it of its richer constituents in the shape of detri-
tus and decayed vegetable matter and animal manure,
which become soluble and prematurely descend into the
ground out of the reach of the roots of many grass
plants, or out of the ground into the waterways. Little
more than the coarser sands of no retentive capacity is
left behind to form the feeding intermediary of the
plants. The manure and other matter deposited or de-
cayed upon the ground is hastened away by rains with-
out getting an opportunity of fulfilling any conserva-
tive purpose.
108 Hill Pasture Improvement.
After the soil is loosened by the action of frosts, it
seems as if the tread of sheep is insufficient to compact it
again, and the heavy hoof of the cattle beast rightly
suggests itself. The important service of cattle in this
respect is supplemented by their use for grazing down
the coarser pasture growth ignored by sheep. Many
New Zealand graziers who have pastured some cattle
along with their sheep have noted the great benefit it
wrought to the land. Not necessarily simultaneous
sheep and cattle grazing, but in regular rotation
throughout the year, making the best of the feed. The
observations that come from Scotland regarding its hill
pastures are indorsement of this policy. They are those
of older and more permanently established pastoralists,
who had a better chance of making the necessarily ex-
tended comparisons ; and the conditions in that country
are equally applicable to New Zealand, for the behaviour
of hill pastures anywhere must vary but little.
The circumstances surrounding the question of hill
pasture deterioration are such as to lead one to think
that exceptionally valuable benefit would be derived
from the running of a mob of cattle on paddock after
paddock of this kind of country, so as to compact the
frost-raised soil before the rains wash away the valuable
detritus, manure and decayed matter. All hilly country,
on account of its greater exposure to frosts, to sun, and
baking winds is liable to loss in this way by escape of
such pasture foods from off its surface. If, by aid of
suitable grazing this is avoided, the decay of vegetable
matter, utility of animal manure properly detained in
the ground, and the beneficial influences of air, sun, and
frost, will carry out their parts well, and continue to
maintain the la.nd's carrying capacity, if not really to
improve it.
It must be conceded that a pasture, whether emin-
entlv or only moderately adapted for sheep grazing, will,
under the grazing of sheep alone, not receive the same
Hill Pasture Improvement. 109
economy of treatment as where the grazing of other
stock accompanies it. Sheep are, under wide-ranged
grazing, notorious pickers and choosers; they will eat
almost anything when forced to, but their condition and
profitableness suffer, and there is a happy medium. Most
pastures contain grasses that they may not be partial to.
It may be a grass that they are not inherently attached
to, or it may be a grass that, influenced by the constitu-
ents of the particular soil, does not make itself palatable
to them. It is ignored by them, grows lustily, and re-
produces itself. In good growing seasons, when the
property is necessarily understocked, such grasses are
left alone, and thrive at the cost of the welfare of the
preferred plants. A lot of valuable cattle feed is here
wasted, while the carrying capacity tends to recede. All
this provides additional reason for cattle-cum-sheep
grazing, if the best is to be made of pastures, which
surely with the bright pastoral outlook, will cause all
stock grazing country to become more and more valu-
able, and deserving therefore of the fullest economic
treatment. Indeed, it may be said, with obvious para-
dox, that under the steadily increasing land values,
country that has receded in carrying capacity, has
nevertheless become more valuable. But, how much
more valuable would it be were there no receding of
carrying capacity?
CHAPTEE XXXVII.
THE GRAZING OF A PADDOCK.
A paddock that is composed of English grasses im-
plies considerable stock-carrying power, and it is there-
fore inadvisable to graze sheep in it for too long a time
continuously. Perennial grazing of such a pasture with
a fairly full complement of sheep means vitiation of
the herbage, and this is followed by reduced condition
and health of the stock. If continuous light stocking
is pursued, on the other hand, it will mean less pasture
poisoning by excreta, but it is a wasteful plan, for the
feed outstrips consumption, and what is not trampled
and soiled grows fibrous and unsuited to sheep. More-
over, during a long-continued wet time the damp-retain-
ing grass will not help to ward off footrot. It may,
therefore, be conceded that short heavy stocking so that
all feed may be consumed quickly and without waste is
the plan. Several paddocks have to be available for the
stock to enable this to be done, and better the land is the
more fencing it can profitably stand.
The exact time when the stock, under such a scheme
of change grazing, should be removed from one paddock
to another is important, and is best left to the judgment
of the grazier, who knows what feed there is ahead in
the other paddocks ; but care may be taken to see that
the grazing is not done too close, particularly when the
weather is cold and inclement. This may be easier said
than practised, but collateral root and fodder feed pro-
vision, which should be undertaken wherever English
grass sheep grazing is followed, or well-planned gracing
arrangements will see the rule through. If grass is
grazed too close in cold weather the plant's crown be-
comes exposed, growth is arrested and vitality injured
The Grazing of a Paddock. Ill
inucli more than a cursory observation will show, or the
temporary profit on the feeding stock recompense for.
Nothing in nature — man, animal, plant — cares for naked
exposure to the cold. They all seek shelter, and flowers,
buds, leaves, contract or close-up in cold and expand
and grow in warm weather. The grasses of the open
field, in communistic fashion, provide shelter one to the
other, and the leaves of each shelter its central or seed
growth. When the field is stripped bare and close in
cold, or indeed in hot weather — for shelter is required
from heat as well as from cold — it is obviously against
the interest of the grasses, and their bulk of season's
growth is much delayed and reduced. And every time
it is done it causes the decay of some plants.
The light stocking of a paddock of English grasses
to enable continuous running of stock on it, has an
additional objection to those mentioned. The animals
seek out the better grasses and feed them so attentively
that, come dry or wet weather, they knock about and
uproot many plants. A favourite grass may be, natur-
ally or in a particular soil, a shallow rooter. The in-
ferior grasses escape this over-attention. They would
under heavy short stocking be included in the meal, and
be eaten fresh and sweet, and not tackled after more or
less vitiation as in an understocked paddock. The pick-
ing and choosing of the better grasses means that the
absolutely inferior ones are left alone to shelter them-
selves and to seed, and are ready always to jump the
claim of the better grasses that may be slowly but
surely destroyed.
Every farmer may have a defined rule with respect
to the size of his paddocks, in accordance with the nature
of his farming operations, extent of his property, and
quality of the land. If he is sheep farming on an exten-
sive scale he cannot have a network of small paddocks,
nor need he, for here invariably the land is not first-
class, and may not warrant heavy fencing. Neverthe-
112 The Grazing of a Paddock.
less he wants several paddocks, large as they may be,
wherein to place his large flocks. But the small sheep
farmer can rule, according to the shape of his farm,
quality of land, shelter, water supply, etc., whether he
should have an average paddock of 100, 50, or 25 acres.
Some intensive sheep farmers go to the extent of pad-
docks under 10 acres for sheep alone, placing several
hundred in one for a week or two at a stretch. Where
the land is good the fence is a cheap means of increasing
returns, but if the flock is a permanent breeding one, it
must not be forgotten that scope for exercise is required.
There is no sheep condition-maker and digestive-trouble-
resister like fresh, clean, sweet grass, for it has been
their accustomed and staple diet for countless ages, and
resting a paddock will give it an opportunity to cleanse
with rain and weather. Again may be noted the
dominating influence of nature towards man, animal,
insect, plant, even the busy bee, in demanding rest.
But man is the most unfortunately ill-rested of the lot,
and he tries hard to make the rest of nature, including
his grass paddocks, as foolishly restless as himself.
When the pasture land is inferior there may often
be a doubt as to how much it may be subdivided into
smaller paddocks, but unless it carries but a fractional
part of a sheep to the acre all the year round it should
stand subdivision, and the payableness of subdivision
should be easily figured out, for carrying power may
often be increased 50 per cent, and more by sub-fencing.
With several paddocks on a place, each one could be
allowed to go to seed in turn if thought desirable, and
at any rate the sheep's propensity for chasing after and
living on the better plants at the good time of the year,
and feeding on the inferior ones at the bad time, when
they are most innutritious, is curbed.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE ELEMENTS' INFLUENCE ON PASTURE
GROWTH.
The sun. or light, and rain and air, are the three
essential agents in the growth of plant life. To be well-
grown and healthy grasses require a balanced propor-
tion of all these. Without the light or sun there would
be no chemical transposition within the plants to saccha-
rine and starch, and these provide the nutrient and fat-
tening properties for the grazing stock. Without rain
the plants' food supply in mineral and decomposed vege-
table or manure matter in the soil would not go into
solution to be absorbed by the hungering plant. With-
out air, the process of respiration, — and a plant is as
living a thing as an animal — of absorbing and throwing-
off carbonic acid gas and carbon by the respective func-
tions of the plants would not be possible. Without all
these things grass, indeed, would be a dead thing,
would not have existed.
There are such things, we can readily understand,
as a good or a bad supply of light, a good or a bad
supply of rain, a good or a bad supply of air. A good
supply of all of them, with the soil of the proper kind, is
what gives us valuable agricultural and pastoral lands,
and with all of them inferior we get land of low value.
But it is possible for most of these great natural require-
ments to be good and but one of them deficient. This
is eminently illustrated in the case of a country or
locality with a deficient rainfall. Then again there
may be too much rainfall, and the growth becomes not
properly suitable for sheep to thrive on ; the roots of the
grasses have to put up with aquatic conditions and de-
114 The Elements' Influence on Pasture Growth.
ficient air supply ; the feed therefore becomes defective
in the sustaining or fattening properties which whole-
some sun and air give.
It is not often that nature is disposed to lavish all
the incidence of favourable elements upon the farmer,
and the farmer has, therefore, to engage upon a contest
with nature to take the most from it, as opportunity
presents itself, to serve his own purposes. If he did not
he would find himself, and all civilisation depending
upon his efforts for their food, on a low plane in the
plan of creation. He therefore sets about growing crops
and conserving them for use at the time that nature,
by cold and by lack of rains and sun, acts
niggardly towards his pastures. In the struggle for life
the common plants and animals exhibit great intelli-
gence, if it may be so-called, and ingenuity, but man
places himself on a higher plane, and to remain there he
must exhibit industry and ingenuity. The basic prin-
ciple of the successful growth of stock is even, sus-
tained thrift; but in pastoral New Zealand and Aus-
tralia it is noted that there are many more interruptions
to this than in any of the icy- winter countries of Europe,
where, at any rate, proper and complete provision, at
great expense and labour, is made to carry stock over
the bad times of the year. Stock starve or die through
improper provision or forethought for their require-
ments, and the grazier who permits it cannot, if he re-
flects, take credit for great superiority of method in
his farming operations. He should accept the chances
freely and lavishly offered to him by nature in a climate
like New Zealand, and grow and feed, or conserve for
use in times of need, the many fodders and roots at com-
mand. By doing this he becomes a sheep farmer, not
merely a sheep grazier.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
FERN LAND.
There is a more or less fair share of fern and
bracken land right throughout New Zealand, very pro-
nounced in some provinces. The high prices for all
kinds of stock should help to remove doubts as to the
payableness of displacing such growths with a valuable
sole of grass. The rewards to be met with in improving
this kind of country are : First, the direct benefit of
better returns ; second, the enjoyment of rising stock and
wool prices in a world-wide growing scarcity of such
products ; third, the setting up of increased value to the
land by virtue of the additional output from the farm
helping to augment the country's prosperity and popula-
tion.
In the past many settlers have concluded that fenc-
ing this class of country is such an expensive item —
timber generally in the locality being unavailable — as
not to warrant the erection and care of much and satis-
factory fencing, and they therefore not only suffer from
being the possessors of low-valued unimproved proper-
ties, but the consequences of costly mustering and shep-
herding and losses through the straying of stock. A
good scheme of subdivisional fencing and judicious
stocking with cattle and sheep will in itself bring about
ultimate fern eradication. A pastoral property, of fern
country even, can never be regarded as worthy of much
entertainment except it is skirted by a secure fence, and,
indeed, reasonably subdivided.
Fern seldom grows on poor soil ; wherever it
flourishes it is a sure indication that grasses will thrive
there. Greater the fern growth better the prospects for
substitution by grass.
116 Fern Land.
There are several methods in vogue for the eradica-
tion of fern. Constant cutting will enfeeble the plants
and starve the roots, but this process is, from an expense
point of view, out of the question in dealing with large
areas of such country. It might be applicable to small
patches of good, flat land. Fencing the fern land into
sections and crushing with cattle is not only a slow
process, but the cattle will have an unenviable time of it
dietically while performing their share of the work.
The cheapest and probably most effective method of
procedure to the general conditions of this country is in
burning the fern first, then fencing immediately and
sowing down with a moderate quantity of grass seed with
the object of getting the stock to move about amongst
the fern and accomplish its eradication. The burning
could be done at a seasonable opportunity, invariably the
autumn, but a lot of fern country ca.n be fired during
the drying easterly spring winds. A suitable and cheap
mixture for grassing would be, say, lOlb. cocksfoot, 21b.
Chewing's fescue, lib. crested dogstail, lib. Kentucky
blue grass, and lib. white clover. Cocksfoot does very
well under such conditions, its robust growth putting up
a good fight with the fern. Chewing's is a willing taker
at any time. Dogstail, when once established, will self-
seed well, by reason of its seed-stalk being left alone by
stock, and gradually spread itself. Kentucky blue grass,
to be sown only where ploughing is not contemplated,
should also do well under the conditions, and it is a most
excellent hill grass. It and dogstail are well liked by
sheep, and both of them contain many more seeds to a
Ib. than cocksfoot. The paddock need not be made a big
one for a start, say, 40 or 50 acres. Indeed, large pad-
docks should be noticeable for their absence.
When the fronds of the young fern appear after the
burning and grassing, a heavy stocking of strong,
healthy sheep should be made. They should be kept on
until they ea.t all the young shoots. If no rain falls
Fern Land. 117
during their enclosure in the paddock, it is desirable that
a heavy draft of sheep be placed there when a shower
does fall. Their tramping will bury the seed in the soil
and fern ash, and gives an excellent send-off to the pas-
ture. Whenever a fresh shoot of young fern is observed
the same process of heavily stocking with sheep should
be pursued, or, when the grass growth attains a young
and tender state, liable to destruction by sheep, cattle
could be put on as substitutes. In fact, right through
the process, it is better to use both cattle and sheep ; what
shoots one will leave the other wil] take. When the
young fern shoots first make their appearance the sheep
will eat them, but if the shoots are allowed to turn into
leaf they will not tackle them. It is important, there-
fore, that careful observance be made for their appear-
ance from time to time, and the paddock well stocked
before they advance into leaf ; otherwise, what should be
a successful method of fern eradication will be spoilt by
the fern lustily getting a hold again. Carried out pro-
perly it will be observed that each successive growth of
fern shoots will become weaker and weaker, and the
grass more evident. By a little attention to the paddock
in its early stages one should in the course of a year or
two have an area transformed from a state of practical
worthlessness to one carrying stock well. Wherever the
land is at all good — and where fern grows well, it is
invariably good — a settler cannot go wrong in displacing
fern by grass. It will add so substantially to the value
of his property.
Where the country is at all adapted to the plough,
however, eradication of fern by cultivation is often more
efficacious. It at once transforms almost valueless land
into crop -return ing soil, subjected to eventuating im-
provement by the valuable and soil-enriching grazing of
sheep. Even if the ultimate use it is put to is pasture it
will be made most valuable country, with this fertilising
and improving aid of sheep, suitable crop growing and
118 Fern Land.
skilful selection of the best artificial manures and
grasses.
The King Country method of breaking in fern
country is well worth recording. It is claimed to be
better than ploughing, for it does not stir up the soil,
which being light as a rule, and having so much fern
root, is difficult to compact again. Burn the fern first,
then give, for preference, two cuts with the disc harrows ;
then run over with a chain harrow. Grass seed is then
sown with manure. The burning is invariably done late
in the summer, and the sowing in February. If sowing
cannot be done by first week in March stock are kept
on to eat down the young fern shoots, and the grass seed
sown in September.
CHAPTER XL.
DISEASES.
There is considerable, if not great, trouble in doctor-
ing sheep, much of which may be avoided, in a country
so emiently adapted for sheep farming under healthy
conditions as New Zealand, by a little forethought and
attention. When anything is wrong with sheep it
generally affects many of the flock, and for this reason
it is always advisable to take pains to avoid conditions
that may give rise to any complaints, which eat into
profits by thriftlessness of flock, losses, and labour of
doctoring. Shortly, prevention is better than cure, and
the best object in studying diseases should be to know
sufficient of the. causes of them to enable precautions to
be taken to prevent their appearance. Reasonable atten-
tion to two things, suitable surroundings and wholesome
food — not fouled, overstocked pastures — prevents many
ailments. The sheep is hardy so long as the breed is
located in its true environment, and its condition main-
tained by proper food supply. With a knowledge of the
general requirements of a flock throughout the year, and
this is necessary to attain success and profit, much can
be done to avoid the encroachment of disease. Thorough
dipping frees the animal from outward troubles,
and sufficient food, and pasturing the sheep
where and how they should be pastured, from inward
ones. Some breeds can stand more dampness of conditions,
with its fluke, footrot, or stomach worms, than others,
but it is not to be expected that any sheep, which was a
hill or mountain living animal, and accustomed to well-
drained soils, for maybe hundreds of thousands of years,
can stand much of it.
120 Diseases.
Nearly all "serious internal complaints of sheep are
due to their grazing upon moist and swampy land, or
on pastures befouled by overstocking. Fluke is acquired
on low-lying, undrained ground. Worms on similar
land or on wet, heavily stock pastures. And footrot ap-
pears through the dry-foot loving sheep being camped or
allowed to remain too long on damp ground. The drier
paiis of a farm should be used for grazing the sheep
during long-continued wet, and they should, under
such circumstances, be given a regular supply of salt or
a lick, and it should be aimed, where possible, to give
them dry food, such as hay or chaff.
Footrot. — The feet should, in severe cases, be well
pared, and if the following preparation, which had
been mixed over a slow fire, is applied, it is effica-
cious in arresting the disease : 1 part bluestone, 1 of
lard and 2 of tar. Or, after paring the hoof, if the
following is well applied with a brush it is also said to
arrest the disease : 1 tablespoonful bluestone and 1 table-
spoonful of alum, put into a pint bottle of cold water.
Butter of antimony, one part, and tincture of myrrh,
eight parts, is also applied as a dressing. Fresh, pow-
dery lime is a good preventive, and if placed around a
salt lick will help a lot. The sheep should be given the
driest paddocks in a wet season.
Blowfly. — Cleanliness, by way of proper dipping,
dagging, and crutching are good preventive aids. When
struck, the wool should be clipped from the part, the
maggots removed, and there are several dressings, such
as parraffin oil, or turpentine and parraffin mixed, that
can be applied.
Fluke, or Liver Rot. — Due to the presence of flukes
in the liver of the sheep. These are parasites that at one
stage of their existence received a habitation in fresh
water snails, and naturally, therefore, the origin of the
complaint may be looked for where there is marshy, damp
Diseases- 121
land. They are picked up by the sheep froni the moist
pastures of such damp places, are swallowed with the
grass, and pass from the stomach to the liver, where they
thrive and commence their depredations. There is no
known efficacious cure for the complaint, but placing the
sheep on dry pastures is good, and if they have to re-
main on damp ground a supply of salt, which has an
inimical effect on flukes, together with dry foods, will
help the sheep on towards fattening for disposal, which
is the best thing to do with them. A salt lick, consisting
of 401b. Liverpool salt, lib. sulphate of iron, is useful,
or one of 6 parts salt, 1 part lime (powdered, slaked),
and lib. sulphur is good.
Stomach Worms, resembling fine hairs about Jin.
long, are found in the fourth stomach of the sheep. The
small worms in the droppings evidence their presence.
The sheep scour, and the complaint causes the loss of
considerable numbers. Wet seasons and heavily stocked
pastures are to blame.
Lung Worms, more often affect young sheep in wet
seasons on moist land. Weaned lambs should always be
put on to clean, young grass, away from swamps, grass
that had plenty of sun on it. If the sheep on being put
to run emit a dry, hard cough, it is a sign of lung
worms. Their location is the bronchial tubes, where
they are coiled threadlike.
Tape Worms are found in the small intestines, and
are often several feet in length. Moist soil and pasture
conditions the cause.
Sheep suffering from either of these worms present a
rough-looking fleece, and their backs are humped. Damp
conditions being the prime cause of them, feeding dry
foods as a counteractive naturally suggests itself. With
properly balanced feeding sheep would not be subject to
them, providing their surroundings were at all favour-
able. The best use should be made of the pastures by
122 Diseeass.
grazing- the driest fields at wet times, and supplying
such dry foods as hay, chaff, oats, whereever possible.
Several licks are recommended as being effective for
worms. Thirty parts Liverpool salt, 3 parts lime, 3
parts flowers of sulphur, and 1 part powdered bluestone,
is good, or 30 parts salt, 1 part sulphate of iron, and 5
parts bone meal (calcium phosphate). Many of the
proprietary preparations, accompanied by directions for
use, are good for worm complaints.
CHAPTER XLL
THE SHEEP FARMER'S BALANCE SHEET.
It should be an easy matter for any sheep farmer to
jot down roughly in a note book or journal his financial
transactions as they occur during the year. From such
particulars he can make up a statement showing the
progress of his operations. The whole business should
not take him more than a few hours in the year. The
statement or balance sheet may be compiled in some--
thing like the following manner : —
DR. CE.
£ £
Value of stock at 1/7/14 .. 500 Vahie of stock at 30/6/15 .. 600
Tools, seeds, wire, etc. pur- Sheep sold during the year . . 200
chased .75 Wool clip 150
100 Valuable permanent im-
50 provements effected, less
25 allowance for depreciation 100
300
Wages paid
Interest 011 loan
Bates, taxes, etc
Balance, net profit
£1,050 £1,050
If his living expenses come to, say, £150 a year, he
can deduct this from the net profits of £300, and add
the remaining £150 to the capital value of his farm, as
he estimated it at 1st July, 1914, or as he had been
offered for it, or as he had paid for it. This should,
less mortgage, show his exact financial standing.
xviii.
ROBERTSON'S
Highland Sheep Dips
Paste, Powder and Liquid.
ftetter Wool fiigder Prices. tBigger Profits.
Higher profit is the logical result of better wool, and better wool is the
logical result of using HIGHLAND SHEEP DIPS. Cleans the fleece
from lice and other parasites. Helps the growth of the wool consider-
ably and makes it bright and lustrous. Strength positively uniform.
Many years of practical experience and success behind every drum of
Highland Sheep Dip.
For Prompt Delivery, send your Orders to Agents :
NORTH ISLAND :
Gisborne, ... ... Messrs. Williams & Kettle, Ltd.
Hamilton, The Farmers' Co-operative Auctioneering Co. Ltd.
Hastings, Hawke's Bay Farmers' Co-operative Assoc., Ltd.
Marton, ... ... Messrs. Abraham & Williams, Ltd.
" ". '.' .
Napier, Hawke's Bay Farmers' Co-operative Association, Ltd.
Palmerston North, ... Messrs. Abraham & Williams, Ltd.
Wanganai ... ... ... Messrs. Levin & Co., Ltd.
Wellington ... ... Messrs. Abraham & Williams, Ltd.
SOUTH ISLAND :
Messrs. C. W. Parker & Co., Ltd.
Messrs. Alex. Robertson & Sons.
Messrs. Wright, Stephenson & Co., Ltd.
Blenheim,
Christchurch,
Dunedin,
Gore,
Invercargill, ...
Nelson,
Oamarn,
Temuka
... Messrs. Tasker & Levien, Ltd.
Messrs. Wright, Stephenson & Co., Ltd.
South Canterbury Farmers' Agency, Ltd.
Or to NEW ZEALAND DEPOT:
ALEX. ROBERTSON & SONS,
148 Lichfield St., CHRISTCHURCH.
XIX.
STUMP GRUBBING
*><«!! *'? "SB^^s^-*
: MonKcy Grubbei
TREWHELU \\i ^ With a « MONKEY "
GRUBBER you can
quickly, cheaply and
thoroughly clear
Stumps, Trees, etc.,
from your land.
"MONKEY" GRUBBER at work. J
Your spare time may be used in clearing these obstacles off
without the trouble of handling a lot of heavy gear. You
can work the " MONKEY " GRUBBER single-handed; it is
easy to operate, simple, powerful and is run about on small
wheels similar to your barn truck.
It will lower with or without a load and is fitted with numerous
time paving devices : Rope Couplings, Shortener, Snatch Block, Anti-
Friction Bearings, Fast and Slow Speeds, etc.
It's surely worth your while to have particulars.
"MONKEY" GRUBBER.
"MONKEY" and "WALLABY"
JACKS.
For light grubbing, log rolling,
straightening old fences, barns,
etc., machine and traction engine
work you will find that either of
the Jacks will render efficient
service. They are light, handy,
and quick in action, made through-
out of iron, are proof against all
weathers, ants, etc. ; have a
greater lift than any other Jack,
and are fitted with our Patent "WALLABY" JACK at work.
Automatic Lowering Gear. We make them in sizes to lift 2^, 4, 6, 8,
10 Tons, the largest Jacks being fitted with detachable extension pieces
to obtain increased leverage and allow the base to be placed back clear
of roots when throwing trees or high stumps.
All British Jtfaterial.
British Workmanship.
TREWHELLA BROS. Pty., Ltd.
Trentham, Victoria.
XX.
We specialise in Trade Books, Pamphlets,
Magazines, and all classes of Book Work.
IPHIPPS&HALL&
Phipps & Hall, Ltd.
offer to Business Men and Officers of Instit-
utions of all kinds the assistance of an office
equipped with all modern facilities for the
production of the best classes of Commercial,
Social, Private, Professional, Ecclesiastical,
Educational and all other kinds of Printing.
2806. Wyndham St., Auckland.
XXI.
THE
Is
THE
Kl
Wh
KE
g
KE
s
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY,
BERKELEY
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW
Books not returned on time are subject to a fine of
50c per volume after the third day overdue, increasing
to $1.00 per volume after the sixth day. Books not in
demand may be renewed if application is made before
expiration of loan period.
tttf
W&Y1
7 1954 LU
AUG2 197259
REC'DLD AUG?
Britain and
Ireland.
station.
TANT
51 to 23
50 to 22
72 -3 PM 5 5 ° safe-
:ry, etc.
orm in
20m-ll/20
Write for particulars of its use as a Salt-lick or
Drench to any of the branches or sub-branches of
DALGETY & CO., LIMITED,
CHIEF AGENTS IN AUSTRALASIA.
xxii
PARKIN, NESS & Qo.
DARLINGTON, ENGLAND.
Manufacturers of
Awar
IV
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
LIQUID, in CASKS, 3/9 per gallon,
in DRUMS, 4/6 per gallon.
POWDER - - 5/6 per packet.
„ Case of 10 packets, £2 IDs.
Jt pays to use fresis ^Dip as it leaves
tde Wool in ^Beautiful (Condition.
Testimonials and further information may be obtained from
= Stronach, Morris & Co., Ltd.
DUNEDIN.
Chief Agents for Otago and Southland.
Printed by Phipps & Hall, Ltd , Printers and Bookbinders, 34-36 Wyndham St , Auckland.
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