380 JOUEXAL OF THE DePAETMENT OE A(;JU( II.TI RE. — OcT.. 1922. 



SHEEP BREEDING FOR EXPORT. 



By 0. Rivers, Officer in Charg-e of Shee]), School of Agricultiire, 



Potcliefstrooiii. 



PlOXEER DtEFICUE'L 1 ES . 



It is a matter of conmion history, perhaps not so well known in South 

 Africa as in Australia, that the difficulties encoiuitered by the 

 pioneers in the export of frozen meat Avere almost insurmountable. 

 Cargo after cargo Avas condemned on arrival in England. These had 

 to be destroyed and turned into manure, while the consignors were 

 the losers, for in those days (forty years ago) the insurance companies 

 would not insure for sound delivery, and, in addition, the methods 

 of successful freezing had not reached the state of perfection they 

 have to-day. 



In spite of all the losses incurred, which must have amounted to 

 hundreds of thousands of pounds, the pioneers of this great industry 

 •'carried on" until they overcame the obstacles which caused such 

 losses of time and money, and finally banished the natural pre- 

 judice against imported meat from the minds of the British public. 

 For at least twentj^ years after mutton was first exported from 

 Australia to England, the highest wholesale price per pound obtained 

 on the liondon market Avas not 4d., but averaged from 2fd. to 

 '■^^d. When the expenses entailed in railage, slaughtering, handling, 

 freezing, shipping, insurance, and commission Avere deducted, fre- 

 quently a serious loss to the companies resulted. This, hoAA-eA^er, did 

 not in anj^ way deter the pioneers from carrying out their inten- 

 tions to a successful issue. This is indeed something to be proud of, 

 as little or no assistance was given by the Governments of those days. 



These hardships are not now to ])e met, for in South Africa we 

 can, at any rate, rely on the assistance of the Government, aaIio Avill 

 encourage us in following the example of those avIio liaA^e built up 

 their large industry. 



At the time the meat export trade was comnienced, Australia 

 Avas in a someAvhat similar position to Avhat South Africa is in at the 

 present time : there Avas a large surplus of sheep and a market had 

 to be found. The sheep were mostly of the ^lerino type, Av^hile a very 

 large percentage of these were long-legged and light-bodied. These 

 as a rule did not easily fatten, and Avhen fat the best only scaled 

 fifty iK)unds, dressed Aveight. In order to improve this type of 

 sheep, and obtain a carcass averaging from fifty-six to sixty lb. in 

 weight in half the time, many Australian farmers introduced 

 extensiA^e cross-breeding on the surplus Merino CAves ; the sires used 

 AA-ere mostly of the long-AVoolled English lireeds. '^Phe country could 

 Avell carry the heavily-AvooUed cross-bred thus obtained, and these 

 sheep gave the required carcass at an early age, and a A'aluable fieece 

 of wool. At from two to three years old they Avere fit for export, and 

 were worth more money than the Merino at five years. 



Farmers Avere at their wits' end to know how to dispose of their 

 surplus sheep. In many cases the carcasses were boiled down for 

 the fat, Avhile the n.eat, bones, and oft'al Avere tiirned into manure 



