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. 



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 



