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. 



