631 



In conclusion, I have to thank my col- 

 league, the Hon. Secretary, Mr. R. G. 

 Archibald, for the keen interest he has 

 taken in the year's work. To the Com- 

 mittee also do I tender my hearty recog- 

 nition of enthusiastic support, and kind 

 blindness to the President's shortcomings. 

 The relations on all sides have been most 



cordial, and my year of presidency will 

 always be to me a sort of pleasant memory. 

 But you must pardon me for saying that 

 surely our energy and organisation are 

 capable of doing more for agriculture than 

 is expressed by our one single yearly 

 effort for a Show. 



The Tunis Sheep in Americam 



THE stock-farmers of the United States, 

 says " Bruni " in the "Australasian," 

 have little, if any, prejudice in live-stock 

 husbandry. If a variety of the domestic 

 animals gives a promise of proving use- 

 ful as farm stock, that variety - no matter 

 what its origin — is given a fair trial, and 

 if the result is a success, the variety is 

 adopted as a beneficial farm stock. This 

 has been the case with the Tunis sheep. 

 In the year 1773 General Wm. Eaton, then 

 United States Consul at Tunis, purchased 

 from the Bey of Tunis ten sheep, from 

 the Royal stud farm. These sheep were 

 sent to America, but only one ram and 

 one ewe survived the voyage. They were 

 placed under the care of Judge Peters, of 

 Belmont, near Philadelphia, who raised a 

 good-sized flock from them. Several 

 drafts were sent to Carolina, Georgia, and 

 Virginia. During the war these sheep 

 were nearly exterminated, but since then 

 they have l3een bred up, and their value 

 as matton sheep has brought them into 

 prominence. During the fine-wool craze 

 they declined in favour, but they have 

 since come into the first rank, particularly 

 in the South, as mutton sheep. The fol- 

 lowing description is given of these 

 sheep :— " They are hardy, fatten easily, 

 of light bone, broad, and long backs, slen- 

 der neck, and deer-shaped head. They 

 breed at any time desired, and sometimes 

 produce two crops of lambs a year." 

 From ■ a work, entitled " A Study of 

 Breeds," by Professor Thomas Shaw, I 

 learn that these sheep in size are nearly 

 equal to the Dorset, but are not as heavy. 

 The average weight of a matured ram in 

 good form is put at 180 lb., and of a 

 matured ewe 130 lb. Their early-matur- 

 ing qualities are of the best, and their 

 lambs can be rapidly pushed on for mar- 

 kets, They are active foragers, and con- 



sume a great variety of: weeds. It is 

 claimed that the carcase dresses profitably 

 on the block, the meat is of the very best, 

 the fat being blended with the lean, and 

 not laid on externally, and the quality is 

 excellent. The Tunis sheep have a pecu- 

 liarity, which is thus described by Pro- 

 fessor Shaw:—" At birth the tail has much 

 loose skin extending from the base for a 

 considerable distance downwards. Un- 

 less when cut close while the animal is 

 young, the space thus furnished fills with 

 a fatty substance, to the width of 3in. or 

 4in. It will then weigh from 3 lb. to 6 lb., 

 according to the condition of the sheep. 

 The Tunis breed must not, however, be 

 confounded with various races of fat- 

 tailed sheep found in the old world." 

 Though I have met with several notices 

 of this breed of sheep in American pub- 

 lications, the only menti(m of the wool 

 that I have seen is by Professor Shaw, 

 and he merely says of it that it is prob- 

 ably inferior in weight to that of the 

 Southdown. Oddly enough, he says 

 nothing of its quality. A portrait of a ram 

 is given in a late number of the " Ameri- 

 can Agriculturist," which shows a very 

 shapely sheep, on short legs, Avith a good 

 head and very small horns, not larger 

 than wiil be sometimes seen on merino 

 wethers. 



The motor-car is coming largely into use in 

 England for the purpose of conveying straw- 

 berries and other delicate and quickly perish- 

 able truits from the proviiices into London and 

 other large centres. By this means of transport 

 the injurious handling necessitated by railway 

 conveyance is removed, The baskets of straw- 

 berries, etc , are simply loaded oq the motor-car 

 at the garden?, and are del vered into the hands 

 (f the shopkeeper, thus saving half-a-dozen 

 handlings. It is thought that the system will 

 meet with a very wide adoption. 



