Merino Sheep Breeding. Agricultural Reporter of the Melbourne Leader. No. IV – Carngham. The hon. Phillip Russell’s Carngham flock of pure merinos has for many years been distinguished for the fine quality of its wool, and the high average price, which it has maintained in the London market. About the year 1848 Mr. Thomas Shaw, senior, wrote a pamphlet upon the growing of fine merino wool, which had the effect of directing the attention of Messrs. Learmonth, Russell, and other early flockowners to the subject, with the result that Mr. Shaw was commissioned by the Messrs. Learmonth to proceed to Tasmania and select a number of the best sheep to be found in that colony. The sheep thus selected formed the foundation of the Ercildoune flock, and it has been the same blood that Mr. Russell has depended upon to raise his sheep to their present standard. Beginning about the year 1850 with Ercildoune sheep, careful selection was continued by Mr. Russell until 1860, when Mr. Jonathan Shaw was entrusted with the annual classification of the flocks. From 1860 until the present Mr. Shaw has continued to class the sheep, and from the foundation of the stud flock in 1850 until 1868 the Ercildoune blood was adhered to. At the latter date the flock had become so well established that it was not necessary any longer to depend upon Ercildoune for stud rams, and a system of breeding solely from Carngham sheep was commenced, which has been continued up to the present time. It will be seen therefore that the success, which has been attained at Carngham is to be attributed to careful and wise selection working exclusively with one pure breed.

Merino Sheep Breeding. (Agricultural Reporter of the Melbourne LEADER.) No. VI. Ercildoune. Excerpts -Sir Samuel Wilson’s celebrated Ercildoune flocks of pure merino sheep are so generally acknowledged to be of the highest order of merit that many leading breeders in the colony claim no higher praise for their stock than direct descent from the Ercildoune sheep. The Messrs. Learmonth, who originally took up the country north of Lake Burrumbeet in 1838, stocked it with a flock of very superior Tasmanian merinos, and the improvement, which the soil and climate brought about in these sheep, induced the proprietors to purchase a flock of pure pedigree soon afterwards. This pure flock, which was the foundation of the present Ercildoune stud, descended directly from the German branch of the merino family. At the time when the Spanish merino breed was so jealously guarded that the exportation of sheep from the country was a capital offence, the Elector of Saxony obtained a draught from the best flock in the kingdom as a great favour from the King of Spain. The late Mr. Forlonge obtained a portion of this celebrated Electoral flock, which was afterwards brought by Mrs. Forlonge and her sons to Tasmania. The sheep afterwards passed into the hands of Mr. (now Sir) William Mitchell, who brought them to Victoria, taking them to his Barford station near Kyneton. At a comparatively high price the Messrs. Learmonth obtained the flock from Mr. Mitchell and commenced the system of careful breeding which has produced such satisfactory.

Purity of blood is essential to successful breeding. Working with a pure breed it is possible to improve by successive steps in any required direction, but with a mixed strain the object of the breeder may be entirely defeated even after a long series of successes. The Messrs. Learmonth adhered strictly to the pure merino but reinvigorated the original stock on several occasions by judicious selections from well-known stud flocks. The most important of these additions to the flock were a few rams from Captain McCarthur’s famous Camden rams and some sheep from Mr. Kermode’s Mona Vale flock, the last named stock having been used with considerable advantage in 1862. Since that date no fresh blood has been introduced, but the stud flocks have been so numerous, and have contained so many elements of the different types of pure merino, that selection has been effectively carried on without close in-breeding. It will be seen from the above particulars that Ercildoune flocks contain pure blood from both of the great branches of the merino family, the Tasmanian sheep representing the German branch, and the Camden flock being bred from the Royal Hampton Court flock, which George III obtained from the King of Spain. Having the heavy dense fine fleece of the German merino, and the long bright staple of the Spanish, it only wanted skillful manipulation and a Victorian climate to produce the finest sheep in the world, and these elements of success were fully supplied by the management and climate of Ercildoune.

The Messrs. Learmonth for many years had the advantage of the skillful assistance of Mr. Thos. Shaw, Sen, and afterwards of his son, Mr. Jonathan Shaw, who continues up to the present his annual selections and classification of the sheep for Sir Samuel Wilson, the present owner. Breeding for fineness and length of wool is apt to result in bare points and a light fleece; and aiming at density and well clothed points has a tendency to produce shortness of staple, while the merino frame, if not attended to, becomes small and ill-shaped. But the foundation of the Ercildoune flocks has happily been supplied with ample material for guarding against all such undesirable results, and a type of sheep has been produced combining the good qualities of the merino in proper proportion.
The Ercildoune sheep has a large symmetrical and well-clothed frame, while the wool is exceedingly fine, of long clear staple and pure white lustre. That weight of fleece has been well combined with quality of wool may be judged from the fact that the clip has more than once averaged 10s per sheep exclusive of lambs, and that in 1877, although half of the grown sheep were lambing ewes, the average of sheep and lambs together was 7s. 9½ d. As high an average weight as 3lb. 12oz. of spout washed wool has been obtained from the Ercildoune sheep…

The sheep are divided into four distinct flocks, each showing certain characteristics in a more marked degree than the others. Thus one flock is remarkable for density, another for quality, a third for length and a fourth for lustre. These different flocks are classified into from 3 to 5 subdivisions, according to merit, under such distinctive names as First Special, Second Special and Stud. By an ingenious system of ear-marking, which is described in Sir Samuel Wilson’s book upon the Angora goat, the breeding of each sheep can be accurately ascertained, the pedigree being marked upon the ear…
Eliza Forlonge (1784-1859)

(*Another ‘Out of Adversity’ story – a woman forced to find a healthier climate for her remaining children ends up creating another important chapter in Australian history.)

Excerpts from The Australian Women Fact File. In the era when history recorded the deed of men rather than women, Eliza Forlonge was one of the unsung heroes of the Australian Wool Industry. Much as been written about Elizabeth Macarthur, but her contribution to the industry is easily rivaled by that of Eliza. Without her vision, courage and grit, it is doubtful that Australia would have become the world’s leading producer of high-quality apparel wool. In 1934, the Country Women’s Association of Victoria erected a granite monument, the exact size and shape of a bale of wool, over her grave at Euroa. In 1940, the CWA of Tasmania erected a sundial in memory of Eliza at Kenilworth. There was also a large mural at the School of Rural Studies (now TAFE) in Sydney, depicting her paying gold sovereigns for the sheep. In recognition of Eliza’s vision in pioneering superfine wool merinos in Australia, The Wool Foundation Eliza Forlonge Medal, was established in 1991. The medal is awarded in recognition of outstanding individual contribution to the Australian Wool Industry.

Mrs. Eliza Forlonge was truly an amazing woman. Having lost four of her six children to tuberculosis and with another son showing early signs of the disease, the family decided to emigrate to Australia, for its dry and sunny climate. At that time, wool growing appeared to be the only thing Australia was good for, so she decided that she would go into the business of growing wool. Their enterprise was financed by John’s sister, Janet Templeton, and her husband Andrew, a successful Glasgow banker, and supported by Sir Thomas Brisbane, recently returned Governor of New South Wales. With introductions to leading woolgrowers and brokers, she and her two sons spent the next three summers in Leipzig, the centre of the European wool industry, learning the language, and every aspect of the business of growing wool. John joined his family in 1828 and lived with shepherds in order to learn the necessary husbandry. William was employed for three years in a leading sorting house to learn wool classing. Andrew attended school, and accompanied his mother, whilst Eliza visited stud, inspected flocks, and learned to select the finest sheep, and she bargained hard for her prizes. She paid for the sheep with gold sovereigns, which she carried in a bag under her skirts. She paid up to £30 for each sheep and, to avoid substitution, she padlocked a special brass collar around their necks once she had purchased them. To succeed, she had to overcome the hostility of the Saxons, who were loath to part with either their knowledge or their sheep. Saxony at that time was a rough, mountainous land of isolated villages and medieval walled towns, with roads so bad, that many of the farms were accessible only on foot, and villagers highly suspicious of foreigners, which made it impossible to hire shepherds. To collect her sheep from around the country, Eliza and the boys, disguised as peasants and travelled some 500 miles on foot until they reached Hamburg, from where the flock was shipped to Hull in England. They then walked the sheep across to Liverpool to ship the flock to Greenock in Scotland. During the three journeys, she made around Germany, and one into France, buying up the finest sheep she could find, walking some 1500 miles on foot, sometimes with her son, sometimes on her own, staying in squalid inns and dealing with suspicious and obstructive officials. It was an incredible feat performed by a remarkable woman. The first flock of 100 Merinos, was purchased by the Australian Agricultural Company. More sheep now had to be collected for William to take to New South Wales, so Eliza returned to Saxony, where she was able to buy even better quality sheep, now that the legend of the eccentric Scotswoman, who roamed the country paying gold for stud sheep had spread. William left on the Clansman in 1829 with his flock. However, when the ship called in at Hobart Town, Governor Arthur, recognizing the value of his sheep, offered William a maximum grant of land to remain in Van Diemen’s Land. The sheep were immediately in high demand, and William was soon writing home glowing letters of the prospects in the Colony, urging his parents and Andrew to join him. Meanwhile, Andrew Templeton had died in Glasgow and his widow, Janet, decided to settle in New South Wales for her sons’ future. In 1831, she chartered a ship, the Czar, to take her family and the Forlonges with their servants, household goods and a third flock of sheep, collected by Eliza, to Australia. The Forlonges joined William in Van Dieman’s Land where John was given a maximum land grant next to his sons’, which was known as Kenilworth. Eliza managed Kenilworth, while John was involved in various business ventures, until his death in 1834. However, with no access to permanent water, farming was often difficult and, in 1839, when the fertile plains of Port Phillip were opening up, William and Andrew decided to leave, while Eliza continued to mange their affairs in Tasmania. In 1840, Eliza made another trip to the United Kingdom to arrange passage for 200-300 bounty emigrants to help alleviate the shortage of labour caused by the cessation of transportation to the Colony. In 1844, she severed her ties with Tasmania, and joined William and his family in Victoria at Woodstock, Merri Creek, near Bendigo. They survived the Great Wool Depression of the 1840’s and, in 1851, she moved to Seven Creeks, which she managed for William who was frequently away on business, or in England, where his family was being education. At Seven Creeks, she continued to build up the superfine wool industry so that, when she died in 1859, she was one of the best-known women in the colony.

(* In 1836, during his “Australia Felix” expedition, Major Mitchell camped on the banks of the Seven Creeks at Euroa, a lovely old historical town.)

The Australian Dictionary of Biography states that William Howitt described her as ‘one of the pleasantest and most energetic ladies I have ever met with’ and further states that ‘Eliza’s pioneering skills were outstanding, it was her ability to select sheep that was special. David Taylor, of Winton, and T. and S. Learmonth of Ercildoun(e), Victoria, founded their studs on the Forlonge’s Saxon merinos, which were greatly sought after by breeders of fine-woolled sheep.’

We hear that Mr. Learmonth intends to at once stock the runs he has on the Fitzroy. Mr. Learmonth is one of the wealthiest of the Victorian squatters, and at one time had an interest in the famous Ercildoun estate, the finest station in Victoria, which was sold a few years ago to Sir Samuel Wilson by his brother the late Mr. Somerville Learmonth. We are fortunate in getting such settlers to assist in developing the resources of the distant portions of our large colony.

Sale of Large Station Property. – The Australasian of February 18 reports the following: – “Information has been received in Melbourne to the effect that Messrs. T. & S. Learmonth have sold their Groongal estate in Riverina, with the stock thereon, to an English Company for the sum of £700,000 cash. The Groongal estate is considered by the most experienced sheepfarmers in the country as one of the very finest estates in Australia. It has an area of 320,000 acres of freehold land and about 200,000 sheep are shown annually. The wool is of very high quality, the sheep being descended from the famous Ercildoune flock. There is on the estate a stud flock of pure Merino sheep, the originals of which were selected from the Ercildoune stud flock in 1867, before Messrs. T. & S. Learmonth sold their Ercildoune estate and stud flock to Sir Samuel Wilson. Groongal is situated on the Murrumbidgee, about forty miles above Hay.”

Advertisement. The Burrabogie Estate. London, April 9. – The “Times,” commenting upon the sale of the Burrabogie estate, says that it affords a splendid opportunity in Australia for English gentry seeking cheap and, with health and occupation.

Australian Sheep Stations versus Egyptian or Russian Bonds? Detailed Article questioning whether investing in these properties, (as advertised in London according to The Australian Town and Country Journal, 15/4/1882 above), upon the whole, would prove to be a paying one, with Burrabogie recently selling for the very large sum of £440,000. It also stated that Groongal being valued at £750,000, along with Burrabogie, are the two most valuable single properties in Australia. – Federal Australian.

Our Pure Merino Stud Flocks. III. The Yandilla Flock. Excerpt – As Mr. Shaw’s mode of operations at Yandilla was precisely the same as that so successfully practiced by him in the Ercildoune flock, it may be well to devote a few sentences here to its description. Mr. Shaw’s theory was, in effect, complete cessation from importation of foreign blood, resorting solely for improvement to selection within the blood of the flock. By these means, he argued, a purely Australian type of merino would result, varying only in different parts of the Australian continent by differences of temperature and climate. Acting on Mr. Shaw’s suggestion, Messrs. Learmonth got together with the best sheep procurable in their district, and on these Mr. Shaw set to work in 1837. By careful selection, aided by sound judgment and the effects of climate, the Ercildoune flock was by this means bred up to the magnificent type of fine combing wool which has made it celebrated throughout the world, and which enabled its original owners to retire on a princely fortune.

The Yandilla Flock. Excerpt from Mr. C. A. Forster’s letter: –
“I think it must have been later than 1837 that the Messrs. Learmonth pitched their tents in the centre of what is now called Lake Learmonth, then dry. If I do not mistake, the late Dr. Learmonth’s flocks, bred originally from the Macarthur merinos, at that time (1837) adorned the bonnie braes of Tasmania, near the Green Ponds, from whence they were transported to the breezy plains of the now far-famed Ercildoune.”

Our Pure Merino Stud Flocks VI. The Jimbour Flock. Excerpt – The other, and by far the larger, section of the stud flock was bred, as has already been stated, from the progeny of Ercildoune rams, and may be described as from one-fourth to one-sixth grade Learmonth blood. It was the Ercildoune sheep that imparted the great lustre to the flock; but, like Mr. Clark, Mr. Wallace found that they not only lacked density, but were poorly covered on the points. These defects were counteracted by carefully breeding back to the original Jimbour sheep. The staple has slightly gained in strength of late years. Whether this is due more to pasturage than to careful selection it may be difficult to decide, probably to both causes.

Farm and Station. The Stud Flocks of Tasmania. The Mona-vale Merinoes. Excerpt – In 1872 the executors of the late Mr. R. Q. Kermode sold off all the sheep on the estate including the pure flock, when the ewes realized an average of two guineas per head, but many were sold at a considerable profit afterwards. Mr. W. A. Kermode, the present proprietor of Mona-vale, and eldest son of the late Mr. R. Q. Kermode, bought nearly all the stud sheep, bred from the late German importations being dispersed. As the taste of sheepbreeders was then running on a long-stapled wool, he purchased from Messrs. T. and S. Learmonth, of Ercildoune, Victoria, a stud ram, which was considered by those gentlemen to be one of the finest animals in their stud flock. This was not considered any change of blood, for about a dozen years previously 100 ewes from the Mona-vale stud had been introduced into the Ercildoune stud. Of these ewes Mr. T. Learmonth writes – “I consider the addition of these 100 ewes more valuable to the Ercildoune flock than would be the best 100 that could be obtained from Germany.”

The Australasian Mutual Live Stock Society, Limited. Capital £100,000. Head Office, Melbourne. Sydney Branch: Royle’s Chambers, Bond-street. Victorian Directors: John L. Dow, Esq., M.P., Chairman, Hon. J. F. Levien, M.P., Thomas Learmonth, Esq. New South Wales Directors: Andrew Town, Esq., J.P., Frank Cowley, Esq., George S. Yeo, Esq. Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, and Dogs Insured against death from accident, disease, or natural causes on land, rail, or at sea. Marine Risks on Stock Covering Mortality or on Merchandise accepted. The only Live Stock Insurance Society in the colonies. Full Particulars can be obtained from the undersigned. Active Agents Wanted where unrepresented. A. J. Wilkinson, Manager.

The Fountain Head of Australian Herefords. (Queenslander Nov. 21) Excerpts – There are very few if any Australian Hereford herds that do not trace back either directly or indirectly to the Cressy Hereford herd of Tasmania. As this breed of cattle is coming so rapidly to the front, particularly in our coast districts, a brief history of that herd will be of interest to many. Unfortunately the work of compiling a public herd book had not been undertaken until the Cressy herd had almost ceased to exist ; and, more unfortunate still, the Cressy herd book, which was so carefully kept by the late Mr. James Denton Toosey, has been lost – a circumstance which has rendered the work of tracing the pedigrees of the herd one of considerable difficulty. Fortunately, however, Mr. A. J. McConnel, of Durundur, a gentleman who is well posted up in Hereford lore, is in possession of a number of letters written by the late Mr. Toosey a short time before his death, and these, which have been kindly placed at our disposal, throw considerable light on the origin and history of the herd. The Cressy Company’s herd was founded by the late Mr. Toosey, who brought with him from England a bull and three cows. They left England in November 1825, and were landed in Hobart Town in May 1826, and were thus the first Herefords that arrived in the Australian colonies. Mr. Toosey had a number of other cattle and horses in his charge by the same ship. The bull’s name was Billy, entered in the English Hereford Herd Book No. 4353. The cows were Matchless, Beauty, and one unnamed (the dam of Diana). The pedigrees of the cattle have been lost, but Mr. Toosey states that they were purchased at a high figure from one of the first breeders in Herefordshire, and that he bred some of his best stock from them, bulls in the early days bringing from 80 to 100 guineas.

Some of his principal sales were the following: Mr. Livingstone Learmonth, of Groongal, many years ago purchased a number of heifers, and mating them with English bulls, formed a very fine herd. The cattle there, as seen by a well-known Queensland Hereford breeder a few years ago, were very large and thick. A number of females from this herd were exported to found a herd in New Zealand.

Mr. Toosey, as already stated, kept a record of his breed up to the time of his death, but since then his son states that the herd books are not to be found, and must have been destroyed. This is very much to be regretted, as a detailed record of the earlier cattle of the foundation herd of Australia – a herd, the blood of which is to be found in every herd in Queensland, and perhaps every Hereford herd south of the equator – has probably disappeared for all time. The loss is all the more to be deplored that arrangements have almost been completed for compiling a reliable Hereford Herd Book for the whole of the colonies.

A Visit to Ercildoune. By Bruel. Excerpts – It has become evident to all flockmasters during the last few years that the production of low-class wools in Austraia has almost ceased to be a profitable industry, and that if Australia is to keep her pre-eminence as a wool-producing country it can only be done by growing wool of such high quality as to render competition on the part of South America out of the question. The prospect for wool-growers of late has been anything but a pleasant one, but a change for the better is shown in the sale in England lately of the Mount Bute and Ercildoune wools, which have realized prices that would have been regarded as exceptionally high when the wool-producing interest was in a flourishing condition… as I had not seen the Ercildoune estate for many years I willingly accepted the invitation of Mr. A. Fisken, the representative of Sir Samuel Wilson, to pay a visit to the place, and have a look at the sheep. On leaving the railway station at Burrumbeet, I found the country had already assumed a wintry aspect. The pastures in the paddocks we drove through were rather short for this time of year, and the autumn rains had evidently been very scanty, for there was but little spring in the grass. I notice that one of our horses was very bad with stringhalt, and on inquiry I found that this affliction is very common in the district this season. The country traversed between Burrumbeet and Ercildoune-house is across the most fertile land on the estate. The soil is a light clay with numerous pebbles of glossy ironstone on the surface. It is thoroughly healthy grazing country but will not carry more than a sheep the acre… A hurricane had passed across here lately, and its track is marked by the withering foiage of the wrecked trees. From a cross-country road a gate gives access to an avenue of about a mile in length, which is planted wit Deodar cedars and pinus insignis alternately. The house was built by Messrs. Learmonth many years ago, and like many old Australian houses, it is of the patchwork order of architecture. However, a fine growth of ivy on the walls hides many deficiencies. The house has its merit, it will accommodate a large number of visitors. The great attraction of Ercildoune-house is the splendid group of trees by which it is surrounded. Oriental planes, Deodar cedars, larches, Lombardy poplars, and agreat variey of pines are growing here most lucuriantly. Whichever way one turns the eye rests on glorious masses of foliage. In the centre is a good-sized lagoon, surround by giant weeping willows and having in it little islets on which are many fine foliage plants. Throughout the plantation, which is almost a wood, there are broad well-kept walks leading in every direction. I cannot imagine anything more enjoyable than a summer day’s sheer indolence, loitering in the almost “boundless contiguity of shade.:

Changes of Fashion in Wool-growing. By Jumbuck. Last paragraph – “I cannot therefore but think that we hear too much in these colonies of distinctions such as Saxon, Negretti, &c. The Merino when bred pure appears to have maintained its characteristics in all the countries to which it has been transplanted, and when absolute purity of blood can be secured, along with the other conditions desired, it would appear unnecessary to attach so much importance as is frequently done in these colonies to the different European flocks of the Merino family. The type of the sheep is no doubt greatly modified by the skill of the breeder and by the circumstances under which it is kept and fed; but many of the very best flocks in Australia, notably some of the best in Riverina, have had their beginning in selections from many sub-families of the great Merino family, and it is very questionable whether a single sheep in Australia can trace back in unbroken descent to any one in particular of the original Spanish Cabaafis.” – Queenslander.

A Visit to Wooriwyrite No. II. Excerpts – “Of the old flock, Mr. Thos. Learmonth, writing to Mr. T. Shaw in 1863, makes the following remarks: “We never had the least admixture of foreign blood of the English breeds. From the time your father (Mr. Thomas Shaw) took the management of our breeding, a marked improvement took place, partly by judicious selection, and partly the use of rams from the flock of Mr. Kermode, Tasmania, and from that of Mr. Wm. Campbell, of Mount Hope. The last of these sheep passed into your hands and those of Mr. A. Anderson, of Skipton, in 1859.”

Rams from the famous old flock bred by the late Mr. Thomas Henty, were also used at Ercildoune.

The Picturesque Atlas of Australia, 1887, commissions artist Albert H. Fullwood to do a hand water-coloured woodblock engraving called “Ercildoune Sheep Station, Victoria, 1887. This rare original work features a sweeping view of the internationally famous Ercildoune Sheep Station with the imposing granite homestead in the distance. The Western District, Victoria, property, near Lake Burrumbeet, was the envy of the wool industry in the 1800’s with Ercildoune regarded as one of the most important sheep stations in Colonial Austrlia. Wool produced at Ercildoune in 1886, grown by Sir Samuel Wilson, was sold in London for the highest price ever paid for super-fine wool. It was described as “the silkiest in the world”. It put Ercildoune station on the map as the producer of the world’s finest wool, with buyers from London and Europe becoming regular visitors to the property.

The American Wool Reporter of February gives an account of a flock of sheep of a character profitable enough to make an Australian squatter’s mouth water. The owner of this flock is Mr. A. A. Wood, of Saline, Washtenaw County, Michigan, who is described as a well-known breeder of merino sheep for the Western States and for Australia. This fortunate man had just received his returns over his last season’s clip of wool, which had bee sold in Boston. The fleeces averaged 14½ lb., and netted 10½ d. per lb., which was an advance of 3½ d. on what he had been offered in June last. The wool was of extra fine quality, but very heavy. The staple was extra long. 14½ lb. of wool at 10½ d. per lb. give a fleece value of 12s. 8¼ d. per head, and this not for a few picked fleeces, but for the flock. When we reflect, however, that about 5d. per lb. – or in this case 6s. per sheep – of this price represents the annual toll paid by the American people to the domestic woolgrowers, we can hardly wonder at the latter being such vehement advocates of protection.

From the letter of the London correspondence of the American Wool Reporter we obtain some interesting items regarding the London sales. It seems that a Bradford house secured the bulk of our very choice Western district washed fleece wools, paying 50½ d. for the Ercildoune washed hoggets’. This wool is described as being very silky, but perhaps not quite so fine as others that might be named. Its great charm, however, is its beautiful lustrous nature, and being young wool it spins a very fine yard for quite a special purpose.