Peppin Merino
Encyclopedia
Merino
The Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool. Merinos are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep...
Sheep raised for its wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
, mostly in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. So important is the Peppin Merino
Merino
The Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool. Merinos are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep...
that sheep men throughout Australia often classify their sheep simply as being either Peppin, or non-Peppin.
.
Peppin merino wool is in the 20 to 23 micron
Micron (wool)
A micron is the measurement used to express the diameter of a wool fibre. The lower microns are the finer fibres. Fibre diameter is the most important characteristic of wool in determining its greasy value....
range. The Peppin is prevalent in the sheep flocks of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, on the slopes and plains of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, through the north of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and the mixed farming areas of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. It can also be found in significant numbers in the higher rainfall areas of Victoria, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and New South Wales.
History
In March 1858 the Peppin brothers, who had emigrated from DulvertonDulverton
Dulverton is a town and civil parish in the heart of West Somerset, England, near the border with Devon. The town has a population of 1,630. The parish includes the hamlets of Battleton and Ashwick which is located approximately north west of Dulverton...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, purchased Wanganella Station, near Wanganella
Wanganella, New South Wales
Wanganella is a village community on the Billabong Creek in New South Wales, Australia. The settlement is on the Cobb Highway, located between Hay and Deniliquin . Wanganella is within the Conargo Shire Council local government area...
township in the Riverina
Riverina
The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
district of New South Wales. The Peppins then selected 200 station
Sheep station
A sheep station is a large property in Australia or New Zealand whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or south-west of the country. In New Zealand the Merinos are usually in the high country of the South...
bred ewe
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
s that thrived under local conditions and purchased 100 Rambouillet-sired stud ewes from Nicholas Chadwick of Canally, New South Wales
.
The Peppin brothers mainly used Saxon (a few of the best Victorian rams) and Rambouillet Rams importing four in 1860. One of these, 'Emperor', cut a 11.4 kg (5.1 kg clean) fleece
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
. They also bought two sons of Old Grimes, a famous plain bodied Vermont ram, but from then on they bred only from their own sheep. In 1871, Fred Peppin said,
"We were satisfied with the type of wool that the country would grow, instead of endeavoring to produce what the climate and soil continually fight against. Thus we developed all its good natural tendencies and after the flock had a character of its own, tried experiments on a small scale only, and in such a way that they could do no permanent injury, and abandoned then when they were found not to achieve the desired object"
.
They ran some Lincoln ewes but their introduction into the flock is undocumented.
In 1874 the Peppin brothers, George and Frederick, formed a double stud
Stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English stod meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding" Historically, documentation of the breedings that occur on a stud farm leads to the...
(recorded ewe and ram pedigree), the foundation stock being selected by T. F. Cumming. They kept careful records of the yields of individual sheep and breeding was methodically conducted. At the Deniliquin
Deniliquin
Deniliquin, known locally as "Deni", is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales close to the border with Victoria.Deniliquin is located at the intersection of the Riverina and Cobb Highway approximately south west of the state capital, Sydney and north of Melbourne...
show in July 1878 Peppin & Sons won the society's, Goldsbrough's and the president's prizes for sheep. Next year Wanganella sheep won first prize for the most valuable fleeces from six ewes at the Sydney International Exhibition.
George Peppin died in 1876 and in October 1878 Frederick Peppin sold Wanganella, South Boonoke and Long Plains with 28,168 sheep, 837 stud sheep, 200 cattle, 25 horses and 32,857 acres (132.97 km²) of freehold for £77,000 to Austin & Millear. North Boonoke station with 26,788 sheep, 290 cattle, 63 horses and 31,484 acres (127.41 km²) of freehold land was sold for £67,000 to F. S. Falkiner
Franc Falkiner
Franc Brereton Sadleir Falkiner was an Australian politician and grazier, born on the Ararat, Victoria goldfields to Frank Sadleir Falkiner and Emily Elizabeth, née Bazley...
, Malcolm McKenzie and J. R. Ross in November 1878.
Falkiner bought out his partners in 1882, transformed the property and developed a stud with sheep bred from the original Peppin stock. When Franc Falkiner died in 1909 he had amassed in excess of 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) of Riverina grazing land and was running a quarter of a million Boonoke blood sheep
.
In 1895 Austin and Millear dissolved their partnership with Austin retaining Wanganella in the west and Millear taking the eastern half, which was renamed Wanganella Estate as was Millear's Merino Stud. In 1910 the Falkiner sons purchased Wanganella Estate and its stud flock. In 1958 the Peppin property was reunited when F S Falkiner & Sons purchased Wanganella from Austin.
The two studs created when Frederick Peppin sold Wanganella (Wanganella and Boonoke) continue today along with Boonoke poll
Poll Merino
The Poll Merino is a subtype of the Australian Merino breed of domestic sheep, without horns, that was developed in Australia.-Characteristics:...
started in 1934 .