Merino
The Merino is a list of sheep breeds, breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monop ...
sheep raised for their
wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
, mostly in Australia. So important is the Peppin
Merino
The Merino is a list of sheep breeds, breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monop ...
that wool producers throughout Australia often classify their sheep simply as being either Peppin, or non-Peppin.
Peppin merino wool is in the 20 to 23
micron
The micrometre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a uni ...
range. The Peppin is prevalent in the sheep flocks of
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, on the slopes and plains of
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, through the north of Victoria and the mixed farming areas of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
and
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. It can also be found in significant numbers in the higher rainfall areas of Victoria,
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
and New South Wales.
History
In March 1858, the Peppin brothers, who had emigrated from Old Shute Farm, Dulverton,
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, purchased Wanganella Station, near Wanganella township in the
Riverina
The Riverina ()
is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...
district of New South Wales. The Peppins then selected 200 station-bred ewes 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 Merino (a few of the best Victorian
rams
In engineering, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)Rambouillet Merino rams, importing four in 1860. One of these, Emperor, cut an 11.4 kg (5.1 kg clean) fleece. 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 (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 show in July 1878, Peppin & Sons won the society's, Goldsbrough's and the president's prizes for sheep. The 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, 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 started in 1934.