Merino Farming

We as a family are very proud of what Magdalene Morse-Jones has achieved with this work. Thanks to her research we now know about our family roots. The first part of the story looks at our ancestral home, Hohenzollern Castle in Germany (then Prussia) while the second reveals some of our early family history. The third and fourth parts trace the beginnings of the South African wool industry and highlight the contributions of the Shuman Family. Click here to read the original pdf article. (William Shuman)

The wild men are mythical figures that appear in the art and literature of medieval Europe. The image of wild men survived to appear as part of heraldic coat-of-arms, especially in Germany, well into the 16th century.

The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918.

Kingdom of Prussia Coat of Arms 1871–1918

Hohenzollern Castle is the ancestral seat of the imperial House of Hohenzollern. The third of three hilltop castles built on the site, it is located atop Mount Hohenzollern, above the edge of the Swabian Jura of central Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

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Towards the end of 2013, veteran sheep farmer, Hilson Shuman of Grey Craig farm, near Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, made South African Merino history when he delivered his 60th wool clip to Lappersonne Wools broker in Port Elizabeth. In 2016, he broke the World Wool Clip record with 63 clips behind his name. In 2018, Hilson continued his record streak with a 65th Wool Clip. The National Woolgrowers Association (NWGA) and all affiliated sectors joined together to congratulate Hilson on this unique achievement. In celebration of this, a remarkable phenomenon of dedication, it was decided that this article would showcase one of South Africa's most fascinating Merino farming histories. Click here to view original article.

A Description of the Merino by T.P. van der Walt

A Merino is a type of sheep possessing as to form a certain fixed set of composite physical characteristics in accordance with the required background of Life: this is constitution. At the same time, it possesses the additional quality of yielding a valuable fibre, namely wool. All of this has been harmonised to justify and make possible its existence. Therefore, these characteristics can never be approached separately from each other.

It cannot be otherwise. Constitution which, in other words is life, the foundation of our breeding. This is the most sort after characteristic which supplies the whole of the infallible background of the scientically required wool fibre. In other words, without the animal's constitution there can be no question of a desirable wool fibre.

Wool grows...