852 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [Dec. 2, 1920. 



(3) The most suitable etves. — To attain this standard it is necessary to 

 depart from the pure Merino ewe, and to use in preference a longwool 

 crossbred ewe ; of those tried the Border Leicester x Merino ewe gave, on 

 the whole, the best returns. 



(•i) The breed of ram. — To secure the ideal lamb carcase, the shortwool 

 or Down ram should be used in preference to long wools. The South Down 

 furnished the most shapely carcase, but the Dorset Horn gave consistently 

 the best returns. 



(5) The period of mating. — To procure a satisfactoiy increase the ewes 

 should be mated about Christmas, and the rams allowed to run with them 

 until about the middle of February. 



(6) To secure a good, lambing. — To ensure as many ewes as possible 

 getting in lamb the rams should be yarded with the ewes over night during 

 the mating period. 



(7) Lambing and weaning seasons. — The lambs should be dropped as 

 early as the mating period will permit in the autumn, and marketed at the 

 expiration of the lactation period in the spring. 



(S) The food supply.-^ln order that the lambs shall not suffer a check 

 . they, along with their mothers, should be supplied with good succulent feed 

 from the the time they are dropped until they are despatched for market. 



(9) The shearing of the lambs. — Lambs intended for export should not 

 be shorn. They should be handled as little as possible, and given every 

 care so as to avoid knocking about with consequent damage to the carcase. 



(10) Breeding propensities. — In the Department's experiments there was 

 little to choose between the three breeds named on the score of virility, 

 but the lambs by the Dorset Horn rams appeared to suffer a check and 

 recover again more readily than those by either of the other breeds. 



(11) The prolificacy of the ewe. — All three groups of ewes appeared fairly 

 ready breeders when mated at the correct time, but a slightly better increase 

 was obtained by the Depai'tment from the Border Leicester x Merino cross. 



(12) Loss of weight in transit. — The average loss of weight in transit 

 from farm to Homebush amounted to 7*6 per cent, of the live weight, but 

 those figures were taken when the lambs had been taken off the pasture and 

 therefore did not represent the actual starved weight. 



(13) The value of the mutton. — Little difference was found between the 

 mutton value of the different ci'Osses, and weight of carcase appears to be 

 the prime factor in distinguishing between the monetary value of the com- 

 peting strains. 



The thanks of the Department are due to Messrs. Badgery Bros, who 

 assisted thi'oughout in the weighing of the various consignments and 

 aiTangement of the sales. It desires also to place on I'ecord its acknowledge- 

 ment of the support and assistance rendered by the various representatives 

 of the different exporting firms in the work of assessing the value of the 

 different crosses from time to time as they were offered. 



