No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 245 



breeds, the position of shepherd descends from father to son, from 

 generation to generation. In this country the best flocks are gen- 

 erally the ones that have been in one family the longest. 



The average man starting into the sheep business would better 

 buy a breeding flock of grade ewes of the type desired, rather than 

 attempt to begin with pure bred animals. It is the general opinion 

 that in this State he will find it more profitable to keep a breeding 

 flock of grade Merinos with which he uses a ram of some of the 

 mutton breeds, than if he attempts to handle a single breed, except 

 where he raises breeding stock. This gives an opportunity for 

 the production of Merinos on the one hand and sheep of some of 

 the various mutton breeds on the other. Delaines and Ramboullets 

 would be preferable to the so-called American Merinos for this 

 purpose. They have the advantage of larger size, smoother body,, 

 and better mutton type. It would be left to the individual taste of 

 the farmer whether he should choose Shropshire, Southdown, Hamp- 

 shire or some other breed to cross with his Merinos for the produc- 

 tion of market sheep. In general, a man will succeed best with the 

 breed which he likes best. He should select the one which most 

 nearly meets his ideal, provided at the same time there is the 

 market demand for it. He cannot afford to educate the market. 

 It is safer to produce what the market demands than to try to make 

 the market take what he wants to produce. 



The Merino blood in the ewes will give them sufficient fleece so 

 that the wool will pay for their keep and the lambs be produced at 

 a profit. It will also give them greater hardihood, make them better 

 milkers, and more regular and earlier breeders. The Merino blood 

 will give rustling qualities and make the sheep more able to shift 

 for themselves, and will enable them to consume a larger propor- 

 tion of coarse roughage. The blood of the mutton breed will give 

 the mutton form, the fattening qualities and early maturity. 



The necessity for usiug pure bred sires, although grades are to 

 be produced, should not be overlooked. If animals are desired 

 carrying three-fourths the blood of one breed and one-fourth of 

 another, it is much better to use a half-bred dam and a pure bred 

 sire than to have both sire and dam three-fourths to begin with. In 

 the same manner, if half-bred animals are wanted, it is better to 

 use two pure bred ones. The transmission of characters when both 

 parents are of mixed breeding is too uncertain. When one of the 

 parents is of pure breeding it will be much easier to predict what 

 the offspring will be. We have not reached the state of knowledge 

 of breeding or heredity, which will enable us to tell with any degree 

 of certainty what the offspring of the second cross will resemble. 

 Mendel's law seeks to forecast this in certain instances, but this law 

 itself is rather vague. The offspring of a pure bred mutton ram and 

 half-bred or three-quarter bred Merino ewes will sell almost as well 

 on the market as lambs or wethers of the pure mutton breeds, and 

 can be produced more cheaply. 



In order to get the best selling lambs from grade or cross bred 

 Merino ewes it is very important that the ram be of decided mutton 

 form. It will be necessary for him to have character and prepotency 

 to overcome the defects of the ewes. The mutton type of sheep 

 nan well be compared with the beef type of cattle, It is essential 



