Karakul Sheep. a'i.'i 



attempted. If the grazing' is good enough to lamb the ewes twice 

 a year, and if the ewes will come into use, as they will if in anything 

 like fair condition, the lambs born at the period most unfavourable 

 for raising them would be killed, and those born at the better time of 

 the year to add to the flock. When the breeder has once got his flock 

 to the size at which he means to maintain it, he can go back to lambing 

 his ewes once a year and kill off everything except what he wishes to 

 retain to replace old ewes or to add better ewe lambs of exceptional 

 curl and lustre as he improves his flock. 



Many people express their repugnance at killing baby lambs, 

 and yet this is done so often in South Africa that the argument is 

 scarcely a sound one. In years of drought such as we are experiencing 

 at present, one hears of the cutting of lambs' throats to save their 

 dams, from all over the country, and the throats of thousands of lambs 

 and sheep and other animals are cut daily for the supply of food. 

 The operation is quick and practically painless, and there is no long- 

 lingering death in agony such as comes to so many of our wild animals 

 from the rifles of our sportsmen, who, strangely enough , often talk 

 about this cruelty to the lambs. Also it must be always borne in mind 

 that it was the intention of the Department of Agriculture, and it is 

 still the hope of those responsible, that karakul sheep will be bred 

 in those regions of our country where droughts are more frequent than 

 good years, and that farmers in such regions will, in the karakul, 

 have an animal the lamb of which, should it be necessary to have it:? 

 throat cut, will bring in a good return for breeding it, instead of being 

 a dead loss as is the case with all other breeds of sheep. 



Again, in hloed-yens areas, where many lambs sicken and die 

 yearly the karakul sheep offer such unique advantages as should make 

 many farmers in such areas give them a trial. With these sheep, 

 if the lamb sickens, its throat is cut and its skin is sold, say, for 20s., 

 which is what any but a bad skin would realize, and the farmer has 

 benefited to the extent of this sum. 



Another great point in favour of karakul sheep is its resistance 

 to " stekgras." Owing to the hairy covering these sheep are not 

 affected by this grass to anything like the extent the woolled breeds 

 are, and yet have a covering which brings in something when clipped. 



The breeders who have been grading up sheep with pure-bred 

 rams since 1916 speak highly of tins resistance to "stekgras" and 

 to the hardiness of even grade karakuls in resisting droughts, and 

 the fact that some of them come back every year to purchase rams 

 proves that they mean what they say. 



V. 



Management, 



Under this heading the only points considered are those in which 

 karakul sheep require treatment different from other breeds. 



Shearing. — The lambs should be shorn for the first time when 

 they are six months old ; if left longer the weight or warmth of the 

 fleece seems to be detrimental to their development. It is best to 



