628 JOUENAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OP AoRlCULTtTfefi. 



was obtained, aud some lambs with good curl were also got, but on tlie 

 whole they were too loose in curl, and some " watered silk " lambs 

 were bred from " Edward.'' (This ram has since proved clearly 

 that he has a great tendency to get lambs of thut nature, ajid has, 

 consequently, been of the greatest use in stamping out "nigger" 

 curl and introducing quality into the flock. He also had the 

 advantage of being the best built of the rams first imported into the 

 Union.) It was decided to use this ram extensively in order to 

 break down the " nigger" curl tendency in many of the 1916 

 ewe lambs when they were mated in- 1918, and meanwhile (1917) 

 he was mated to those ew'cs which had dropped lambs in " B " in 

 1916. 



Considerable disappointment was experienced when it was noted 

 that many of the ewes, especially noted as being very criiripy, were 

 the dams of the worst "nigger" lambs. It has since been found 

 that crimp correctly placed is a ^^ery desirable feature, but that if 

 it is wrongly placed it is about the worst feature one can have in 

 the fleece of a karakul to be used for breeding. 



Early in 191T, 25 ewes selected by the writer from the Protectorate 

 flock were transferred to Grootfontein with an adult ram "Douglas " 

 (No. 44), together with a ram lamb of the Arabi or short-eared strain 

 and a son of " Jacob." These ewes were put to certain rams before 

 leaving Otjituesu, and from the drop which took place fiom October, 

 1917, to January, 1918, two of the rams at present at stud, namelv, 

 "L. Eussel" (G.K. 142) and "Llama" (G.K. 151), were obtained. 

 Both these rams are sons of an old, very clear-haired ram named 

 " Langman " (No. 25), of the South-West Protectorate stud, who has 

 done for that flock much the same work as " Edward " has done at Groot- 

 fontein. Excluding the lambs from the selected ewes, the result of 

 the 1917 mating was : First class, 10; second class, 22; third class, 22; 

 fourth class, 8. This was a great improvement of the previous year's 

 drop, especially as the standard of classing was raised somewhat. 

 There was still, however, much room for improvement, and much to 

 be learnt, and for the 1918 mating the ewe lambs of the 1916 drop 

 were also available. It was essential that all those of " B " type, 

 especially the " niggers," should be mostly mated to " Edward " 

 to flatten out the curl and to introduce quality; consequently, many 

 plain lambs in classes 3 and 4 Avere expected. Some of 

 " MacPherson's " plainer A-type lambs were put to the ram 

 " Douglas," a ram of much curl and at birth a first, with a very 

 highly valued pelt according to German records, and two of 

 "MacPherson's" rams were also tried at stud, although they were 

 only class 2-3A at birth. "Edward's" lambs were plain as expected, 

 and as the summary shows by the size of classes 3 and 4. The 

 lambs from "Douglas" on the " MacPhersou " ewes were all in 

 B, or bad corkscrew in A, and " MacPherson's " sons were, as 

 expected, failures, although one of them, "McTavish'* (No. K 2) 

 got a ram lamb which promises very well, and which will be 

 tried at stud in 1920. The other son, " McNab " (No. K44), was 

 too hard-haired and was a failure. " Douglas " was also a 

 failure, but perhaps the ewes did not suit him. (Note. — The rams 

 are purposely named to enable the breeders to trac-e the pedigrees 

 of their stock to a degree, and also for the sake of leaving some 

 record of these, the founders of the karakul flock in the Union; 



