ICarakul Sheep. 633 



uses good A rams to grade up liis flock is also imx^roving the fur-pelt 

 qualities of his sheep), so that eventually he i-an farm pelts if he so 

 desires, or in any case he will get good compensation for the lambs 

 he so often has to kill to save the ewes in years of drought. 



The karakul can doubtlessly be developed into a good mutton 

 sheep, but such is not the juesent intention, as every effort is being 

 concentrated on improving the fur-bearing qualities of this grand 

 bleed without losing anv of its hardiness. 



IX. 



Cross-breeding . 



As the experiments in cross-breeding, or rather in grading up 

 from various native breeds hj the use of j)ure-bred karakul rams, 

 were begun in the Soutli-West African Protectorate before that 

 country was suriendeied to tlie Union, more information is available 

 from the flocks there, anrl Mr. A. D. Thorn j)Son is responsible for the 

 information given, except for that under the heading " Cross-breed- 

 ing at tbe Grootfontein Scliool of Agriculture.*' Mr. Thompson 

 says: " To start a cross-bred flock select the required number of ewes, 

 either of Africanders or black-head Persians, whichever are the cheaper 

 or the easier to obtain. As foundation stock there is little to choose 

 between them, what difference there is being in favour of the latter 

 breed. Should it be desired to start with Africanders, as even a flock 

 as possible sliould be selected, giving attention in this selection to 

 those most resembling black-head Persians. An Africander is not a 

 Xamaqua. the latter being a pure breed of sheep, having must finer 

 hair and far more woolly matter and in some cases showing more 

 lustre. It is, however, found that the gloss of the foundation ewes 

 has little influence on the first crosses, and still less on the higher 

 grades. They seem to inherit a sufficiently good gloss from their 

 karakul sire. 



"After selecting the ewes, mate them to an "A" type sire of 

 any class in preference to one in "13" type, but, should such a ram 

 be unprocurable, use as good a " B " as possible. After the first 

 crosf- " B " sires should never be used. During the first ten days of 

 the lamb's life it should be classed, and, if it does not come up to a 

 ceitain standard, it should be culled, together with its dam. Ewes 

 thus culled should be replaced by others until a sufficiently large 

 number of good juoducing ewes is obtained. Verj- little describing is 

 necessary with the first cross, but gloss and kind of curl or suggestion 

 to curl should always be noted. From the second cross, where a fair 

 amount of curl should be found, a ciireful description should be made. 

 It has been found that some third-cross lambs are not as good as the 

 second cross, and this is, no doubt, in mast cases due to the exaggera- 

 tion of weakness in the second cross, caused by using rams having the 

 same faults. 



"Africander and black-head Persian ewes gave isppioximately 

 36 per cent, first class lambs, while the Xamaquas gave only 7 per cent. 

 Tliese ewes were mated to tlie same rams running in the same flock. 



