840 Journal of the Department of Agriculture. 



The 



TiiiKD Cross 



favours the Suffolk very much, is a ijarcly good doer, and carries a 

 good fleece of wool weighing up to 6 lb., with very little grease in 

 it, consequently bringing in a good price per lb. Hamels of this 

 cross at 2| years have averaged 85 lb. of beautiful mutton, the fat 

 being very evenly distributed ; a few hamels that were shown at 

 Johannesburg Fat Stock Show, 1918, were killed during the winter 

 of 1919, giving from 90 lb. to 115 lb. of dressed carcass. 



These weights and the quality of mutton will command the atten- 

 tion of the best buyers on the London market, and if farmers will try. 

 even on a small scale, this class of cross breeding, they will be so 

 satisfied with the results that in a very short time there would be 

 many thousands of sheep fit for export. One of the great advantages 

 in breeding crossbreds from the Persian ewe is that the progeny 

 appear to inherit all the good qualities of their dams, being resistant 

 to most of the many diseases unfortunately found in this country, 

 and their fattening qualities are in no way diminished nor their 

 hardiness, while, in addition, they have a more symmetrical frame. 

 They will thriA'e and do equally well as their mothers on the veld, 

 and neither grass seed nor ticks worry them much, although it is 

 much better, of course, if the latter can be kept down, especially as 

 these sheep can be dipped in almost any kind of dip at fortnightly 

 intervals without doing the wool any harm, thus assisting in cleansing 

 the farm from ticks. 



Another great advantage is that even the third cross do not grow- 

 any belly wool to speak of; their points are also, comparatively 

 speaking, bare, and the head is quite free from wool, so that in a 

 country where it would be quite impossible to keep Merino sheep 

 successfully because of the grass seeds, the cross will thrive and pay 

 much better. 



Of the April, 1918, lambs which were fed all the winter on 

 green feed until September, and ever since out on rough hill veld 

 country, with very little grass and a little thorn bush, the majority 

 at the beginning of 1920 were fit for market and have all 

 grown out well. This shows what ad^^erse conditions they are able to 

 stand. Another point worth consideration is the Suffolk ram; he 

 is just right for this cross, seems to nick very well, and is, in the 

 opinion of the writer, about the best of the English breeds for the 

 purpose, as he has the frame and covering of flesh, the good thick 

 thigh, and is a hardy, active, thrifty sheep; taking him all round, 

 he seems to adapt himself to adverse conditions in a way that shows 

 he has come to South Africa to stay. 



Suffolks are, at the present time, very scarce, the supply beiug 

 far from equal to the demand, and there is an excellent opening for 

 a few breeders of rams, who will not only be making money them- 

 selves but be assisting other farmers who wish to push this line of 

 cross-breeding but find it impossible at present to get rams at any 

 price. 



Farmers must not be tempted to use half or three-quarter bred 

 Suffolk-Persian rams for cross-breeding purposes, as they wdll not 

 give the results obtained by the use of the pure Suffolk ram. 



