46 Brport upon the Agriailtural Features 



orighijil character. The idea in commencing^ this flock is to 

 produce meat and wool by effecting a cross with the Negretti 

 Merino. 



Such were the instances of English sheep bred in German 

 hands. It will be noticed that the flocks have all been recently 

 established, and, therefore, the possibility of a definite opinion. 

 is precluded as to the effects of change of climate, and other- 

 conditions. Some of the specimens, both of Southdowns and. 

 Oxfords, were, however, decidedly poor, and none of these trans- 

 planted English races could compare in bloom and beauty Avith 

 what are yearly to be seen at the Royal Agricultural Society's 

 meetings. It does not follow from this that the sheep have 

 deteriorated in foreign hands ; but it drives us to the conclusion 

 either that the best blood has never found its way to these flocks, 

 or that foreign food, climate, and management, tend to alter the 

 original type. 



German Merinos. — The first fine sheep noticed were those 

 exhibited by Herr Robert Gadegast, Thai Oschatz, Saxony. 

 Herr Gadegast is one of the first and most enterprising sheep 

 breeders of Saxony, famous as that country is for its high 

 quality of wool. His flock numbers 1000 head, and is devoted 

 to the raising of breeding-stock for sale, and the production of 

 good and fine cloth-wool. The sheep possessed, in a marked 

 degree, those points of excellence already noticed, and the thick 

 set of the Avool, the fine curl in each fibre, and the abundant fat 

 or grease, were especially noticed. The folds on the neck were 

 finely developed. 



Herr Adolf Heinrich Steiger, Lentewitz, Meissen, is another 

 Saxon breeder deserving of especial notice. His flock, which is 

 peculiar for the fineness of its wool, dates back to animals 

 brought by Prince Reuss direct from Spain, in the beginning 

 of the century ; and since 1840 it has been bred with the Saxon 

 Merino without any admixture of blood. The present stock num- 

 bers from 800 to 1100 head; and the production of " noble," 

 elastic, and durable cloth-wool, of equable quality throughout 

 the fleece, is the object of breeding. Rams clip from 7^ lbs. 

 to 15 lbs., and ewes 5^ lbs. to 6^ lbs. of wool ; and the fattening 

 of sheep is not practised. 



Herr Alfred von Rudzinski-Rudno, of Liptin, showed Super- 

 Electoral sheep from Prussian Silesia, very fine, thoroughly well- 

 grown, and with a fine stubble. There is a flock of 1000 head, 

 and the average clip is 3 lbs. of fine high-quality wool. These 

 sheep gained medals in Paris (1855) and London (1862). 



Herr Carl Hugo Kayser, of Haubitz, Grimme, Saxony, enjoys 

 a great reputation as a breeder of Rambouillet sheep, and in con- 

 nection with the same race, Herr Ferdinand Schwartz, of Lappen- 



