504 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [11 Aug., 1919. 



The second system is to class into two lots, the ordinary flock and 

 culls. For all practical pi^rposes the average sheep farmer, not having 

 Lis farm cut up into several paddocks, will find the second system a 

 eery simple and effective method of improving his sheep. If the culls 

 are taken out each year and good commercial rams of the same breed 

 or type as his flock are used, the fanner will very soon find himself 

 the OAvner of a uniform commercial flock, which is the prido of every 

 good flockmaster. 



The culls should never be bred from, but they should be fattened 

 and sold to the butcher. Farmers Avho have the welfare of the sheep 

 industry at heart should never sell the rank culls to a brother farmer. 

 The culls from high-class flocks should be gone through a second time, 

 and the worst of them should be taken out and sold to the butcher, or 

 be killed on the place for rations. The balance could be sold to some 

 farmer not so far advanced in sheep breeding. 



Sheep that should be Culled. 



Sheep of the following description should be culled : Small, under- 

 sized, weak-constitutioned, and unthrifty sheep, excessively cow-hocked 

 or turkey-legged sheep, slab-sided, ewe-necked, hollow backed, gcose- 

 rumped, narrow-chested, tucked-up, devils-gripped sheep, excessively 

 wrinkled sheep, bad mothers, sheep with kempy faces, sheep with under- 

 shot or over-shot jaws, sheep with black blotches inside the mouth or on 

 the tongue, and rams with black streaks in the horn or black hoofs. 



Sheep having the fdlcwing \ ool defects should also be culled: Any 

 sheep whose wool is less than H inches long at 12 months' growth ; sheep 

 showitig kemp through the wool; short-stapled, hard-woo'led, and exces- 

 sively yolky sheep having a yellow, sticky yolk ; sheep that strip their 

 belly wool and points ; sheep with black or coloured spots in the wool 

 or on the legs; sheep whose wool is thin, feathery, and light; sheep 

 showing excessive ropiness or lockiness; sheep with bad, watery bellies, 

 and showing a tendency to wateriness in the fleece; sheep having coarse 

 britches, and those showing coarse hair in the fleece; sheep with loose, 

 open backs; and sheep having straight, wiry, cross-fibred wool. (N.B. — 

 Small, well-defined black spots on the nose or on the ears are not of much 

 consequence.) 



Regarding bad mothers, I am often asked which sheep have the most 

 milk. Obviously, the best-constituted, roomy, large-framed, well-let- 

 down ewes are usually the best mothers. Now, in order to get good 

 mothers with plenty of milk, attention must be paid to the ewes at 

 lambing time. If there is an abundance of feed and a ewe with her second 

 or third lamb refuses to mother her offi-pring or has no milk, she should 

 be culled without hesitation. Young ewes with their first lambs could 

 be given another chance. The ewe that refu'=es to mother or cannot 

 rear a lamb in a good season is of no more use to a farmer than a wether, 

 and only by rie;orously culling such undesirables can a farmer expect 

 to build up a flock of s'ood mothers with plenty of milk. 



Study the Ram. 

 After the ewes have been classed the ranis to be mated to them niutit 

 be carefully examined. They should always be better than the ewes, 

 and should he i)articularly strong where the bulk of the flock is lacking 



