SHEEP. 301 



will be of finer texture, owing to the Merino cross. The ewes can be counted as valuable 

 breeders at seven or eight years of age, and will, in their prime, average a clip of eight 

 pounds of wool. The breeder can keep his flock up to this standard by using every third 

 year a Merino ram on the ewes. The sale of early lambs, however, will be the chief source 

 of revenue to him, and, in order to realize the best prices, a Southdown ram should be used 

 for the sire of the market lambs. 



The effect of breeding a Southdown ram on these Cotswold-Merino ewes will be of no 

 advantage to the fleece of the offspring; on the contrary, it will have a tendency to decrease 

 the weight and length; but the change in this respect is scarcely perceptible, and the advan 

 tages arising from this cross for mutton more than compensate for the loss in wool. The 

 lambs from the Southdown ram will be of more compact form, mature earlier, and take on 

 fat more readily than the Cotswold-Merino lambs. Ninety per cent, of them will have the 

 distinguishing marks of the Southdown, in brown faces and legs This adds nothing to their 

 real value as mutton, but it assists the breeder very materially in disposing of them at the 

 highest market price. This will be more readily understood by those who have experience 

 in selling lambs, and know the very decided preference butchers give lambs that show their 

 Southdown origin in black or brown faces and legs. Aside from the advantages mentioned 

 above, a grade flock bred in this way are, owing to the constant infusion of fresh blood 

 necessary to keep up the proper standard of the flock, remarkably healthy and vigorous.&quot; 



The Oxforddowns, though comparatively but recently introduced into this country, have 

 been found very valuable in crossing with the common sheep, as they readily transmit their 

 valuable qualities, rendering the fleece heavier and increasing the size of the carcass, besides 

 rounding it out in the more desirable points. 



Kespecting the improvement of breeds, Col. Robert W. Scott says: &quot;The sheep 

 which are called native/ or common, in the West, are a hardy and prolific variety; but 

 they are deficient in size, in thrift, and in fleece. Though the general diffusion of them 

 proves their adaptation to the circumstances in which they are placed, yet it is well known 

 that the tendency which all animals have to adapt themselves to climate and subsist 

 ence may be materially modified and controlled by judicious crossing, and that the 

 improvement made by these crosses becomes permanent, and thereby stamps distinct 

 varieties of the same class of animals. Chiefly by these influences (crosses, climate, and 

 subsistence) the Bakewell, Oxfordshire, Saxony, Cotswold, and other varieties of sheep have 

 been produced; and their distinctive features, in congenial localities, are as indelible as those 

 of the stocks from which they were produced. In the same manner, no doubt, still other 

 varieties maybe produced; nor does there appear to be any insuperable difficulty in blending, 

 in the same animal, any number of valuable qualities which are not actually antagonistic to 

 each other. These principles extend even to points of fancy merely. For example, some 

 breeds of sheep are hornless, while others have two, three, and even four horns. The Syrian 

 shepherd delights in a breed whose tails are so long and fat that wheels are required on which 

 to draw them over the pastures; but we prefer sheep with short tails, and perhaps a breed 

 might be produced as destitute of them as are dogs of some breeds. 



There are other important considerations which make the frequent crossing of sheep 

 desirable, if not indispensable. Dr. D. II. Dadd says: c It is now a well-ascertained fact that 

 health and vigor can only be perpetuated by not running too long on the same blood. The 

 best variety of sheep I have ever known (putting fineness of fleece aside) was the mixed 

 Bakewell and Southdown. Sir Robert Smith, in his prize essay for the English Royal 

 Agricultural Society, says: Having tried experiments in every possible way, I do not 

 hesitate to express my opinion that, by proper and judicious crossing through several genera 

 tions, a most valuable breed of sheep may be raised and established. 



The tendency of all improved breeds of all domestic animals to relapse to their original 



