200 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



lows : " It appeared, then, that in order to untie the 

 Gordian knot whose threads I have traced, inasmuch 

 as one could not increase the purity and antiquity of 

 the blood of the rams, one must diminish the resist- 

 ing power, namely, the purity and antiquity of the 

 ewes. With a view to this new experiment, one 

 must procure English rams of the purest and most 

 ancient race, and unite with them French ewes of 

 modern breeds, or rather of mixed blood forming no 

 distinct breed at all. It is easier than one might 

 have supposed to combine these conditions. 



" On the one hand, I selected some of the finest 

 rams of the E"ew Kent breed, regenerated by Goord. 

 On the other hand, we find in France many border 

 countries lying between distinct breeds, in which dis- 

 tricts it is easy to find flocks participating in the two 

 neighboring races. 



" Thus, on the borders of Berry and La Sologne, 

 one meets with flocks originally sprung from a mixt- 

 ure of the two distinct races that are established in 

 those two provinces. Among these, then, I chose 

 such animals as seemed least defective, approaching, 

 in fact, the nearest to, or rather departing the least 

 from, the form which I wished ultimately to produce. 

 These I united with animals of another mixed breed, 

 picking out the best I could find on the borders of 

 La Beauce and Touraine, which blended the Touran- 

 gelle and native merino blood of those other two dis- 

 tricts. From this mixture was obtained an offspring 

 combining the four races of Berry, Sologne, Tou- 

 raine, and merino, without decided character, . . . but 

 possessing the advantage of being used to our climate 



