CROSS-BREEDING. 211 



A large proportion of our farm-stock, for a long 

 time to come, must necessarily consist of the so-called 

 " natives " and the grades that have been produced 

 from them by various crosses. These animals have 

 the advantage of hardiness, but they are not good 

 feeders, and do not arrive at maturity at as early an 

 age as the modern pure breeds. When crossed with 

 the best of the meat-producing breeds, they are at 

 once improved in these important qualities in which 

 they were before deficient, while in the quality of 

 their flesh they may be equal, if not superior, to the 

 more highly-bred animals of the pure breeds. 



In the pure breeds in which the fattening qualities 

 have been highly developed, an excessive activity of 

 the formation of fat may be readily induced, in con- 

 nection with a deficiency in lean flesh that diminishes 

 the real value of the animal when it reaches its final 

 destination on the block. The value of such animals 

 consists in their ability to transmit to their offspring 

 their general form, with the tendency to mature early 

 and fatten rapidly. 



When such animals are crossed upon natives or 

 grades of inferior quality, it is not surprising to see 

 in their offspring a quality of flesh that in its propor- 

 ions of lean and fat is superior to that of either par- 

 t. 



In speaking of a cross of the Lincoln and Leices- 

 r sheep, Mr. Mosscrop says : " The cross improves 

 the size, the quantity of wool, and the quality of the 

 mutton, although perhaps the distinguishing feature 

 of the pure-bred Leicester propensity to fatten at 

 an early age is somewhat impaired. 



