484 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXXIX. 



and, when manufactured, the goods gave sufficient evidence of its superior 

 value, did not the small proportion of seconds and inferior wool j)ut the 

 matter beyond all dispute. 



To this his Lordship adds — " Tliat 86 ewe hogs of this mixed breed 

 carried 235 lbs. 3 oz. of well-washed wool, and the cross with the South- 

 down sheep, both with respect to frame and wool, keeps pace with that of 

 the Ryeland *." 



These crosses with tlie Merinos have now, for the reasons which we 

 have already stated, very generally fallen off; and as combing- wool appears, 

 in the present state of our manufactures, to be more advantageous to the 

 grower than the inferior qualities of the British carding sorts, the breeders 

 of sheep are daily turning their attention to its production. There still 

 remain, however, some who follow a contrary system ; and to tliose it may 

 not be inappropriate to mention the account given by Dr. Parry, of Bath, 

 of the progressive amelioration of wool by the Spanish cross; which is as 

 follows : — 



" The first cross of a new breed gives to the lamb half of the ram's 

 blood, or 50 per cent. ; the second, 75 ditto; the third, 87 ditto; and 

 the fourth, 93J : at which period it is said, that if the ewes have been 

 judiciously selected, the diilerence of wool between the original stock 

 and the nnxed breed is scarcely to be discerned by the most able 

 practitioners." 

 The rules promulgated in Fink's " Treatise on the Rearing of Sheep in 

 Germany, and the Improvement of Coarse Wool,'' are — 



'To select, at the commencement of the undertaking, the finest 

 vvoolled rams and ewes that can be obtained for the first generation ; 

 for if those for the second race be finer than those used for the first, 

 time will have been lost in effecting the proposed improvement. 



In like manner, to employ rams for the subsequent breeds quite 

 equal to those for the first, or otherwise the intended improvement will 

 be retarded. 



If an unimproved ewe be tupped by a ram of a mixed breed, and 

 which has only one-fourth pure blood in him, the offspring will only 

 have one-eighth of that race ; and, by continuing to jjropagate in that 

 manner, a complete separation of the two breeds will be at length 

 eflecled. 

 Or the two modes stated by Luccock, in his " Treatise on Sheep," for 

 the improvement of fleeces, may be adopted : — 



" One, consisting in selecting those lambs for slaughter which have 



the least valuable coat ; the other, in bringing into the flock male 



sheep of the most approved breeds, in order that their progeny may 



perpetuate their best peculiarities." 



Although these rules were intended solely for the improvement of card- 



ing-wool, yet intelligent breeders will find no difficulty in ap[)lying them 



equally to long-woolled sheep ; and it appears likely, from the facts already 



recited, that the latter breed will henceforward command superior attention. 



Indeed, generally speaking, the best wool is that described by Mr. John 



Ellman, — the gi-eat breeder of Southdowns, — as thick and curly, with depth 



of staple, and even toped ; such a fleece, in short, as will best defend the 



sheep in bad weather, and will not admit the water to j)enetrate, as it does 



* In treating of the Ryelands, it may not be amiss to remark that they are not a 

 mountain sheep, as many suppose ; but though short-woolletl, small, and of superior 

 quality in regard to both tleece and mutton, they are bred in the vales of Hereford and 

 Ross^ on the very same laud with the large Hereford oxen. 



