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breed their sheep; anything that could stand the hardships of 

 the country would suit them; they have to rough it and to 

 starve to an extent which could hardly be understood by 

 anyone who has not been in the country. 



Well, I am not going to take up your time by picking to 

 pieces Dr. Young's statements. I am perfectly satisfied that 

 Professor Wallace will be absolutely with me on three points. 

 First of all, that it is most desirable in the interests of tropical 

 agriculture that this question should be investigated, because 

 I think this is much more an animal for sub-tropical countries 

 than for England. I believe that the inherent power of 

 producing skins of this type probably exists in all sheep, but 

 that it has been developed in a special district by environment 

 coupled with selection and climate, and that if we could only 

 go to the fountain-head and get direct a few of the best rams, 

 we could find, I venture to say, much better breeds to cross 

 with them than the one Professor Wallace has already tried. 

 Because if he can succeed at the very first cross with a ram 

 who had "mongrel'' stamped on every feature of his 

 character if he can produce at the very first cross of his 

 ram with two of the coarsest and least lustrous-woolled 

 sheep two such skins as he has shown us on the screen to- 

 night, it would evidently be very much easier to do so with 

 properly selected animals. If I had been going to conduct this 

 work I should have chosen m-e most lustrous animal I 'Could 

 find, the Wensleydale. Now when I was at Bristol last year 

 I took particular pains to inquire from a Russian gentleman, 

 the principal stock expert of the Russian Government, and 

 although he did not say so point-blank, it was pretty evident 

 to me that the Russians do not mean anyone else to have the 

 right sort of thing, and if we want to get them we must go to 

 Afghanistan. But if we are going to start a new industry, 

 and certainly one which may be a most profitable and valuable 

 industry to some of our Colonies, we shall have to do it through 

 Government support. I myself was prepared two years ago 

 to send a man at my own expense to Bokhara to try to get 

 this sheep, but I found it absolutely impossible. They will 

 not let you have them even if you go in the name of Zoological 

 Gardens. Professor Ewart has tried in vain to introduce the 

 sheep to the Scottish Zoological Gardens, and I believe the 

 Scottish Board of Agriculture would be much more likely to 

 succeed than ours. Here is something which can be done 

 more easily by Scotchmen than by anybody else, because when 

 they have turned their minds to sheep they have always beaten 

 all other nations. And I think if the South African or the 

 Queensland Government would take this up something would 

 come of it. I certainly hope it will not be blocked, because 



