1 8 PURE-BRED SHEEP. 



quality and size, and it would be an easy matter to trace several 

 Royal Winners which have been sired by, comparatively 

 speaking, small rams. Some breeders recommend that one ram 

 should be selected annually with the object of beg-etting- ewes to 

 keep up the flock, and this sug-gestion is certainly deserving- of 

 serious consideration. At any rate it is of primary importance 

 that the ewes should be kept up to a high standard, and this is 

 one way of doing so. As before stated, the size should, if possible, 

 be secured in the ewe flock, and the stamp or impress through 

 the sire. 



In breeds where bright cherry skins are valued, this fact must 

 not be forgotten in the selection of the sires ; and, at the present 

 time, when such great things are expected from Foreign Buyers, 

 it is important to give special attention to the wool, and endeavour 

 to breed, so as to obtain, in the whole flock, an even and uniform 

 class of wool, of extra quality. If a Foreigner visits a farm to 

 select 20, 30, or 50 rams, as the case may be, he will insist on 

 taking sheep with fleeces of uniform fineness and staple, and, 

 even for the home market, uniformity in the wool products must 

 be to the advantage of the breeder. 



Rams from old-established flocks are recommended, as they 

 are undoubtedly the most reliable and the most impressive. This 

 is accounted for, no doubt, by the greater strength of blood, 

 inherited by a long course of careful, and probably, close breeding. 



When ram lambs are used it is even more desirable to resort 

 to breeders of renown, as lambs from newly formed flocks 

 usually show to better advantage in the early stages of their life 

 than from old established ones. This is explained, probably, by 

 the fact that they possess better digestions, and therefore develop 

 earlier, not having been so closely bred as the older flocks. 

 For the foregoing reasons, and the fact that, to place young 

 animals in the order of merit requires great judgment and fore- 

 thought, the use of ram lambs cannot in most breeds be too 

 strongly condemned, although in others, notably the Hampshire, 



