134 THE SHEPHERD'S MANUAL 



the cross-bred sheep could be fed more cheaply, for the same 

 weight of flesh, than the pure breeds, with but one exception, 

 that being the Cotswold. The same necessity to make the most 

 profit on the least expenditure, exists with American as with the 

 English, French, and German farmers, and we are discovering, as 

 they have done, that the cross-bred sheep bring the most money 

 to their owners. In England, through the operation of this fact, 

 there has been established for some years past a system of ram 

 sales, at which breeders of pure blood sheep offer their surplus 

 rams for sale or for hire by the year. By this means farmers are 

 enabled to select for themselves such breeding animals as they 

 may need. These sales are attended by purchasers from all parts 

 of Europe, Australia, and South America, and also by a few of the 

 more enterprising breeders of the United States and Canada, or 

 their agents. At the Vienna Exposition of 1873, where there were 

 exhibited several cross-breeds of sheep which were highly satisfac- 

 tory, the favorable results of this system were prominently set 

 forth. The most conspicuous of these was 



THE COTSWOLD-MERINO. These are fine examples of sheep. 

 They are without horns, with bare faces resembling the Cotswolds, 

 but with the pink noses of the Merino; the ears are slightly 

 drooping, and the top-knot shorter and less abundant than in the 

 Cotswold. The wool is much finer than in the Cotswold, very 

 bright, with good curl, thickly set on the skin, and well filled 

 with liquid yellow oil, but free from solid yolk or gum. The 

 fleece is better closed than that of the Cotswold, and is easily kept 

 free from dirt and dust. The flesh is firmer than that of the Cots- 

 wold, and thicker than in the Merino, both back and ribs being 

 well covered. The girth taken over the wool averages 5 feet 8 

 inches. The wool is scant below the knee and hock. This is the 

 character of the first cross. When interbred without further 

 crossing, this character has been well maintained. The cross-bred 

 animals and their produce are of strong constitution, mature 

 quickly, becoming prime fat at 12 to 14 months old, and weigh 

 alive at that age 140 to 148 pounds. The flock from which some 

 of the specimens exhibited at Vienna were taken, numbered 340 

 head, and was bred by the Moravian Sugar Factory Company, of 

 Keltschan, Austria. The sheep are fed upon waste beet pulp from 

 the factory, a small quantity of oats, hay, and oil-cake, in addition 

 to clover pasture and mangels, which completes the round of the 

 year's feeding. The mutton is held in high esteem, and brings 

 the extreme price of 8 cents per pound, live weight, after the 

 fleece is sheared. 



