THE MERINO CROSSES. , 135 



There are many other flocks similarly bred in Austria and Hun- 

 gary, and all are reported as being equally satisfactory. In refer- 

 ence to these sheep, a German agricultural journal published in 

 Vienna, in its issue of June 2, 1873, remarks as follows : " We" 

 cannot sympathize with the complaints of the admirers of high, 

 fine wool, looking as we do upon the farmer as a merchant who 

 must keep up with the times, and supply the wants of the market. 

 As the public have ceased to ask for the very fine cloth which was 

 so highly valued 50 years ago for its beauty and durability, no one 

 can complain that the manufacturer turns his attention to cloths 

 of coarser quality, suitable to the present public taste. When the 

 manufacturer no longer requires so much of the high, fine wool, 

 the price falls, and the farmer ceases to produce an article that is 

 no longer profitable." There could certainly be nothing more 

 pertinent to our own case than this. The same need has found its 

 same remedy here, and the Cotswold-Merino is largely bred for 

 the production of market lambs, and some of our best breeders are 

 giving their attention to the establishment of permanent flocks of 

 this cross, with promising results. 



THE SOUTHDOWN-MERINO. This cross has been tried with 

 success ia Germany upon a middle quality of land, not sufficiently 

 productive to support the heavier bodied Cotswold-Merinos. The 

 first cross-bred sheep possess good feeding qualities, and when bred 

 together without further crossing, keep well up to the standard of 

 the parents. The Arch Duke Albrecht has a flock of 1,400 of this 

 cross, of which some specimens were exhibited at Vienna. The 

 wool is rated as middle fine, weighing 3 Ibs. to the fleece in the 

 shearlings, and 3 Ibs. in the two shearlings. This cross made 

 upon grade Merinos, is very common in the United States, where 

 early market lambs are produced, there being no fatter, better, or 

 more desirable lambs to the butcher, although there are heavier, 

 than those from this cross. As in the Cotswold-Merinos, the first 

 cross is the best for interbreeding. 



THE LEICESTER-MERINO. This cross is a somewhat unusual 

 one, and does not appear to have been made with a view to the 

 permanent establishment of a new race of sheep, except in rare 

 instances where the possession of a suitable breed of Merinos and 

 the taste of the proprietor have been coincident. In one case only 

 has the effort to establish this cross been reported in any publica- 

 tion of wide circulation. The history of a flock of about 500 Lei- 

 cester-Merinos, bred by M. E. "Pluchet, of Trappes, France, given 

 to the Central Agricultural Society, of France, in January, 1875, is 



