I 



SHEEP-FARMING. 43 



350 lbs. The policy of introducing such sheep into this 

 country is, however, doubtful under the present circum- 

 stances of our flocks ; there being so great a disparity in 

 type and wool, nothing would be gained in the matter of 

 wool, as no cross that could be effected with our fine- 

 woolled breeds would result in anything but shortening 

 and weakening the wool of the English blood, and vice 

 versa, destroying the characteristics which give it value ; 

 and it would be a long time before any distinct class of 

 wool could be produced in sufficient quantity to assert 

 its claims in the markets ; but where a vein of the English 

 blood already exists it will form an excellent basis to 

 refine on with English or French Merino ; and with a 

 few years of refining, a very useful and valuable class of 

 wool, and a valuable animal, will be the result. At an 

 earlier date in the formation of the types of our breeding 

 stock, a strain of these English breeds would have been 

 of the greatest value, but the opportunity has passed for 

 the generality of our fiocks. There are, however, certain 

 native coarse-wooUed breeds — instance the Cordova and 

 the Pampa (which, if steadily crossed with the English 

 long-woolled rams — Coteswold, Leicester, and Lincoln) 

 would, in a few generations, produce a wool of special 

 value, and a breed, perhaps, the most suitable for certain 

 localities — in the locaHties in which the native long- wools 

 still exist, and in others more or less similar, such as in 

 and about the Sierras, Bahia Blanca, &c. In the case, 

 too, of Creole sheep, or ordinary Mestizo, a couple of 

 crosses of some of the English long-wools, and subsequent 

 persistent crossing with tlie Eambouillet, would establish 

 a very useful class. 



The strongest analogy in circumstance and climate, with 

 the most marked difference in results, exists between this 

 country and Australia and Tasmania. Both countries 



