120 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND THE FARMER : 



We may now refer to certain work in progress at the Animal 

 Breeding Research Department of the University of Edinburgh. 

 The aim of the Department is to bring to the aid of the practical 

 stock-breeder the methods of investigation employed by the 

 scientifically-trained research worker. An investigation on a 

 large scale has been commenced, in an attempt to improve the 

 fleece of the Scotch Blackface mountain sheep. These sheep 

 are famous for the quality of their mutton, but the fleece is one 

 of the least valuable of all fleeces, and has hitherto been exported 

 principally to America for the manufacture of carpet squares. 

 There is, however, a probability that the import duty on such 

 fleeces will be considerably increased by the American authorities, 

 in which case it may be no longer commerciaUy practicable to 

 send Blackface wool to America, and its disposal in this country 

 would be a matter of some difficulty. It was therefore decided 

 that an effort should be made to see whether it would be possible, 

 without affecting the quality of Blackface mutton, to raise the 

 quality of the wool to such a standard as would enable it to 

 command a market in this country. It is clearly not an experi- 

 ment which breeders of pedigree stock could be expected to 

 carry out on their own initiative, even under scientific guidance ; 

 for there is no guarantee that the quality of the mutton will not 

 be injuriously affected in the process of breeding for wool. The 

 question was therefore taken up by the Board of Agriculture for 

 Scotland in conjunction with the British Research Association 

 for the Woollen and Worsted Industries (Leeds), and at their 

 instigation the Department has secured the co-operation of four 

 well-known breeders of Blackface sheep, who have agreed to 

 undertake experiments on a large scale under the supervision 

 of the Department. 



The investigation was commenced in 1919 and is of a two- 

 fold character. In the first place, an attempt will be made, by 

 crossing, to introduce first-rate wool characters into the Blackface 

 breed ; secondly, an improvement in wool qualities by selection 

 within the breed will be aimed at. We will consider first the 

 " crossing " experiment. In order to introduce the required wool 

 character, it was decided to use the Southdown breed as the 

 second parent, for this breed produces first-rate mutton, as well 

 as wool of very high quality. It was hoped that by cross- 

 breeding the Blackface with the Southdown, and the production 

 of a large second cross-bred generation, it might be possible to 

 select animals combining the superior mutton qualities of the 

 one with the superior wool qualities of the other, at the same 

 time retaining the well-known hardiness of the Scotch breed. 

 Ten pedigree Southdown rams were therefore purchased by the 



