408 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



flat rib. The ribs should be long to give ample feeding and breeding 

 capacity. The sheep is usually inclined to be droopy and narrow 

 behind with a thin leg of mutton carrying a small amount of flesh. 

 The head and neck, forequarters and body are given about the same 

 rating on the score card for both the mutton and fine-wool types. 

 However, the hindquarters are given only eight per cent for the fine- 

 wool type as compared to 16 per cent or double the amount for the 

 mutton. This is readily understood when we consider that it is in 

 the leg that we get the greatest amount and the highest priced meat in 

 the mutton type, and that meat is of little importance in fine-wools. 



Wool. Since the wool is the principal source of income from 

 the Merino sheep, it must be given special consideration. It is the 

 most important factor in the true Merino type. When judging a 

 ring of fine-wools almost half the rating is based on the fleece. The 

 score card gives the wool a value of 45 per cent in the Merino as 

 compared to only 12 per cent in the mutton type. The wool of 

 the Merino is shorter than in the mutton type, but it is very thick 

 over the entire body, carrying well down on the face and legs and 

 is remarkably fine in quality, having a very close crimp and an 

 exceedingly soft texture. The yolk is abundant and gives the sheep 

 a dirty and oily appearance because it collects and holds dust and 

 foreign particles. Many sheep of this type possess folds on the neck 

 and shoulders, and in some cases they appear on the body and thighs, 

 affording more area for the growth of the wool. (Ind. Circ. 29.) 



Live Stock Improvement. The quickest, cheapest, and surest 

 method of live stock improvement is up-grading. By this is meant 

 the mating of the common grade stock of the farm with a pure-bred 

 sire. It is not practicable nor possible to replace all the live stock 

 of the farms of Indiana with pure-breds, for less than two and 

 one-half per cent of the live stock of the state is registered. It is 

 possible, however, and would be highly profitable, to replace all the 

 grade, cross-bred, and scrub males which are being used as sires, 

 with males which possess the breeding that will insure improvement. 



Up-grading is economical because the sire mates with the entire 

 female herd, while the influence of the female is limited to a few. 

 The well-worn expression, "the sire is half the herd," is more than 

 true. The influence of the sire extends to all the offspring produced. 

 Since the sire is pure in breeding, the young will resemble the sire 

 more than the dam ; i. e., the pure-bred sire is prepotent over the 

 dam. It requires nearly as much feed to keep a poor animal as it 

 does a good one. The annual cost of maintenance is practically the 

 same. The greater cost of the pure-bred sire over the scrub is more 

 than returned by the increased market value of his first crop of off- 

 spring. 



The rate of improvement in up-grading is rapid and certain. 

 The first cross with a pure-bred sire produces an animal that is one- 

 half pure. When this animal is mated with a pure-bred sire the 

 offspring is three-fourths pure. The third cross produces a seven- 

 eighths _ pure-bred, or a very high grade, and the next, an animal 

 which is fifteen-sixteenths pure. For market purposes, the high 



