96 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



To fix it in its entirety may indeed prove impossible, 

 if we have but one animal possessing this unusual 

 excellence. The best that we can do is to breed it, 

 supposing it to be a ram, to a number of the most 

 likely ewes and save the ewe lambs that come near- 

 est the type sought. Should any of these ewe lambs 

 show weakness of constitution they must be rejected, 

 or Ft least ignored in this effort, and the strong ones 

 may be bred to their own sire. The progeny of 

 them will carry three-fourths of his blood, and will 

 be much like him in* appearance and character. Sup- 

 posing, now, there happen to be two lambs each 

 having unusual quality, possessing this desired 

 type, each sired by the same sire but by different 

 dams. They may be bred together and another 

 step taken towards fixity in character. 



It is worth considering that in breeding a ewe to 

 her own sire one is not inbreeding more than when 

 he breeds together two animals born from two ewes 

 and having a common sire. The closest inbreeding 

 is when a ram is bred to a ewe having the same 

 mother as well as the same sire. 



There is absolutely no other way to fix type or to 

 get great uniformity in a flock than this system of 

 inbreeding. It has been adopted to a greater or less 

 extent by all the great improvers of breed. 



There are certain dangers inherent in a system of 

 inbreeding. Nature permits a certain amount of it, 

 but it is done always under the law of combat. The 

 strongest male gets possession of the females ; thus 

 nature's weaklings, no matter what the form or 



