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are concerned, not true at all. In my opinion, no better 

 spot could be selected for a sheep farm than the slopes of 

 the A.lleghany mountains. They are well drained, they are 

 fertile, they abound in native grasses, they are convenient 

 to market, they supply a safe refuge from the heats of sum- 

 mer and from the chilling blasts of winter, and from the 

 vexatious annoyance of flies. But I would not advise the 

 growing of heavy sheep except on the level plateaus. The 

 hardy Merino, the nimble and fleet footed Cheviot, would 

 find on the sunny slopes of these mountains a home far 

 more congenial than upon the Pyrenees of Spain or the 

 Grampian hills of Scotland. The natives found on these 

 mountain heights are as fleet as the deer and as healthy. 

 The wool is very white, soft as fur, firm, lustrous, true, 

 and the sheep show a beautiful adaptation to the locality 

 which they occupy. These natives, crossed with Merino 

 or Cheviot, would give the very best sheep for the moun- 

 tains. The words of Darwin on this subject are full of 

 wisdom for the enlightened flock-master. He says: 



"The most common and profitable use of crossing has 

 been to improve common breeds of animals, or rather to 

 transform them into the improved breeds. This has be- 

 come so common in all parts of the country, that it is not 

 necessary to dwell upon it; it is never amiss, however, to 

 remind farmers that improved animals always need improved 

 care and feed. Five or six crosses, with careful selection, 

 will transform almost any scrub animals into thoroughbreds, 

 ' or into animals that cannot be distinguished from thorough- 

 breds, and which, for all practical purposes, are equal to 

 them. It would, then, require but a lew years of united 

 endeavor to canse the scrub animals to disappear from every 

 part of our country, and animals as good as our best 

 thoroughbreds to take their place, were it not for the in- 

 creased requirements of such animals, and the apparent im- 

 possibility of so suddenly modifying our agriculture as to 

 provide the necessary conditions for their existence." 



