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general characters. To do this look to the record book 

 already recommended, without which nothing can be re- 

 membered. Keep it aBso in mind that the ram must have 

 absolutely pure blood, as his character affects the whole 

 flock, and the slightest taint in him aifects the whole flock. 

 It is of the greatest importance that the ram should be 

 thoroughbred, it matters not whether the breeder's object 

 be wool or mutton. So strong is the tendency of the sheep 

 to " breed back," or return to the native scrub, that even 

 though a ram be three- fourths or four- fifths thoroughbred, 

 at least two-thirds of his progeny will resemble scrubs more 

 than thoroughbreds. It will, in the end, cost less to buy a 

 good ram from a trustworthy breeder than attempt to raise 

 the rams at home, as the admixture of new blood invigorates 

 the breed. Bear it in mind, also, that there is a constant 

 tendency to a retrocession to the original native breed, and 

 it is therefore necessary to guard against this and cull out 

 the offending animal. Without good feeding it is useless to 

 attempt a fine display of sheep, as a few generations of half 

 starved sheep will quickly end where it began. Want 

 of food makes bad sheep, as without it the full development 

 of the animal cannot take p'ace, and the want is soon per- 

 petuated in a diminutive size and inferior fleece. It is, in 

 other words, easier to go down hill than to rise an ascent. 

 Though the sheep, to all intents and practical purposes, are 

 considered full blooded after five crosses, which brings them 

 to thirty- one- thirty-twos, yet they are not, and according to 

 the rule of arithmetical progression, never can be, and the 

 lambs of some of those crosses will show the ancestry. 

 Therefore, in breeding for thoroughbreds, the start must 

 be pure. It may be proper here to state that a lamb, 

 according to a legal decision, ceases to be a lamb when 

 the first two permanent teeth appear, which is at one year 

 old. 



