[139] 



these three crosses, breed a Southdown ram. In the first 

 cross with the Merino we get more fleece of finer quality, a 

 long-lived, healthy sheep. Such ewes, bred to a Cotswold, 

 will nearly double the weight of fleece, giving it more 

 length, and at the same time increasing greatly the size of 

 carcass. Breed these Cots wold- Merino ewes to a Cotswold 

 ram again, and the produce will approach very near a full 

 blood Cotswold in size and appearance. The fleece will not 

 be quite as long or heavy as the Cotswold, but it will be of 

 finer texture, owing to the Merino cross. The ewes can be 

 counted as valuable breeders at seven or eight years of age, 

 and will, in their prime, average a clip of eight pounds of 

 wool. The breeder can keep his flock up to this standard 

 by using every third year a Merino ram on the ewes. The 

 sale of early lambs, however, will be the chief source of 

 revenue to him, and in order to realize the best prices, a 

 Southdown ram should be used for the sire of the market 

 lambs. 



The effect of breeding a Southdown ram on these Cots- 

 wold- Merino ewes will be of no advantage to the fleece 

 of the offspring; on the contrary, it will have a tendency 

 to decrease the weight and length ; but the change in thi& 

 respect, is scarcely perceptible, and the advantages arising 

 from this cross for mutton more than compensate for the 

 loss in wool. The lambs from the Southdown ram will 

 be of more compact form, mature earlier, and take on 

 fat more readily than the Cotswold-Merino lambs. Ninety 

 per cent of them will have the distinguishing marks of the 

 Southdown, in brown faces and legs. This adds nothing to 

 their real value as mutton, but it assists the breeder very 

 materially in disposing of them at the highest market 

 price. This will be more readily understood by those who 

 have experience in selling lambs, and know the very de- 

 cided preference butchers give lambs that show their South- 

 down origin in black or brown faces and legs. Aside from 

 the advantages mentioned above, a grade flock bred in thi& 



