THE INFLUENCE OF THE BREED-MAKER. 11 



of a Lincoln. It may not be impossible, but it is far from being 

 realised. 



Great weight of wool of finest quality, with a carcase of higher 

 class mutton that is with a great preponderance of lean meat 

 of choicest quality, and with but little fat when matured is the 

 natural aim of all breeders, but there is great natural antagonism 

 to its realisation. Good wool and good meat are found together, 

 and when the weights of wool which many of the breeds now 

 among our best produce, are considered with the very poor yields 

 which were given when the ancestors of these breeds were in an 

 unimproved condition, it has to be admitted that great work 

 has been done. But great weights of fine wool are obtained from 

 breeds which have a special tendency to develop fat on the backs ; 

 in other words, heavy fleeces grow out of big beds of fat, and the 

 fat-backed sheep the longwools produce mutton that does 

 not rank as first-class. Moreover, those who can afford to pay 

 a high price per pound of mutton will eat very little fat, and it 

 is only in a few districts where a superabundance of fat is appre- 

 ciated even among those who cannot afford the highest prices. 



In view of the fact that the English sheep raiser is preferentially 

 placed in being able to market his mutton in a fresh condition 

 whilst the foreigner has to chill or otherwise preserve his, it is 

 obvious that whenever circumstances permit it is desirable to 

 aim at producing mutton of the highest quality so as to secure 

 the highest prices. The natural conclusion to draw from this 

 is that the quality of the meat should not be sacrificed to the yield 

 of wool. In practice farmers have appreciated this, because for a 

 number of years farmers where the indigenous breeds have been 

 longwools giving poor quality meat have seen the advantage 

 of crossing their sheep with Downs to improve their meat at some 

 sacrifice of the wool. This in itself is a good practical proof of the 

 farmers' view of the matter they want better mutton, and they 

 can make more by improving their mutton than by maintaining 

 the fleece at its old weight. If it were not so, crossing longwools 

 with Downs would not be followed to the extent that it is. At 

 the time of writing, all mutton is easy of disposal ; but in times of 

 over-supply or of trade depression, mutton of poor quality is very 

 difficult to sell at remunerative prices, whereas high-class mutton 

 is always saleable. 



This gives rise to the question are modern methods of pure 

 breeding not being carried out with, or having a tendency towards, 

 too much observation of the wool interests at the expense of the 

 quality of the meat ? This is, admittedly, a very controversial 

 question, but it is asked with the purpose of producing an illustra- 

 tion showing where a good feature may be developed to excess. 

 Other features might be dealt with, but the one selected is one 



