MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 459 



The Barbado second cross was entirely satisfactory, 

 and a beautifully smooth, figured, rich, velvet-black skin 

 was produced. 



Dr. Young obtained excellent results from breeding 

 Karakul rams to high-grade, fawn-coloured, Persian 

 fat-rump .ewes that were imported into the United States 

 a little earlier than his own sheep and were free from 

 fine wool. 



The Young Karakul Sheep Co., Ltd., Charlottetown, 

 P.E.L, Canada, has had some promising results by 

 breeding with Scotch black-face ewes, but the humid 

 climate is a hindrance to progress. 



There is a Mexican hairy sheep which would give 

 excellent results, as it has stiff hair instead of wool, but 

 most of them have been spoiled by Merino blood. 



Kelf-b!ood Karakul-Merinos and Karakul-Shropshires 

 were worthless. Young crossed some of his Karakul- 

 Afghan rams, sold to him as good Karakuls, with some 

 Lincolns, but got much inferior skins than from coarse- 

 wool Karakuls. The best of the latter's progeny were 

 sold under the name of " Persians "; and Henry Basch, 

 of the Dyeing Works of New York, and Speer of 

 Thorers, priced some skins as high as 2 ios., and 

 reported so to the Society of Agriculture in Washington. 



EXPERIMENTS IN SCOTLAND. 



An interesting experiment was initiated under the 

 auspices of the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College 

 of Agriculture and Board of Agriculture for Scotland, 

 when a Karakul-Duzbai ram was bought for 100 in the 

 autumn of 1913, through Dr. Young, from what he pro- 

 nounced to be the best flock of fur-producing Karakuls 

 in European Russia. 



In characteristic breed points the ram conformed 

 closely to what is looked for in a Karakul ram of high 

 breeding, with the exception that he had scurs in place 

 of horns, and that slight traces of fine under-wool were 

 to be found, especially near the root of the tail and 

 about the ears. He was mated, though a little late in the 

 season, to thirty-seven selected pure-bred ewes belong"- 



