3 6 Deer Breeding for Fine Heads 



The bull calf, who is now rising three, is a very fine stag for 

 his age, with rather a Roman nose ; why he has this I do not 

 know, as none of the deer from which he is descended show this 

 feature. I have an idea of crossing him with a breed of deer different 

 from any of the above in order to ascertain if all kinds of round- 

 horned deer are fertile amongst themselves. 



In making these experiments it is important to have all the 

 deer ear-marked, and descriptions of each recorded in a book, as. 

 otherwise it becomes impossible to know, except by very careful 

 examination, with what animal any particular deer has been crossed. 



By constantly seeing them I am, however, able to identify the 

 individual deer in my own paddocks. 



The oldest of this triple cross looks the finest, healthiest stag 

 I possess, although he is, of course, not so big as the pure-bred wapiti 

 or Altai stags ; his colour is more the dun of the wapiti than the 

 orange or red of his two other ancestors. I believe that in this 

 triple cross I have come nearest to the original ancestor of the deer 

 family, the " cave " drawings representing Roman-nosed deer. He 

 is at present a royal. 



I have imported some Russian red deer as being larger than 

 the Scotch, and have also 'crossed the half-bred wapiti stag with 

 red deer from Warnham Park in order to try to get as many 

 points as possible. I find the Warnham hinds give the best heads, 

 as indeed might be expected, since they are specially bred for heads. 

 I have a four-cross stag calf, wapiti-Altai-red-deer and maral, 

 and intend to cross this with a sambar hind. 



