38 MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



seen up to date. They mature earlier, grow larger, stand shipping 

 well, and are market toppers. Next in rank, I believe the Cotswold 

 or Shropshire come and then the Lincolns. We have used all breeds 

 extensively, and our experiences have demonstrated the above con- 

 victions. 



"We have found it a difficult matter to secure sufficient Hamp- 

 shire ewes to afford the foundation for a good-sized flock. How- 

 ever, in the course of five years, we have got together about 700 

 head of purebred registered ewes, including this year's lambs. This 

 flock includes the Chilmark, Duke, Cochrane and other tpp studs. 

 Our sires we have bought at home and abroad, and I think we 

 are breeding twelve rams of this breed that are among the best that 

 ever came to the United States. 



"Our aim in breeding is to produce two types, first, the strictly 

 mutton type, and second, the wool-mutton type, both, of course, 

 being the Hampshire breed. In attaining the former type our 

 method is to breed our leggy, lengthy ewes to short, heavy-bodied, 

 blocky rams, and vice versa, the product giving us a uniform lot. 

 With this mutton class we use that type of Hampshire resembling 

 the Oxford Down, i. e., the open-wooled. The second or wool type 

 of Hampshire we get by selecting our heaviest shearing ewes and 

 serving them with a ram of like characteristics. We have two 

 imported rams which sheared twenty-six and twenty-seven pounds 

 respectively, as yearlings. We also have two and three-year-olds 

 which shear over twenty-five pounds. 



"The rams from the first, or mutton class, go direct to the 

 market from the range, whereas the increase from the second or 

 wool class, we keep for a foundation of our range flocks. We find 

 that by crossing this type of ram on the Merino range ewe we get 

 a one-half blood Hampshire large size, with strong Hampshire 

 markings that will shear us eight pounds of well bred one-fourth 

 blood and three-eighths wool. 



"We find that the Cotswold cross-bred lambs do not stand 

 shipping from range to market as well as either the Hampshire 

 or Shropshire, though under proper range conditions they make 

 rapid growth and take on plenty of fat. Where range conditions 

 are at all adverse they quickly show depreciation. W T e have main- 

 tained a large herd of pure bred Cotswolds for many years, but have 

 concluded to cross them with the Hampshire in order to insure 

 hardihood against range conditions, and to better equip them for 

 withstanding the hardships of shipping to market. We think that 

 the crossbred sheep, which will practically be an Oxford Down, will 

 afford better results than the Cotswold purebred. 



"There seems to be at all times an insatiable market for well- 

 bred Hampshires and Cotswolds. The chief handicap of the latter 

 breed has been in the fact that many inferior and poorly bred, dis- 

 eased animals have sought the western market. There would be 



