Merino-Ryelancl Breed of Sheep. 523 



pens in other animals; but in none more evidently than the common mule, 

 which, when produced by a she-ass from a stallion, is weak and small, but by a 

 mare from a male-ass, sometimes reaches 15 or 16 hands in height, and is propor- 

 tionably large. In dogs, my experience has been exactly similar. Some years ago 

 I coupled a mastiff, 2 feet 5 inches in height to the top of the fore-shoulder, and 

 much the largest about the chest and neck that I ever saw, with a smaller tiiough 

 well-formed bitch. The offspring were of an intermediate height; but, compa- 

 ratively, long-legged, flat-sided, and narrow-chested. These facts collaterally 

 confirm the opinion of Mr. Cline, that, in order to procure healthy, stout, and 

 well-made offspring, our chief attention ought to be paid to the size and form of 

 the mother; and that a sire, extraordinarily large, by generating young, which the 

 dam is unable, at any period, properly to nourish, causes them either to be abortive, 

 or weak, lean, and mis-shapen. These principles we should always bear in view as 

 to our sheep; not forgetting, however, the due form of the ram, any more than his 

 appropriate size. The capacity of readily growing fat being, in this breed, one irtr- 

 portant point, the actual fatness of any individual ram kept with the rest, is a practical 

 evidence of that species of perfection, and should, therefore, have considerable influ- 

 ence on our choice. 



In every point of view it is probable that a ram of the cross breed is as good 

 for the purposes of propagation as an equally good Merino, and better than one 

 which is inferior. I hear a great deal of what is by the unlearned called Nature, and 

 and by those who fancy themselves more learned, Blood. But I would ask, what is 

 the import of these words ? Do thev mean certain mysterious properties inherent 

 in any one unmingled race? No. Our best race-horses are only mongrels; that 

 is, the produce of mongrel mares, either by pure Arabians, or by sires, which were 

 equally mongrel with themselves. Yet we do not hesitate to consider King Herod 

 or Highflyer as blood-horses, just as much as if they had immediately descended 

 from a pure Arabian sire and dam ; and we should certainly have preferred them 

 for propagation to any pure Arabian stallion, which was inferior to them in valuable 

 properties. These properties are very different in different animals. In a race- 

 horse, which is intended for running, they are speed and facility of breathing, united 

 with only a certain degree of strength. In this animal, fatness would be one of 

 the greatest evils. On the contrary, in a Leicester sheep, the marks of blood arc 

 smallness of bone, shortness of legs, and largeness of chest, all tending to fit him for 



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