22 



A weakness, resulting from consanguinity, must have 

 been produced in the first case in one manner, and in the 

 second with different effects. 



Amongst animals of another flock exhibited as pure 

 Merino, we find all the characteristics of race, although not 

 always in their full force ; occasionally only as distinctive 

 signs by which their origin can be traced. They resemble 

 somewhat the slightly angular form of certain types of old 

 Merinos the flank too marked, the side too flat ; but these 

 are their only defects. The chest is good, they are well set 

 on their legs, and the body is good. The fleeces of these 

 animals are well furnished ; they contain kemp (in common 

 with all those we have examined), and they are full of spiral 

 curls, also common to the generality of the exhibits ; the 

 grease is not uniform in all, being at times white, hard, and 

 tallowy, whilst in other animals it is of a deep brown, and 

 sometimes these two kinds of grease are to be found on the 

 same ram. On examining the wool towards the posterior 

 part of the body and on the tail, it presented a silky, wavy 

 appearance, which would lead one to think that whilst they are 

 descendents of rams of pure blood, the purity on the mother's 

 side was not so great when the flock was first formed. It is 

 even possible that they may be the issue of common sheep, 

 whose blood has been absorbed by the pure Merino. 



Few animals exist that leave nothing to be desired, and 

 the observations I have made respecting some of those 

 exhibited should be regarded only as intended to point out 

 one of the weak points of Australian breeding. 



Besides the rams of which we have just spoken, whose 

 qualities we do not dispute, some others are to be found 

 which may reasonably be considered as animals of a certain 

 amount of merit. 



Apart from the rams, a number of half-breds were to be 

 seen ; amongst them we remarked two animals, which we 

 thus annotated : 



"Conformation, middling, passably regular, well knit 

 " forms ; fleece well furnished all over the body ; good white 

 " grease, neither tallowy nor oily; that of the Tasmanian 

 " animals more oily ; thickness of fleece at shoulder, 0.085." 



Then we come to some rams in which we recognise no 

 merit. If any pure Merino exist among them the character- 

 istics of race are so changed that it would be impossible to 

 recognise them ; and these animals have become inferior to 

 really good half-breds. 



In order to show my idea of the purity of the exhibited 

 rams, I have given points to each one on the basis of 20 as a 

 maximum. The following is the result of my system : 



