24 



and it is found in certain animals in which the grease, white, 

 hard, tallowy, and secreted in great quantity, causes the 

 wool to stick together, agglomerates and occasionally 

 entangles it. 



In this case, what a superficial examination might have 

 regarded as a quality constitutes a defect ; it is not thick- 

 ness, it is harshness, and the fleece is bad. 



A fleece of equal thickness, and properly formed on all 

 parts of the body, ought to be sought after, as also should 

 uniformity of wool and of grease. Now among a con- 

 siderable number of the animals so far examined, I have 

 remarked only too often the absence of these qualities ; many 

 of the fleeces are hollow that is to say that, on seizing a 

 handful, there is the feeling that the hand contains much 

 less wool than was at first imagined. 



When these fleeces are cut and spread they are no longer 

 compact they break, and the wool is thin and weak. The 

 changes in the nature of the grease in the same fleece are 

 frequent ; some times it is white and tallowy, bearing some 

 analogy to that of certain " Dishley's," whilst in other places 

 it is darker. Some fleeces have a tendency to transparency 

 on the back, which is a defective propensity, and can only be 

 met in one way that is, by excluding from reproduction such 

 animals as show this fault. 



We were enabled to ascertain the live weight of twelve of 

 the Australian rams, " prized" or " recommended." The two 

 heaviest weighed i cwt. 3 qrs. 15 Ibs. and i cwt. 3 qrs. 6 Ibs; 

 the two lightest only attained a weight of i cwt. o qrs. 19 Ibs. 

 and i cwt. o qrs. 10 Ibs., giving an average for the twelve 

 rams of i cwt. i qr. 13 Ibs. per head. It must not 

 hastily be inferred that this is the average weight of the 

 rams of New South Wales, being merely taken on a very 

 limited number of animals, all of which had attained "prizes" 

 or " honourable mentions." We saw a large number 

 amongst those taking no prizes of any kind and others sent 

 for sale, the maximum weight of which was very far from 

 reaching the highest figures given above; others again were 

 far below the weight of the lightest animals taken into our 

 computation. 



Be that as it may, the weight (i cwt. i qr. 13 Ibs.) before 

 cited is slightly less than the average of the Merino rams of the 

 " Bergerie Nationale de Rambouillet" at the age of thirteen 

 months. 



It may be asked what advantage New South Wales 

 breeders find in raising small wool-producing animals whilst 

 they use great efforts to produce horned cattle of large 

 proportions ? 



For a long time Physiology has recognised the fact that 

 the smaller the animal the more active its breathing, and 

 consequently, the greater its absorption of the substances of 



