No. 4.] SHEEP RAISING. 149 



the Shropshire is one of the most popular of the so-called 

 <« mutton" breeds of sheep. Then, for size of carcass, the 

 Leicesters, Cotswolds and Lincolns all have their friends. 

 Thoroughbred rams of all of these English breeds of sheep 

 are in demand among tlie large wool growers west of the 

 Mississippi lliver, for the purpose of introducing special 

 features into their flocks from time to time. When the 

 ranchmen are prosperous, they prefer to change their rams 

 every two or three years, and many of them believe that 

 cross-breeding by the use of thoroughbred rams produces a 

 larger type of sheep than either of the parents ; hence, when 

 the JNIerino blood approaches the thoroughbred stage, they 

 will use some of the English families of rams for a brief 

 period, hastening to restore the Merino blood again when 

 the coarse wools and other crosses of the English sheep 

 become too apparent. 



An association could be formed of a sufficient number of 

 farmers in New England to produce thoroughbred animals 

 of any of the English or so-called " mutton " breeds of sheep, 

 and dispose of their stud rams and ewes in sufficient numbers 

 in other sections of the United States to divide a handsome 

 profit among themselves. But such sheep cannot be kept in 

 flocks of more than 30 to 50, and they must be pampered 

 and cared for with much greater zeal than even in England, 

 where the milder climate permits the sheep to get their living 

 out of doors practically throughout the year. It is some- 

 times said that these " mutton " sheep will poison a pasture 

 so that it cannot be used many years consecutively. This is 

 only true when the sheep are diseased, and transmit animal 

 parasites to the soil. No study in insectology would proba- 

 bly be more interesting than that of animal parasites which 

 are transmitted from other animals and through water and 

 vegetation to sheep. Just why the Rambouillet sheep are 

 so much less susceptible than Shropshires, Leicesters and 

 other English breeds of sheep to the numerous forms of 

 worms and other internal parasites, is a matter concerning 

 which some gentleman present may be better informed than 

 I am. I merely state a fact, which is as true as that some 

 races of human beings will live under conditions which would 

 be fatal to other races of the universal family of mankind. 



