CHAP. II. 



CROSS-BRED SHEEP. 



517 



breed must be used, of course exercising judgment as to what the flock 

 is deficient in. This, in a few words, is the management of my own 

 Mock. I could not enumerate all the crosses of sheep now in the several 

 counties, but wherever numbers of lambs are seen growing hair and 

 not wool on their legs more like goats than sheep this is one of the 

 surest signs of improper crossing. Of one thing I am certain, .that, if 

 properly managed and not intended as a show flock, or a ram-breeding 

 flock, no sheep fatten with so little extra corn as the cross-breeds." 



Instructive papers on "Cross-bred Sheep," by Messrs. H. J. Elwes 

 and W. J. Maiden, appeared in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society, 3rd series, vol. vi., 1895, p. 221. 



The Shepherd's Dog (fig. 132) performs so important a part in the 

 management of sheep, that some notice of his qualities cannot be 

 deemed irrelevant to the subject. The variety delineated occurs chiefly 



Fig. 132. The Scotch Collie or Sheep Dog. 



in the extensive sheepwalks in the northern parts of Britain, where 

 the purity of its breed appears to be preserved in the greatest perfec- 

 tion. His docility and sagacity surpass those of every other variety of 

 the canine race. Obedient to the voice, looks, and gestures of his 

 master, he immediately understands his commands, and almost his 

 wishes, and instantly and cheerfully executes them. A well-trained 

 dog of this kind is an invaluable acquisition to a shepherd. Public 

 " trials " of sheep-dogs take place in Wales and Scotland, and are 

 occasionally held in some parts of England, but it is open to question 

 whether they have much effect in stimulating shepherds to train 

 young dogs. Amongst the Down breeds, upon the arable sheep farms 

 f England, the " bob-tailed " sheep-dog is mostly seen. 



