THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. 109 



In the opinion of the writer, the surest test of 

 good meat is its fat and how it tastes and looks 

 when on the table as a cold joint. 



Many farmers are now crossing the Oxford 

 and Shropshire breeds. The Oxford gives size 

 and the Shropshire gives flesh. 



Sheep reared in England giving the most 

 marketable wool are the Lincoln, the Shrop- 

 shire, South Down, Oxford, Hampshire, and 

 Leicester. 



About Wool. 



The sheep breeders of Saxony examine the wool 

 of their sheep under a microscope, and only 

 breed from those sheep whose wool is found to be 

 the softest and most abundant. By this careful 

 and scientific method the sheep-breeders of 

 Saxony have been rewarded by producing a breed 

 of sheep yielding an abundant supply of the 

 softest and most beautiful wool. 



Sheep do not shed their coats at certain periods 

 of the year like many other animals. The South 

 Down flockmasters, however, tell us that at 

 certain times of the year the wool or fleece lifts, 

 or "is up," which means that a certain division 

 between the wool and the skin takes place, and 

 then it is that the shears run easily, and the 

 labour of shearing; is much lessened. 



O 



The lifting of the fleece is really caused by the 



