SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN TEXAS. 31 H 



iiig to any other trick, at leasts commits no fraud ! On the whole, I 

 would push towards neither extreme. In your climate, I think you Avill 

 have to obtain pretty dai'k-colored and oily rams to keep up the' proi)er 

 medium in that particular in your full-blood American Merino flocks, and 

 still oilier and darker ones, to produce that medium in a cross with coarse 

 sheep. 



The wool of the French crosses I have described was a shade coarser 

 and a shade lest " stylish" than fair American Merino wool. But the 

 difference in cleanness was in its favor, and the difference in lijieness was 

 so little against it, that every lot I mentioned sold, or could have been 

 sold separately, in July, for forty-four or forty-five cents a pound. An 

 intelligent breeder of these, and of French full-bloods, candidily admitted 

 to me last winter, that he considered the former worth quite as much as 

 the latter for Avool-growing. Under common care, and exposed to any 

 disadvantages, I think they would prove most profitable. And such a 

 cross would promptly give additional weight of fleece, and especially 

 size, to American Merino flocks deficient in either particular. But 'the 

 cross must airways be well made not to result in fiiilure. 



Seleotiox of Sheep — The points of a good Merino's carcass are, 

 good but not extraordinary size for the variety, the barrel well rounded, 

 the chest deep, the cross full, the back level forwai-d of the hips, the loin 

 and buttocks comparatively wide, the flank and twist well let down, the 

 neck round and set on level with the shoulders, the head fine but broad 

 between th(^ nars, the eye lively and mild, the legs straight and moderate- 

 ly long, the whole figure wearing a marked appearance of compactness 

 and solidity. 



The degree of throatiness is rather a matter of taste. It is a great im- 

 pediment to smooth and I'apid shearing ; but as a badge of blood, and as 

 an indication of that loose, large skin which is a characteristic mark and 

 valuable property of the highbred Merino, (and which is often found 

 without throatiness,) it is liked to a reasonable extent by most breeders. 

 The skin should be of a fresh pink color — not dead white, and especially 

 not tawny. 



The wool of the Merino should be compact at all hazards, and of aa 

 great length as can be found united with compactness. It should open 

 with some appreciable resistance to the hand, not drop apart at the touch, 

 like the fur of furbearing animals. The pile, in addition to its fineness, 

 should be finely and regularly crimped from one extremity to the other. 

 This is an important indication of quahty, and in the case of the American 

 Merino, of blood. The pure French sheep does not so perfectly or so 

 uniformly exhibit it. The interior of the wool (after it has gained length 

 subsequently to shearing) should be brilliantly glossy, and when properly 

 opened by the hand, every spire of its crimped^filaments should seem to 

 be moving, as if instinct with life. This last appearance (of which I can 

 give no definite idea on paper) is the highest possible indication of good 

 breeding. A dry, lustreless appearance, especially a dead appearance, is 

 very objectionable. If, in addition to this, the wool is destitute of crimp, 

 it is wholly mferior. Except near the outer end, wool should be white, 

 or of a faint golden tinge. If saffron-colored near the skin, it is " yellow- 

 ed," (by some abnormal secretion,) and injured for sale. Slightly brown- 

 ish or nankeen-colored wools, unless so stained by earths, indicate defec- 

 tive breeding. French wools are oftener of this color than those of any 

 Other family of the Merino. 



The gum whi ^h is permitted to exist, should be on the outer extremity 



