CROSS BREEDING 41 



and the outcome of this crossing was the modern Cotswold. The 

 Hampshire when bred to the modem Cotswold produced the founda- 

 tion from which the Oxford has been developed, and it is possible to 

 continue, if necessary, with the enumeration of still other breeds that 

 have had their beginning from a cross between breeds. 



Apparently promoters of such breeds were inclined to consider 

 origin through crossing a discredit to the breed, for frequently they 

 attempt to prove that they did not originate in this way. Presum- 

 ably they believe that any breed which traces back to a cross will not 

 breed as true to type as one developed by selecting and breeding 

 together the best of a type or breed long common in a community, 

 as was the case with the Southdown. But this view is not necessarily 

 true. A type which undoubtedly breeds true, as we understand the 

 term, can be developed from animals resulting from crossing distinct 

 breeds. It takes time, however, to do this because the hereditary 

 material handed down by the original parents is capable of coming 

 together in so many different combinations. Characters which 

 seemingly have been eliminated reappear and breeders become dis- 

 couraged over the behavior of the strain they are trying to " fix " 

 so that it will be worthy of being called a breed. When Shrop- 

 shires were first shown at the annual show of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society of England they were markedly lacking in uniformity. 

 This was in 1857, but 15 years or more before the close of the 

 century they were breeding true to type, and when crossed on other 

 breeds their characteristics were sufficiently impressed on the off- 

 spring. What may be said of the Shropshire may also be said of 

 other breeds that trace to a cross between breeds. 



One of the latest breeds to be developed from a cross is the 

 Corriedale. In Xew Zealand three long-wool mutton breeds, Lin- 

 coln, Cotswold, and Leicesters, were crossed on Merino ewes. The 

 cross-bred animals were bred together and by eliminating the unde- 

 sirable types a breed has been evolved in the last 30 or 40 years 

 which is very popular with those New Zealand and Australian 

 breeders who wish to grow sheep for both mutton and wool. 



In the western part of the United States cross breeding has 

 helped sheepmen to solve the question of adaptability and at the 

 same time to meet the demands of the market. It has been found, 

 however, that mere crossing is a temporary expedient and that when 

 regions as a whole adopt it there is no economical way to breed in 

 order to get desirable breeding ewes. Therefore, western breeders 



