68 BREEDING OF SHEEP. 



Q. What precaution should be taken, that the ram 

 may give no bad qualities to the lambs, which he be- 

 gets ? 



A. It is proper to use such rams only, as are well 

 shaped, healthy, and well covered with wool. 



Q. At what age should ewes be put to the ram ? 



A* From the age of eighteen months, to eight 

 years : at six months, they give signs of heat, and will 

 take the male ; but they are too young to produce 

 good lambs, and after eight years are too old : good 

 lambs have been had, from ewes of a more advanced 

 age,* but they are in their prime at four years old. 



Q. What are the defects and bad qualities, which 

 ewes may communicate to their lambs ? 



A. Their size, wool, and many diseases : the lamb 

 partakes of the bad qualities of the ewe and ram from 

 which he comes : it is proper to choose white ani- 

 mals for coupling, or such only, as have their faces 

 and feet marked. 



Q. What is proper to be done to increase the size 

 of sheep ? 



A. It is proper to choose the largest ewes of the 

 flock, and to put them to rams still larger than them- 

 selves : from the first generation, the lambs will be 

 larger than their dams, and almost as large as their 

 sires, and sometimes larger. 



Q. What evidence is there of this increase in the 

 size of sheep ? 



* There were ewes at Rambouillet, which were brought from Spain 

 in the year 1786, then two years old, and which produced good lambs in 

 the year 1800, when they were at least 16 years o\d....Huzard. 



