CLIMATIC INFLUENCES. 115 



% 



of practice, are fully satisfied to pay the enormous sum of 

 five thousand dollars for an outbred Merino rani. We must 

 not suppose the experienced breeders of that great sheep 

 rearing country are wanting in common sense, or do not 

 know precisely what, they want; and when a ram bred in 

 Tasmania sold for this great price the Australian breeder 

 was well aware what he was about. The Tasmnnian climate 

 is intermediate with the dry hot plains of Australia, and this 



"VICE-PRESIDENT." 



Hon. Jas. Gibson's Grand Champion Merino Ram, sold at Melbourne Ram 

 Sales for 1,000 guineas ($5,000). 



gradual change of climate goes a great way to secure the 

 most desirable results through the gradual acclimatatiou 

 of the sheep. The pictures here given of the rams thus pur- 

 chased show the fullest good sense and business ability 

 and shrewdness of the buyer. The excess of wrinkles on 

 the -sheep is precisely what is wanted in breeding on smooth 

 bodied sheep, and to increase the weight of the fleeces of the 

 progeny of these rams. But the gradual acclimatation is 

 worth still more, for it is an indispensable matter with 

 Australian breeders to preserve the full and hardy constitu- 



