250 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



breeder, and thus it is that there must be many failures to 

 be disposed of and continual study and comparison of results 

 before a satisfactory result may be attained. It is a life- 

 work rather than a chance, and the assistance of the manu- 

 facturer who needs the wool for his special purpose should 

 always be given in the work. The wool grower and the 

 manufacturer should therefore be in close communication, 

 and this not only in the distinct line of cross breeding, but 

 as well in originating and carrying into execution the union 

 of breeds, or individuals of the breeds chosen as the instru- 

 ments of the breeder. 



In the illustrations we have first the two elements of 

 the new Hampshire, the old Hampshire and the Southdown, 

 making an improved breed both for wool and mutton; a 

 solid carcass, with the size of the one and the fineness of 

 wool of the other. Then we have the new Hampshire and 

 the Cotswold, a new and an old breed, united to make the 

 Oxford having a coarser wool than the ewe, but a finer fiber 

 than the ram, and in these changes it is as easy to trace the 

 different bloods as if colors had been mingled. 



At fig. 15 we see the effect of the prepotent Southdown 

 blood in refining 'this wool, giving its cup-form scale, upon 

 which its softness, pliability, elasticity and less aptitude to 

 felt in manufacturing depends. By careful comparison we 

 may trace the infusion of the Southdown influence in the 

 improved sheep, which was, however, bred not for wool 

 but for mutton, and yet the wool we may see has been made 

 more valuable than that of the old race. It was also double 

 in weight of fleece by the larger carcass of the improved ani- 

 mal. And the fiber has been just so much changed as to be 

 adapted to a wider class of woolen goods than that of the 

 Southdown. 



Then w r e study fig. 16, the Oxford Down, a large sheep 

 of the Cotswold type, but as we see modified as to the fleece 

 by the influence of the Hampshire (the Southdown indi- 

 rectly) and the old Lincoln through the Leicester. The re- 

 sult of these crosses has been to make of the rougher 

 worsted Cotswold, a softer, finer fiber, suited for the finer 

 woolens used for man's softer clothing, shawls and knitted 

 underwear, for which the long, less adherent Cotswold fleece 

 is not fitted. 



