252 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



It is wholly of the Merino class, except for its length and 

 want of curl, and makes a most excellent cross with the 

 Merino. 



We pass on to the most useful cross-bred sheep we have, 

 the Shropshire, and there we find perhaps the most remarka- 

 ble of all the results of cross-breeding upon the fleece. This 

 sheep has been little thought of as a wool-bearer, but to the 

 wool student it has a special fitness as an example of what 

 has been done by crossing, for future use in this direction. 

 Fig. 19 shows a wool that is unmistakably made up of the 

 Southdown, fig. 20, Leicester, fig. 18, and Cots wold, fig. 21. 

 The mingled features of these three fibers are as plain to be 

 seen as the three primary colors in the rainbow. The cupped 

 form of the Leicester, modified by the closer imbrication 

 of the Southdown, and the more uneven outline of the Cots- 

 wold, are all plainly to be found in this drawing; and the 

 wool of this most popular sheep, next to the Merino, finds 

 its place in the manufactory in special uses for which the 

 sorter puts it on one side. 



All these specimens are of the coarser clothing wools. 

 They enable the manufacturer greatly to extend his classes 

 of goods and find variety to please the wearer. That this 

 opening for variety is filled, we cannot believe. In fact we 

 must believe the very contrary, for if there is any one thing 

 the world is pining for at this time, it is variety in every 

 way. And thus the wool grower may well exercise his in- 

 genuity, or tempt fortune, in attempts to strike something 

 new that may be valuable and increase the demand for 

 wools of all kinds. The opening is enormous. Twenty years 

 ago we boasted of an annual product of nearly 70 million 

 pounds of wool; now we think 300 million pounds a small 

 affair, to be increased as may be possible. In this vast in- 

 crease, we have surpassed all prognostications of experts. 

 How mueh more we may progress in the future, who 

 can tell? We are using nearly as much foreign wool as we 

 produce, and much of this we may grow at home. But we 

 may look for changes such as have occurred in late years 

 in the greater use for long Merino wool, arid we cannot doubt 

 there are many special qualities that will come into exten- 

 sive use as soon as they appear on the sheep's back. And 

 this must grow out of crossing the breeds we have rather 



