EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 565 



in one sheep the heavy aii-rl robust carcass of a. iiiuttou sheep with a 

 dense, heavy fleece of the fliie-wooled Merino. To produce and main- 

 tain this cross most breeders use the Cotswold ram through his period 

 of service and then a Merino ram, using the best of either breed when- 

 ever a ram is required. The cross yields from 6J to 8 pounds of washed 

 wool, which commands a good price in the wool market. The carcasses 

 will average 160 to 180 pounds, and are good mutton. In some locali- 

 ties the Ootswolds have fallen into disrepute on account of what is vul- 

 garly termed their "snotty nose" condition. 



The Southdowns, however, are the favorite mutton sheep and main- 

 tain their ground, particularly in the neighborhood of the cities, where 

 the best of mutton is in demand, and since 1883 renewed interest has 

 been shown in breeding them. The Oxfords, Hampshires, and Shrop- 

 shires all took a fresh start about 1885. Shropshires numbered 

 one-fourth of the whole, or more than double what they had done 

 at any previous day, and they have made much headway since. There 

 are some good breeding flocks kept in the State which are maintained 

 by yearly importations from the best flocks of England. One who has 

 had an experience of sheep-breeding extending over thirty years, during 

 which time he had bred the Southdowu, the Leicester, the Cotswold, 

 and the Lincolnshire, and for ten years the Shropshire exclusively, 

 asserts that for the general farmer in the Central and Southern States, 

 where the land ranges in value from $40 to $50 per acre, there is no 

 breed of sheep that pays better profit for keeping than the Shropshire. 

 They combine all the good qualities of other breeds, and in many respects 

 greatly surpass them. As compared with Southdowns, which are 

 acknowledged to be their equals as to general hardihood and excellence 

 of flesh, they are superior in size and in the quantity and quality of 

 wool. Eams of this breed have beeu known to weigh 300 pounds and 

 give 15 pounds of wool. A cross of the Shropshire ram on the Merino 

 ewe gives a good result in muttou, but not the quantity of wool to 

 enthuse the Ohio wool-grower. 



The Oxford Downs are not so widely extended as the Cotswolds, the 

 Southdowns, or the Shropshiies, but they have staunch friends and in 

 some sections of the State- are preferred over all others. They are pre- 

 ferred for crossing on the common and grade Merino ewes. This cross 

 secures a fine, large carcass of excellent mutton qualities, shearing very 

 large fleeces of good wool, and the sheep are strong and healthy. A 

 cross on a flock of Merino ewes that averaged 6^ pounds of wool per 

 head gave a progeny that sheared, when lambs, 6 to 10 pounds. An 

 Ohio breeder, in a communication to the Sheep-Breeder and Wool- 

 Grower, states that the average weight of his Oxford ewes, ranging 

 from one to five years, in good breeding condition, on the 1st day of 

 September, 1890, was 193 pounds aud the rams 325 pounds. Their 

 fleeces in the spring of 1891, at twelve months and five days' growth, 

 averaged 11 pounds and 14 ounces. For crossing on the native ewes of 



