242 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



When the breeding habit is changed by breeding and 

 selection combined, the change is affected in great part by 

 the sires chosen. The females set aside for such breed- 

 ing may be much mixed in their blood elements. In 

 selecting them the character of the inheritance need not 

 give much concern. Evidence of Merino inheritance 

 should be regarded with favor, as it w^ill, when present, 

 facilitate to some extent quick change in the breeding 

 habit. Some attention should be given to size and form 

 when selecting them. They should approximate what is 

 considered good mutton form and should have reasonably 

 good size. Moreover, they should have that roominess 

 of body and refinement of head, neck and limb that indi- 

 cate capacity to milk freely. 



Ewes thus chosen should be mated with rams chosen 

 from the Dorset or Tunis breeds. The mating should be 

 as early in the season as the ewes will take service, and it 

 may to some extent be hastened by giving the ewes nour- 

 ishing and succulent food. A certain proportion of lambs 

 will thus be obtained considerably earlier than such ewes 

 have been accustomed to breed, but not early enough, it 

 may be, to serve as milk lambs. The females that are 

 born thus early should be reserved for further breeding. 

 They should in due time be mated with a ram of the same 

 breed. If well sustained, a considerable proportion of 

 these will drop lambs in the early winter. The males 

 may be pushed forward and sold as milk lambs, but the 

 females should be retained for future breeding. If well 

 sustained, a very large proportion of these ewes — that is, 

 ewes of the second cross — will produce winter lambs. 

 With ewes of the third generation of such breeding, the 

 habit of producing winter lambs at the desired season 

 may be looked upon as practically established. The ewes 

 that do not show much advance in the time of breeding 

 can, of course, be discarded, but in well-managed flocks 

 it will be found that few of these will fail to breed much 

 earlier than the usual season for breeding. 



