MATING AND SELECTION. 137 



gives a large surface for putting on flesh, and also affords more 

 space for the abdominal organs beneath it. For mutton breeds 

 small bone is desirable; large bone takes a correspondingly 

 greater supply of nutriment in the form of blood, etc., which 

 would otherwise be employed in building up the fleshy tissues, 

 hence it is a superfluous quantity, and for a like reason horny ap- 

 pendages can be dispensed with. Rotundity of frame is an ex- 

 cellent attribute, supplying as it does an extended surface for the 

 attachment of the muscles of the back and loins. A soft mellow 

 feeling to the skin is another good quality to be sought after, 

 showing as it does that the cellular tissue underlying it is in a 

 healthy condition, and that fatty cells are being formed in its 

 meshes. The point sought after in breeding is a well formed 

 animal, its frame plentifully supplied with flesh, with as little 

 bone and gristle as possible. The flesh should be distributed 

 largely on the loins and quarters, correspondingly less on the 

 head and neck. Where a large development of flesh exists a 

 disposition to fatten will also be found, and for this to be profit- 

 able the animal must be capable of quick maturity. A number 

 of the prominent breeds, especially those of mutton qualities, 

 have been improved and owe their present state of excellence to 

 judicious cross-breeding, and while this is a fact, it has been 

 demonstrated that no more difficult task in breeding animals 

 than successful crossing can be attempted, calling for not only 

 the application of correct principles, but a degree of practical 

 judgment and shrewdness, which in some persons seems to be in- 

 herent with their nature, while others may strive a lifetime and 

 never acquire the science. Time and time again useful breeds 

 have deteriorated by the injudicious application of cross-breed- 

 ing, some fatal defect having been overlooked only to appear ex- 

 aggerated in the progeny. 



Again there is hardly a breed of long-wooled sheep which 

 has not been improved by the admixture of Leicester blood, 



