136 Sheep-Farming 



If guided by what may be so learned of commercial 

 requirements and what is revealed of the difference 

 in value and cost of the product of individual mem- 

 bers of the flock, the best possible foundation is 

 assured. Should the pure-bred business seem at- 

 tractive at a later time, it may be entered in a very 

 favorable way. This, however, assumes that the 

 initial stock was pure bred and that the stock re- 

 tained for breeders has been kept registered. 



If one is unwilling at the outset to risk investing 

 the amount necessary to procure pure-bred stock, 

 equally valuable experience may be obtained with 

 high-grade females and pure-bred males. Such 

 stock may also furnish a good foundation for a 

 flock that it is intended to maintain for commercial 

 purposes only. In any case, the main point to be 

 considered is the actual individual merit of the 

 animals themselves rather than the fact of their 

 eligibility to registration. 



A novice cannot afford to expend his time and 

 study and bestow his crops upon animals that are 

 not bred to respond to skillful care and feeding. In- 

 dividually, good sheep are much more likely to be 

 found in pure-bred flocks than in grade flocks, but 

 they may be secured from the latter. If so, and they 

 have a sufficient number of crosses in them to guaran- 

 tee the transmission of their excellence, they are 

 good property. If such were procured by a person 

 who should decide in a few years to handle pure- 



