The Improvement of the Flock 151 



is necessary to consider the blood lines and type of 

 the ewes to which he has been bred in comparison 

 with those of the flock in which it is proposed to 

 use him. If he had made a strong impress for good 

 upon his get from a large number of ewes or even 

 a smaller number of varied strains, it would indicate 

 strong prepotency. Fortunate "niches" come from 

 some matings that are not duplicated when either 

 parent is paired with a new mate. Even with the 

 greatest effort, one cannot be certain he is procuring 

 a great sire. With reasonable care, even in choos- 

 ing an untried animal, he can avoid an objectionable 

 one. Fortuitous niches and unusual strong sires 

 are procured by continually aiming for the best to 

 be had, and the men who own them always owe their 

 good fortune to good judgment and careful study 

 more than to chance or extraordinary financial 

 resources. 



Testing rams. — In the larger pure-bred flocks 

 where breeding is most carefully done, a young ram 

 is always tested before being used extensively. Of 

 course, only those of best individuality and parentage 

 are considered as sires, but they are required to 

 demonstrate their prepotency before receiving an 

 opportunity to impress any great number of offspring. 

 A practical way of making such a test is to breed the 

 ram to five or six ewes or possibly a smaller number 

 of old ewes whose breeding record is known well 

 enough to allow a clear estimate of the ram's influ- 



