CHAPTER XII 



CROSS-BREEDING FOR WOOL AND MUTTON 

 PRODUCTION 



One of the most difficult problems which confronts the 

 range-man is the maintenance of his cross-bred breeding 

 stock. It has long been known that the combination of 

 the Merino with long-wooled or mutton breeds is the best 

 and most profitable one for the range when it is desired 

 to improve the mutton qualities without sacrificing wool 

 production. The Merino blood furnishes the fineness 

 of wool fiber and the flocking propensity so essential on 

 the range, while the long-wooled breeds lengthen the 

 wool staple and improve the mutton conformation. This 

 type of ewe is easily obtained by crossing long-wool rams, 

 such as the Lincoln, on Merino ewes. A more difficult 

 problem is holding the cross after having produced it. 

 These cross-bred ewes mated to a fine wool ram produce 

 offspring more nearly resembling the INIerino, while mated 

 to a Lincoln ram, much of the Merino quality disappears. 

 By mating back and forth, using sires ranging from the 

 Merino to the long-wool, a great variety of types more 

 or less profitable are produced and in time the flock be- 

 comes a mixture of all kinds and types and even some of 

 the individual fleeces show much variation in different 

 parts. With this zigzag method of breeding the ewe stock 

 is constantly deteriorating, and the fleeces becoming more 



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