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 Merino, 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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