170 Western Live-stock Management 
a sheep known as the three-quarter-bred. The three- 
quarter-bred ewe has a coarser fleece than the half-bred 
but somewhat finer than the long-wooled ram. These 
ewes are, therefore, mated to a Merino ram. The off- 
spring of this mating is known as the first come-back and 
has a fleece of a finer staple than the regular half-bred. 
The first come-back mated to a, pure-bred Merino ram 
produces the fine or second come-back, a sheep which 
closely approaches the Merino. The process ends at this 
point and the fine come-back ewe is bred to a good mutton 
ram and the progeny all sold for mutton, none of the ewe 
lambs being retained for breeding purposes. 
One might at first think that this ewe would serve for 
a long-wooled cross again, but as a result of her mixed 
breeding her offspring will be very irregular and con- 
tinued zigzag breeding will finally result in a run-out stock. 
It is an established fact that one cannot repeat this cross- 
breeding process and be successful. On the contrary, 
it is necessary to go back to pure-bred Merino stock 
every few years, and experience has shown that the fine 
come-back is as far as the cross-breeding can be profitably 
continued and that deterioration is very rapid after this 
point is passed. The system described is not used to a 
great extent in this country, but during the last few 
years has attracted considerable attention on account of 
its success in Australia and New Zealand. An ‘objection 
raised to it by the range-meni is that a breeder would have 
to have several bands and that one man would not be able 
to handle it. This objection hardly holds, since it is only 
during the breeding season that separation is necessary. 
A man not sufficiently experienced to tell the ewes of va- 
rious stages could use the following system of identifica- 
tion, Pure-bred Merino ewes, the half-bred ewes, and the 
