504 



SHEEP 



says Mr. George A. Brown, the bleak climate of southern 

 New Zealand better than any other combination. Mr. Brown says 

 that in Australia the most successful flocks of crossbred sheep 

 he has seen were from crossing long-wool rams on Merino ewes. 

 The half-bred ewes are culled as though pure-bred, and those 

 selected for breeding are drafted into two lots, — one of long wool 

 and the other of Merino type. Merino rams are then used on 

 long-wool type ewes, and long-wool rams on Merino-type ewes. 

 Every year this selection is followed out, and a very even type 



Fig. 224. A very choice American Merino ewe, Albert Peck 412, showing folds 



to the extreme. Her lamb stands in front of her. Owned by S. M. Cleaver, 



Delaware, Ohio. From photograph by the author 



of sheep obtained. On large estates famous for crossbreds, studs 

 of Merino and long-wool rams are kept for this kind of mating, 

 which produces a class of sheep in favor with the butcher and 

 the wool of which sells well. The Corriedale (see Chapter LXI), 

 an Australian product, which since 19 14 has been attracting 

 some interest in the western United States, is the ultimate prod- 

 uct of a crossing process based on Merino ewes and Lincoln or 

 Leicester rams. The French have developed an important sort 

 in France, known as the Dishley Merino, the result of using 

 Leicester rams on Merino ewes. This line of breeding in France 

 was established early in the nineteenth century. 



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