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breed their sheep; anything that could stand the hardships of 
the country would suit them; they have to rough it and to 
starve to an extent which could hardly be understood by 
anyone who has not been in the country. 
Well, I am not going to take up your time by picking to 
pieces Dr. Young’s statements. I am perfectly satisfied that 
Professor Wallace will be absolutely with me on three points. 
First of all, that it is most desirable in the interests of tropical 
agriculture that this question should be investigated, because 
I think this is much more an animal for sub-tropical countries 
than for England. I believe that the inherent power of 
producing skins of this type probably exists in all sheep, but 
that it has been developed in a special district by environment 
coupled with selection and climate, and that if we could only 
go to the fountain-head and get direct a few of the best rams, 
we could find, I venture to say, much better breeds to cross 
with them than the one Professor Wallace has already tried. 
Because if he can succeed at the very first cross with a ram 
who had ‘‘mongrel’’ stamped on every feature of his 
character—if he can produce at the very first cross of his 
ram with two of the coarsest and least lustrous-woolled 
sheep two such skins as he has shown us on the screen to- 
night, it would evidently be very much easier to do so with 
properly selected animals. If I had been going to conduct this 
work I should have chosen tue most lustrous animal I could 
find, the Wensleydale. Now when I was at Bristol last year 
I took particular pains to inquire from a Russian gentleman, 
the principal stock expert of the Russian Government, and 
although he did not say so point-blank, it was pretty evident 
to me that the Russians do not mean anyone else to have the 
right sort of thing, and if we want to get them we must go to 
Afghanistan. But if we are going to start a new industry, 
and certainly one which may be a most profitable and valuable 
industry to some of our Colonies, we shall have to do it througn 
Government support. I myself was prepared two years ago 
to send a man at my own expense to Bokhara to try to get 
this sheep, but I found it absolutely impossible. They will 
not let you have them even if you go in the name of Zoological 
Gardens. Professor Ewart has tried in vain to introduce the 
sheep to the Scottish Zoological Gardens, and I believe the 
Scottish Board of Agriculture would be much more likely to 
succeed than ours. Here is something which can be done 
more easily by Scotchmen than by anybody else, because when 
they have turned their minds to sheep they have always beaten 
all other nations. And I think if the South African or the 
Queensland Government would take this up something would 
come of it. I certainly hope it will not be blocked, because 
