FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 101 
ways attends highly artificial varieties and families. 
What so weak, worthless and miserable as a bad 
family of Short-Horns or a bad family of Dishley 
sheep ! 
In giving my opinion of the comparative profitable- 
ness of the best French and the best American Meri- 
nos, I will adopt the language of the most noted public 
advocate of the former, Mr. A. B. Allen. He recently 
wrote to me: 
“The hardy American Merino, properly selected 
(mind that, properly selected), is undoubtedly best for 
the ordinary sheep master, and most profitable as a 
wool producer.” 
This by no means, however, establishes the fact that 
the French Merino is without high value in our coun- 
try. Col. Rotch’s remarks in favor of a cross between 
that and the American Merino have been noted. Mr. 
Patterson, in answer to an inquiry on that subject, 
writes to me: 
“T have tried the cross between the French and 
Spanish [American] Merinos, and suceeeded beyond 
my expectations. Indeed, as a wool growing sheep 
in the hands of most farmers, and to be kept as sheep 
are generally kept throughout the country, I have never 
seen a stock which I thought as profitable, both for 
wool-grower and manufacturer. * * * Thave bred 
them since 1848, and for the last ten years I have bad 
more of this kind than all others, although I have 
always kept a flock of pure Spanish, and have always 
put French rams to my French ewes, making my cross 
by putting French rams to my Spanish ewes, not that 
I think that principle of breeding the best, but it costs 
much less money to doit. And while this cross with 
me has always been a very profitable wool-growing 
