lOG 
Iiifliience of Climate, S^-c, on Sheep. 
some comment, and 1 refer to it with the greater pleasure 
because it points to the key-stone of successful cross-breeding. 
We will assume that we have a flock of rough mountain ewes, 
and we want to produce a class of sheep which can be sent away 
for feeding upon better land, and under a more favourable 
climate, and which must not only possess a hardy character, but 
also be valuable for producing mutton and wool. For such a 
purpose we must find a ram having the qualities which the 
ewes do not possess, or, in other words, the ram must be well 
bred, with a strong aptitude for the formation of flesh, fat, and 
wool. The ewes possessing hardy constitutions, being good 
breeders and excellent nurses, will bring those qualities to per- 
fection which are imparted by the ram, and thus the combined 
result will be satisfactory. It may be inquired whether the 
same ram would not have produced better lambs if bred with 
superior ewes. That entirely depends upon the points in which 
these latter ewes are superior ; if, as will be generally understood 
by the term, we mean ewes of higher feeding powers and better 
fleeces, and consequently less active breeding powers, then I 
anticipate that the produce of the rough mountain ewes will be 
the more profitable. Stronger and more healthy lambs would 
be produced ; they would be better nourished by such ewes ; and 
from the ram there would be an uninterrupted transmission of the 
strong tendency possessed by him for the formation of meat and 
wool. This rule is not confined to sheep, I have already given 
instances of the same results with both cattle and pigs, and I 
believe it will be found to occur almost invariably. The most 
perfect cross-bred animal that can be produced will result from 
a female possessing the best constitution, most active breeding 
powers, and a tendency to produce a good supply of milk, crossed 
with a male distinguished for good pedigree and representing a 
high development of those qualities desired in the offspring. The 
one has strength of hereditary power which enables it to convey 
the desired character to the offspring, and the other is fully com- 
petent to carry out its full development. 
It may be truly and justly remarked by those whose herds and 
flocks occasion them anxiety and losses, — in consequence of their 
weak and delicate constitutions, or from the difficulty experienced 
in breeding from them with regularity, and also from the natural 
supply of milk being deficient — that they cannot all breed from 
mountain sheep nor their immediate descendants, and therefore the 
evidence advanced does not meet their cases. I would, however, 
submit on the other hand that it has been proved * that ail these 
difficulties arise from an irregular and injudicious course of 
* ' Journal of Royal Agricultural Society,' vol i. p. 262, second series. 
