THE MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP ON THE FARM. 5 
produce them after the flock is once established. There is also more 
stability in their values than in those of market stock. 
Certain artificial advantages have been set up by the establishment 
of the breeds, because of set regulations that must be met as a condi- 
tion, of registration under these breeds. For instance, no matter 
how nearly a grade may approach a purebred in identity of blood 
lines, it never becomes eligible to registry in the associations of the 
well-established breeds. 
CROSSBRED SHEEP. 
At times the market, or the natural conditions of a new country, 
may demand a type of sheep that can best be produced by crossing 
two breeds. If a demand of this nature is other than temporary a 
new breed is developed, or the existing breeds are so changed that 
they fulfill the demand. The Corriedale sheep of Australia and New 
Zealand are a breed resulting from crossmg to meet market demands. 
As a rule, crossing is not very satisfactory. The reasons for this are 
that the breeding stock must be maintained separate or brought in 
from outside the flock and that the lambs are not very uniform, espe- 
cially after the first generation. Some English investigations indicate 
that crossbred sheep are less fertile, but it is doubtful whether there 
is enough difference in this respect to be of any importance. 
Cross breeding among the medium and long wool breeds has been 
rarely practiced in America. Crossing the fine wools with the 
medium and long wools has been done to a considerable extent in the 
range country, but to a rather limited extent upon the farm. The 
general practice has been to use mutton rams upon merino ewes. 
The object of this crossing has been to improve the mutton qualities, 
or, in other words, to meet a market demand. In England cross- 
breeding is a very common practice; purebred ewes, after producing 
several crops of lambs, being mated to rams of other breeds. 
GENERAL TYPE OF SHEEP FOR THE FARM. 
The farmer’s sheep should be a wool and mutton sheep, with 
emphasis upon mutton. This “dual purpose” sheep, if the name be 
permissible, is a proved success, and it is already represented in some 
of the breeds. The best type is the most profitable combination of 
wool and mutton. The investigations of the Tariff Board‘ indicate 
that sheep farming for wool alone is unprofitable. In investigating 
543 flocks of the fine-wool section of Ohio they found that when there 
was a net credit to wool the percentage of receipts from wool was 38 
and from other sources 62. If the raising of sheep for wool alone does 
not pay in this region, it probably would not in any other part of the 
farming section. 
1 Report of the Tariff Board, vol. 2, pt. 2. 
