SHEEP—UNITED STATES, NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA. 13 
no means least, the type represented by the photo could not be better designed 
as an attraction for the blowfly. The thick fleece, excessive grease, tight 
wrinkles combine to set up conditions extremely favorable to the operations of 
the maggot fly. 
In order to show the contrast between a stud Merino ewe of 10 years ago and 
the present day, another photo is inserted in this article, and it is safe to say 
that as a commercial sheep it represents almost the ideal type of Merino. With 
sheep of this type there is a chance of maintaining, to say nothing of building 
up, constitution. There is also a chance of maintaining evenness of length and 
quality throughout the fleece. This type of sheep also carries a characteristic 
that adds to its value, viz, a freedom from excessive grease. The wool handles 
free and soft, and is less liable to accumulate dirt and rubbish. Viewing these 
two photos side by side throws a good deal of light upon Merino history of the 
last decade or so, and they tell the following story: 
In the first place the early breeders started off scratch and type was fairly 
uniform. As the years went on and the breeders brought the results of their 
experience into operation they gradually divided themselves into two main 
bodies. One side remained fixed in its idea as to what constituted a commer- 
cial sheep and a sheep most suited to Australian conditions. It kept to the 
plain body and the light fleece. The other side steadily set out to improve the 
weight of fleece. People of this opinion also noted that the tendency of sheep 
run in the hot interior was to get light and fuzzy on the back, and they con- 
sidered that more yolk or grease was necessary to counteract this. And so 
the two factions pursued their different ways, one side sticking to a plain, 
ordinary-looking sheep, while the other quickly developed a type that could not 
fail to excite the wonder and admiration even of those opposed to the type. 
Breeders of this school endeavored to put on weight of fleece, and they found 
that as they mated for density more folds and wrinkles were produced. It soon 
came to pass that they found their best stud sheep among the wrinkly ones, 
and the doctrine spread that weight of fleece could not be maintained, let 
alone increased, unless there was plenty of “development” in the stud sheep. 
The leading Merino shows helped to force this doctrine upon the public, and for 
years the principal prize winners at shows were the most wrinkly sheep. 
The lesson that Australian sheepmen were learning was expedited and 
eventually brought to its crisis by the enterprise of several wealthy and promi- 
nent breeders, who imported the densely clad, heavy-yolked Vermont sheep. 
These sheep set an ideal before sheepmen who favored that type, and the zenith 
was soon reached. * * * 
While all this progress was taking place those breeders who remained firm in 
their belief in the plain-bodied, free-wooled type of Merino increased their 
efforts to improve their sheep without departing from those lines. They pre- 
dicted that a reaction would take place, and they made themselves ready to 
meet it. The pendulum swung back to the plain-bodied sheep, and in doing 
so gave such an impetus to the owners of the big, plain-bodied, grass-fed stud 
flocks that they improved their sheep out of all recognition. Take any of the 
big stud flocks in Riverina, western New South Wales, and South Australia 
to-day and it will be seen that the sheep are superior in every way to their 
best standard of 10 or 15 years ago. The frames have been built up into better 
symmetry and heavier fleeces have been put on without loading the sheep with 
additional grease or body wrinkles. The achievement of results in breeding 
is necessarily a slow process, but Merino history has been made so fast in 
Australia within the last 10 years that the ideal type of sheep has become 
universally acknowledged. Where 10 years ago there was discord on this 
subject there is now harmony, and all practically agree as to the ideal type. 
