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AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
203 
ses, have yet been preserved pure with even 
more rigorous care than tlie other breeds which 
we have mentioned. The solid frame and great 
feeding properties of the Herefords—the quality 
of beef and richness of cream, as well as the 
working properties of the Devons, are well known 
and generally appreciated ; and yet these quali¬ 
ties are insufficient to resist successfully the 
encroachments of the short-horns, whose early 
maturity and disposition to lay on both flesh and 
fat, joined with fair milking properties, are such 
that they outnumber both the other breeds com¬ 
bined. As, however, the leading purpose for 
which a breed of cattle is kept, is generally well 
defined, whether for the purpose of the dairy or 
for that and early fatting, or simply for beef or for 
working as well, and, as each of these purposes 
can be well attained by keeping a pure bred, there 
is not the same temptation or inducement to 
cross, which is often experienced in sheep farm¬ 
ing, in order to insure specific advantages, which 
can not otherwise be attained. 
This being the case, we may most advantage¬ 
ously devote our remaining space to the practice 
of crossing, as illustrated in sheep breeding. We 
may start, then, with this principle, that to cross 
for crossing sake is decidedly wrong; that, un¬ 
less some specific purpose is sought for by cros¬ 
sing, it is far better to cultivate a pure breed. 
The country is, indeed, under great obligations 
to those gentlemen, who carefully preserve their 
breed intact, and endeavor to improve it by weed¬ 
ing and selection. We can readily excuse their 
prejudices, if they have any, and have no wish to 
interfere with their creed. Let theirs be the of¬ 
fice to preserve our fountains pure and undefiled, 
and to supply others with the best sources of im¬ 
provement by crossing. And we do not confine 
our praise to those merely who, keeping in the 
high road of fashion, have succeeded in securing, 
both by prizes and prices, a full and sufficient re¬ 
ward for their labors, but would award it to those 
also who,keeping perhaps in the second rank, have 
yet supplied their neighbors and the public with 
valuable pure-bred sheep at moderate prices_ 
... .It has been truly said that the public is 
wise, though composed of fools ; and undoubted¬ 
ly, when the pocket is concerned, the decision of 
the public is, for the most part, correct. Thus 
at the various autumnal fairs large lambs are in 
the greatest request, and command the highest 
prices, which in itself is a sufficient proof that 
with a given amount of food they make a greater 
quantity of mutton. It was found indeed by Mr. 
Lawes, in his careful and valuable experiments, 
that the Hampshire sheep, although they were 
surpassed by the Cotswold, yet exceeded the 
Southdown in the amount of mutton raised from 
a given weight of food. 
The greater economy of fatting a young over 
an old animal may be readily explained by the 
fact, that whilst the latter increases in fat alone, 
the former does so both in flesh, fat, and bone, 
and thus the latter can assimilate a greater 
amount of the nutritious properties of the food, 
and is consequently a more profitable feeder.... 
... .Some thirty years since a Hampshire far¬ 
mer still living (Mr John Twynam) used the im¬ 
proved Cotswold ram with his Hampshire ewes, 
and the first cross exhibited a remarkable proof 
of the preponderating effect of the male. The 
produce, in size, general appearance, and wool, 
partook far more of the ram than of the ewe, and 
it was thought that a most valuable breed had 
been obtained, which, with the increased size, and 
weight of fleece, and disposition to fatten of the 
Cotswold, would combine the hardiness and fold¬ 
ing capabilities of the Hampshire. It was found, 
however, no easy task to perpetuate such a breed 
after the first cross—the defects of the one pa¬ 
rent or the other would appear and reappear in 
the second and third generation, and it was only 
by careful weeding that anything like uniformity 
could be attained.... 
... .To return, however, to our proper subject, 
we may observe that various attempts were 
made some years since to introduce the merino 
blood, with the idea that great benefit would be 
derived from the increased quantity and the su¬ 
perior fineness of the wool ; and undoubtedly, if 
the carcase of the Southdown and the wool of 
the merino could be united in the same animal, 
the acme of sheep breeding would be attained. 
It was found, however, that the quality of the 
wool was not a sufficient recompense for the 
want of early maturity and feeding properties ; 
and at length, after many trials, the merinos dis¬ 
appeared by the continued use of other rams. It 
is very possible, however, that they may have 
left behind them some improvement of the fleece, 
for it is equally difficult in breeding to get rid 
of a virtue and to wash out a stain.... 
,...We can not do better, in concluding our 
paper, than gather up and arrange in a collected 
form the various points of our subject, which ap¬ 
pear to be of sufficient importance to be again 
presented to the attention of our readers. We 
think, therefore, we are justified in coming to the 
conclusions : 
1st. That there is a direct pecuniary advantage 
in judicious cross breeding ; that increased size, 
a disposition to fatten, and early maturity, are 
thereby induced. 
2 nd. That whilst this may be caused for the 
most part by the very fact of crossing, yet it is prin¬ 
cipally due to the superior influence of the male 
over the size and external appearance of the off¬ 
spring ; so that it is desirable, for the purposes of 
the butcher, that the male should be of a larger 
frame than the female, and should excel in those 
peculiarities we are desirous of reproducing. Let 
it be here, however, repeated as an exceptional 
truth, that though as a rule the male parent in¬ 
fluences mostly the size and external form, and 
the female parent the constitution, general health, 
and vital powers, yet that the opposite result 
sometimes takes place. 
3rd. Certain peculiarities may be imparted to 
a breed by a single cross. Thus, the ponies of 
the New Forest exhibit characteristics of blood, 
although it is many years since that a thorough¬ 
bred horse was turned into the forest for the 
purpose. So, likewise, we observe in the Hamp¬ 
shire sheep the Roman nose and large heads 
which formed so strong a feature in their mater¬ 
nal ancestors, although successive crosses of the 
Southdown were employed to change the cha¬ 
racter of the breed. 
It has been asserted by some observers, that 
when a female breeds successively from several 
different males, the offspring often bear a strong 
resemblance to the first male, which is supposed 
to arise from certain impressions made on the 
imagination or nervous system of the female. 
Although this is sometimes or often the case, we 
doubt very much whether it is so frequent as to 
be considered as a rule. 
4th. Although in the crossing of sheep for the 
purpose of the butcher, it is generally advisable 
to use males of a larger breed, provided they 
possess a disposition to fatten, yet, in such cases, 
it is of importance that the pelvis of the female 
should be wide and capacious, so that no injury 
should arise in lambing, in consequence of the 
increased size of the heads of the lambs. The 
shape of the ram’s head should be studied for the 
same reason. In crossing, however, for the pur¬ 
pose of establishing a new breed, the size of the 
male must give way to other more important 
considerations ; although it will still be desirable 
to use a large female of the breed which we 
seek to improve. Thus the Southdowns have 
vastly improved the larger Hampshires, and the 
Leicester the huge Lincolns and the Cotswolds. 
5th. Although the benefits are most evident 
in the first cross, after which, from pairing the 
cross-bred animals, the defects of one breed or 
the other, or the incongruities of both, are perpe¬ 
tually breaking out, yet, unless the character¬ 
istics and conformation of the two breeds are al¬ 
together averse to each other, nature opposes no 
barrier to their successful admixture ; so that, 
in the course of time, by the aid of selection and 
careful weeding, it is practicable to establish a 
new breed altogether. This, in fact, has been 
the history of our principal breeds.... 
... .We confess that we can not entirely ad¬ 
mit either of the antagonistic doctrines held by 
the rival advocates of crossing and pure breed¬ 
ing. The public have reason to be grateful to 
the exertions of either party ; and still more have 
they respectively reason to be grateful to each 
other. 
-Let us conclude by repeating the advice 
that, when equal advantages can be attained by 
keeping a pure breed of sheep, such pure breed 
should unquestionably be preferred ; and that, 
although crossing for the purposes of the butcher 
may be practised with impunity, and even with 
advantage, yet no one should do so for the pur¬ 
pose of establishing a new breed, unless he 
has clear and well defined views of the object he 
seeks to accomplish, and has duly studied the 
principles on which it can be carried out, and is 
determined to bestow for the space of half a life¬ 
time his constant and unremitting attention to 
the discovery and removal of defects. 
-« i — i «■—-—— 
Sheep Husbandry. II. 
Marking, etc., is more ilbcessary in the case 
of sheep, than with cows and oxen, as they look 
more alike, and are more apt to break away from 
their enclosures. The system of marking dates 
back to the first settlement of the country, when 
cattle had the range of the highway and the 
woods, and were not seen by the owner except 
at long intervals. At first, each owner had his 
particular mark upon the ear, or elsewhere, kept 
upon record at the town clerk’s office, and this 
mark was to be the evidence of ownership. 
Cropping, slitting, and notching the right or left 
ear, were the contrivances resorted to. As the 
country became more thickly settled, and the 
pastures were enclosed, owners were enabled to 
confine their animals to their own lands, and 
were less careful about marking. It is now' 
mainly confined to sheep—the most slippery of 
our domestic animals—and the marking is usually 
made upon the wool, and, of course, has to be 
renewed at each shearing. The best method is 
to have a stamp with the initials of the owner’s 
name, and to print the letters in large capitals 
upon the side of the sheep. A convenient size 
for the letters will be about three inches in length. 
The paint or ink may be made of a mixture of 
linseed oil, spirits of turpentine, and lamp-black. 
Any mixture that will leave a black mark, which 
the rains can not wash out, will answer. 
At the time of marking, tarring should also be 
attended to. The tar bucket, with a swab, 
should stand beside the paint pot,. and the nose of 
each sheep should be smeared with tar. This 
guards against the fly, which deposits her eggs in 
the nostrils, and produces worms or grubs in the 
head. The tarring may be renewed, occasion¬ 
ally, during the Summer. This precaution costs 
but a trifle, and it may save a good many sheep 
from disease. 
Pasture. —The flock, being marked, and tarred, 
are now ready for pasture. Let it not be inferred, 
that because the sheep is a small animal and re¬ 
quires less than a cow, that it can live upon air. 
Mutton and w’ool can only be made of good sub¬ 
stantial feed, of some kind. Mullens and sweet 
fern, with the largest admixture of brakes, and 
five fingers will not answer. Experience has de¬ 
termined, that a wet pasture is not suitable for 
sheep. Some part of it, at least, must be dry, 
substantial upland. They thrive best upon dry 
gravelly loams, or in high mountainous regions, 
without much regard to the quality of the soil. 
They are usually put in the pastures most re- 
