Dorset Lamb with Sire and Dam. Fig. 222. 
THE BLOOD OF THE DORSET SHEEP. 
WEIGHT, SHAPE AND HORNS. 
The Cross-Bred Dorset-Merinos. 
The accompanying picture (Fig. 221) shows better 
than a column of print the somewhat remarkable 
results obtained by crossing a thoroughbred Dorset 
ram on common grade Merino ewes. The half-blood 
lamb stands facing its mother. She was evidently a 
little reluctant about having her own picture taken, 
however proud she may well have been of the appear¬ 
ance of her offspring. She weighs 
93 pounds, the lamb 81. Lest 
my readers might get the idea that 
the Dorset on a Merino gets bet¬ 
ter lambs than on a Dorset, I 
placed the full-blood ram-lamb 
at the left. He weighs 105 pounds. 
Neither of these lambs has tasted 
grain or anything save the moth¬ 
er’s milk and Blue grass. Both 
came in April, and were photo¬ 
graphed on August 19. Grading 
Merino ewes into something bet¬ 
ter for mutton is one of the 
problems now confronting us. I 
am the only sheep breeder on 
record, so far as I have seen, who 
thinks wool should be free. 
Whether we think putting it on 
the free list just or wise or not, 
it will quite probably be put 
there, and then the need of mak¬ 
ing mutton-makers of the grade 
Merino flocks will be quite ap¬ 
parent. I have seen and fed 
crosses of most of the mutton 
breeds on Merinos, and it seems 
to me that the combination of 
Dorset - Merino is a little the 
most kindly and harmonious 
blending of bloods 1 have seen. 
Fig. 222 shows a slightly older 
lamb with sire and dam. This 
lamb I warrant will shear more 
pounds of wool than his mother 
ever has done, and it will bring 
much more per pound, j. e. wing. 
Are Dorset and Merino Bloods 
the Same ? 
In the Dorset Quarterly, Mr. 
Wing has this to say about these 
sheep: 
“The success of the Horned 
Dorset sheep in the United States 
is now so well assured that it is 
no longer called in question. Let 
us look at someof the reasons for 
this success. First, I would p it 
their ancient lineage and purity 
of blood. These give them great 
prepotency, and enable them to 
stamp their impress very strongly 
on their progeny. From an experience of crossing 
pure-blood Dorset and Shropshire rams on common 
grade Merino ewes I pronounce the influence of the 
Dorset ram to be much the more marked in the first 
cross. The advantage of grading up with a white¬ 
faced ram is very apparent to any one who has seen 
the speckled and blotched faces of half and three- 
quarter-blood Shropshires. * 
“Somewhere away back in the centuries I believe 
the Dorset and the Merino wire the same stock—the 
Dorset was taken to South England and under dif¬ 
ferent requirements and environments, in the hands 
of a race of men with needs and tastes widely different 
Puee-Blood Dorset Lamb and Lamb from Dorset Ram and Grade Merino Ewe. Fig. 221. 
from those of the Spaniards who developed the Merino, 
the two breeds developed widely different character¬ 
istics. Yet the blood flows together naturally and 
blends harmoniously, so far as I have seen. This 
point is one of no small importance to the farmers of 
the Eastern States who have large flocks of grade 
Merino ewes which they desire to make mutton makers 
and lamb producers instead of mere profitless wool 
producers. My earnest advice is that they procure 
good Dorset rams to cross on the Merino ewes. Let 
the lambs come as early as the facilities for caring for 
them can be provided and let, say, half of the best ewe 
lambs be saved. Breed these to a thoroughbred 
Dorset sire when yearlings and the resultant cross— 
three-quarter bloods—will be nearly as useful as pure- 
blood Dorsets. I weighed to-day, August 20, a half- 
blood lamb born in April, that kicked the beam at 80 
pounds, while her Merino dam weighed but 90. Both 
had run on grass alone all summer and we have had 
a most severe drought for six weeks past, burning 
pastures badly. 
“.Perhaps I may as well mention that I weighed aU 
the same time a thoroughbred ram lamb of abo^^fl 
same age that weighed 103 pounds underjjj^^ 
same conditions. So the full-bloods are the best as 
might be expected, but ‘better half a loaf than no 
bread.’ The resultant cross of Dorset on Merino pro¬ 
duces animals having most remarkable fleeces. Some 
I have seen were among the most beautiful wools 
produced by any breed I have ever examined. The 
Dorset wool itself commands the very top price.” 
The Horns on the Dorset. 
It is not a fact that the horns on early lambs with 
Dorset blood hurts their sale. On the contrary, they 
are equivalent to a trade-mark, 
and customers now look for them 
as a certificate of quality. It is 
a fact that no other breed crossed 
on common ewes will produce 
lambs that will, at the same age, 
be so mature and well developed 
in leg and loin as the Dorset, and 
customers have found it out. 
I well remember the first lot 
of Dorset cross-bred lambs we 
sent to market. Our salesman 
wrote us telling how nice they 
were, but saying their big horns 
were an objection, and asking if 
we could not send him just as 
good lambs without horns. He 
said his best customers objected 
to the latter. We received the 
letter in the morning’s mail, and 
before noon had a telegram from 
him, saying: “Send me some 
more of those horned lambs, the 
same parties who took the first 
are back asking for more just 
like them.” 
That there have been fitted for 
market sheep with white faces 
and legs that were just as good 
as any with black faces, there is 
no dcubt, and the only reason 
w hy those with black faces are 
in better demand is because, on 
the average, they have been bet¬ 
ter, and consumers have found it 
out, and not being expert judges, 
have come to think that anything 
with a black face is sure to be 
good, and butchers and market- 
men take advantage of this no¬ 
tion. The same is true of early 
lambs, and, as I said before, the 
horns on the Dorset cross-bred 
lambs amount to a trade-mark, 
and consumers now look to them 
as a guarantee of quality. I 
have no doubt that the horns 
could be killed with caustic pot¬ 
ash, as is often done on young 
calves. It would not be worth 
while, unless it could be shown 
that the vital force expended in 
growing the horns could 
turned towards greater growth of carcass, 
something that must be determined by e: 
Niagara County, N. Y. j. 
R. N.-Y.—There is a good point in 
ward says about the white face ai 
being a good trade-mark. Most 
and sheep that come to m 
the Dorsets car 
also 
