VOL. LIII. No. 
NEW YORK, MAY 12 
PRICE, THREE CENTS. 
$1.00 PER YEAR. 
THE SHEEP FOR THE FUTURE 
What Shall We Breed For ? 
bloods for 83 per head, and the common lambs of the 
country for from $1 to 82 per head 
Some of the reasons why I prefer the Shropshires 
are these: They have been bred pure for a sufficient 
length of time to establish their prepotency beyond a 
question. I believe a thorough study of their history 
will convince any one that they are purebred, and 
those who improved them and were most successful 
with them were those who did it by careful selections 
of the best of the breed and not from out crosses. 
Second, these sheep are very prepotent, stamping 
their best characteristics upon their offspring with 
wonderful uniformity. I think it can be easily proven 
that there is no breed of sheep which crosses upon 
and improves other breeds in so marked a degree as 
the Shropshires. They are to the mutton sheep 
breeds what the Shorthorns are to the beef breeds of 
cattle. They “nick” well with whatever breed they 
are crossed upon. Some of the crosses of the English 
mutton breeds have spoiled both fleece and carcass. 
The cross has been too radical, or they do not “ nick ” 
well; but not so with the Shropshires. One cross to 
a Shropshire ram will increase the lamb crop from 25 
aI \o 50 per cent when 
bred to ordinary ewes. 
^ The fleece of the half 
i iMerino wooh and for 
and vigorous as a rule, 
^ ^ is $4.50 per 100 pounds, 
or 84.50 per head for the 
lambs. This, however, 
is only affair average of 
their weight and is much below the average price for 
a term of years. I have carefully computed the cost 
of keeping these lambs from the date of their birth tc 
the time when they are sold, which was from 10 to 11 
months, and I cannot make the cost to exceed 82.25 
per head, including the grain which they had in their 
lamb creep while running with the dam, the pasture 
through the summer and fall, and the grain they had 
in the fattening pen, and 50 cents per head for ship¬ 
ping and selling, which is surely a liberal allowance. 
This shows a profit of at least 81.25 per head, besides 
getting pay for the feed, and this I submit is as good 
a showing as can be made by any farm animals, not 
even excepting hogs, which, at present, are supposed 
to be the most profitable animals on the farm. 
As 0. E. P. grades up from his Shropshire cross, he 
will find that his lambs are growing better with each 
successive cross, and among the higher grades the 
best and most desirable characteristics are more ap¬ 
parent, and there will be a more certain elimination 
of the defects and undesirable qualities of the ewes. 
But for this purpose, a strongly bred and prepotent 
ram is always desirabla, without which there is a 
Suit the Sheep to the SHp . 
Purpose. 
Dark-faced or Down ^ ‘=;4||L " .'A 
sheep are more hardy, 
as a rule, than the white- 
faced mutton sheep. In i ' > 
the Iowa climate, the A 'oS- ' : ■ 
Cotswolds proved with 
me tobe tooopenwooled ' 
and too subject to ca¬ 
tarrhal affections. If .k.. 
they are liberally fed 
and warm! yhoused,they ---^- 
will give fair results; 
but from my own ex¬ 
perience in breeding 
sheep in central Iowa, I am led to believe that a 
smaller, hardier sheep will in the end give the best 
returns. I see no reason why the Shropshire or the 
South-Down should not be used with entire success 
whatever the grade of ewes which O. E. P. already 
has. If his land is fertile, fairly level and he is a high 
feeder, he will then succeed best with some variety 
of dark-faced sheep, such as the Hampshires or Shrop¬ 
shires. If his pastures are rather thin or land rolling 
and he does not care to feed very liberally, he will 
succeed better with the smaller South-Down. I pre¬ 
sume that he does not care to go into the business of 
raising early lambs for the city market, though it can 
be easily done even in the eold climate of Iowa. If he 
does, the horned Dorset upon the ewes that he now 
has will give good results, perhaps the best. The 
half-blood Dorset lambs grow very rapidly, in fact 
more rapidly, I believe, than any other breed until 
they are about three months old; after that the 
growth is inclined to be coarse and the lambs do not 
usually sell as well at from four to six months old as 
do those of the dark-faced sheep. Perhaps no market 
can be ^found ^for them; in that case it is better to 
Good Type for Ewk and Lamb, Pig. 83, 
small, fine-wooled Merinos as they are found at the 
present day. [prof.] i. p. Roberts. 
The Merits of the Shropshire, 
I advise O. E. P. to continue to cross his ewes with 
a Shropshire ram. I believe that this is the most 
practical and profitable cross for the average breeder. 
Cross-breeding and grading will always give him the 
best results. A three-quarter blood animal of any 
kind is always worth more than a half blood, and if 
there is any reason for breeding to a full blood sire, 
there is still a stronger motive for continuing the 
cross until we have three-quarter bloods, seven- 
eighths, fifteen-sixteenths and thirtyone-thirtysec- 
onds, when we have an animal that for practical pur¬ 
poses is nearly as good as the full blood. Among 
these high crosses one can often pick out those that, 
as individuals, are equally well marked and possess 
the desirable qualities of the sire. But, of coursa, only 
a strongly prepotent full blood animal can perpetuate 
itself. I have recently sold and shipped to Colorado 
some three-quarter blood ewe lambs which I pur¬ 
chased in this vicinity at 84 per head. I can buy half 
