294 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 12 
tendency to revert or breed in the same line in which 
the ewe is bred, and instead of getting the desirable 
qualities, be may only intensify that which he wishes 
to eliminate, and this is a general rule which applies 
to the breeding of all animals. 
I believe that the future sheep will be a grade pro¬ 
duced by breeding the common ewes of the country 
upon some of the best English mutton breeds, and 
when this test comes, I shall expect to see the Shrop- 
shires maintain the good lead which they already 
have. Some of the English mutton breeds under the 
care and attention which the English farmer gives 
them, are excellent sheep, but I do not believe that 
their fleece is adapted to our climate and the extreme 
heat and cold, or that they will stand the storm as 
well as the fleece of the medium-wool sheep. The 
South-Downs are excellent sheep, but the demaud in 
our couutry is for a large sheep and a better fleece. 
The llampshires and Oxfords are both good sheep, but 
I do not believe, although they produce a larger 
individual, that they can produce more mutton upon a 
given amount of feed; and this must always be the 
test. I believe there is no animal that more thor¬ 
oughly assimilates every particle of food it eats than 
a Shropshire sheep, and that there is no breed from 
which more mutton can be produced on a given 
quantity of food. 
Had O. E. F. started with the Oxford or Hampshire 
cross, I would have advised him to continue it, as he 
would thus be grading up ; but I do not think that he 
would have gained anything had he started with any 
of the other medium wools. Having commenced with 
the Shropshire cross, the experience of breeders very 
largely predominates in favor of following it up. 
GEO. E. BBECK. 
Would stick to the Merino. 
Several things are to be considered. T think that it 
is generally conceded that any breed of unquestionable 
purity is better, (all things considered) than a mixture 
of two breeds for breeding purposes. If this be true, 
O. E. F. made a mistake in thus providing for a crop 
of lambs that are not recognized as belonging to any 
breed and would 'not have a commercial value equal 
to a like number of lambs of the blood of either breed 
if they had been kept without mixture. If bred for 
mutton, it is possible that nothing of value would be 
lost and something might be added, but this is not 
Nature’s way to make improvement. The improve¬ 
ments made in breeding sheep as well as in breeding 
other domestic animals, are accomplished by proper 
selections of the same breed in mating accompanied 
by judicious feeding and care. 
If O. E. F. intends to use the result of his crop for 
a breeding flock he should use the best ram to be ob¬ 
tained from one of the breeds in the mixture and con¬ 
tinue to use a ram of the same breed on successive 
generations. My own choice would be in favor of the 
Shropshire. Were I to start a flock of sheep that I 
thought would be the most profitable in the near 
future, I would select high grade or thoroughbred 
American Merinos with Delaine tendencies, without 
too plain bodies. I would breed these to such a ram 
of the Merino families as I thought would give as good 
a return in wool and mutton as would be possible by 
judicious selection and good and generous feeding and 
proper care. I would not expect to have a sheep that 
would excel in any marked degree in either direction, 
as relates to wool bearing and mutton production, but 
would expect them to be fairly good in both directions. 
The production of sheep is a necessity upon any well 
regulated farm, where mixed husbandry is practiced. 
With the uncertainty prevailing in regard to legisla¬ 
tion affecting the sheep industry, the above views 
seem to me to be the most practical. 
In answering the last question I may differ with 
some breeders, but, without prejudice, I will state 
what seems to me to be correct. The Delaine Merino 
is one produced from what are now known as the 
American Merino, by judicious selections from the 
same breed tending in the direction of mutton pro¬ 
duction in the form of smooth, large bodies, and 
length of fleece. What are known as American 
Merinos, have a shorter, thicker and heavier fleece, 
with more or less folds on the neck and body, and are 
somewhat smaller. The main consideration is a large 
amount of fine, heavy wool, the secondary considera¬ 
tion being mutton production. The value of these 
different families of the same breed of sheep depends 
upon the different conditions of the markets for wool 
and mutton, and also upon the peculiar traits of char¬ 
acter of the American people for a change in their 
business methods. The 'American Merino has been 
well known for a good many years and has proved 
worthy of the standing it holds in the wool production 
of the world. The Delaine type has its friends, and is 
highly advertised. Many buy with the expectation of 
having a first-class wool and mutton sheep in the same 
animal, an idea contrary to physiological principles. 
Both families of the Merino type are good and should 
not be sacrificed. People toiU wear woolen goods 
made of both kinds of wool, william ball. 
Hamburg, Mich. 
Facts About the Future Sheep. 
The most popular sheep in the future is likely to be 
the one that shows the most ability in money making 
under the conditions that will then be prevalent. 
This leads to a consideration of the systems of sheep 
farming that are likely to be the most profitable in the 
future, and finally to a discussion of the sheep that 
are best adapted to those systems. 
Markets of the Past and the present. —From the 
time that the Merino sheep were imported into Spain 
by the Moors, some 1,200 years ago, they have played 
a prominent part in the pastoral life of both hemi¬ 
spheres, more especially during the time of their early 
settlement. With the growth of more intensive and 
more economical farming, and the increase in a popu¬ 
lation that produced its own food, the sphere of the 
sheep widened and the mutton became greater in 
value than the wool. The three degrees of develop¬ 
ment in sheep farming in this country may be indi¬ 
cated by sayiog that the first is wool growing, the 
second, mutton production, and the third, early lamb 
rearing. In the far West, the fine-wool sheep con¬ 
forms best with the care and the herding that is satis¬ 
factory for the growing of wool; in the central States 
the production of mutton is more profitable, as it is 
more in harmony with the system of general farming 
that is common therein ; while in the East, it is equally 
true that there is the most profit in supplying the 
early lamb trade. The market for wool has made the 
first mentioned unprofitable, and the outlook remains 
gloomy, so that it is only necessary to consider the 
fattening of sheep and the rearing of early lambs as 
the two most profitable lines of the sheep industry in 
the markets of the future. 
The Most Profitable System of Fattening Sheer. 
— Under such conditions as we have in this State—and 
they represent those of the greater portion of the 
middle States—the most profitable system of making 
mutton is that which has in view high feeding and 
rapid gain from birth to the block. From the data 
that I have secured from experimenting during the 
past three years in the feeding of lambs at all times 
of their lives until one year old, the most profitable 
method of feeding is undoubtedly that which keeps 
them doing the best they can from start to finish, by 
liberal feeding of grain and folding them on green 
crops. The lambs before weaning should get such 
grain as bran, and at ordinary prices, some oil meal; 
then, after weaning, some oats together with clover 
aftermath, rape or white turnips, and when put in the 
sheds—if the feeding is carried that far—fed for 
quick gains, so that they weigh 150 pounds when 
finished inside of a year’s time. This system, if rightly 
understood, is more profitable than the common one 
which does not provide the lamb with any grain be¬ 
fore weaning, but only pasture until fattening starts 
on the arrival of winter. Considering the cost of the 
extra food and giving the'lambs the same care in 
every way except that one group was fed grain from 
the start and the other not, I have found as much as 
50 cents per head more profit from those that had 
grain continuously, even though the grain were 
charged to them at market prices. It is the greater 
gain in flesh, the increased clip of wool and the higher 
price per pound which they bring even in our local 
market, that produces this extra profit. And, further, 
the grain-fed lambs are ready to sell at any time that 
the market prices are high. 
The Sheer that Make the Quickest Feeders. —If 
this is the system that will ultimately prevail on our 
farms, early maturity must be a leading merit of the 
sheep that will fit into it best. They must be 
hearty amd thrifty, gaining nearly three pounds per 
week throughout the time that they are fed. They 
must be strong in bone and of that bodily conforma¬ 
tion that is universally known as that of a good feeder. 
There is one characteristic of the type that I have in 
mind which may not have been noted by some, and it 
is to the effect that the sheep which has the quickest 
feeding capacity is circular in form. The box-shaped 
animal may, after long feeding, become heavier and 
will certainly look heavier at all times; but in my ex¬ 
perience, they have not been able to make as rapid 
gains. It has always seemed to me that Colling was 
near the truth when he stated that the animal with 
projecting brisket that goes far to make the box-shape 
in the fore end, hed invariably sharp shoulders and 
deficient chest development. He was a great improver 
of Shorthorns, and we are told that it was a favorite 
expression of his to liken his cattle to a barrel in shape. 
The Scotch breeders of the “Doddies” place this circular 
form as one of the cardinal points of their favorites, 
and I am not acquainted with the breed that will we-gh 
heavier when the end of the second year comes around. 
I am not sure but the expression that the Poland 
China will grow and fatten at the same time, owes its 
possibility to a similar fact. The sheep that is the 
squarest is invariably the most projecting in the 
brisket, the flattest on the rib, or else it would not 
seem square from the side view, and it must have high 
hips to square the hind quarter. The sheep, in ad¬ 
dition to being of this type must be active animals, 
for there is a period when it is necessary to fold them 
on such fodder crops as rape, white turnips, etc., to 
make the moart profit from them. 
The Source of these Sheep. —The breeding flock 
required to produce such feeding sheep, must average 
200 pounds when mature and in fair breeding condi¬ 
tion, and they must be of that type which guarantees 
constitution. They must be prolific. A good ewe will 
rear twins, and it means more profits to have her do so. 
The fleece in these sheep should, of all things, have 
density as it is associated with thrift and vigor. It is 
necessary that it be dense on the back to protect the 
sheep from snow and rain, and dense on the belly as 
well, as the latter is of special protection to the sheep 
when lying down. Fine wool is a quality that is re¬ 
lated to density, and I do not believe that it is opposed 
to fattening qualities, but really the reverse. In kill¬ 
ing and dressing sheep to determine the weights of 
different parts, I noted that the sheep that are com¬ 
paratively coarse in wool, are heavy hided, coarse 
boned, and, as a rule, slower in maturing, and they 
lose more in dressing. 
As for a type of good sheep of the future, let us 
take the ewe and lamb pictured at Fig. 83. This 
lamb was dropped March 9, 1892, and weighed, when 
weaned July 26—75)^ pounds, or an average weekly 
gain of pounds. It was fed three parts bran and 
one part oil meal as a grain ration. The fleece of this 
ewe is not quite dense enough, but she is a fine model 
for form and motherly qualities. A good type for a 
fat wether is shown at Fig. 84. This one was dropped 
April 18, 1891. He weighed February 25, 1892, 156>^ 
pounds, which meant an average weekly gain for 44>^ 
weeks of 3)^ pounds. The fleece weighed 12>^ pounds. 
Before weaning it was fed one part corn meal, one 
part bran and one-quarter part oil meal. After wean¬ 
ing, it was fed two parti corn meal and one part oil 
meal. 
The Sheer for Early Lambs. —The rearing of 
early lambs is rightly considered to be the highest cul¬ 
ture in sheep life, bearing the same relation to com¬ 
mon sheep farming as truck or hothouse gardening 
does to general farming. The leading characteristic 
of the sheep suited for this work is that of breeding 
early in the season. As far as I have been able to ex¬ 
periment with the mutton breeds of sheep in this 
particular, none of them may be depended on to take 
the ram earlier than September except the Dorset and 
its grades. These will breed in June. Our flock of 
grades have done so. The sheep suited for this work 
are prolific. Of equal importance, is the possession of 
good milking qualities. There is no food that will 
give the lamb that early appearance of plumpness 
like the sustenance it will get from an abundant flow 
of milk from its mother. JOHN A. craig. 
Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station. 
A POTATO SCAB EXPERIMENT. 
Where are the scab germs? Two varieties of potatoes tested; best 
strength of solution; how long to soak? Use of the Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture; advantages of soaking. 
The experiment of treating the potato for the scab 
by corrosive sublimate, at the Michigan Experiment 
Station, was so successful in 1892 that it was deter¬ 
mined to continue the work more extensively the past 
season. Two objects were sought—the best length of 
time for treating the seed, and the best strength of 
the solution. The germs of the scab lie just below 
the outer cork layers of the potato skin, and the prob¬ 
lem is to treat the seed long enough to allow the fun¬ 
gicide to penetrate the skin far enough to kill them, 
but not long enough to injure the potato germ. The 
experiment was carried out by using two varieties of 
potatoes, which were treated alike. Three solutions 
of varying strength were also used, in which the seed 
was soaked various lengths of time. The planting 
was done in duplicate, using, for one series, land that 
was free from scab, and for the other land on which 
potatoes had grown the previous year, and which was 
thereby infected with the scab. There were, in all, 
120 plots. 
One of the varieties selected for the test, the O. K. 
Mammoth, was very scabby ; so much so that they 
were unsalable. The Early Ohio, the other variety, 
was quite free from objectionable scab spots. The 
results of the experiment, comparing one variety 
with the other, were somewhat unexpected. The per 
cent of scab on the Early Ohio was more than that on 
the 0. K. Mammoth on those plots that were treated 
less than one hour. On the plots treated for a longer 
time there was but little difference. This condition 
may be explained by the fact that the corrosive sub¬ 
limate had easier access to the germs on the latter 
variety, as the skin had been destroyed by the scab. 
