EXPERIMENTS IN BREEDING FAT LAMBs. 483. 



died. Of the Suffolk cross lambs 19 out of 21 lived, and 
there were four losses among the Border-Leicesters. 
The lambs were sold to a dealer as soon as they were 
ready for the butcher, and were all disposed of in the 
Manchester market except a few of the early lambs, which 
were slaughtered in the neighbourhood. The lambs sold 
before the end of May realised 3s. per head more than any of 
the lots which were sold afterwards. The lambs of each 
‘cross which were marketed by that period included 7 Shrop- 
shire crosses, of an average live weight of 74°5 lbs. each ; 
5 Oxford crosses, averaging 702 lbs.; 16 Suffolk crosses, of 
which two were sold by April 2zoth, weighing 53:5 and 
57 lbs. respectively, while 14 sold in May averaged 69'7 lbs. ; 
and 20 Border-Leicesters, one of which, sold in April, 
weighed 55 Ibs., while the remaining 19, sold in May, 
averaged 68:1 lbs. per head. 
On July oth 2 Shropshire crosses were sold averaging 
Ones each, and 2, Oxtord crosses of 6o lbs. each.- Phe 
remainder of the lambs were disposed of in two lots on 
August 6th and September 6th respectively, when their live 
weights were as under :— 
August 6th. September 6th. 
Shropshire cross - 7 averaged 80°7 lbs. - 8 averaged 68°3 lbs. 
Oxford cross - : 5 era OOWZ ease 4 9 OFS gp 
Suffolk cross - 2 ee OSS 95. 8 I ” go'o ,, 
Border-Leicester cross 4 5 ONiol gps 2 » 99°0 ,, 
From the standpoint of early maturity, the best results were 
obtained with the Suffolk and Border-Leicester crosses. Of 
the former 16 out of the 19 sold were sent to market before 
the end of May, their average live weight being 67:9 Ilbs.; 
while 20 out of the 26 Border-Leicesters were sold in the same 
period at an average live weight of 67°5 lbs. It will be 
noticed, too, that the lambs of these two crosses which were 
sold late in the season attained a considerable weight. Neither 
the Oxfords nor the Shropshires fattened early, but the former 
were almost without exception good growers, and weighed 
well towards the end ofthe summer. To realise a good price 
towards the end of the summer, lambs must have size as well 
as condition, and the Shropshire crosses did nct come up to 
expectations in this respect. The experiment is to be 
m@epeaved. 

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