Sheep management, breeds and judging; a textbook for the shepherd and student . reeding, but on the other handdegrade it. THE SELECTION OF THE RAM. It has been demonstrated that the ram is half, oras some breeders say, even more than half of theflock. The writer fully agrees with this statement,as he has often observed surprisingly good resultsfrom using a first-class sire on the most conunonkind of females. It is doubtful whether in anyother line of animal breeding such rapid improve-ment can be accomplished by the use of good siresas in the case of sheep breeding. The best siresare none too
Sheep management, breeds and judging; a textbook for the shepherd and student . reeding, but on the other handdegrade it. THE SELECTION OF THE RAM. It has been demonstrated that the ram is half, oras some breeders say, even more than half of theflock. The writer fully agrees with this statement,as he has often observed surprisingly good resultsfrom using a first-class sire on the most conunonkind of females. It is doubtful whether in anyother line of animal breeding such rapid improve-ment can be accomplished by the use of good siresas in the case of sheep breeding. The best siresare none too good. The first illustration in Plate 4 shows four Mon-tana ewes bought on the range some years ago for$ per head. These ewes were very thin whenpurchased and were just sheep, for they showedno evidence of belonging to any particular the use of the pure-bred Southdown ram, whichis shown in Plate 5, the seven fine, well-builtlambs were raised in one season from the fourewes. One of these lambs was good enough towin the second prize at the International in a class. ^^^>L.,ji Platk 4. (a) Four MonUina ewes l)OUght on Ihe range Tor ; \>vrh(.-ad. (b) Seven lamljs raised from these ewes in one season. Theirsire was a pure-bred. Establishing the Flock. 7 where 38 lambs were shown. These lambs showin a striking manner what great improvement canbe made by the use of a good sire on the most in-ferior females. When selecting a breeding ram of a muttonbreed, one should know and bear in mind theideal of a well-built ram, possessing the right type,so as to be able at once to distinguish the good ramfrom the inferior one. The points of a good ramare as follows: He should possess lots of vigorand vitality, which is indicated by a short, broadhead, large nostrils, bold eyes, breadth on the pollor top of the head, a short, thick neck, a wide anddeep chest, broad, level shoulders—smooth on top,and a well-developed forearm. His forelegs shouldbe straight and short, and
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Keywords: ., bookauthorklei, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectsheep
