The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1900-01-05
DAIRY AND POULTRY.
INTERESTING CHAPTERS FOR,
OUR RURAL READERS.
How Successful Farmers opsrats This
8 Department OF the Farm-A Few
Hints ~ to the Care OF Live Stock
and Poultry.
Sheep for Breeding.

ana Poultry.
Sheep for Breeding.
At the request of Secretary Coburn
Of the Kansas board of agriculture,
John A. Craig, professor of animal
husbandry Of the Iowa Agricultural
College, delivered an address before
the boards recent annual meeting ON
'Sneep: Good and Bad" Among
other interesting things contained
therein he outlines the points that
should be found in an'' Ills which are
to be used especially Il breeding pur-
poses, and also the condition they
should be in. AS Prof. Craig is a rec
osnized authority on all matters per-
tanning to sheep, the following may be
profitably read and considered by all
identified with this industry:
The ram should show masculinity in
many features. In those breeds that
have horns, the latter should spring
strong from the head and turn clear
from the face. In all rams the face
should be broad between the eyes.
somewhat short, and with Roman
nose. The crest, or scrag, should be
thick and rising, and the neck full. A
point deserving emphasis is the depth
OF the chest. The body should sink
deep between the forelegs, and the ribs
back Of the shoulder should be deep
and round, making the girth large and
the brisket prominent and wide-two
features that are indicative of strong
constitution. A live fleece, that is, one
that Is springy and not dead to the
touch. and especially a dense, thick
covering of belly wool, is also indica-
tive Of vigor or constitution. For the
same reason, In those breeds that are
Wooled about the head, the more COM
plete and dense this covering is the
better it is liked. The legs of the ram
should be straight and strong, and
short. In movement. the ram should
be bold and active. This is often in
huenced by the condition. A ram should
never be SO heavy in flesh as to be use
less for service, as is too often the case
in the show ring. The flesh should be
even and firm, and not gathered in
masses or rolls at any part of the body.
1t is very apt to gather at the fore
flank, leaving the back bare or raw.
Excessive condition is likely to make
the ram unwieldy in action, or result in
broken down pasterns, which usually
render ram useless for breeding pur-
poses.
The eve should be rather long in the
face, with fine features. The neck
should be slender and without any of
the thickness noticeable in the ram.
The body. should be deep. round-ribbed,
and specially long, SO as to provide
room for the growing lamb. The type
Of the good milking eve verges strong
~ toward that which is typical of the
good dairy cow. The eve that milks
well. and consequently rears early ma
turing lambs, tends toward the wedge
shape, deep in the chest. large bodied.
and wide across the loins and hips.
The condition of the eve should not be
such as to impair her breeding quail
ties. Excessive fairness, as a rule, is
in this way injurious. The flesh should
be evenly distributed and not gathered
III punches about the tail-head, and it
Should be firm and not flabby.
AS a result of our consideration of
the good and bad qualities of sheep.
there arises the more important prob
lem OF breeding to reproduce the form
er and to remove the latter. have
tailed to find, up to this day, where
success has been obtained by in-and-in
breeding, cross-breeding, or any other
form. but that there was man behind
the system who knew we'll the merits
and dement's Of the animals he was
breeding. And further, knowing
these. he made his selection to get the
best blend. This is the basis of
method of breeding that arises from
what has gone before. For want of
better term. have named 1t balanced
breeding" and believe that this
method has the means of developing
and adding to the good qualities and
at the same time lessening and remov-
ing the dement's of our domestic ami
mails.
To follow balanced breeding in sheep
would mean the selection of,rams with
the leading thought of removing the
weakness of the flock. When one real
ICES the force Of balanced breeding and
acts on it in the selection Of sires, 1t
is wonderful what strides may be made
toward perfection in few years. With
this sire we correct deficiency of the
fleece, and yet retain the good qualities
OF form; with another, we add little
more bone; another deepens the flesh
on the valuable parts, and so on, each
marking new advance; while closer
discrimination and ripper judgment
keep disclosing new features to be at
tanned In each additional effort.
Dairy Notes.
Winter is the time when we hear
most about difficulties with the cream
to be churned. Sometimes 1t take two
houro to come and sometimes It will
not come at all. The cause is general
" 0na NJ fyv0 thin on. either fha crnoy,,