Other useful British breeds are the Southdowns, Devons, Shropshires, Wensleydales, Scotch black-faced, Cotswolds, and Kerrys. Of the imported varieties, the New Zealand and Cape sheep skins are the best. The former, principally merino stock, not only provide very fine wool, but also pelts of choice quality and large pattern. Although the quality of the wool of Australian merino sheep is little, if any, inferior to that of the New Zealand type, the skins are not so good in quality, due, no doubt, to the hotter climate, which is favourable to the breeding of insects and other pests which damage the skins. The Cape sheep provide a skin which is quite different in texture from that of any other breed. It has a certain looseness of texture and softness of grain which make it particularly suitable for the manufacture of glove leather. South America is another large sheep-breeding country; but the skins of this variety are not largely imported into England, most of them being sent to Mazamet, the great centre of the fellmongering industry in France. Buenos Aires skins are the most favoured of the South American skins, owing to their large size and good substance. Monte Videos are also very fine skins. Smyrnas and Bagdads are other well-known varieties, but they are generally imported in a rough-tanned condition, or, as it is known technically, "in the crust." Leather-dressers finish them for various purposes, but mainly for boot and shoe lining leather. When properly tanned by the natives, these skins produce a supple finish, especially those of the Smyrna variety. Unfortunately, many lots are merely coloured on the surface with the tan liquor, with the result that they dry hard and tinny; such partially-tanned leather is very difficult to finish and is rarely satisfactory. Even when the tannage is completed elsewhere before finishing them, they never produce such good leather as skins properly tanned in the first instance. Russia is another important country for the production of all kinds of raw hides and skins suitable for leather manufacture. American tanners buy very largely from this market, and a few enterprising firms even send their own representatives to the great annual fair held at Nishni Novgorod, where large quantities of dried hides and skins, besides many other kinds of produce, are offered for sale. British tanners take comparatively little interest in this important supply, but, as a result of the great European War, an increase of trade between Russia and the United Kingdom is anticipated, although the Russian leather trade is developing rapidly and will absorb increasing quantities of native raw material.