Sheep in New York Staite 1809 



a very fine appearance. They have good quarters and an excel- 

 lent fleece. Their chief value is for producing early lambs. They 

 breed readily at any season and are very heavy milkers. It is 

 said that long ago in England they were used instead of cows. 

 The lambs mature very early but do not gain as rapidly after 

 the first six months. 



Tunis 



These are the " broad-tailed sheep of Algiers." There have 

 been several flocks of these in this country, in the South, for nearly 

 two centuries. More recently they have spread North and over 

 the eastern states, owing to their peculiar character as producers 

 of early lambs. Being a native of a warm country they conceive 

 readily in warm weather, maturing lambs as early as the Dorsets. 

 They are fine milkers and the best of mothers. No lamb will go 

 to market with the same amount of fat, particularly on the hind 

 quarters, in better shape at three months of age. After this they 

 mature more slowly. They are fair shearers and have been 

 greatly improved in the forequarters in recent years. Any one 

 who proposes to produce winter lambs should either use these, 

 Dorsets or the large Merinos. 



PURE BREDS VS. GRADES 



I would not be understood from the above as meanins; that 

 everyone should keep pure-bred sheep. Men of limited means 

 cannot afl'ord to invest in any number, since the interest charges 

 and depreciation are more with high-priced stock, and they 

 should have better care. It is always desirable, however, that 

 the stock should be uniform in type and approach as near as 

 may be practicable to the breed best suited to the farm and that 

 particular form of sheep industry the owner intends to follow. 

 It is vital that the ram should l)e not only pure bred but a typical 

 specimen of the breed. A grade may be a good individual but 

 he is as likely to reproduce his grade ancestry as that of the pure 

 breds from which he is graded. A pure bred will sire lambs of 

 greater uniformity and by carefully selecting the strongest and 

 most typical specimens of these one can breed up a flock that in 

 appearance and real worth will be nearly or quite as profitable 

 for production as pure breds. By the purchase of a few regis- 



