Sheep Husbandky. 191 



for tlip comparative ease with Avhicli tlie slieep that have 

 the natural proportion of it are washed in a running stream. 

 Tlie fibre of the wool Imvang penetrated the skin and es- 

 caped from the yolk is of a circular form, generally larger 

 toward the extremity, and also toward the root, and in some 

 instances very considerably so. When the animal is in 

 good condition, and the ileece healthy, the appearance of the 

 iibre is brilliant, but when tlie state of the constitution is 

 bad. the fibre has a dull appearance, and either a wan, pale 

 liglit or sometimes scarcely any, is reflected. As a general 

 rule, the tilament is almost transparent in the best and 

 most useful wools, whether long or short. 



When access to srood city markets is convenient, and on 

 high priced and high tilled farms, where sheep are kept in 

 limited numbers, as part of convei'table Imsbandry, im- 

 proved mutton sheep may be bred very profitably. In in- 

 terior situations, remote from such markets, the Merino, or 

 fine wool sheep yield the best return. I think the best 

 varieties of improved nuitton sheep are the Cots wolds, 

 being the largest and most prolilic, and the improved South- 

 downs, the mutton of which has sole} in England for years 

 for three and one-half cents per pound more than other 

 mutton. The Southdowns are the oldest established short 

 wooled improved mutton sheep. It is said of the Cotswold 

 ewes that they are better mothers, and furnish a valuable 

 combing wool ; choice flocks averaging about eight pounds 

 of wool per head. In England Mr. Spooner says that the 

 wethers fattened at the age of fourteen months weigh, 

 dressed, from fifteen to twenty-four pounds per quarter, 

 and at two years of age from twenty to thirty pounds per 



