Sheep Breeders' Associatiun. 



373 



in the tail amounting to more than fifty pounds. Another some- 

 what unusual type of sheep is the fat haunched sheep. This ani- 

 mal is peculiar in having an unusual development of fat on the 

 haunches. This type of sheep is found north of the Caucasian 

 Mountains. 



BREEDS OF SHEEP. 



A rather general classification divides sheep into wool and 

 mutton breeds. The wool breeds of sheep include all the varieties 

 of the Merino; the American Merino, the National Delaine, the 

 Dickinson and the Blacktop. The best representative of the for- 

 eign Merino is the Rambouillet. The mutton breeds include the 

 coarse or long wool varieties, the Cotswold, Lincoln and Leicester ; 

 the middle wool breeds, the Shropshire, Hampshire, Oxford, South- 

 down, Dorset Horned and others. All of these breeds have their 

 peculiar value under certain conditions. No class of sheep has 

 proven more efficient, all things considered, for the ranges of the 

 west than some form of the Merino breeds. On the fenced farms 

 of the middle west in recent years some type of mutton sheep has 

 more often been selected. 



IN A MISSOURI FEED LOT. 



SYSTEMS OF SHEEP FARMING. 



The sheep of the United States are produced under varying 

 conditions, and these have resulted in the development of certain 

 types of sheep farming, especially adapted to local conditions. In 



