Karakul Sheep. 513 



be bred out iu favour of wider nostrils. The head should be wide 

 above the eyes and the bridge of the nose broad, bold and strongly 

 arched transversely. Plate I, the ram " Edward," of the Grootfon- 

 tein stud, shows a karakul of good oppearance. The ears vary con- 

 sideiably iu size, some sheep having practically no external ears, 

 while in others they are large and drooping. This variation in the 

 size of the ears is due to the fact that among the originally imported 

 ewes some, said to belong to the " Arabi " strain of karakuls, pos- 

 sessed these short ears, and also one of the rams. As it was previously 

 mentioned that " Arabi-Afghans " were useless as fur-breeding sheep, 

 let it be clearly understood that the short-eared '" Arabis " just men- 

 tioned are not "Arabi-Afghans," but high-class fur-producing 

 karakuls; in fact, the ram referred to has, to date, proved the best 

 sire of tight-curled lustrous lambs we have. He is the ram " Jacob " 

 mentioned again later. The best breeding ewe at Grootfontein also has 

 small pointed ears. The crest of the head should have hairy covering, 

 the woolly crest so often seen being undesirable. The head and face 

 is always covered with short black hair, which should be soft and 

 lustrous. Often a giey-tipped nose occurs and a grey lower lip, but 

 further no white should appear on the head or face except a white 

 crest or white patches at the points from which the horns should 

 spring. The teeth are large and strong, being rather superior to 

 those of the merino, some of the ewes botii iu the South-West Protec- 

 torate Administration and in the Union Government flocks over ten 

 years of age still having good teeth. The chest is only fairly deep 

 and broad, and the heart girth is not large in comparison to that of 

 a well-built merino ; the ribs are often not Avell sprung, while the 

 wither is high and inclined to be sharp. These features, combined 

 with the drooping rump, due to the heavy tail, give the sheep an 

 appearance of ugliness in the eyes of those used to merinos, but for 

 all its apparent lack of constitution the karakul is the hardiest of 

 hardy sheep; in fact, it has been stated that tliey are the hardiest 

 of all domesticated animals. The best type of tail is broad U-shaped, 

 and flat at the base, rather short and tapering abruptly to a charac- 

 teristic twisted tip which starts to grow upward and then falls over 

 and hangs down in a line more or less that of its central axis. 

 Another type of tail, which is often seen, is much larger and tapers 

 more gradually to the characteristic tip, while a bad type tapers 

 gradually from its base and is without the curved tip at its end. The 

 first type of tail mentioned is preferred to the others, as it is more 

 shapely and does not drag the rump down to the same extent as the 

 second type. In ewe lambs the tail is usually amputated at an early 

 age, as its removal facilitates the process of mating. Tailless ewes 

 have a much more pleasing appearance when grown, as the rump 

 is much less drooping. (Process of tailing is described later.) The 

 leys are rather long and have clean,* hard, smooth bone. They are 

 covered with soft, short, black, lustrous hair like the face. The hoofs 

 are large, deep, hard, and black. 



Covering. — The fleece should be of clean hail', free froni soft 

 woolly matter, and opening freely to the skin. This freeuess from 

 wool is a most important point in sheep about three years of age. 

 The presence of wool in the lamb pelt spoils it for fur purposes, and 

 consequently woolly parents are to be avoided. As the sheep grow 

 older the majority of them become more and more woolly, until 



