Young: Asiatic Breeds of Sheep 



427 



A FATTAILED RAM 



Figure 30. The tail of this six-months-old Voloshskaja ram is already of fair size. 

 At maturity it will wight twenty pounds or more, as will have to be supported to keep 

 it from wearing itself out against the ground. Sheep of this type are not common in Asiatic 

 Russia. 



Karachaev of the Caucasus, the Ma- 

 litch of the Crimea, the Tchushka of 

 Bessarabia, the ReshetiHev and Soko- 

 Hev of the Pohava. The Zigai may 

 also be included. 



The original black Danadar was a 

 small sheep with a striking resemblance 

 to the hairy Navajo before that breed 

 was ruined by fine wool admixtvu^e. It 

 had thin legs, a small head with 

 straight nose line, short erect ears, a 

 long tail, and coarse lustrous black 

 wool that does not become gray at 

 maturity. This is in contrast with the 

 case of our black Cotswolds, which 

 turn gray when about twelve months 

 old, and with that of the Karakuls free 

 from fine wool admixture. 



It was my great fortune to view 



several Danadar skins at Kedjumek. 

 The Danadar lambs, at birth, pos- 

 sessed wonderful velvety lustrous skins 

 with very small entirely closed curls, 

 in size from that of a black pin head 

 to that of a pea. These curls grad- 

 ually open up, making it necessary to 

 kill the lambs within a few days after 

 birth. Otherwise the skins lose their 

 beauty and value. 



I have seen several Karakul latnbs 

 in my flock with the unmistakable pea- 

 like curl of the Danadar. It is possi- 

 ble that in time we might resurrect the 

 extinct Danadar sheep, but it would 

 be an expensive undertaking and it is 

 a great question whether the furrier 

 would pay more for their skins than 

 for the Karakul skins with tight pipe- 



