JUDGING LIVE STOCK. 163 



European wild species, Ovis imismore Notwithstanding the 

 present low status of Spain as an industrial nation, to her 

 belongs the honor of developing and improving the condition 

 of these sheep, so that even in the time of the Romans, Span- 

 ish wool was celebrated for its quality, which pre-eminence 

 it retained up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. 



In ancient times, sheep skins were used for clothing, but as 

 civilization advanced, manufactured cloth made from the wool 

 took their place. In consequence of this, the fleece became a 

 subject of much study by the Romans, who, by a system 

 of breeding, selection, and care in management, cultivated 

 the fineness of the fleece to an extraordinary extent. Sheep; 

 were clothed to insure delicacy of wool filaments, the fleece 

 was combed to prevent matting of wool, and the skin oiled 

 and moistened with wine. Pliny, an ancient writer, states 

 that the best wool of that time came from Apulia on the 

 Adriatic Sea, and it was from this wool dyed with Tyrian 

 purple that were made the costliest garment of royalty. 



The owner of sheep at that time was looked up to and 

 counted among the wealthy of the land. A flock of sheep 

 was looked upon as a rich gift from one to another. Cicero, 

 among other ancient worthies, owned large flocks of the 

 progenitors of the Spanish Merino, and it is from his writing 

 that we learn something of the principles of breeding as 

 advised and practiced by himself. It is as follows: "There 

 will be always those in every flock whose forms you will 

 wish to change, therefore, always repair them, and choose 

 out from the flock the best offspring yearly. Then, after the 

 birth, the care is transferred to the lambs and they brand 

 them with the marks and the names of the race which they 

 may wish to breed for preserving the flock, and, if wool 

 be your care, select white flocks with soft fleeces. And if, 

 although the lamb himself be white, reject him which has 

 a black tongue under his moist palate; lest he may stain the 

 fleeces of the lambs with black spots, and look about for 

 another in the full field." Stewart. 



It is recorded that enthusiastic flock masters, of even 

 those early times, so appreciated the value of a good ram that 

 one paid a sum equal to $500 at the present time for a ram 

 from one of the best sheep breeders to put at the head of his 

 flock. 



Excessive care predisposed the Roman sheep to constitu- 



