178 JUDGING BREEDING SHEEP. 



of fixing and retaining the type by elaborating scales of points 

 and rules governing the admission of animals to pure bred 

 records. It is all-important that such types be kept fixed, 

 for then men in different parts of the world, knowing the 

 conditions and environment that have produced a certain 

 type, can select the breed that will do best under the condi- 

 tions prevailing where their operations must be carried on. 

 Australia's great sheep pastures were once inhabited by the 

 Spanish Merino because they wanted fine wool. Now, to 

 produce muttons, they have imported Lincolns, Leicesters, 

 etc., to cross on native ewes. The lowland farms of Lord 

 Portland support the Leicester, the higher lands afford 

 pasturage to the Cheviot and Leicester cross, while the scanty 

 hillsides are cropped off by the agile Blackfaces. Near 

 Roquefort in France is kept a breed of sheep noted for their 

 production of milk, from which is manufactured the celebrated 

 Roquefort cheese, that sells in New York at $1.00 per pound. 



Breed type is all-important. When sheep have been care- 

 fully selected and mated for fifteen or twenty years, as illus- 

 trated by Bakewell's work with Leicesters, the breed type 

 has become fixed and the qualities of parents may be ex- 

 pected to be transmitted to their offspring. It is the duty of 

 the judge to know the type of the different breeds as adopted 

 by the breeders and idealized in their scale of points, and 

 he should adhere to this fixed type in forming his judgments 

 and placing the animals. And the breeder himself should 

 seek to produce animals that will conform to the ideal form 

 as outlined in the scale of points. If the judge and the breeder 

 have a common ideal a breed type will be fixed, the breed 

 will become prepotent and great good will be accomplished. 



Points in Judging the Ram. The ram is like other male 

 animals, the better half of the flock, and as such should be 

 judged accordingly. He must, of course, conform to the ideal 

 type as outlined in the scale of points as adopted by the 

 breeders. In addition he should show masculinity. His head 

 should be short and wide, and full across forehead and be- 

 tween the ears. If he belongs to the horned breed, his horns 

 should spring out strong from the head and turn out from 

 the face. These characteristics, together with a little Ro- 

 man nose, short neck and heavy scrag, are signs of good 

 breeding and give evidences of prepotency, which is of all 

 things important in a sire. A great deep chest that is well 



