CHAPTER XXXII 

 FARM ANIMALS: III. SHEEP AND GOATS 



Sheep-raising has been an occupation for a longer time 

 than history records. In early times sheep were raised 

 more for their wool and milk than for their flesh. Wool was 

 made into cloth in Asia at least 2,000 years before Christ. 



Sheep wild by nature live in mountainous regions and are 

 still found in mountainous parts of both the Old World 

 and the New. In North America we have in the Rocky 

 Mountains the Bighorn and the Alaskan sheep. In South 

 America we find the Vicuna, Llama, and Alpaca. These last 

 are closely related to the sheep. All our domestic sheep 

 originated in the Old World, but it is not known whether 

 they are descended from some of the present wild sheep or 

 whether they came from a race of sheep now extinct. Sheep 

 were brought to America by the earliest colonists. 



The various breeds of sheep are usually classed as fine- 

 wooled, medium-wooled, or coarse-wooled sheep. They are 

 also often classed as mutton or as wool breeds, but a breed good 

 for mutton production also produces wool of value, so it 

 seems better to classify according to the wool. The coarse- 

 wooled and medium-wooled breeds are known as the mutton 

 breeds. The essentials for a mutton sheep are the same as 

 for a beef animal, namely, a square, blocky form well filled 

 out in all parts. The coarse-wooled breeds are the Leicester 



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