252 



AGRICULTURE FOR COMMON SCHOOLS 



much as fifty per cent, or more, takes place. Merinos are not 

 large, rams weighing 130 pounds or more and ewes about 120 

 pounds. Many American Merinos shear a fleece which is 

 twenty-five per cent, or more of the total weight of the animal. 

 The fibre is quite fine, that of the ewes being finer than that 



of the rams. American 

 Merino lambs mature 

 slowly and the mutton is 

 poor in quality. 



From the American 

 Merino have been de- 

 veloped several types or 

 families. The most noted 

 of these is the Delaine, 

 so called because its 

 wool is of the type for- 

 merly used for making a 

 kind of cloth known as 

 delaine. There are sev- 

 eral families of Delaine, 

 among which are the 

 Dickinson Delaine, Na- 

 tional Delaine, Victor- 

 Beall Delaine, Black-Top Spanish, and Improved Black- 

 Top Merino. The Delaines have fewer wrinkles than the 

 American Merino, most of them being on the neck and 

 lower part of the belly. The Delaine is somewhat larger 

 than the American Merino and is somewhat better for mutton. 

 The Ramhouillet (Ram'boo ya') Merino comes from France 

 where it was developed from stock taken from Spain. It has 

 also been called the French Merino, but the name Ram- 



A RAMBOUILLET SHEEP 



Notice that the form is less smooth and 

 compact than in the mutton type 



