SHEEP 



37 



wool-producers, yielding heavy fleeces of very fine 

 wool tliat is used to make the finest and most 

 expensive woolen goods. 



Thrive in Large Flocks. Though the Merinos are 

 not so hardy as the wild sheep, they are hardier 

 than any other of the domestic breeds. They will 

 thrive in larger flocks than any other kinds, so they 

 are used in the range country of the West. They 

 have a long life and grow good fleeces to a ripe old 

 age, while the fleece of the mutton type begins to 

 lose in weight at an early age. Sheep on ranches 

 of our Western states are kept a thousand or two 

 thousand in a flock and sent off in the summer with 

 a herder and a shepherd dog. If the herder has a 

 horse, he sometimes cares for five thousand in a 

 flock. One rancher often owns from twenty-five 

 thousand to fifty thousand sheep. The cattle men 

 object to large flocks of sheep, for they eat the grass 

 so close that other ani- 

 mals cannot be grazed 

 there. Cattle also dis- 

 like the odor left by 

 sheep. 



The Shepherd Dog. 

 The shepherd dog, or 

 collie, tends the flock 

 and rounds them up 

 when they stray. Ho 

 watches them at night and keeps off the mountain 

 lions. These dogs are very intelligent. They obey 



