24 SHEEP DISEASES. 



The classification of the breeds according to the 

 fineness of the wool-fibre seems to be the common 

 custom, the three classes being: 



1. The fine-wool. 



2. The medium-wool. 



3. The long-wool. 



A convenient table is as follows: 



FINE LIGHT-FACED 



Merino Merino 



MEDIUM Cotswold 



Shropshire Dorset 



Southdown Leicester 



Oxford Lincoln 



Hampshire Cheviot 

 Cheviot DARK-FACED 



Dorset Shropshire 



Suffolk Southdown 



LONG Hampshire 



Leicester Oxford 



Lincoln Suffolk 

 Cotswold 



In this country, the Merino blood, crossed with 

 medium and long-wool rams, has been extensively 

 used. 



I. THE FINE-WOOLS. 



Merino. 



This well-known breed seems to have been 

 known in Spain since the earliest records. It is 

 supposed they were brought to Spain from Italy, 

 where they had been taken by a band of Grecians 

 to the city of Tarentum. From the eighth to the 

 thirteenth centuries under the regime of the Sara- 

 cens and Moors, the wool industry flourished in 

 Spain. As previously stated, no exportations were 

 made from Spain until 1765, when the Elector of 

 Saxony secured three hundred Merinos and bred 



