General Care of Sheep. 515 



784. Mutton breeds and the Merinos compared. — The Merino 



sheep is peculiarly a wool-bearer, and nearly all lines descended 

 from the Spanish stock have been selected with that single end in 

 view. The story of the Spanish Merino in its home country forms 

 one of the most interesting chapters extant in the history of live 

 stock. 1 In their pilgrimage from South to Central Spain each 

 spring, and their return in the fall, the Spanish flocks make 

 annual journeys covering in all about one thousand miles. Only 

 the strongest and most rugged animals survive the long, fatiguing 

 and perilous marches. The ability to exist in enormous flocks, to 

 range over a vast territory, and to subsist upon scant food, are the 

 leading of the many remarkable qualities wrought by stem fate 

 into the very fiber and constitution of the Merino sheep. 



Almost opposite in some respects are the English mutton 

 breeds of sheep, which have been reared in small flocks confined 

 to limited pastures, the best specimens being saved and nurtured 

 by kindly hands with intelligent attention to all their wants. 

 They have been sheltered from storms and given roughage and 

 grain from barn and stack, whenever the fields were scant of 

 herbage or the weather severe. In general, the life of the 

 English mutton sheep has been one of plenty almost to surfeit 

 and quiet contentment In this country we cannot hope to attain 

 the wonderful success reached by British sheep-owners unless we 

 follow closely or improve upon their methods. The rules and 

 practices prevalent in this country in handling Merino sheep will 

 prove satisfactory with the mutton breeds, and the feeder in the 

 very inception of his flock experience should duly consider the 

 habits and characteristics of the animals he is handling. 

 ^ 785. Size of the flock. — The sheep is distinctively a gregariouj^ 

 animal. The American Merino of to-day, improved as it is over 

 its ancestors, still shows in a marked manner the result of inherit 

 ance by its adaptability to exist in large flocks and thrive under 

 ordinary conditions of care and keep. "With reasonable over- 

 sight, thousands of Merino sheep can be held in single bands 

 where the range is ample; and for the period of fattening tens of 

 thousands can be successfully fed together, as is now commonly 

 * Low's Domestic Animals of the British Islands, Vol. II. 



