FITTING SHEEP 



the true signs of constitution, but don't mistake yourself that 

 coarseness is evidence of this valuable characteristic. 



There are many powerfully built sheep, that is, sheep car- 

 rying immense bone, which are constitutionally weak. Many 

 of the largest members of our flocks are upon examination 

 found to be built upon lines wholly against the laws that 

 denote strong constitution. They are slab-sided, or in other 

 words, their ribs are imperfectly sprung, they have not the 

 necessary room for the proper development of a healthy pair 

 of lungs. The muscles of the leg, the muscle fibre, and ro- 

 tundity of the twist that show the strength to carry a heavy 

 body are not in evidence, neither is thickness of flesh, breadth 

 of skull, width between the eyes, and the short, thick, stubby 

 face that denotes power of stubborn endurance. , Usually a 

 sheep low on leg, with well sprung ribs, deep in chest, strong 

 in twist, carries a constitution that will meet all ordinary 

 requirements and expectations of modern shepherds. 



The State Fair as an Object Lesson. 



No better opportunity offers itself to the novice for observ- 

 ing what really constitutes quality of a high degree in sheep 

 than that of a visit to almost any of our State fairs; especially 

 those of the Middle and Eastern states. Here we find con- 

 gregated together in battle array, some of the finest specimens 

 of sheep that the world can produce, or money purchase; 

 and it is here we find ample room for comparison of degree 

 of quality as pertains to the various exhibits of one individual 

 breed of sheep, or the broader comparison of breed against 

 breed; this, then, will not fail to prove one of the most 



