CHAPTER XIII 



SHEEP 



305. Types of Sheep. There are two more or less antago- 

 nistic uses for sheep, just as there are for cattle or horses. 

 We raise sheep for wool or for mutton. The type of sheep 

 that produces the most valuable 

 wool (Fig. 180) has a conformation 

 much like that of a dairy cow. The 

 type that produces the best mutton 

 (Fig. 182) has much the same form 

 as the beef animal. It is very diffi- 

 cult to improve either the wool 

 or the mutton qualities without 

 lowering the other. Our common 

 breeds are classified as follows: 



FIG. 179. 

 The head of the herd 



f American Merino 



1. Fine wooled j Rambouillet or French Merino 



I Delaine Merino 

 Southdown 

 Shropshire 

 Hampshire Down 

 Oxford Down 

 Dorset Horn 



{Cheviot 

 Cotswold 

 Leicester 

 Lincoln 



II. Middle wooled 



III. Long wooled . . 



306. Breeds of Sheep. Merinos are probably the most 

 widely distributed breed of sheep. They are the best 



(351) 



