CHAPTER X 

 SHEEP 



Sheep are four-footed ruminating animals. They are 

 cloven-hoofed like cattle and their meat is used as food for 

 humans. These animals belong to the ovine family. Meat 

 from the mature sheep is called mutton and from the young 

 it is called lamb. 



Sheep weigh from 100 to 400 pounds per head, live weight. 

 Since they are ruminating animals they can use a large amount 

 of roughage in their rations. The principal distinguishing 

 characteristic of this class of animals is that their outside cover- 

 ing is wool instead of hair. The value of wool as a material 

 from which cloth is made is well recognized. A wool garment 

 is warmer, softer and lighter than one made of cotton. 



WOOL 



A hair or cotton fiber is smooth, cylindrical, fine and pro- 

 portionately long. It is usually straight but sometimes bent 

 somewhat so as to give the appearance of curliness. A wool 

 fiber is of about the same diameter and length as a hair, but 

 instead of being straight or curly has what is called a crimp. 

 This is a waviness like .^~^~_^_. The finer this crimp 

 or the shorter the waves the better the wool. 



A piece of cloth or a garment made from wool is soft, light 

 and warm. It is soft because the fibers do not lie so close 

 together on account of the crimp. When pressed together 

 it has resiliency and recovers its normal shape. This is also 

 owing to the crimp and the elasticity of the fiber. It is light 

 because on account of the crimp in the fiber not so many 

 fibers are needed to make a piece of cloth of a given thickness. 



Warmth. The warmth of a wool garment again lies in the 

 crimp. This makes the garment light and porous and encloses 

 within its borders a large amount of air. It is the air that 



