74 TYPES 



form and quality in breeds belonging to the wool type; hence the 

 difference between the two is not quite so pronounced as it once 

 was (Fig. 38). 



Comparison with Mutton Type. As compared with the mut- 

 ton type, the wool type lacks in straightness or evenness of lines, 

 fullness of outline, and disposition to lay on a great deal of external 

 fat. It is common for the spine to project considerably above the 

 shoulder blades, for the back to sag slightly, for the ribs to be flat, 

 and for the rump to droop sharply. Often, the body as a whole 

 lacks in width or thickness, the ribs being rather flat, the shoulders 

 thin, and the thighs hollow. Since the floor of the body lacks width, 

 the legs in most cases are close together and frequently very close 

 at the knees and hocks. As a rule, the face of the wool type is pro- 

 portionately longer than that of the mutton type and the same 

 can be said of the neck. Less stress is laid upon the smooth junction 

 of neck and shoulders and frequently there is a depression in the 

 neck just in front of the shoulders. Although sheep of the wool 

 type differ so much from the mutton type in form, they are neverthe- 

 less hardy, and quite as carefully bred for what they are intended as 

 any of the breeds belonging to the mutton type. 



Folds and Wrinkles. In the wool type, there are usually parts 

 of the body on which the skin forms wrinkles or folds, thus giving 

 proportionately more surface on which to grow wool than in the 

 mutton type. Sometimes the wrinkles extend over nearly all parts of 

 the body, but there is an increasing tendency to eliminate them al- 

 most altogether from the body proper and to permit of only a few 

 large wrinkles or folds on the neck and perhaps one on the body just 

 behind the shoulders and one or two more at such places as the 

 thigh, dock, and rear flank. Although high-class specimens possess- 

 ing very many wrinkles are still rather numerous the owners of 

 commercial flocks are finding less and less use for them, and unless 

 demand changes so as to make the production of wool relative to 

 the production of mutton much more profitable than it has been 

 during the past two decades the preference for smooth bodies will 

 continue and it will sooner or later prevail in determining type. 



Breed type is determined by considering, in connection with the 

 general type to which the sheep belongs, the standard adopted for 

 the particular breed in such matters as size, style or carriage, general 

 quality, color of skin and hair, size and shape of head, length of 

 legs, and the wool with yespect to length, fineness, and extension 



