10 SHEEP : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



CHAPTER II. 

 LONG AND FINE WOOLLED SHEEP. 



ALL sheep may be spoken of as long, middle, or short- 

 woolled. The classification has more merit than at first ap- 

 pears, because with the length of the fleece are associated other 

 peculiarities which help to form distinct classes. Thus in 

 this country the short-woolled sheep include the Down breeds, 

 with their brown faces, high quality of mutton, and active 

 natures. The long-woolled breeds, on the other hand, are 

 white-faced, somewhat coarse in flesh, and more indolent in 

 their habits. 



MERINO SHEEP. 



Although we properly divide our flocks into long and short 

 woolled races, we are in England destitute of a truly short or 

 fine woolled breed. If we want to see short and fine wool 

 to perfection we must seek it among the Merino flocks of 

 Southern Europe, or our own colonies of Australia and New 

 Zealand. The early home of Merino sheep appears to have 

 been Spain,* from whence they were imported into France, 

 England, Hungary, and Germany. The moist climate of 

 Britain was, however, unfavourable for the growth of the 



* Professor Low says that the sheep of Spain were introduced at various 

 periods : first, from Asia by the early Phoenician Colonies ; second, from Africa 

 by the Carthaginians ; third, from Italy by the Romans ; and fourth, from 

 Africa, by the Moors, during nearly eight centuries of occupation. The most 

 important of these latter races is the Merino, now the most esteemed and 

 widely diffused of all the fine woolled breeds of Europe. 



