1006 CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPLETE STOCK DOCltX 



has steadily increased, with the change in fashion for gentlemen's, >vea,T; 

 and the demand for worsted, combing, and other long wools is steaaify 

 growing, and ai, prices altogether in advance of the fine wools. Hence 

 the larger breeds of sheep, once principally valuable for their mutton, 

 sprung suddenly into favor for their wool. In England, the value of a 

 sheep is rated fully as mucli for the carcass as for the wool. In the 

 United States and in Canada, to a considerable degree, the wool is still 

 the principal object ; so the saying that, an Englishman in examining a 

 flock, would ask, " how much will they dress," while the question of an 

 American would be, " how much will they shear," still holds good. 



Nevertheless, this is gradually changing ; and the increased consump- 

 tion of prime mutton in our laige cities, and the increased facilities for 

 ocean transportation of live animals, have stimulated more and more the 

 breeding of mutton sbeep. The probability is, that the fashionable fab- 

 rics made of the wools mentioned will not soon go out of use for sum- 

 mer wear, since they are altogether superior to cotton and linen, both in 

 coolness and the ease with which they may be kept clean. 



Fine wools, on the other hand, will never be superseded for wintei 

 wear, for blankets, for underclothing, and the endless variety of uses fot 

 which they are adapted. 



rX. Ranging and Flocking of Different Breeds. 



It is not generally known that there are peculiarities in sheep husband- 

 ry, especially in the flocking of herds, which cannot be overcome. The 

 most important of these is, that the mutton and long-wooled breeds can- 

 not be carried in large flocks. Merino and other fine-wooled breeds may 

 easily be carried in flocks of even 1000 and upwards, on suitable soils ; 

 but the large breeds cannot successfully be carried in flocks of more than 

 200 together. Hence the adaptability of the Western plains and of Texas 

 and New Mexico to the fine-wooled breeds, individual owners numbering 

 their flocks by many thousands each. On the other hand, the large breeas 

 are the favorites among farmers in the thickly settled portions of the 

 United States, where they are kept in flocks of from twenty up to several 

 hundreds. 



X. Regions Adapted to Sheep. 



It has generally been thought that only rocky, hilly regions are well 

 adapted to the keeping of sheep. This is a mistake. Such regions are 

 suited to sheep, no doubt, for sheep require a firm soil ; sheep, aL;o, 

 can subsist in rocky, barren regions where other animals would starve. 

 Yet any dry situation adapted to grass possesses all the necessary essen- 

 tials. The Western prairies, which, except for a short time in the 

 spring, are firm and dry, are most admirably adapted to sheep. All the hUl 



