VARIETIES OF SHEEP AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 



1031 



regions. Thej are larger in every way than the Highlanders, prolific, 

 and both rams and ewes are horned. They are said to produce young 

 twice in the season, and this is turned to account, since tlie mutton of 

 the lambs is excellent, and sells for good prices. At two years old they 

 are said to dress 100 pounds each, and the fleeces are close, soft and 

 white, and comb well, and weigh about six pounds each. It is probable 

 that they might have some value in the mountain regions, where the 

 lambs might be made available in some near market. 



XVI. Fine Wooled Sheep. 



The principal breeds of fine wooled sheep that have attained a good 

 reputation, are : The Spanish, the Saxony, the Silesian, the French Meri- 

 nos, and the American Merinos. The latter breed, years since famous 

 all over the United States, is the result of careful breeding from Span- 



SHROPSHIRE YEARLING EWES. 



ish stock. All the other breeds have been carefully tried in the United 

 States but not with satisfaction. Both the Saxony and the Silesians have 

 exceedingly fine wool. In Australia many of the flocks have received an 

 infusion of Saxon blood ; but at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadel- 

 phia, there was nothing in the vast variety of these fleeces to induce 



