264 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



"Is this breed found in France?" Louis asked. 



"With us it is represented by the Flemish breed, 

 raised in Flanders, Normandy, and Poitou. It is 

 the most corpulent of the French varieties, furnish- 

 ing sheep that weigh as much as sixty kilograms, 

 and more. In the second class for size comes the 

 Picardy breed, scattered over Picardy, Brie, and 

 Beauce. The sylvan breed of Touraine, Sologne, 

 Bourgogne, Anjou, in short a great part of central 

 France, is smaller still. It is remarkable for the 

 fineness of its wool and the excellence of its flesh. 

 By its side may be placed the Provence breed, occu- 

 pying Roussillon, Provence, and Languedoc. Im- 

 mense flocks of this variety graze during the winter 

 in the salt marshes bordering the Mediterranean, 

 notably in the vast pebbly plain of Crau and in the 

 island of Camargue which the forks of the Ehone 

 form at the mouth of that river. After the cold 

 weather is past, these flocks move up to the high 

 mountains of Dauphiny, where they pass the whole 

 summer out of doors. I will come back in a few 

 moments to their interesting migrations. 



"Besides meat, the sheep furnishes us wool, which 

 is still more important, since it is the best material 

 for our clothing. Other animals, the ox and pig for 

 example, feed us with their flesh ; only the sheep can 

 clothe us. With wool we make mattresses and 

 weave cloth, flannel, serge, in fact all the different 

 fabrics best adapted for protecting us from the cold. 

 It is far and away the most suitable material for 

 clothing; cotton, despite its importance, takes only 



