32 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



creased). They usually have a considerable amount 

 of yolk in the wool, though by no means the ex- 

 cessive amount that was once common. During re- 

 cent years the American Merino has undergone 

 quite an evolution, obedient to the command of its 

 breeders, and has a better developed leg, a stronger 

 back, a better sprung rib, more vigor and stamina 

 than before and has, I think, lost little in fleece- 

 bearing powers. 



The American Merinos are the most highly spe- 

 cialized of all sheep, their wool being best and most 

 abundant. Their breeders do not claim that they 

 are mutton sheep, though they do make good mut- 

 ton ; but not so profitably as some lighter shearing 

 breeds. 



The American Merino reached perhaps its great- 

 est development in Vermont; in fact, it has often 

 been called the "Vermont Merino. " The object of 

 its breeders was to produce the greatest possible 

 amount of fleece to a given weight of carcass. Nat- 

 urally excessive wool-bearing somewhat weakened 

 the constitutions of the sheep and in a sense they 

 deteriorated, so far as prolificacy, motherliness and 

 fattening powers went. Nevertheless, sheep of this 

 type when crossed on thin-wooled sheep of unim- 

 proved races did wonders in improvement. Many 

 American Merinos were exported to Australia and 

 South Africa, and in Australia many sheep are of 

 this very heavy-wooled type. 



American Merinos are not bred in the United 

 States except by a few breeders; their market is 



