664 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



hottest and driest summers without any protection except that which 

 nature gave them; that they were almost entirely free from all disease, 

 and that in springs and summers of excessive rains, clothed to the 

 knees and to the ears by a thick, long, and impenetrable fleece, they 

 bade defiance to the wind, rain, and snow, and seemed at all times to be 

 comfortable and sprightly. 



They developed a great tendency to take on flesh and fat, so much 

 so that ewes which lost their lambs not ^infrequently became, on grass 

 alone, too fat to breed; and in several instances fully 3 inches of fat 

 formed on the ribs, though fed on grass only. They were prolific, and 

 Col. Scott raised one-third more lambs than there were ewes in the 

 flock. 



A yearling ram of this flock weighed 174 pounds; a 2-year-old 

 ram, never shorn, 224 pounds ; a grown ewe, 162 pounds ; a ewe lamb, 

 114 pounds. These weights were taken in August, all off of grass, 

 without extra keeping of any kind. The weight and character of their 

 fleeces are thus gived in Col. Scott's article: 



The fleeces of these sheep vary from 8 to 15 pounds, the whole flock of over 100 

 breeding ewes having averaged over 8 ponnds of merchantable wool, free from burrs 

 and tags, and though not washed on the sheep's back, still clean enough for domes- 

 tic manufacture. Though the fleeces of these sheep (like those of all other breeds), 

 are not perfectly uniform as to length, thickness, and fineness of fiber, still there is 

 a general uniformity, and the diversity is of no practical disadvantage. Their wool 

 is longer than that of any sheep except those of the Cotswold family, and is equal 

 in length to that of many individuals of that family, while it greatly excels the 

 wool of the Cotswold in fineness and softness of fiber, and in the number of fibers to 

 the square inch. In some individuals it is wavy or curly, but it is never harsh or 

 wiry. Except the face and the legs below the knees, the whole body is covered 

 with a close and compact fleece, which, when full grown, leaves no open line on the 

 back, as with the Cotswold, but gives a perfect protection to the sheep, and causes 

 them to present a smooth, handsome, and portly appearance. Their fleeces have 

 enough of grease and gum to preserve the softness and vitality of the fibers, even to 

 their ends, but not so much as to give the sheep a dark and dirty appearance. 



The improved Kentucky sheep had a limited distribution in Kentucky 

 and the adjacent States, but had not that fixity of type that was essen- 

 tial to justify the claim of a distinct race for them. The consequence 

 was that in time they ran out and bred back to the different strains of 

 blood that had been used in the crossings. In some flocks the Cotswold 

 blood predominated, but other sheep of the same flock displayed their 

 Southdown blood and still others ran back to the quality of the hardy 

 native that lay at the foundation of the improvement. There was an 

 increasing want of uniformity that was not met by the infusion of blood 

 proper to check the divergence from the supposed true type. This was 

 even noticed by Col. Scott in his own flock, and while seeking to per- 

 petuate and fix the type by breeding from rams raised in the flock, 

 as late as 1879 he bred his flock to a pure-bred Cotswold rain and had 

 done so for the two preceding years. 



