THE SHEEP 



i8i 



TIic Exinoor s/iccp, found on the 

 heights of Exmoor, shows more of 

 the mountain type. Like the Dorset, 

 this breed has horns, which appear 

 on even the very young lambs. 



T/u- \Vc/s/i inoiiiitaiii s/it-c/i resem- 

 bles the latter except that the ewe 

 has no horns. 



T/ie black-fnccd sliccpoi the moun- 

 tains resembles the moorland sheep 

 in its long, coarse fleece and the color of the 

 head, which is spotted with black ; the fleece 

 is so long that it almost sweeps the ground. 



A Celebrated Mount.ain R.\m with Bl.ack He.ad 



TIic Scotcli vioufitain sliccp, called the Hard- 

 wick breed, lives on the rocky slopes of the 

 north of Scotland ; its wool resembles that of 

 the preceding species, but the head and legs 

 are white. It has terrific horns, which curl 

 round in front of the head in great circles. 

 This animal is hardened to the most intense- 

 cold, to violent winds, and to deep snows, 

 under which it seeks its food. 



The Shetland sheep is part moorland ar.d 

 part mountain sheep. It has no horns, and 

 its wool is of a peculiar soft, warm texture, 

 and was much in vogue formerly for the 

 manufacture of furs, and it is now knitted 

 into shawls and other warm garments by 

 the women of the Shetland Isles. Of these 

 breeds the Southdown, Shropshire, Dorset, 

 Hampshire, and Oxford Down are best 

 known in the United States. Next to the 



Wi.LSH Ewes 



Merino they have been the most popular breeds 

 in America ; and now since wool has become 

 secondary, they are likely to have a clean field 

 in the future. 



VII. The Merino Sheep of 

 Spain 



The Merino race forms an inde- 

 pendent type of mountain sheep of 

 very ancient origin. The most 

 ancient Roman writers — Pliny, 

 Strabo, and others — have written on 

 the ancestors of the Merinos and on 

 the method of treating them. Virgil 

 sings of them in his Georgics. 

 " Shall I here describe," he says, 

 " the shepherds and the pastures of 

 Libya, whose few hamlets contain 

 scarce any huts ? There the flocks 

 browse day and night for months together, and 

 traverse the vast deserts without shelter, so 

 almost boundless are those plains." 



A Welsh Ram 



