348 SHEEP 



improve the Merino, notably in character and quantity of fleece, 

 and from their flocks descends the best blood of to-day. 



Characteristics of the American Merino. This Merino is simply 

 an improved form of the Spanish, characterized by heavy folds 

 on the body, excepting over the back. The head is small, being 

 comparatively broad and short, the rams carrying heavy, spirally 

 twisted horns, and the ewes being hornless. The lips and nostrils 

 are white and fine silky white hairs surround the muzzle and 

 extend part way up the nose. The ears are small and are 

 covered with fine white hairs. Reddish or tan-colored hair is 

 occasionally seen on the ears and nose of the Merino, which 

 suggests a reversion to the same color of earlier days. Some 

 Merino breeders have valued this color variation, while others 

 have endeavored to breed it out. The neck is thin and tends to 

 be long below and short above, the shoulders are very sloping, 

 the chest narrow but deep, the withers thin, the back moderately 

 narrow, the rump frequently steep, the thighs thin, the legs 

 small and fine. The skin is of the most attractive bright pink 

 color, and in good specimens is in folds along the bridge of the 

 nose and neck, about the breast, shoulders, lower part of the 

 sides, and about the rump and thigh. There are usually no 

 folds over the back and perhaps upper third of sides, unless in 

 a small degree. In 1892 an eminent breeder is thus quoted by 

 Ezra Carman : 



The prevailing fashion is to have from three to five heavy folds on the 

 neck, not large on the upper side, but large on the under side ; two or 

 three short folds on and immediately back of each elbow or arm ; fine, 

 thick wrinkles running down the sides, but not extending over the back. 

 Wrinkles across the hips, sometimes from the tail in the direction of the 

 stifle, and sometimes at right angles with them, folds also around the tail to 

 give it a wide appearance, and also folds across the thigh with a deep flank. 



The fleece covers the entire body and legs, excepting on the 

 nose, on the lower half of the head, and on the ears. The eyes 

 are often hidden by the fleece covering the head. The outside 

 of the fleece is of a dirty black color, caused by the accumula- 

 tion of dust in the yellow oil or yolk which exudes to the end 

 of the fiber, adding greatly to the unwashed weight. A con- 

 siderable amount of oil is desirable in the fleece and especially 



