428 SHEEP 



The Tunis sheep as a wool producer has merit, yet the vari- 

 able color of the fleece is objectionable. Tunis breeders claim 

 that they shear from 6 to 12 pounds, and Professor Shaw credits 

 them with J\ pounds wool. In an address before the Philadel- 

 phia Society for Promoting Agriculture, in 1810, Judge Peters 

 gave the average weight of the washed fleece at 5 to 5^ pounds, 

 some flocks averaging 6, with individuals of pure blood yield- 

 ing as high as 10 pounds, and it is questionable if the breed 

 has changed much in wool production since. The staple is of 

 good quality and is comparable in fineness with the standard 

 combing wools. 



The fecundity of the Tunis sheep ranks high. Twins are fre- 

 quent, and as the ewes will breed twice a year if desired, the flock 

 may be rapidly increased if physical conditions do not interfere. 



The distribution of Tunis sheep is widespread, yet but few 

 flocks of importance exist, the larger ones being in Indiana and 

 Ohio. Flocks have also been established in South Africa and 

 Australia, and in various parts of the United States. The breed 

 is well suited to warm latitudes, where it seems to thrive. It is 

 also claimed that it will do well on low ground of marshy tendency. 



The American Tunis Sheep Breeders' Association was organized 

 in Indiana in 1896 for maintaining a flock book and promoting 

 the breed, but up to 1905 no flock book had been published. 

 The first rule of the standard adopted by the association allows 

 twenty points for pedigrees extending back unbroken to Judge 

 Richard Peters's stock or to direct recent importations from Tunis. 



