FARM ANIMALS. 423 



good appetite. With sheep, as with all other 

 classes of animals, ability to fatten and mature at 

 an early age is desirable. 



II. Wool- Producing Form. 



The wool-producing sheep have been developed 

 with very little attention given to mutton con- 

 formation. They are small and do not mature 

 so early as sheep of the mutton form. They 

 lack the smoothness of shoulders, the fullness 

 of ribs and covering of back, rump and quarters 

 which is present in the mutton sheep. They 

 are comparable to the dairy-cow in carrying 

 little flesh and possessing the wedge conforma- 

 tion. The legs are rather short, but often 

 crooked. Quality in the extreme is a much- 

 admired characteristic, and is indicated by fine 

 bone, skin and hair. The fine well-crimped 

 fleece also shows quality. They should possess 

 strong constitution, which is evidenced by deep 

 and broad chest and general health and vigor 

 of the animal. The weight of the fleece de- 

 pends to some extent upon the nutrition of the 

 animal, consequently a good barrel and appetite 

 are essential as indicative of capacity. What 

 may be termed the strictly wool-producing sheep 

 belong to the fine-wool class, and in order to 

 give more surface for growth of wool they have 

 a very wrinkled skin. The wrinkles are par- 

 ticularly numerous around the neck, in the 

 flanks and over the rump. 



