152 



MODERN SHEEP : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



ing that no single flock has produced so great improvement as did 

 these von Homeyer sheep in America. For they improved not 

 only the Rambouillet flocks in which they were used, but they 

 were adopted by some of the breeders of Vermont Merinos and 

 Delaines who wanted to increase the size and improve the form 

 of their sheep without destroying the quality and character of 

 the fleece. For these von Homeyer sheep carried a fleece nearer 

 to a Merino ideal of fineness and character, and showed more true 

 breed type than had any of the Rambouillets in this country at 

 that time. 



Polled Rambouillets. 



Some of the breeders in Michigan have since made a specialty 

 of breeding Rambouillets of pure von Homeyer blood, with a view 

 to maintaining and improving this type of sheep, especially toward 

 fleece improvement, both as to quality and weight, without losing 

 any of the valuable mutton characteristics, especially of size and 

 form. In Ohio, as in Michigan, the use of von Homeyer "rams was 

 equally marked and beneficial and as these two states have been 

 most prominent in furnishing foundation flocks and stock rams, 

 the widespread effects of 'the use of von Homeyer sheep is easily 

 realized. 



Col. Truesdell, the president of the American Rambouillet 

 Association, has made some very important importations of the 



