FOR BREEDING PURPOSES 129 



spring strong from the head and turn free from the face. 

 In all rams the face should be broad between the eyes, 

 somewhat short with a Roman nose. The crest or scrag 

 should be thick and rising and the neck full. A point de- 

 serving emphasis is the depth of the chest. The body 

 should sink deep between the fore legs and the ribs back 

 of the shoulder should be deep and round, making the 

 girth large and the brisket prominent and wide, — two 

 features that are indicative of a strong constitution. A 

 live fleece, that is, one that is springy and not dead to the 

 touch, and especially a dense thick covering of belly 

 wool is also indicative of vigor or constitution. For the 

 same reason in those breeds that are wooled about the 

 head, the more complete and dense this covering is, the 

 better it is liked. The legs of the ram should be straight 

 and strong and short. The movement of the ram should 

 be bold and active. This is often influenced by the con- 

 dition. A ram should never be so heavy in flesh as to be 

 useless for service, as is too often the case in the show 

 ring. The flesh should be even and firm, and not gath- 

 ered in masses or rolls at any part of the body. It is very 

 apt to gather at the fore flank, leaving the back bare or 

 raw. Excessive condition is likely to make the ram un- 

 wieldy in action or result in broken down pasterns which 

 usually render a ram useless for breeding purposes. 



185. The Ewe. The ewe should be rather long: in 

 the face with fine features. The neck should be slender 

 and without any of the thickness noticeable in the ram. 

 The body should be deep, round ribbed and specially long 

 so as to provide room for the growing lamb. The type 

 of the good milking ewe verges strongly towards that 

 which is typical of the good dairy cow. The ewe that 

 milks well, and, consequently, rears early maturing lambs 

 tends towards the wedge shape, deep in the chest, large 



