106 



figures for 1909 were not available at the time of my visit. It would appear, 

 however, that still further reductions in the livestock of the country were 

 anticipated. 



SHEEP. 



From the point of view of numbers, sheep form the principal livestock 

 of the country. I have already stated that the average French landowner 

 has not yet learnt how to turn sheep to profitable advantage on an ordinary 

 farm, and that, in consequence, the flocks of the Kegency are mainly in the 

 hands of the natives. 



The typical sheep of Tunisia is the fat-tailed sheep, so common in Asia 

 Minor and Syria. In many ways, from our point of view, this sheep is all 

 that a sheep should not be. The coarse, short wool is more like hair than 



Tunisian Fat-tail Sheep. 



wool ; the belly and legs are bare ; whilst rough treatment and thorny 

 bushes frequently make short work of what little wool nature meant to grow 

 on the back. The clip of a flock is said to be of so little value as barely to 

 account for the remuneration of the shepherd. Nor can it be said that as 

 purely mutton sheep their general bodily conformation is good. They are 

 lanky, with badly-developed legs of mutton, irregular back line, and heavy 

 heads. The flesh, too, is rank and tallowy, usually selling at unfavorable 

 rates both on the French and local markets. And yet the Americans are said 

 to have evolved out of these defective sheep a breed which they have called 

 Tunis sheep, and which they highly extol as producers of early lambs. This 

 breed has, I believe, found its way into New Zealand, although with what 

 degree of success I am not aware. There is only one explanation that 



