4 N. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION. [Bulletin 100 



as the Dorset Horn and Lonk; breeds with the males only horned, 

 (frequently even they are hornless and at times the females may 

 also show some signs of horn growth) as the various sub-breeds 

 that are included in the great Merino class; and breeds with both 

 sexes hornless as the Downs and many coarse-wooled sheep, 

 the most prominent of the latter being the Lincoln, Cotswold 

 and Leicester. The males of the Dorset Horn and Lonk bear 

 immense spirally curved horns, while the female horn, although 

 well-marked and quite long, does not attain such great thickness 

 and length nor is so much curved as that of the male. Little 

 appreciable variation exists, the writer has discovered from actual 

 measurements, in the size of the horns of Dorsets under similar 

 conditions of feed and care. This, however, does not hold true 

 for Merino horns. They are most variable even within the same 

 breed or strain. 



There are three types of Merinos in America, recognized by 

 sheep breeders as the American, Delaine and Rambouillet. 

 Plumb * states that the American Merino ram carries heavy, 

 spirally twisted horns but the ewes are hornless. The same 

 authority claims that the rams of the National, Standard or 

 Victor-Beall Delaines may or may not have horns; that the 

 Dickinson Delaine may have small horns but a polled head is 

 preferred, and that the Black Top Merino rams usually have 

 horns. The foregoing represent the most important strains of 

 Delaine Merinos in this country. In all instances the ewes, to 

 comply with the standard, must be hornless. To relate again 

 from Plumb, Rambouillet rams usually have large, spirally turned 

 horns, but there are also polled males, and the females are horn- 

 less. From what evidence I have shown, it will be readily con- 

 ceived that, although the mere mention of a Dorset Horn ram 

 suggests without further explanation long horns, the same does 

 not apply so conclusively to the Merino. In some Merino strains 

 neither rams nor ewes have horns; in others, the rams only bear 

 horns, which may be short and slender, and, again, in some, the 

 rams may possess long, heavy horns. All authorities on sheep 

 concur that Merino ewes are hornless, yet many practical Merino 

 sheep raisers with whom I have conversed on this topic have 

 admitted that a mere scab or very short, loose scur may appear 

 every now and again from the horn pits of some ewes in the 

 flock. I myself have at times noted this in Merino flocks and, 

 besides, another feature which may bear some particular signi- 

 ficance in heredity and has been generally overlooked. This 

 feature Comprehends a short, hard knob — I have used this word 

 for a lack of a more pertinent one — protruding from the horn 

 pits, which in pure hornless breeds show a slight depression, and 

 covered with the unbroken skin. These excrescences, or knobs, 



* Plumb, Charles S., 1906, "Types and Breeds of Farm Animals.*' Boston: Ginn. 



