II] OF SHEEP ^ 145 



kind of stock. For, as you remark, sheep were the 

 first animals caught and tamed by mankind. 



The first thing is to buy good ones, and such 

 they will be as regards age if they are not too old 

 on the one hand, nor on the other merely young 

 iambs, for as the latter cannot yet give increase, so 

 the former can no longer do so, but of the two, the 

 age which is accompanied by hope is better than 



3 that which is soon followed by death. As to type, 

 a sheep should be big-bodied, with plenty of soft 

 wool, with the hairs standing high and thick over 

 the whole body, and especially about the shoulders 

 and neck. The belly also should be covered with 

 wool. Accordingly those which are without this 

 quality were called by our ancestors apicae^^ and 

 were rejected as inferior. They should be short- 

 legged. As to tails, it is the practice in Italy to have 

 them long; in Syria, short. 



4 It is of great importance to see that your flock be 

 of a good breed. This can generally be determined 

 by two indications: the external characteristics and 

 the offspring. The best type of ram has the fore- 

 head well covered with wool, horns twisted and 

 inclined towards the muzzle, gray eyes, ears covered 

 with wool, broad breast, shoulders and hind-quar- 

 ters, and the tail broad and long. You must see, 



' Apicae. Pliny (N. H., viii, 48): In ipsa ove satis generosU 

 talis ostenditur brevitate crurtim, vcntris vestitu: quibiis nudus 

 esset * ' apicas " vocabaniy damnabantque. Syriae cubitalcs ovium 

 candae. The word is no doubt Greek, SLirtKOi {d-TroKoi), from 

 w6€of =i fleece. Varro, ii, 2, 6, calls them minas, 



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