70 BREEDING OF SHEEP. 



middling wool being coupled with rams having su- 

 perfine, their lambs had fine wool. Sometimes the 

 wool of the lambs has exceeded in fineness that of 

 the rams, which begot them. 



Q. What breed of sheep has been improved by 

 these means, and to what degree of fineness ? 



A. The English breed, and that of the northern 

 departments, of the Cote d'or, of the eastern Pyre- 

 nees, and of the kingdom of Morocco, have been 

 made to produce superfine wool, by rams from the 

 eastern Pyrenees, without the aid of Spanish rams. 



Q. Can proof be given of so important an im- 

 provement ? 



A. There are convincing proofs of these facts, in a 

 flock of three hundred sheep of different breeds, which 

 produce superfine wool, although they originally came 

 from ewes with coarse wool, and for the most part 

 hairy (jarreuse ;) these ewes were coupled with rams 

 from the department of the eastern Pyrenees. The 

 flock thus improved is in the department of la Cote 

 d'or, near the city of Montbard. 



Q. Had the improved lambs been better fed, or 

 taken care of, than their sires ? 



A. They had not been better fed, but had been 

 kept in the open air, night and day, during the whole 

 year, instead of being shut up in stables. 



Q. How can the quantity of wool be increased ? 



A. To increase the weight of the fleeces, it is ne- 

 cessary to have rams, which produce more wool than 

 those of the flock, whose fleeces it is meant to im- 



