SHEEP. 



73 



IV. 



SHEEP, 



Thy flocks the verdant htllglde range Aita*. 



I.-CHABACTEKISTICS. 



HE sheep (Ovis aries) is naturally a denizen of 

 the hills. Its instincts, even in its domesti- 

 cated state, attach it to the upland slopes ; and 

 when free to do so, it always seeks the highest 

 grounds, where aromatic plants abound and the 

 herbage is less succulent than in the valleys. The wild sheep, 

 like the deer, is found to frequent all those places where saline 

 exudations abound and to lick the salt earth. In its wild 

 state it generally has horns, but these have nearly disappeared 

 in most of the domestic breeds. The female goes with young 

 twenty-one weeks, and usually produces only one at a birth. 

 Twins, however, are not uncommon. 



Immense flocks of sheep have been kept by man in all ages, 

 but more generally for their wool and skins than for their flesh ; 

 for that is by n<? means generally relished. The Oalmucks and 

 Cossacks still prefer that of the horse and the camel, and the 

 Spaniard, if he can procure other flesh, rarely eats that of the 

 Merino. To a majority of Americans it is an object of dislike, 

 although it is gaining in favor among us. Englishmen consume 

 more mutton than any other people, but the taste for it is of 

 modern origin with them. 



The natural age of the sheep, according to Youatt, is about 

 ten years, up to which age they will breed and thrive well ; 

 but there are instances of their breeding at the age of fifteen, 

 and living twenty years. 



