28 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



POINTS OP EXCELLENCE IN A MERINO. 



The American Merino should have a round, well filled up 

 carcass. Evenly proportioned as to length with the plump, 

 round barrel, and deep chest and flanks. The back is 

 straight and broad; the neck is short and deep; the head 

 short and broad on the forehead. The legs are short, widely 

 placed, strong, with a full forearm and twist. The skin is 

 of a clear pink in color, mellow to the touch and loosely 

 held on the body. Paleness of the skin is an indication of 

 a weak constitution, impurity of blood, or ill health. When 

 the wool is opened the skin under it should be clear, bright, 

 clean, and wholly free from scurfiuess. The wrinkles and 

 folds in it are mostly a matter of taste, they add but little to 

 the value of the fleece; and the present fashion, and one to 

 be admired, is to lessen them as much as possible. For the 

 some-time fashionable deep folds on the neck add nothing 

 to the real value of the rams, unless it may be for the pur- 

 pose of improving the lighter bodied native races or the poor 

 Mexican ewes. 



The Merino being a wool sheep before anything else, 

 its fleece is the principal point of excellence. This should 

 be close and compact on the skin, having sufficient yolk to 

 preserve the soft texture, and grease enough to protect it 

 from the rains. The close top of a Merino fleece is therefore 

 a protection to the sheep against the weather, and in choos- 

 ing breeding animals this is a point to be considered in the 

 rams. 



As a special wool grower the Merino should have its 

 body as completely covered by the fleece as possible. Thus 

 the whole sheep is enveloped in the fleece down to tlje feet, 

 and the face is covered except the eyes. Tfoe absence of hair 

 in the fleece is a chief point in this regard. The curl of the 

 wool and a wavy appearance of it on opening the fleece is a 

 point to be regarded with favor. So is the softness and 

 elasticity of the fleece. There should not be too much yolk 

 in it; this is a waste so far as there may be an excess over 

 and above the natural quantity required to prevent matting 

 of the fleece, and to give it its due protective character for 

 the comfort and health of the animal. 



The eye of a sheep is to be studied as one of the points 

 by which its condition of health is to be ascertained. A 



