10 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



habiting the mountains and the plains, following their flocks 

 wherever they strayed, and taking possession of the best 

 lauds they met with by force of their numbers and good 

 fighting qualities, derived doubtless from their early youth- 

 ful combats with the savage beasts of prey from whose 

 attacks they successfully protected their flocks. And the 

 Merino has been, and still is, from that long bygone time, 

 a wandering sheep; thriving by clkmge of pasture, if only 

 from one small field to another; for this change, slight as at 

 is, seems to satisfy its desire for fresh fields and pastures 

 new. 



At that early age the flock supplied the owners with food 

 and raiment, and notliiug more was wanted to fully fill 

 all the needs of the early races of mankind. Thus the first 

 men became shepherds, by the mere force of circumstances; 

 and it is interesting to note that our own shepherds of the 

 West are following in the footsteps of the ancient patriarch?, 

 and still perpetuating the habits and industries of the ear- 

 liest people of the human race. And if this is so it seems 

 to be an unavoidable result of the necessary relation of the 

 sheep to the human race, that the flock, under whatever 

 conditions both may exist, must always be a profitable pos- 

 session of mankind, in spite of all the mistakes made by 

 politicians and political economists, and under whatever 

 changes in our civilization may occur in the dim future. And 

 that old saying of one of the oldest writers on practical farm 

 economy, quoted at the title page, will remain true, as an en- 

 couragement for the shepherd, as long as the human race 

 may survive. 



While it might be interesting to follow out this subject 

 of the natural history of the sheep, and give somg account 

 of the many varieties now existing, we propose to confine 

 1his work to its practical purpose entirely, leaving those 

 who rnaj feel interested beyond this limit to study the sub- 

 ject in the works of the special naturalists. 



But it is worthy of note to the intelligent shepherd, as 

 closely related to his industry and the improvement of his 

 flocks, that all the different breeds of sheep now existing 

 must have sprung from this single source, and have been 

 produced by the art of the breeders who have given their 

 attention to the improvement of the natural flock. This im- 



