96 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



sole survivors of the voyage one pair became the progeni- 

 tors of a fine flock of pure blood, the last lamb being brought 

 by a ewe of the age of sixteen years, when the only original 

 pair fell victims to a prowling cur. Mr. Peters bred these 

 sheep for twenty years, during which time several flocks 

 were sent to Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas, where 

 they were bred with much success until the war of 1861. 

 when, with other fine flocks in the South, these sheep were 

 practically exterminated, a small remnant only being pre- 

 served pure. These few sheep, however, increased in num- 

 ber and specimens of them were exhibited at the World's 

 Fair at Chicago, in 1893. A Mr. Guilliams, of Indiana, pur- 

 chased four of them from the breeder at Columbia, S. C., 

 and is now breeding them successfully. Mr. Rountree on 

 seeing these sheep went to South Carolina and found only 

 twenty-five of them in existence. Of these he procured ten, 

 and has, as the descendants of these, the largest pure flock in 

 America. 



"These sheep are noted for their early maturity, their pro- 

 lificacy (rearing two sets of lambs in the year), and yield- 

 ing a fine and long staple of wool. The cross of the rams on 

 our mutton breeds yields an improved fleece and excellent 

 mutton. The mutton of the pure sheep has always been 

 noted for its fine quality, and thus the cross-bred produce is 

 valuable on this account, as well as for the fleece. 



"The ewes are good mothers, the lambs have been made 

 to weigh seventy pounds at the age of eighty days. This breed 

 is hardy and of sound constitution, the rams weigh when ma- 

 ture two hundred pounds and the ewes up to a hundred and 

 sixty. The cross of the Tunis and Merino makes an excel- 

 lent sheep for every purpose. An association of breeders 

 has been organized, with its headquarters at Fincastle, Ind., 

 and a herd book is regularly published." 



OTHER WOOL BEARING ANIMALS THAN SHEER 



Wool is not the sole product of sheep only. There are 

 several related species of the genus, whtoh may v ^ included 

 in the list of wool bearers, the fleeces of which coming into 

 competition with the sheep, are of interest to the shepherd. 

 Of these related species of this genus of the Camelidae. 

 there are the Llama, the Vicuna, the Gnanaco, and the Al- 

 paca, all natives of the high mountain region of South 



