258 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



happens that in making this high condition of the sheep 

 the fleece cannot help but take its share of it. We all know 

 that a poor sheep yields poor wool, inferior in quantity and 

 in quality as well. The condition of the fleece is a certain 

 key to the condition of the bearer of it. We have seen that 

 the flesh and the fleece consist both cf the very same ele- 

 ments, and the oil and yolk of the wool, which are 

 a certain indication of quality of it, are equally supplied 

 through the very same aliment by which the body of the 

 sheep is supported. We cannot divert the aliment of any one 

 part of an animal from one product of it, and make it wholly 

 contributory to another, and a different one. Nature has its 

 laws which are inviolable, and cannot be transgressed with- 

 out disaster. So that we may be sure we cannot feed a flock 

 to make an excellent and fully healthy carcass, without 

 gaining similar results in every part of it, the covering of it 

 as well as the body itself. 



Again. Every fact in the experience of feeders of sheep 

 goes to show' that any failure in the regular feeding of a 

 sheep is marked by a weak spot in the fiber of the fleece. 

 If the failure is serious the W 7 ool is so weak and inelastic 

 that it breaks in the mere handling, and with the slightest ten- 

 sion. Let us refer back to the illustration of this fact given 

 at figure 6, in which is seen very distinctly the effects of a 

 fault in feeding, and in the nutrition of the sheep from which 

 the sample of wool was taken. It is a rule in the alimenta- 

 ' tion of all animals, that the most important parts and func- 

 tions are first provided for by the disposal of the nutriment, 

 and the remainder goes to the support of the least necessary 

 parts. So that every other part of the sheep must be sup- 

 plied in excess of its wants before the least necessary parts 

 are supplied. Then it must follow, that unless there is a 

 surplus of proper aliment after the mere body has been fully 

 supplied, the fleece will be the first to suffer. Consequently 

 the feeding of the sheep for the growth of the fleece is to 

 be made as much of in the management of a flock as for the 

 support of the life itself. Generosity in this regard is a para- 

 mount necessity for the product of good wool. 4 



We have said that the English feeders excel in regard 

 to the mutton of their sheep. Their way of feeding is espe- 

 cially adapted to this end. Their mutton is fat and the fat 



