SHEEP 



569 



prices for the same reasons as the Mexi- 

 can sheep. 



Kambouillets — In 1786 the French 

 government imported from Spain 383 

 selected Spanish Merinos. These sheep 

 were kept chiefly at Rambouillet, where 

 they have been carefully bred by rigid 

 selection and liberal feeding and greatly 

 improved in mutton form, quality of 

 meat and weight, without the introduc- 

 tion of any outside blood; both the 

 weight of the carcass and the weight of 

 the fleece have been increased from 100 



so good a mutton form, though very 

 similar in other respects. 



The Rambouillets have the same hardi- 

 ness and feeding qualities as the Ameri- 

 can Merinos, and, while the quality of 

 the meat is excellent, it is not quite 

 equal to that of the mutton breeds. 

 These sheep are specially valuable for 

 crossing upon range stock for the pur- 

 pose of securing a larger carcass and 

 heavy fleece of wool. They are at pres- 

 ent largely used alternately with Cots- 

 wold rams on western range flocks. 



Fig. 356 — RAMBOUILLET YEARLING BUCK 



to 150 per cent over the old Spanish 

 Merino. These sheep were introduced 

 into the United States in 1840, but did 

 not become specially prominent until 

 during the last 20 years. Full grown 

 rams of this breed will weigh up to 225 

 pounds and the ewes up to 175 pounds. 



These sheep are much taller, stronger 

 limbed and more rangy than the Ameri- 

 can sheep, have a better mutton form, 

 are less wrinkled, and the wool is longer 

 though not quite so dense or fine, and 

 freer from yolk than the American 

 Merino. They are also taller and heav- 

 ier than the Delaines, but have not quite 



The American Rambouillet Sheep 

 Breeders' association was organized in 

 Pontiac, Michigan, in 1889, and the 

 number registered in 1906 was 34,075. 



The sheep occasionally referred to as 

 German Rambouillet, are descendants of 

 the French Rambouillet, which were 

 bred in Germany by Baron von Home- 

 yer. Sheep from this flock were brought 

 to the United States in the eighties 

 and nineties, and have become quite 

 widely distributed. The International 

 von Homeyer Rambouillet club look af- 

 ter the interests of these sheep, of which 

 about 300 have been registered. 



