426 



SHEEP 



the importations were unsuccessful, owing to the apparent phys- 

 ical disability of the ewes to breed on account of the tail inter- 

 fering with service. A few sheep of this breed from Columbia, 

 South Carolina, were shown in 1893 at the World's Columbian 

 Exposition at Chicago, following which Mr. J. A. Guilliams of 

 Indiana purchased from these, and later Charles Roundtree of 

 the same state visited South Carolina, purchasing ten of the flock 

 of twenty-five head there owned. Since then Mr. Roundtree 

 has been the chief promoter of this breed. 



Characteristics of Tunis sheep. To begin with, this sheep, even 

 to-day, is not well fixed in type and breed markings. In general 



the head is hornless with 

 both sexes, and covered 

 with hair of a tawny or 

 yellow-brown color, the 

 legs also being of much 

 the same shade. Some 

 faces, however, are solid 

 color of brown and others 

 are mottled brown and 

 white. The ears are large, 

 broad, pendulous, covered 

 with fine hair, and are 

 brown, white, or brown and 

 white. The tail is broad, 

 perhaps measuring five 

 inches at maturity, is thick 

 and moderately long, 

 though the fleshy part is carried down only six or eight inches at 

 maturity. This tail is usually cut off when the lamb is very 

 young, and so does not appear as an important feature in the 

 sheep. Left on, it becomes difficult to breed the ewes. At the 

 end of the rump at the tail head there is more fullness and heavi- 

 ness than exists with other docked sheep, to a notable degree. 

 The neck tends to be long, the body of recognized mutton form, 

 though inclined to be leggy. The fleece is of excellent quality, 

 being soft, fine, and fairly compact, covering the body excepting 

 the head from forehead down, and averages about three inches 



Fig. 199. A Tunis ewe shown at the Louisi- 

 ana Purchase Exposition, 1904, by Charles 

 Roundtree of Indiana, who is holding the 

 sheep. Photograph by the author 



