MORE IMPORTANT BREEDS OF SHEEP 461 



of the finer sort, somewhat open, and weighs about eight 

 pounds under average conditions. There are but a few 

 of these sheep in America, an effort having been made, 

 however, in recent years to introduce them on the western 

 range. 



The American Merino (or Spanish Merino) is a sheep of 

 Spanish ancestry, the characteristics of which are set forth 

 in the discussion of the Class A Merino, which is the same 

 thing. There are various families of these sheep, but they 

 all possess the same general features, and their blood is 

 more or less intermingled. 



The Delaine Merino is of American breeding, but de- 

 scended from sheep imported from Spain early in the nine- 



FJg. 252. Rambouillet ram "Altamont," champion at the International 

 Live Stock Exposition, 1905. (Photo by courtesy Mr. George Truesdell.) 



