FEEDING SHEEP. 401 



value. To breed and feed sheep simply for the wool is 

 little better than raising wheat for the straw the more val- 

 uable half goes to waste. As civilization has advanced, 

 and the processes of agriculture have been improved, one 

 country after another has ceased to grow wool for itself 

 alone mutton has become the principal, and wool the in- 

 cident of the business. This transition was accomplished 

 in England first ; but France is moving on steadily to the 

 same point. England did it by improving the Leicester 

 Cotswold and Southdown mutton sheep. France has been 

 gradually doing it by transforming the Merino into a mut- 

 ton breed, by an improved system of feeding. This was based 

 upon the true physiological principles of animal growth. 

 At the breeding establishment of Rambouillet, the last 

 century has witnessed an almost complete transformation 

 of the Merino from the small-bodied, short-fibered, thin- 

 fleshed, slow-maturing animal of the past, has come a larger 

 size, a little coarser and longer fibre, a heavier carcass, and 

 a heavier fleece ; one more ready to take on flesh, and much 

 earlier in maturing. The best-fed American Merinos are 

 tending in the same direction. They are animals of much 

 better formed bodies, longer staple, heavier fleece, earlier 

 maturity, and better flavored flesh than the originals im- 

 ported. The French are also testing the English Leicester 

 and Cotswold cross upon the Merino, to hasten the trans- 

 formation to a mutton carcass. The tendency everywhere 

 is to utilize the flesh in the best possible way. It must not 

 be supposed that this transformation has reduced the quan- 

 tity or, materially, the quality of the wool. The quantity 

 has been very materially increased, as well as its aggregate 

 value ; so that the wool interest is not injured by this new 

 zeal in favor of the mutton. Good feeding improves the 

 coat, whether it be hair or wool note the favorable effect 

 upon the hair of well-fed cattle, compared to those poorly 

 fed, and also upon the wool of well-fed and poorly-fed 

 sheep. 



