DOMESTIC BREEDS OF SHEEP. 53 



If Black-faced ewes are fed heavily when they are with lamb, there 

 is danger of growth of the horns of the male lambs to such an extent 

 that death may result to both ewe and lamb. 



A meeting of the breeders of Black-faced Highland sheep was held 

 January 31, 1907, at New York City, and the American Black-faced 

 Highland Sheep Association was formed. This organization looks 

 after the breed in America. 



THE KARAKULE OR ARABI. 



The Karakule sheep has sprung into prominence because of the 

 increase in demand for Persian lambskins. The Persian lambskin is 

 known by such other trade names as krimmer, astrachan, and broad- 

 tail, these different terms representing somewhat different grades, and 

 is the product of the Karakule or Arabi lamb. This demand has 

 increased immensely during the last 15 years, one New York house 

 alone importing from 200,000 to 250,000 skins per year. 



These skins are practically all imported from Bokhara and the 

 neighboring districts of Russian Turkestan. The large foreign de- 

 mand for skins has caused a great deal of crossing, this having been 

 practiced to such an extent as to threaten the existence of the breed. 

 A well-known authority on this sheep made the statement that there 

 were not more than 5,000 purebred Karakules in existence, and that 

 these were mostly to be found upon the estates of the Bokharan 

 noblemen. 



There has been a law passed forbidding the exportation of Kara- 

 kules from their native country, and this is rigorously enforced. This 

 edict is said to have been passed for religious reasons, but the desire 

 to keep a monopoly upon the fur industry was probably also a reason 

 for its enactment. 



The Karakules are one of the fat-tail breeds. The caudal append- 

 age is broad, flat, and tapering toward the end. The lower verte- 

 brae are curled and twisted to such an extent that they resemble a 

 corkscrew, and the entire appendage is used primarily as a storehouse 

 for fat. 



The head is strikingly characteristic of the breed, the face being 

 narrow and the top and fore part of the skull much rounded. The 

 rams ordinarily have beautiful outspreading spiral horns, but the 

 ewes are generally hornless. The ears are small and pendulous, 

 especially so in the lambs. The face and legs of the adults are covered 

 with short, lustrous black hair, while the wool of the body is coarse, 

 long, and varies in color from gray to black. Very hard outer wool 

 and the absence of soft underwool are said to be indications of purity 

 of blood. 



The breed is noted for its extreme hardiness, and it is able to exist 

 and thrive under very adverse conditions. In Bokhara the sheep 



