THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



{Ovis aries.) 



It was a little strip of fur which 

 adorned a lady's cloak. It was soft and 

 warm and black and curly. The lady 

 called it astrakhan, but the sheep, whose 

 lamb met an early death that its pleasing 

 fine coat might become the covering of 

 someone in far away America, still lives 

 on the steppes of the Far East. Her 

 master and herder belong to one of the 

 wandering tribes which roam about Cen- 

 tral Asia. Had the lamb lived to ma- 

 turity its beautiful fine coat would have 

 changed to coarse hair, very unlike the 

 wool of the sheep we find in America. 

 It would have grown to a large size; it 

 would have had short horns, a very 

 short, flat tail, with great bunches of fat 

 on the haunches at either side. 



There would have been among its com- 

 panions some sheep entirely white; oth- 

 ers white with black heads; but in its 

 immediate family all would have been 

 black throughout. 



Imagine the little lamb taking the 

 journey across the Eastern continent ! 

 Should we follow it in its journey we 

 would find many interesting varieties of 

 its kind. In crossing Syria and Asia 

 Minor v/e would find the curious, flat- 

 tailed sheep; their tails are most re- 

 markable to one unaccustomed to the 

 sight, for they are long masses of fat, 

 sometimes weighing forty or fifty 

 pounds, and often trailing upon the 

 ground. In this case they are frequently 

 supported by little sledges to relieve the 

 animal of its burden. It seems impos- 

 sible to understand why these tails 

 should grow to this inconvenient and 

 enormous length, when other breeds near 

 by have practically no tails at all. 



Leaving the country of the broad- 

 tailed sheep and passing along the south 

 of Europe, we find in Spain a very im- 

 portant and interesting variety, the Me- 

 rino sheep. While in the mountains of 

 Spain they are found in the greatest per- 

 fection, the breed has spread over manv 

 parts of Europe and has been introduced 

 into South Africa, America and Aus- 

 tralia. It is noted for the fineness of its 



wool and is considered by many to be 

 the most profitable of all sheep. 



For some reason the Merino sheep has 

 not found favor in the British isles, but 

 we find there many other well known 

 round-tailed varieties. 



The Shetland and Orkney breeds have 

 in their fleece soft^ fine wool, largely in- 

 termixed with hair. They are of small 

 size and horns may be found on both 

 sexes, although they may be lacking in 

 the ewes. 



The soft-wooled sheep of Scotland are 

 a breed nearly extinct ; they have short 

 horns, lank bodies and short wool. 



In Wales we find two races of small 

 size; one lives in the higher mountains, 

 is dark in color, has much hair mixed 

 with soft wool, and horns are found on 

 both sexes. The other race is without 

 horns and is covered with a soft wool. 

 Both varieties are hardy and are noted 

 for their fine flesh. 



The Irish Wicklow sheep were origi- 

 nally very similar to the Welsh variety. 

 Among other Irish breeds the Kerry is 

 best known. It is wild in disposition, 

 larger than the Welsh sheep, with the 

 horns frequently absent in the ewes. 



The hardiest and boldest of all the 

 British races are the black-faced Heath 

 breed ; these have dark colored limbs and 

 faces and coarse and shaggy fleeces. 



The Cheviot breed are hornless, with 

 white limbs and faces; they are heavier 

 than the Heath breed, but have less en- 

 durance. 



The old Norfolk breed of the east of 

 England are strong and active, with 

 horns, which are thick and spiral in the 

 rams; the body and limbs are long, the 

 face and legs black, and the silky wool 

 is of medium length. 



The Dartmoor and Exmoor sheep are 

 "the breeds of the older forests, com- 

 mons and chases." They are of small 

 size, may or may not have horns, have 

 dark or gray faces and have wool of me- 

 dium length. 



The well known Southdowns have no 

 horns ; they have dark brown faces, ears 



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