24 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA. 



a product of no utility whatever; in fact, being 

 only a drain on the strength of the aniinal 

 that produced* it. It is of course essential 

 that wool should have a sufficient amount of 

 this yolk to preserve the fiber; more than this 

 is a damage in every way. 



It would seem that now the fads in Merino 

 sheep have nearly disappeared and the breed- 

 ers at the present time are breeding useful 

 Merinos, with generally more size and better 

 forms and more of mutton quality than was 

 once seen. 



The importance of the Merino breed will be 

 recognized when it is remembered that about 

 22,000,000 of the sheep of the United States 

 are of Merino foundation. The Merino is the 

 sheep of the range country, hardy in large 

 herds, of long life, though of slow maturity, 

 able to withstand more of "grief" than the 

 mutton breeds, and, most important to the 

 ranchmen, holding their fleeces to quite an age, 

 whereas under range conditions mutton breeds 

 soon become light shearers. However, it is 

 not now believed among Western ranchmen 

 that the Merino should be bred pure for their 

 purpose. They use large numbers of mutton 

 rams and aim to keep in all their ewes a 

 strain of mutton blood, from i/4 to %, which 

 they find makes the ewes better mothers, being 

 more prolific and having a stronger milk flow. 

 Lambs from such ewes, sometimes from pure-' 

 bred mutton rams, form the major part of 

 the supplies received in our great markets 

 from August till June. A flock of ewes frpm 



