CHAPTER II. 



MUTTON BKEEDS. 



All of our breeds excepting the Merinos and 

 tlie Tunis come from England. There the pe- 

 culiar character of the country and the mental 

 traits of the people have united to create a 

 number of breeds, each having its especial ex- 

 cellence for a certain purpose' and soil. The 

 Englishman's ideal in animal form runs, as 

 it does in architecture, to the square, the level, 

 the rectangular. His sheep, his beef cattle 

 and his swine all partake of the same char- 

 acteristics in form. To successfully judge 

 Merino sheep one must be a student of the 

 breed; to judge the mutton breeds practically 

 well one need only to know what is a good 

 animal, after the model of the Angus cow or 

 the Berkshire hog. Add the wool and certain 

 fancy points, such as the covering of wool over 

 the head, the size and set of ear, the shape of 

 nose and the coloring and all is told.- The 

 novice in sheep breeding, if he knows Angus 

 cattle or Berkshire or Poland-China swine, need 

 have no hesitation in attempting to select a 

 flock of breedijig ewes, if he can see them 



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