268 SHEEP INDUSTRY OP THE UNITED STATES 



body, aud good constitution of tlie animal, and fineness, softness, and 

 quality and quantity of wool. 



The height of these sheep varied from 24 to 30 inches, the iirst being 

 in places where the pasture was light, the soil dry, and the feed poor. 

 The perfect ram is thus described by Prof. Gilbert, the manager of the 

 Rambouillet flock : 



The highest type of ram of a pure race has the eyes extremely lively, and all Ms 

 movements are quick. His face is free and rhythmical. In those of first quality the 

 head is wide, flat, square; the lines of his front, instead of heing arched and short 

 as in the French races, are straight, rounded on both sides, and very large. His ears 

 are very short, the horns very thick, large, full of wrinkles, and turned in redoubled 

 spirals. The nape is very wide and thick. The neck is short, the crop round, the 

 back well rounded, the loins wide, the dewlap hangs very low and wide. The stem 

 is wide and round, and the legs strong, large, and well wooled. His broad body is 

 covered with a very fine, well-crimped wool, long, soft, and compact, constituting a 

 wool superior to all other races. It is even over all parts of his body, from his eyes 

 to his hoofs. It is remarkably free from yolk, but with oil sufficient to promote the 

 greatest growth, finest fiber, and most compact fleece, which always parts as a book 

 opens. The finest ewes approximate in form the character and beauty of the finest 

 rams. 



At the time of the importation of this flock the weights of the un- 

 sheared rams were approximately 110 to 120 pounds, that of the ewes, 

 also unsheared, was about 72J to 88 pounds. The fleece of the rams 

 weighed about 8 ^^ pounds ; that of the ewes about 7 J pounds. The wool 

 of the ram was 2i^o inches in lengthj that of the ewe 2 inches. 



The flock was gradually increased, and rams and ewes were given and 

 distributed among the farmers, and every means used to extend the 

 breed among the agriculturists of Prance j but as soon as it was per- 

 ceived that the unenlightened cultivators of the soil did not appreciate 

 them, even as a gift, they were offered for sale, and the provincial ad- 

 ministrations, then established, secured them. They were thus sent 

 into Burgundy, Bresse, Dauphiny, Champagne, Normandy, Berry, 

 Poitou, Picardy, Brie, BeauCe, and other places where their virtue was 

 attested by the increased value of flocks into which the blood was intro- 

 duced. 



The Eambouillet flock was piit under the care of an agricultural com- 

 mission at the beginning of the French revolution, and through all the 

 horrors of that great popular upheaval it was preserved from dangers 

 which on several occasions menaced it. 



From the day of its foundation in 1786 to the present, a period of 

 over a century, this flock has been conducted with the closest attention. 

 Every particular has been noted and studied. It has been carefully 

 guarded, and every means taken to insure its purity. The record of its 

 progress, therefore, to the date of the introduction of some of its individ- 

 uals into Connecticut and elsewhere in the United States must be 

 stated. 



Grain was fed to a very limited degree. Lucem, clover, and the 

 good pasture of high meadows were very satisfactory to the sheep. 



