SHEEP FOR WOOL, MUTTON AND BOTH USES 35 



century the current had set in toward increased mutton 

 production. During the greater portion of this century 

 it has been claimed, and the claim would seem to be cor- 

 rect, that Merinos and their grades constituted fully 95 

 per cent of all the sheep grown. On the ranges especially 

 were sheep grown mainly for wool, and to further the 

 production thus obtained they were kept in many 

 instances to a reasonably advanced age, in striking con- 

 trast to the comparatively early age at which such stocks 

 are disposed of at the present time. It would seem cor- 

 rect to say that under no conditions are sheep kept in the 

 United States only for the production of wool. This, 

 however, has been done doubtless in pastoral countries 

 before the era when the shipping of frozen mutton began. 



Whether wool or mutton shall be most sought in the 

 growing of sheep under American and Canadian condi- 

 tions will be determined chiefly by the conditions under 

 which they are grown. On the arable farm mutton pro- 

 duction, as a rule, is the dominant end for which they are 

 grown. The greatly increased demand for mutton dur- 

 ing recent years has stimulated production for this end. 

 The character of the foods grown makes such produc- 

 tion easily possible. Even on the range, mutton pro- 

 duction has much more significance than in former years. 

 This change is accentuated by the demand for sheep to be 

 fattened, the supply being now largely drawn from the 

 ranges. The increased demand for mutton sheep during 

 recent years has greatly increased the crossing of the 

 Merino types with rams of the more distinctive mutton 

 breeds. 



Wool and mutton-producing breeds — The Merino 

 types were formerly classed as wool-producing sheep, 

 because of the extent to which the production of wool 

 was dominant. These were probably the only types in 

 America that were so characterized. The modifications 

 in the breeding of these during recent years, and espe- 

 cially during the past three or four decades, has, in a 



