THE SHEEP 



1S5 



of their adaptability and usefulness here, not 

 only urged the importance of these animals 

 but even brought many specimens with them 

 when they returned home. 



For a great many years the Merino was our 

 most popular sheep, and in the northern sec- 

 tions of the country sheep raising was an im- 

 portant industry even on small farms. The 

 Spanish Merino has been greatly improved 

 by American breeders ; the t)'pe has been 

 changed, the wool made longer and finer, and remains a fact that the American and Spanish 

 the carcass improved. Changes have been suf- Mei'ino ai'c one and the same animal, altliough 

 ficient to indicate a new breed, some breeders the American t)'i)e is niateiiallv different f|-om 



A (in(.i 



11 OilKl R.A.MS 



Sherp on the Hillside, Wyoming 



being inclined to call our Merino, though of its old ancestor. The Mermo also went into 

 Spanish inheritance, the American Merino. France, where it is known as the Rambouillet ; 

 While the argument is clear and true, it still and into Germany, whei-e it is known as the 



Sa.xony Merino. Like the American Merino, 

 many changes ha\'e been effected o\'er the 

 original stock, justif\'ing the claims for new 

 names for an old breed. 



The French Merinos have, perhaps, a lai'ger 

 carcass than the a\-erage American Meiino. 

 The French breeders weix' also the first to pro- 

 duce a Merino combing wool, from which ha\-e 

 been developed some of the most interesting 

 and profitable branches of \\'ool manufacturing, 

 though they have subsecjuentl}- found rivals 



Ewe and Lajib, Ohio 



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