Breeds of Sheep 27 



this enterprise was the Rambouillet breed, which is 

 discussed in later pages. 



In 1765, the Elector of the German state of Saxony 

 secured a number of Spanish rams and ewes. These 

 responded to the careful management of their owners, 

 and so skillfully was the breeding continued that the 

 fame and influence of the Saxony Merinos in foreign 

 countries has been second only to that of the Spanish 

 sheep. 



Sheep-breeding in Great Britain has always been 

 based primarily upon the production of mutton, and 

 the separate discussions of the origin and peculiarities 

 of the various British breeds make up the next 

 chapter. 



Formation of breeds. — In the course of develop- 

 ment of the countries previously referred to, the 

 sheep, being almost coeval with man, has been sub- 

 jected to the action of a numberless variety of natural 

 influences that have given rise to divergent types 

 and quahties. It has been a constant study with 

 those reahzing the need of new adaptations for dif- 

 ferent localities to produce and fix such variations 

 in types and qualities as might be found profitable. 

 The conditions of soil, cUmate, and herbage, all 

 controlled in a large degree by altitude, had an in- 

 fluential effect in earlier days, while during recent 

 years, perhaps the most potent powers working 

 changes in the qualities of sheep have been the care 

 and management of the breeder in his methods of 



