SOME PECULIAR AFRICAN BREEDS 217 



many as a thousand head, the flocks are driven 

 in summer to the mountain pastures, where they 

 remain at a high elevation till autumn, sometimes 

 crossing into the Swiss Alps. Their yield of wool 

 is heavy, the fleece weighing in some instances so 

 much as 7 lbs. 



The Paduan lop-eared sheep, which is kept in 

 large flocks not only in Padua but in the valleys 

 of neighbouring districts, is a nearly allied breed, 

 produced, it is believed, by crossing the African 

 lop-ear with the merino. In general characters 

 this breed appears to be very like the last, the 

 rams occasionally developing horns, and the colour 

 of the fleece ranging from dirty yellowish white 

 through reddish brown to black. The flocks, which 

 are treated in the same manner as those of the 

 Bergamo breed, are chiefly valued for their wool, 

 which, doubtless owing to the merino cross, is of 

 high quality ; but there is also a large trade in the 

 mutton, while the ewes furnish excellent milk, 

 which is extensively used in cheese-making. In 

 former days, before the advent of the merino, the 

 Paduan breed was also cultivated in parts of Austria, 

 Franconia, and Wurtemberg. 



A third lop-eared breed takes its name of 

 Munster sheep from the district of Miinster in the 

 Prussian province of Westphalia, where it was at 

 one time bred in large numbers. Except that it is 

 particularly suited to dry soils, nothing of import- 



