PRODUCTIVE SHEEP 

 HUSBANDRY 



CHAPTER I 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHEEP RAISING IN 

 VARIOUS COUNTRIES 



Early Domestication and Importance. — It is thought that 

 sheep were first domesticated in Asia, probably in Turkestan. There 

 is evidence that they may have been under domestication in Europe 

 in prehistoric times, for the bones of sheep have been found in caves 

 and lake dwellings, where the primitive people of that continent 

 lived. We can only surmise that primitive man used the skins for 

 raiment and shelter, and the meat and milk for food. 



As man advanced in civilization and became more settled in his 

 habits, his principal wealth often consisted of flocks and herds. The 

 Old Testaiment contains many passages which refer to the pastoral 

 occupation of sheep herding. Rome developed skill in handling her 

 flocks, and sheep abounded in Spain prior to the Christian era. 



The development of sheep raising as it concerns those now in- 

 terested in the production of mutton and wool centered in Englaiid 

 and in Spain. Before the year 1000 both of these countries attached 

 great importance to their flocks, and by the year 1500 they were 

 recognized as the greatest sheep countries of the world. Although 

 their wools were considerably unlike, they were regarded as com- 

 petitors for several hundred years on the great wool markets of 

 Flanders. 



Sheep Raising in Spain. — Spain, at a very early period, de- 

 veloped the Merino, a type of sheep which produced wool of 

 unusually fine fiber, suitable for making such fine, soft fabrics as 

 broadcloth (Fig. 1). This wool met with so large a demand 

 and was so fertile a source of revenue, that the most powerful 

 classes, the nobility and the clergy, engaged in sheep husbandry. 

 They collected great flocks for which they secured almost un- 



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