8 THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHEEP RAISING 



ing what he sought. He thus inaugurated a period of improvement 

 in the sheep industry of his country such as the world had never 

 seen. It was essentially an improvement securing better mutton 

 and early maturitj^, but many other points received careful atten- 

 tion. The work Bakewell started attained such importance that 

 England became thenative home of nearly all of the modern mutton 

 breeds, and sheepmen from all parts of the world still go there for 

 breeding stock (Fig. 3). 



Importance of Wool in New Countries. — From the foregoing 

 it is seen that sheep first advanced to great importance both in 

 Spain and in England because of their wool rather than because of 

 their flesh. It is not to, be supposed that they were of no value as 

 meat-producing animals, but it was the demand for wool that first 

 made sheep raising profitable in these countries. Likewise, it was 

 the demand for wool that first caused sheep to gain prominence in 



Fia. 4 —Wagon train drawing wool from the interior to shipping point. The sheep 

 use of its fleece is suitable for remote regions where there are neither railroads nor 



because of its fleece 

 highways. 



the newer lands, the lands which now rank with the great sheep 

 growing countries of the world. Why should this be so ? Because 

 those who begin the development of a new country are through 

 necessity interested in products which can be marketed at a long 

 distance from the place of production. Usually, too, they want 

 products which can be profitably handled in spite of poor trans- 

 portation facilities. Value considered, wool is light in weight, and 

 it is imperishable with respect to time involved in getting 'it to 

 market. It was only natural, therefore, that the colonizers of 

 Australia, of New Zealand, and of Argentina should turn to the 

 production of wool. In our own country the significant expansion 

 of sheep growing did not begin until a few years after the republic 

 was established (Fig. 4). 



