208 



THE RAMBOUILLET 



varies almost as much in type as the American Merino. Certain 

 breeders favor very strong folds on the neck and also a few on the 

 body at such places as the dock, upper thighs, and fore and rear 

 flanks. Such sheep when shorn may show many small wrinkles 

 (called pin wrinkles) on the body. These heavily folded Eam- 

 bouillets carry comparatively dense and oily fleeces and the wool 

 tends to be shorter than in the smoother types. On the outer sur- 

 face of the large neck folds, the wool is often so coarse that it is 

 more like hair than wool. This kind of growth has been encouraged 

 by a few breeders because they consider it indicative of a robust con- 



FlQ. 142. — Rambouillet ewes br?d by University of Illinois. The strong, rugged feature* 

 of the head are characteristic of the breed. 



stitution, but it is a bad fault that should be discouraged, for it 

 reduces the value of the fleece. 



Certain other breeders do not favor the type showing folds on 

 the body and still others go so' far as to object to pronounced wrinkles 

 on the neck. As a rule, the smooth or plain Eambouillets are the 

 more popular in the West because, with their better shape and lighter 

 pelts, they sell for more as mutton and professional shearers object 

 to shearing the wrinkled kind. In Ohio, New York, and Michigan, 

 where sheep with heavy folds and wrinkles have been. kept for a 

 hundred years and -ivhere there was export demand for heavy fleeced 

 sheep before the outbreak of the war, .Eambouillets carrying wrinkles 

 and folds are favorably regarded. 



Many breeders think they cannot produce heavy fleeces by using 

 smooth rams. An inspection of flocks throughout the country would 



