Farm Sheep 177 
many instances, made a flock famous. A ram, to be 
worthy of being the head of either a pure-bred or grade 
flock of ewes, must have considerable masculinity, or he 
is not likely to transmit his qualities to his offspring. No 
one can afford to use a ram that cannot easily be distin- 
guished among a flock of ewes. The ram is expected to 
carry all of the characteristics of the breed which he rep- 
resents, together with a good constitution as indicated by 
a large heart girth and a strong back, well formed feet, and 
straight legs with plenty of bone. The fleece should be 
typical of his breed and by all means uniform in density 
and length and fineness. 
Prepotency is most essential. This is impossible to 
determine in the case of an untried ram, but is usually 
indicated by a good pedigree. In all cases, individuality 
must be combined with good breeding. Over-fitted rams 
are never desirable for breeding purposes and it is not 
usually wise to take one directly from the show circuit. 
Breeders often will make the statement that showing does 
not hurt breeding stock. This, of course, is true where 
the sheep are in the hands of a skillful shepherd. Few 
men, however, have sufficient skill to fit and to reduce 
show stock without materially damaging the breeding 
properties of the same. An exception should be made in 
the case of lambs, since it is almost impossible to get them 
too fat, while the fitting produces more growth than would 
otherwise be obtained. Unless the buyer is an experi- 
enced sheep-man, it pays better to purchase field sheep 
rather than show stock. By field sheep are meant sheep 
that are in normal condition, not having been fitted or 
pampered with the idea of showing. 
Rams should be examined carefully to see that they 
have two testicles, and that they are free from goiter. A 
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