THE AMERICAN MERINO 499 



deep, the withers thin, the back moderately narrow and often not 

 well sustained, the rump frequently steep, the thighs thin, the 

 legs small and fine. The skin is of the most attractive bright- 

 pink color, and in good specimens is in folds along the bridge 

 of the nose and neck, about the breast, shoulders, lower part of 

 the sides, and about the rump and thigh. There are usually no 

 folds over the back and perhaps upper third of the sides, unless 

 in a small degree. In 1892 an eminent breeder is thus quoted 

 by Ezra Carman i; 



The prevailing fashion is to have from three to five heavy folds on the 

 neck, not large on the upper side, but large on the under side ; two or three 

 short folds on and immediately back of each elbow or arm ; fine, thick wrinkles 

 running down the sides, but not extending over the back. Wrinkles across the 

 hips, sometimes from the tail in the direction of the stifle, and sometimes at 

 right angles with them, folds also around the tail to give it a wide appearance, 

 and also folds across the thigh, with a deep flank. 



The fleece covers the entire body and legs excepting in the 

 armpits. The ears are covered with fine, silky hairs, and the head 

 should be well wooled over excepting the lower end of the nose. 

 The eyes are often hidden by the fleece covering the head. The 

 outside of the fleece is of a dirty black color, caused by the accu- 

 mulation of dust in the yolk which exudes to the end of the fiber, 

 adding greatly to the unwashed weight. A considerable amount 

 of oil is desirable in the fleece and especially is it important in 

 the rams. A dry white fleece is an inferior wool, and rams with 

 such fleeces are not usually the best stock getters. This yolk may 

 be scoured off to show a shrinkage in weight of 65 to 75 per cent. 

 American Merino wool is the finest produced, and the more folds 

 on the body and the more crimped the fiber, the finer the staple. 

 The one-year-old fleece of a mature sheep will show a length of 

 about one and one-half to, two inches. The temperament of the 

 Merino is very lively, yet not necessarily inconsistent with docility, 

 and no breed is more easily handled in flocks. 



The modern type of Merino in Australia, where the A type 

 has had great popularity, is of the B sort. The following is 



1 Ezra Carman, H. A. iHeath, and John Minto, Special Report on the History 

 and Present Condition of the Sheep Industry of the United States. Washington, 

 1892. 



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