THE RAMBOUILLET 



525 



agreed on the subject of type, and those of Ohio and Michigan 

 run more to folds than do those of the Western states. The type 

 approved by the West is a large, smooth-bodied mutton Merino. 

 The Eastern tendency to breed a sheep with heavy folds at neck, 

 flanks, dock, and thighs, and with small body wrinkles, is a pro- 

 nounced recognition of the importance of fleece. In breeding 

 flocks, as a rule, the females run fairly free of folds, the service 

 rams showing these characters in a greater degree. T\\t fleece of 

 the Rambouillet should 

 be fairly close over the 

 body, have a length for 

 twelve months of two 

 and one-half to three 

 inches, and carry a 

 moderate amount of 

 yolk. The typical Ram- 

 bouillet fleece is not 

 so fine as that of the 

 Delaine, is slightly 

 longer, usually has a 

 light-buff yolk, and 

 has a nice, unctuous 

 feel in handling. The 

 wool should cover the 

 body well, and breed- 

 ers generally seek for 

 a cap of wool well down 

 over the face and with legs wooled to the ankles. Commenting 

 on the wool covering of head and legs. Professor W. C. Coffey, 

 an authority on this breed, has the following criticism ^i 



Most Rambouillet breeders emphasize great extension of wool over the face 

 and legs, a matter which has been carried too far for practical purposes. Many 

 specimens being completely covered with wool over the head and face are 

 blind, and a blind sheep in a flock or band is a nuisance, because it is crazy. 

 Extreme covering over the legs collects mud and snow, and hence is an incon- 

 venience. It is time for Rambouillet breeders to revise their notions a litde on 

 head and leg covering. 



Fig. 234. Illinois 402, a Rambouillet ram bred by 



Illinois University, owned by California University, 



Davis. This is a B type sheep. From photograph 



by the author 



1 Productive Sh.ee 



Jheep Husbandry. Philadelphia, 1918. 

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