THE KARAKUL 



66 1 



States minister to Persia, who presented 6 head to Secretary of 

 Agriculture Rusk. Another importation was made in 19 lo. These 

 Persian sheep apparently came from Bokhara and may be more 

 or less grouped with the Karakul as producing Persian fur. 



The characteristics of the Karakul sheep of special interest are 

 as follows : The head, usually horned with the rams and hornless 

 with the ewes, is narrow, with the nose of marked Roman type 

 in the rams but fairly 

 straight with the ewes. 

 The ears are small, 

 more or less drooping, 

 and set somewhat low, 

 even below the level of 

 the eyes. The neck is 

 long and scrawny, the 

 shoulders prominent, 

 the back narrow, the 

 ribs flat rather than well 

 arched, the loin high, 

 the rump very drooping 

 and terminating in a 

 heavy, thick, broad fat 

 tail, which tapers rap- 

 idly from the body but 

 extends quite to the 

 hocks. This tail may 

 weigh S or 6 pounds. 



The legs are slender and somewhat long, just such as might be 

 expected with mountain sheep. According to Holm the head, 

 ears, legs, and feet should be black, though " occasionally a small 

 white spot and, frequently, gray hairs are found on the head." 

 Karakuls are of medium size. 



The fleece of the Karakul sheep is the feature for which the 

 breed is especially valued. On mature sheep the wool is long 

 and very coarse, grading as an inferior braid or carpet wool and 

 measuring up to 8 inches long, and lies in loose locks on the 

 body. This coat (which some writers term hair and others wool) 

 with age turns from black to a grayish or brownish black, while 

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Fig. 311. Doctor, an imported Karakul ram owned 



by the New England Karakul Company, Alton, 



New Hampshire. From photograph, by courtesy of 



F. E. Dawley 



