CHAPTER I 



THE SHEEP; ITS HISTORY, BREEDING; AND PROBLEMS 



OF PRODUCTION 



History of Sheep 



<<QHEEP," Webster says, "are among the most useful animals that 

 O the Creator has bestowed on man, as its wool constitutes a prin- 

 cipal material of warm clothing, and its flesh is a great article of food. 

 The sheep is remarkable for its harmless temper and its timidity. The 

 varieties are numerous." 



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They Have Turned This Once Wild and Weedy Pasture Into Blue Grass 



There is evidence that sheep were under domestication through east- 

 ern countries in prehistoric times, for their bones have been found in 

 caves and lake dwellings, where the people of those countries then lived. 

 Rome developed a great deal of skill in handling her flocks, and sneep 

 abounded in Spain prior to the Christian era. It is the first animal 

 spoken of in the Bible, and we find the following, as well as many other 

 records, showing that in early history sheep were domesticated, and that 

 men were then using their flesh for food and their wool for clothing : 



Genesis 4 :2, "Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of 

 the ground." 



