214 NATURE STUDY REVIEW \1 :8— Nov., 1911 



To make room for more wool. 



What else? 



His face is not mouse-colored like the other, and yon can't 

 see his eyes. 



Yes, sir, he has wool all over his eyes. He can see you, 

 though. He might run and butt you before you knew it. 



What else is different? 



Bigger. 



Bigger, yes, but the Southdown would get as big. What 

 else? 



Shorter legs. 



Yes, and more wool on the legs. Wool grows clear down to 

 his toes. The wool is finer, too. There are more fibers of wool 

 on each square inch because they are smaller. And so this is a 

 sheep that is intended for wool more than for mutton. I told 

 you that the Southdown was intended for mutton more than 

 for wool. There are some other sheep that have wrinkles all 

 over their body, and you see they would have still more surface 

 for wool. Those we call the Merinos, and this one is a French 

 Merino, which has rings only on its neck. If you should look 

 down or see him from above, you would see that he is narrower. 

 The Southdown is flat on the back but the Merino is sharp. The 

 difference in shape is caused by the difference in amount of lean 

 meat and of fat those two kinds have on their backs. I want to 

 show you just how much meat there is on those backs. 



How many of you have ever had a mutton chop? Well, 

 some of you have missed something pretty nice. 



If we should take a mutton chop from this Southdown's 

 ribs (that is where they come from), we would get one thick and 

 well covered with lean and plenty of fat meat mixed through the 

 lean to make it a good deal more tender and juicy. It would be 

 the same way with the other mutton breeds, too — -the Shrop- 

 shires, Oxfords, Lincolns and Hampshires. If we take a chop 

 from the same part of the wool sheep we would get a small 

 chop. Now which would you rather have? 



One from the Southdown. 



The Merino* chop is tough and hasn't much fat mixed with 

 it, and anyone would rather have the chop from the Southdown 

 than from the Merino. 



Well, boys and girls, when we are going into the sheep busi- 

 ness, even if we start with sheep as pets, if we are going to have 

 sheep at all, it will pay us very profitably to study those sheep 

 and keep the very best kind we can keep for mutton or for wool. 



