JUDGING SHEEP IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS. 
23 
In examining the fleece to note its quantity, quality, and condition 
it should be opened first just above the point of the shoulder (fig. 20), 
•as in this region the best wool is to be found. The thigh (fig. 21) 
should be examined next, as upon this region grows the poorest and 
coarsest of the fleece. As the belly is often covered but lightly it 
should be examined also. 
Estimating the age of sheep. — In addition to the sets of molar 
teeth at the back of both upper and lower jaws the sheep has a set 
Fig. 16. — Noting width at loin. 
of eight incisors on the lower jaw which work against a tough fibrous 
pad on the upper jaw as in the case of the cow. The age of a sheep 
may be estimated by the appearance of these incisors up to the time 
it is four or five years old. By the time the sheep is four weeks old 
it has eight temporary incisors, or milk teeth. When the sheep is 
slightly over one year old the central pair of incisors is replaced by 
permanent teeth which are broader and wider than the temporary 
ones. When the sheep is two years old the next pair is replaced ; the 
third paid when the sheep is nearly three years old ; and the fourth or 
corner pair when the sheep is between four and five years old, hence a 
